James Flowers Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 What all of you have not mentioned is there are more people than ever before using oil.With every country becoming more inline with the more properous countries of the world. There is going to be more demand for more than just oil.There are and will be more problems to deal with than just oil.There is only so much on this earth of everything to go around.We are not the best at doing anything but taking all we can take for today and not caring to save anything for tomorrow.The more people we have the more we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Actually, according to the 2000 census, only about 20% of the US population is rural..I would assume the number is smaller now. Census: Urban vs Rural I understand what you're getting at, but like most things statistics can be made to say whatever you want them to say. Do you really believe there are nearly 3.700 metropolitan areas in this country? According to the U.S. Census I live in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Census Area...but I'm literally 28 miles away from my front door, to the center of downtown. Can anyone explain to me exactly how that makes me part of a Metropolitan area? Especially when I have a horse farm next door? When you really look at that data there are only 463 actual Metro Areas of 100,000 or more people. 1,838 areas are areas of 50,000 or less, and the final 1,328 are areas of 2,500 - 5,000 people. I hate to break it to the almighty Federal Government but 2,500 people does NOT make something "Urban"...that's flipping rural! Heck even if your county seat has over 100,000 people in it, that doesn't make everyone living outside of it "Urban" either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The conversation is excellent, and I hope it continues. Bill, I brought up the smell of gasoline because THEY ARE putting all sorts of stuff in it. I would imagine they are cutting it and now the actual percentage of crude has to be very small to stretch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTMust Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Actually, according to the 2000 census, only about 20% of the US population is rural..I would assume the number is smaller now. Census: Urban vs Rural Maybe 20% of the population is (or was) rural, but certainly 20% of the landmass isn't...... and that's where we do a lot of our driving, especially trucks. And in Canada it's even more sparcely populated. Then take a look at the vast areas to cross by some means or other in places like Russia. There's been a lot of this thread devoted to our personal involvement with oil (gasoline, etc.) but there's a whole other uses for the stuff that we haven't even seriously touched on. Aircraft don't fly on solar power, even though they get pretty close to that energy source compared to cars and trucks. And then there's all that stationary machinery that needs oil to power so many other needs. Synthetic oils may be used for lubrication, but oil is still our main source of motive power. But, after all is said and done, I have faith in the geniuses of this world and the hope that, before we get to a state of total crisis, an alternate fuel source will be discoverd or invented. Someone mentioned the paranoia contained in this thread. But it isn't, it's reality.... as some members have already pointed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) I understand what you're getting at, but like most things statistics can be made to say whatever you want them to say. Do you really believe there are nearly 3.700 metropolitan areas in this country? According to the U.S. Census I live in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Census Area...but I'm literally 28 miles away from my front door, to the center of downtown. Can anyone explain to me exactly how that makes me part of a Metropolitan area? Especially when I have a horse farm next door? Rural is relative...I've lived places where 50-75 miles from downtown is still suburban, still within the metro area.. 28 miles is a short distance from a major downtown--you are within the commutable area..quite different than truly being in the 'middle of nowhere' (very rural where the nearest town of any size is 100 miles away, like in rural AZ, CO or Montana or elsewhere in the West). Speaking of horse farms, there are some of those right here in the middle of Phoenix...a city of over 1 million.. I've lived in rural Ohio, where it's 50 miles to the nearest Starbucks and 25 miles from a Wal-Mart..now that is rural.. Edited June 2, 2011 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 If I were to disregard all the environmental problems with a battery powered car, and there's a bunch, I would be the perfect candidate for a plug-in electric. I bet 90% or more of my trips are 30 miles or less. But I'll be dipped if I would spend 40K on one, especially when I have a car that gets 35 mpg that's paid for. Plus nobody's even speculated about what it would cost to charge that mug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Global climate change due to carbon emission is pretty much debunked by science all over the planet. Sure, some still believe... But there are some that still believe in flying saucers. Just saying... Serious? Debunked by less than 2% of scientists? 98% percent of the scientific community is in consensus about climate change. 