Forums > Social Discussion > When will all the petrol (gas) and diesel run out?

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IgirisujinSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,666 posts
Location: Preston, United Kingdom


Posted:
Im a little curiouse, I wanna know when Im gonna have to go buy myself an electric car and say goodbye to my...(hopefully VW Beetle biggrin) whatever it will be when I get one within the year. (takeing driving lessons soon)

Oh and will we be driing around in hydrogen powerd cars? I hope so, tho I would be a little parnoid that while im driving my car will suddenly explode

Chief adviser to the Pharaoh, in one very snazzy mutli-coloured coat

'Time goes by so slowly for those who wait...' - Whatever Happend To Baby Madonna?


JonnyRokBRONZE Member
Look! I'm Darth Bunny!
446 posts
Location: Sunny South Africa


Posted:
I think itll still be a couple of years before that happens but this reminded me of something i saw on tv the other day, it was something about biological fuels (fuels made from plants etc) they said that it would burn cleaner and be safer to use, only caught the end of the show so I didnt catch too much, but it sounded pretty interesting.



P.S. My friend has a VW beetle, its red and its name is Curby! ubblol
EDITED_BY: JonnyRok (1125780674)

Do what you want coz a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!
Yo ho fiddle dee dee, being a pirate is alright to be,
Do what you want coz a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!


LemonkeyStalking amidst the desert, carrying an oversized scalpel...
1,019 posts
Location: Huddersfield + Hull Uni... UK.


Posted:
Written by: Brit_Joe


Oh and will we be driing around in hydrogen powerd cars?




As soon as the find a method of allowing the hydrogen to release more power than is needed to separate it from the other elements it's happily stable with.

... and to make the containers safe to explosion etc etc

Willy - is bad for your health...


FireByNiteSILVER Member
Are you up for it??
349 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
I dont know about hydrogen but on the news over here the other night they had about a guy down south who runs his car on old vegetable oil?? I'm not sure how he did it but that couls lead to possibilities biggrin

Are you up for it?
wink;)


linden rathenGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
6,942 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
i think the (general) figure for oil reserves is about 60 years, it depends who you ask and where you look

its not ages but its not gunna run out tomorrow

if your in the US it'll last longer as they've been building up reserves for a few years...

coal i think is ment to last about 150 years

gas only about another 30

again im not certain on these figures but i think they'er about right

electric cars will probably be used instead of hydrogen
the tech is nearly there - it just needs refining and expanding

back


dreamSILVER Member
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand


Posted:
Bio diesel is great in concept, but if we were to adopt is as a gasoline replacement we'd need to convert all the UK's arable land to grow enough crops...

Electric cars are only environmentally friendly if the electricity they use isn't generated by fossil fuels (which it mainly is at present) plus again, to power all our cars we'd need to generate triple the electricity currently required for the national grid.

Hydrogen fuel cells are exactly that... fuel cells not a way to generate power. They need to be charged, probably using electolysis, which again requires electricity (see above)

Worst case scenario... the vast amounts of coal which have previously been deemed uneconomic to mine due to their location/depth will be used as an easy replacement, further f***ing up our environment.

What it comes down to, is that we need to moreless completely overhaul the way we generate power. Solar, wind, tidal, hydroelectric and geothermal energy all have potential to help, but what it also comes down to is learning not to waste so much...

An SUV does about 15mpg... A Prius does just over 70. However it's considered considerably less cool by Jeremy Clarkson et al censored censored censored censored censored

anyways... solar powered unicycle anyone?

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Nietzsche


Stick ManBRONZE Member
member
37 posts
Location: Nh, USA


Posted:
He runs his car on straight vegetable oil(SVO) by installing a conversion kit in his diesel engine. The kits cost $500-$5000 dollars (US). Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the Diesel engine actually designed it to run on peanut oil. But fossil fuels were cheaper at the time so he altered the design a little to run on them. You can run a diesel engine on most types of plant or animal fats and oils at the right temperature even waste vegetable oil(WVO) from fry machines like the ones at McDonalds. Sometimes they even pay you to take their WVO. Some oils work much better than others. Some cause excessive wear on your engine.

You could also use “Biodiesel” fuel. Biodiesel fuel is a mix of SVO and Diesel fuel. There is a process involved in the mixing of these but there is no modification required on you diesel engine to use it.

I’m thinking about installing a combo. Biodiesel/WVO. I think it will be the biggest $$$ saver in the long run.

I ain't been around the world, but I've been around the block. I ain't seen everything, but I've seen enough to talk. I'm not a prophet, I'm not the 2nd comming of christ. I'm just a mason with a will to build and a little advice.


