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Can we live without oil?
Do some math. Take a city of 4 million people.
If everyone needs a pound of food per day, thats 2000 tons of food per day. Can't move that with a horse and buggy.
Refrigerating that food. At 1 kilowatt per pound thats 4000 megawatts.
That's just food. Then there's power, transport, hospitals, sanitation. Wind and solar don't have the energy densities of oil.
Desalination is a rising issue as the world looks to water. Its power-hungry but water is a necessity. Iran is smart, they're looking to nuclear because they know the oil will run out. How about the rest of us?
5 Answers
- 2 decades agoFavorite Answer
Nobody has to sacrafice anything! We just have to start living in the 21st century and not in the 1890's. I use no oil/gas/coal! You can too. Just a matter of will. Choices man! If you want to buy food that was shipped across the planet that's your choice. If you want to rely of electricity from a coal fired plant because the power company wants to get fat on your money and not invest in "new" technology and just keep using the plant they built in the 60's and you don't complain... That's a choice you've made. I don't want to live in 1924! So why do we let billion dollar power companies choose that for us? You don't use a computer from the 70's or a phone from the 70's or fly in a plane from the 70's... so why would you power your house with 1960's technology? Or drive a car that runs on 1940's technology? Or...
But most of the world uses very little oil and that's why it's such a big problem 'cause there's still a long way to go, in the wrong direction, if everyone follows the western model...
And nuclear is not the option. You are making choices for people 250,000 years in the future... That's about 500x times worse than coal or oil... All that stuff is seperated from us by 100 meters of solid rock for a reason... it's the people who aren't around yet to cast a vote that are going to pay the cost of these choices, right?
-What couldn't you move by electricity? We need to convert our trains and other transport infrastructure from 1800's technology to 21st century technology. Or is this ancient infrastructure supposed to do us for another 200 years? You're right, if nobody puts any money into it we can't.
"Wind and solar dont have the densities of oil" 'cause for 100 years we've been pouring tonnes and tonnes of money into the technology (or lack of) and gov't has paid the bill for oil infrastructure...
If tomorrow we put half that effort into solar, wind etc we sure would be able to meet our present and future needs...
-There is a guy in Denmark who makes wind turbines that are only 5 feet tall and generate more power than those huge 20 storey things that are popular today. So every building could be topped with them (if we wanted...)
-A University in Australia (Perth I think) has developed a solar cell that uses special filaments to capture and convert sunlight into energy. And they are 20% more efficient than current solar cells. Why couldn't we make solar cells that are roofing tiles?
-There is a guy who has made an engine that runs on air. Compressed air propels a simple motor that he has been perfecting and putting into bigger and bigger vehicles for years.
-Contrary to popular belief we've known about and built hydrogen engines for 70 years... etc etc
It's billion dollar oil and gas companies that want you to "need" oil... And who do you think is pushing for "New Nuclear"? Not the public! But the billion dollar energy lobbies. The technology has been around for 60 years so it is very very cheap and easy for them to make a tonne of money on it at our expense.. And then the nuclear waste product can be sold to the military for new weapons projects. Sounds like a perfect plan to me...
There isn't a trillion dollar sanity lobby keeping all the money fiends and retards in check... If you are going to make choices for my grand childrens grand children, I want to have a say about it... There isn't American air or Dutch water or Chinese soil. It's dynamic and doesn't obey our maps. It's everyones and mostly it's the people who aren't around yet to cast a vote that are going to pay our bills...
And even if it was a sacrafice (which it isn't in any way) what kind of fool wouldn't make that sacrifice for their children? Higher taxes or less water consumption or demanding that big business take responsability for their pollution and waster... What kind of fool...?
Do the math!
- 2 decades ago
We did it for CENTURIES!!! However we are so SPOILED by cars, and other things, it would be difficult if you worked far from home!...as far as IRAN is concerned, with all due respect, THEY ARE NOT JUST LOOKING FOR WAYS TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY OUTPUT! They are determined to obtain a NUCLEAR DEVICE and the MEANS OF SHOOTING IT OVER INTO ISRAEL OR EUROPE! I don't mean to switch subjects, but Iran smart? Crafty maybe...shrewd perhaps...but fooling noone.
- 2 decades ago
As long as we don't mind the inconveniences it will bring, why not? However, in modern society, I think most of us would suffer without these conveniences.
- Anonymous2 decades ago
yes
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- Anonymous2 decades ago
absolutly, if cave men and cowboys lived without it we sure as hell can