2% disagree. Of the 2%, it is a mix of those that feel it will be worse than the consensus and those that disagree about how serious it will be. I am not a scientist, but 98% is as close to certain in the scientific world as you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Fist Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Serious? Debunked by less than 2% of scientists? 98% percent of the scientific community is in consensus about climate change. 2% disagree. Of the 2%, it is a mix of those that feel it will be worse than the consensus and those that disagree about how serious it will be. I am not a scientist, but 98% is as close to certain in the scientific world as you can get. I don't think Jarius is denying climate change, but climate change due to CO2 emissions is a bit of ######. Mars is also getting warmer, seems to be more of a solar cycle. Anyways, this is pretty cool. http://johnharding.com/2011/01/26/minicat-the-air-powered-car/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 (edited) I don't think Jarius is denying climate change, but climate change due to CO2 emissions is a bit of ######. Mars is also getting warmer, seems to be more of a solar cycle. That is exactly it. We have not been keeping records long enough to really get a real good idea of how weather patterns really work. This planet has been warming and cooling since God created it. To think we little humans can affect change, whatever.... Edited June 3, 2011 by midnightprowler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Nobody has mentioned the black helicopters flying overhead, I wonder why???? One thing is certain, the world is changing (in many aspects)and there are many theories and explanations as to why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Nobody has mentioned the black helicopters flying overhead, I wonder why???? One thing is certain, the world is changing (in many aspects)and there are many theories and explanations as to why. They are grounded due to the high cost of fuel and cuts in the Military budget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Concerning climate change, I grew up in both California and in Florida and I used to go to the beach quite a bit and fished and saw lots of little fish everywhere. No fish on the beach now. You have to go in fairly deep to find something, and sometimes what you find is a car tire and or a school bus! If the ocean is polluted, imagine how the rivers and lakes are holding up. And whether you believe in climate change or not (what do scientist know anyway?) something's got to be going on! Read your Kurt Vonnegut. He sets the record straight in terms of what we are doing to the planet. And if you want to see some horrible visuals, rent THE ROAD and watch it! That will cheer you up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Yep, there you go, gasification. Power your car with wood chips and chicken poop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Love the picture on the left! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Flowers Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 With all the talk here. What do you really think needs to be done to solve are oil problems as far as fuel goes? Nothing we have now can really replace it.You have to have fuel of some kind to make it all work.What do we have that will not run out at some point just like the oil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Yep, there you go, gasification. Power your car with wood chips and chicken poop. I got lots of wood chips, anybody got any chicken poop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 What do we have that will not run out at some point just like the oil? The only thing that won't run out (at least for a REALLY long time) is solar. But the technology for that is really primitive. Yes, there have been some advances in manufacturing solar electric cells, but it's still basically '60s technology, expensive and inefficient. And using a mirror to boil water? Is that the best we can do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDO Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 With all the talk here. What do you really think needs to be done to solve are oil problems as far as fuel goes? Nothing we have now can really replace it.You have to have fuel of some kind to make it all work.What do we have that will not run out at some point just like the oil? I think it will be a combination of many different power sources; solar, wind, poo, etc. Nuclear could gain favor as fossil fuel prices go up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 My vote is for hydrogen power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I think it will be a combination of many different power sources; solar, wind, poo, etc. Nuclear could gain favor as fossil fuel prices go up. I'd like to find a way to use dog poo as an energy source...my dogs create a lot of it and it all goes in the trash barrel every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 My vote is for hydrogen power. Back to the days of having a pump jockey! Sure not going to have the general public doing their own fill ups with that! Liability is way too high! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Rogers Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I agree with Jairus. I think we'll be lucky if we don't end up with triple-seater bicycles with wooden wheels, and a brain. Here's a formula for disaster: NO JOBS + EXPENSIVE ###### (from cheap labor camps) = NO PROGRESS = NO FUN = ZOMBIFICATION! Ummm ok ? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Rogers Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 When I posted earlier, I had only read the last message (Jairus's). After I saw your message, I read the whole thread. Wow. A whole lotta wackiness goin' on. There's a lot of oil in sand in North America. One of our fellow posters makes his living off of it. He drives a truck in a Canadian oil field. I am serious about Methane, though. I think it can be a viable fuel, and sourced from human poo. We already have very effective means of collecting it. It's not like we would need to get millions of people to follow cows around with shovels, then burn fuel getting it to a processing plant. Oil will be hard to replace. I think that new fuels will come from a variety of sources; natural gas, methane, diesel from algae, etc. I also think that small diesels have lots of potential. There are already small diesels in Europe that get better mileage than a Prius, and they don't have a battery that visited several continents during manufacture and need to be thrown away one day. yes I do lee. Now guys what you hear in the news is all bull I know for a fact that up here there is at least 80 years left of mining to be done. Now I don't understand why people in general (world population) worrys so much when there's no need for it. yes car manufactures are making E cars but think about the cost of setting up everyrhing? The power stations to charge Ur car the removal of gas stations? The price of these cars?. Gas will be around for a long while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTMust Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Now guys what you hear in the news is all bull I know for a fact that up here there is at least 80 years left of mining to be done. Now I don't understand why people in general (world population) worrys so much when there's no need for it. yes car manufactures are making E cars but think about the cost of setting up everyrhing? The power stations to charge Ur car the removal of gas stations? The price of these cars?. Gas will be around for a long while... While I agree that a lot of what we hear in the news is a lot of bull and that a lot of people are making a lot of money out of the global warming scare (David Suzuki and Al Gore to name just two), I, for one, question a lot of the so called "experts" when financial rewards are to be made by the main exponents of these theories. However, as far as the oil reserves are concerned, to think that 80 years is a long time is only considering the present generation. And after we are dead and gone, should we not be concerned for our children and their chidren, etc? To say that we should not worry about oil as we have so much of it just doesn't make any sense. It will not last forever.... that's for certain. I started this thread to express some interest about where the world will be when there is no oil left, and whether you believe it or not, that day will come. It probably won't happen in our lifetime, and my interest in this issue is to wonder what will replace it. And in turn, what kind of vehicles and transportation methods we will use and what will that mean to society? The main interest of this particular forum is motorized vehicles and miniature versions of them. I'm no scientist, so I could be wrong, but isn't plastic a byproduct of oil? If it is, then what will our model car kits be made of in the future? A silly question perhaps in the overall scope of things, but an example of so many uses we have for that finite resource. Or I could just stick my head in the sand like a lot of people, and forget about the whole thing........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I started this thread to express some interest about where the world will be when there is no oil left, and whether you believe it or not, that day will come. It probably won't happen in our lifetime, and my interest in this issue is to wonder what will replace it. And in turn, what kind of vehicles and transportation methods we will use and what will that mean to society? Tony, I think the only honest answer anyone can give is "I don't know". Even tho this subject came up way back in the '60s, the alternatives are still in their infancy. Some may work out, some may not, and some new ones may appear. I certainly couldn't function without a car, I'm five miles from anywhere. How about people that are 30,40,50 miles etc.? So buses, trains, subways, etc. may be a part of the picture, but I don't see how we could eliminate the personal vehicle. What form of energy that vehicle would run on is the question. Your point about plastics is interesting. Oil is used as a feedstock for lots of industries. Whenever it does become scarce, does it make sense to use it as fuel, when it's needed for other things? How good will your hydrogen engine run if there's no oil in the crankcase? Would you like to have tires? So I have lots of questions, and zero answers. That doesn't mean we don't have to work on it. As the saying goes: "Nothing would get done if it weren't for the last minute", but people were talking about this 50 years ago, and not much has happened. Wouldn't hurt to get a little bit ahead of the curve. My 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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