Julie2022member
145 posts
Location: Little Rock, AR


Posted:
What about things that use gas that aren't vehicles?

I was thinking about this. Say there's a town that has 1,000 people. They all have a lawn to mow and edges to trim. The majority of power tools used to do these two tasks use gasoline or kerosene or a mix of the two.

So, twice a month, let's say - these 1,000 people get their yard-work gas containers filled, they mow, they trim - they use 4 gallons of gas a month on lawn-work ( a bit more than average? not for me, at least)
That's 4,000 gallons of gas for a very small town... If we say their gas is cheap at $3.00/gallon, then in one month they've just spent a whopping $12,000 in gas for lawn care!! That's just for those 1,000 people for one month! Holey smokes that's rediculous.

Ok - I'm going to not mow my lawn to futher help the gas crisis. Good god - not to mention the polution that 1,000 lawn mowers and edge trimmers spit out. Yuck.

Anyway, I thought that would be an interesting bite to chew for everyone...There are other non-vehicular things that use gasoline, too. Like small power generators and things of that nature.

Actually, I don't have a lawnmower - when I buy one, though, it will be an electric. That way I will help one problem and cause another at the same time.

Oh, heck - I'll just buy a bunch of goats and they'll eat the grass.

"I'm your Huckleberry."

The muse spake her thought and then there was silence. Thy spiked tongue had melted, only a bitter heart remained.


thelostSILVER Member
mmm...i feel all warm and fuzzy... 'no dude, that's your hair on fire'
355 posts
Location: Birmingham, Australia


Posted:
Written by: Julie2022

They all have a lawn to mow and edges to trim. The majority of power tools used to do these two tasks use gasoline or kerosene or a mix of the two






Hmmm...people from my area normally use electric lawn mowers/trimmers confused



I understand what you mean though



Written by: Julie2022

If we say their gas is cheap at $3.00/gallon, then in one month they've just spent a whopping $12,000 in gas for lawn care!! That's just for those 1,000 people for one month! Holey smokes that's rediculous.






You kinda went off the point.

Using 4000 gallons (oh my god) a month on keeping your fingers green is a lot and at that cost of fuel, which to be honest, I think should be higher to put people off using as much gas, but then everyone in the US would revolt.

It's better to burn out than to fade away


Julie2022member
145 posts
Location: Little Rock, AR


Posted:
See - like I've said in another post elsewhere, America is a bit behind in learning these things. I didn't even know that electric this and that for lawncare existed until I realized that I needed to buy something just for that.
Off topic a bit, I know.

Back to it - there's really no way of telling when it's going to run out. What you really need to consider is how expensive it's going to be. Honestly, I'd say spare yourself some agony and go ahead and plan for that electric/hybric car - you'll thank yourself.

"I'm your Huckleberry."

The muse spake her thought and then there was silence. Thy spiked tongue had melted, only a bitter heart remained.


dreamSILVER Member
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand


Posted:
Think about all the things oil is used for... plastics, pesticides pharmaceuticals... and its not only things that start with p. By taking apart hydrocarbon atoms scientists have come up with all kinds of things that we take for granted today.

Oil isn't just going to run out one day, it's just going to get more and more expensive. The last oil find to be considered major was over twenty years ago. But that doesn't mean we aren't finding smaller amounts. Add to that the fact that as the price of oil goes up it becomes economically viable to extract oil reserves currently deemed too difficult to obtain, ie those which are in remote locations or very very deep. But before we run outta gas we ought to have cut right down on fossil fuel usage anyways, that is if we value the biosphere more than short term economic gain.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Nietzsche


pricklyleafSILVER Member
with added berries
1,365 posts
Location: Manchester, England (UK)


Posted:
How fast do electric cars etc go? Last time I heard it was about 30ph (sorry don't know conversion). It would be really funny if we all had to suddenly convert back to slow cars, it would be really intresting to see what would happen, how people would cope. Plus there would be so many lass deaths. Anyway so off topic, sorry.

What worries me is that governments aren't doing anything about it, it's all very well stockpilling fuel, but ultimately it won't stop it running out. If we don't start taking measures now its going to be too late. 30 years is not a long time.

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson


thelostSILVER Member
mmm...i feel all warm and fuzzy... 'no dude, that's your hair on fire'
355 posts
Location: Birmingham, Australia


Posted:
Written by: pricklyleaf

(sorry don't know conversion)




60mph is 100kmh (or there abouts)

I don't see the point of government stockpiling and not investing money in research for alternative sources of power...stockpiling means 'more for them'...if there becomes an outright war for oil as it gets shorter in supply, the countries with the biggest stockpiles are gonna get it bad...and people are probably gonna end up doing what happend in iraq in several places i think...burn the oil deposits with the 'if we can't have it, no one can attitude'...wow, that REALLY helps with the situation doesn't it...

It's better to burn out than to fade away


IgirisujinSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,666 posts
Location: Preston, United Kingdom


Posted:
I think electric cars go abit faster than 30mph, i think they can go up to 60 or 70...im not sure tho.

Chief adviser to the Pharaoh, in one very snazzy mutli-coloured coat

'Time goes by so slowly for those who wait...' - Whatever Happend To Baby Madonna?


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
Fuel prices will rise in Northern Ireland to 92.4p per litre tomorrow.

Tesco has closed it's pumps (cynics would say to make more money tomorrow?!)

The implications of Katrina and this now inevitable £1/litre rise in fuel costs could bring some very difficult times ahead.

I'm quite nervous.

Getting to the other side smile


FireByNiteSILVER Member
Are you up for it??
349 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
Written by: Firepoise



The implications of Katrina and this now inevitable £1/litre rise in fuel costs could bring some very difficult times ahead.





As of 2 days ago over here I have to pay $1.61/litre to run my car. I'm not sure about conversion to pounds
It's pretty much doubled in the last 10 years since I started driving. Alot of people aren't finding it easy to cope

Are you up for it?
wink;)


VixenSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,276 posts
Location: Oxfordshire/Wiltshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
I think the thing that annoys me is that car companies have already designed cleaner friendlier cars.... they just wont release them until the world population is desperate for them... so they can get the most amount of money. xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.


Julie2022member
145 posts
Location: Little Rock, AR


Posted:
what irritates me is that they're so expensive. We're paying more for our "cleaner" truck than we were for our other truck. In a financial standpoint, with gas prices having gone us since them - it's costing us more, but, saving on some other issues so it's all good.

"I'm your Huckleberry."

The muse spake her thought and then there was silence. Thy spiked tongue had melted, only a bitter heart remained.


LemonkeyStalking amidst the desert, carrying an oversized scalpel...
1,019 posts
Location: Huddersfield + Hull Uni... UK.


Posted:
Written by: dream

Hydrogen fuel cells are exactly that... fuel cells not a way to generate power. They need to be charged, probably using electolysis, which again requires electricity (see above)




IF the charging required isn't too great, they could attach a dynamo on all four wheels to generate said charge for the spark, etc

Willy - is bad for your health...


dreamSILVER Member
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand


Posted:
the thing that annoys me is that car companies have already designed cleaner friendlier cars.... they just wont release them until the world population is desperate for them.

hybrid cars like the toyota prius which use an electric motor as well as a combustion engine are on sale. They have a fuel economy of about 55 miles per gallon averaged between city and motorway driving. This compares with SUV's which typically do 16-20mpg, one, (I think its a cadillac) does 12mpg. When we're running out of gas, using four times as much as is necessary because you want a big car to compensate for your small cock is about as sensible as spinning fire at a petrol station.

and if four dynamos produced enough energy to power an enginge powerful enough to shift a several ton block of metal up a hill there'd be no need for a fuel cell. Hence the need to charge the things.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Nietzsche


dreamSILVER Member
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand


Posted:
the thing that annoys me is that car companies have already designed cleaner friendlier cars.... they just wont release them until the world population is desperate for them.

hybrid cars like the toyota prius which use an electric motor as well as a combustion engine are on sale. They have a fuel economy of about 55 miles per gallon averaged between city and motorway driving. This compares with SUV's which typically do 16-20mpg, one, (I think its a cadillac) does 12mpg. When we're running out of gas, using four times as much fuel as is necessary because you want a big car to compensate for your small cock is about as sensible as spinning fire at a petrol station so you impress your macho mates.

and if four dynamos produced enough energy to power an engine powerful enough to shift a several ton block of metal up a hill there'd be no need for a fuel cell. Hence the need to charge the things.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Nietzsche


KaelGotRiceGOLD Member
Basu gasu bakuhatsu - because sometimes buses explode
1,584 posts
Location: Angels Landing, USA


Posted:
Written by:

hybrid cars like the toyota prius which use an electric motor as well as a combustion engine are on sale. They have a fuel economy of about 55 miles per gallon averaged between city and motorway driving. This compares with SUV's which typically do 16-20mpg, one, (I think its a cadillac) does 12mpg. When we're running out of gas, using four times as much as is necessary because you want a big car to compensate for your small cock is about as sensible as spinning fire at a petrol station.





hahah

Toyota has designed a purely Hydrogen powered car and lent it to a family in California for test driving. The results were positive, though the car is tiny and needs constant recharging at a hydrogen storage facility, of which there are very few in the US.

*is looking forward to more skyrocketing gas prices and SUV owners crying for mercy.

To do: More Firedrums 08 video?

Wildfire/US East coast fire footage

LA/EDC glow/fire footage

Fresno fire


jeff(fake)Scientist of Fortune
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
Petrol will run out in about 50 years but could concievably streach on for a few more decades depending on any new reserves or advances in mining. Prices will probably become obsene in a few decades though.

According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
the internal combustion engine is rubbish.
and the horrific amount of unnecessary plastic waste we create is just dumb.

but

i reckon oil won't run out for a lot longer than your estimates. In the 70's most of the estimates said we'd have run out by now. New reserves are still being found all the time. New ways to find new oil reserves are still being discovered. There's a lot of oil about.

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I'm surprised nobody said the obvious.



The petrol will never run out. It will just become less and less cost effective as the reserves become more and more difficult to find and harder to drill for. Gas prices will rise until people can no longer afford to use gas, then they'll look elsewhere.



The idea that planet earth will run out of oil on a given day is a bit oversimplified.



Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Also, it'd be great if we all drove electric cars rather than gasoline because as we all know, electricity comes from MAGIC.

(Stole that from a comedian, still think it's funny.)

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
point taken.

So when will oil run out (to the extent where supplies are so scarce that its use becomes uneconomic)?

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


Julie2022member
145 posts
Location: Little Rock, AR


Posted:
Well, ask most people and they think that's happening, already, Simian. whether it really is happening that way *shrug* - but whenever gas goes up a bit, people run out to fill their tanks. As if it's not going to be so much more expensive when they go out.

The reason why it's such a big deal in America is because America wasn't colonized, expanded or formed based on everything being close-together or local. So many people drive 30 minutes or an hour to work. Drive downtown, 20 minutes, go to the bank, 10 minutes, church, 30 minutes, blah blah. For centuries that's how we've gone - even before Ford invented the automobile it was: Drive way out to the unknown part of the US to claim land in our horse-drawn carriage. And out in the middle of nowhere spring up a town that's spread out over miles and miles so everyone has to walk or buggy into town. It's not just a modern thing.

However, it's something that has to change. Some people will change for the environmental concerns. Some will change for the financial. And a lot won't change at all because no matter how expensive gas/petrol gets - they'll still have the money to buy it.

Oh, that's another thing - Finances and money is the biggest issue in America to anyone. If something happens or doesn't happin - it's 'cause of money. Moving to a new town - how's your money? Can you afford to do this, that, the other? money money money.

I get this feeling that America is more obsessed with money than any other country. Am I right? I'm curious as to why...

ok, that was so offtopic smile

"I'm your Huckleberry."

The muse spake her thought and then there was silence. Thy spiked tongue had melted, only a bitter heart remained.


flamazinejourneyman
91 posts
Location: Manchester


Posted:
I know a bloke who buys rapeseed oil from the supermarket at about 45p a litre and pours it straight into his fuel tank. He puts in about the same amount of diesel and his car works fine. Smells like a chippy though. He says that in the winter you need to add a bit of central heating oil to thin it and that only costs about 30p a litre. Most of the money paid for fuel is used to fight wars to take out dictators of countries that control the oil. If we all drove vegetable oil cars we wouldn't need to fight those wars and also, using vegetable oil is much closer to being carbon neutral.

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!


EeraBRONZE Member
old hand
1,107 posts
Location: In a test pit, Mackay, Australia


Posted:
The old "oil will run out in X many years..." chestnut keeps popping up. They tend to forget to add on the next line: "at todays economic price."

The average oil reserve gets shut down at 40% depletion, that's the stage when you have to do a bit more work to extract the oil and so it becomes uneconomic. If every reserve of liquid oil shut down then the price of oil goes up and it becomes economical to go to 50% depletion. Don't forget that petrol can be extracted from tar if you set your cracking column right, so at some point the La Braea (sp?) tar pits will become economical to mine.

Furthermore, the oil industry is largely driven by plastics, so while it's all good to say that we should all be driving hydrogen cars or whatever, as long as we need plastics the volatile component (petrol) will simply be burned off adding to our environmental woes.

There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Are you me? wink

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


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