Peak Oil Concerns

[Volrath]

well unlike your apperant self-absorbed dream world where everyone lives with-in 20-minute walking disantces of everything they need to go, some people have to get to work which is an hour away by car, oh and then when your "new" cars come out ill have to shell out the 15,000 it costs to buy one? forget it,i dont have that kind of money to jus throw around unlike some people

[Marshmallow]

Volrath: Wow, you seem to be a very angry person.

Masaya: I tend to agree with your idea . . . to a certain extent. Although we certainly do need an alternative fuel source, and soon, a willing transition to said fuel source would be a better bet than a transition during a crisis. If oil were to run out so abruptly, not only would a panic probably ensue, but we'd have to most likely switch back to coal, which is a nightmare to the environment when burnt. My hope is that we're able to switch to more sustainable, environmentally friendly sources of fuel. Though I'd like it if people were to stop relying on cars, it's really not feasable to do so. However, it's not like new types of cars aren't being produced. Hybrid cars are becoming more and more prevalent nowadays, and people who drive them are getting special priviledges in some areas (In CA, I believe, drivers of certain hybrids can drive in the commuter lane without any passengers). Also, hydrogen fuel cell cars (or I should really say car, in the singular) are being tested. Though there's only one currently, it is being consumer tested by a family in CA (at least I think it was CA. I read the article a while ago). The downside is that until consumers can be persuaded to buy these hydrogen cars en masse, they're going to be obscenely expensive (the one in the article cost $1 million)

[sybillious]

yes, i saw that news story about the alaskan bill; greed takes over and more of what's pristine will be destroyed in favor of money making. another great project funded by our government; they make the money but don't worry or care about what's destroyed along the way.

as for dream worlds, i guess a dream world where less pollution is present is a bad thing, right? so much easier to think in one dimension, rather than consider other angles. hydrogen may not be the only possible source, but with our government's need *greed* to focus on petroleum, we won't see funding shifted to these avenues, just shifted to searching for more oil.
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prinny...DOOD!

gotta gotta get a...SPICE WEASEL!

to paraphrase my fellow mod, parallax:
I hate my job with the passionately burning intensity of a thousand fiery suns.

[Volrath]

[Removed inflammatory content]

[Volrath]

ok since i personally attacked someone in my last post ill rephase my opinion

this is all george w. bush's fault

[Loran Cehack]

Uhhh what? I'm no Bush fan, but how is it his fault that the world is running out of cheap oil?
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[Volrath]

apparently thats what people want to hear around here since i cant for my own opinion on the matter

[Loran Cehack]

If you had stated your opinion in a more civil tone it might have been better recieved.
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[Volrath]

all i asked was if a certain person still attended school or was a person who is in the workforce so sorry that i defended my opinion i will never engage in discussion on these boards again

[Loran Cehack]

*sigh* You're not being honest, if I can remember correctly you basically insinuated that the person must still be in school and not in the workforce because they wouldn't have said something so stupid if they had been.
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[Ninjar]

I really don't see that someone in the workforce is more educated than an individual in school. I don't think that an immediate end to oils availability would solve the problem either. People need to start working together on this issue and stop arguing. Truly the best hope at the moment seems to be solar power or hydrogen fuel cells for running vehicles.

[Volrath]

ok i am not being honest I obviously was hinting they were still in school because they have no idea how much people rely on cars to do everything(in America). Also they fail to realize that

1.not everyone can afford a new hybrid car(obviously no one likes to use alot of gas if i could have a hybrid car i would)

2.not everyone can walk or ride a bike or take a train and expect to be at work on time.

3.This is not all america's fault

4.when i see our government this our government that obvious to me you're talking about bush

5.my opinion was stated as one sided when that person failed to realize the factor of the amount of people that use cars and the amount of money it would take to switch over to a new source even if we found one to use.

6.im pretty sure the alaska bill was denied.

and im sorry for even saying anything in this thread at all it is completly one sided against my opinion(before i even stated it). I tend to get into political stuff too much and i usually end up trying to hard to disprove something that doesnt even matter. again i am sorry for those i have offended, and this will be my last post on any political discussion, or any type of discussion not involving suikoden on these boards.

[Loran Cehack]

I think the only person that blamed the US government for anything was sybillious and even then it was blaming them for not looking for alternitive fuel supplies. This topic is about wether or not we should be concerned about running out of affordable oil. In fact you never even gave your opinion on whether or not we should be concerned about it.
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[Parallax]

Hmm...I've heard an awful lot about Peak Oil in these last few years, especially as I took some classes my Freshman year about solar energy and whatnot. The fact that I failed that class by never showing up is entirely beside the point...but peak oil is a real concern, that some of us will probably have to deal with in our lifetimes. I sort of agree with SARS that exactly how dangerous this crisis is is questionable. We have the ability to synthesize a lot of the products currently made with oil, it's just cheaper to make them with oil. Also, we already have a few alternative energy sources...I saw at least three of them brought up earlier in the discussion...

We already make some (the key word here is most definitely some) use of hydroelectric, wind, and solar power. Some countries also generate a greater or lesser amount of power with nuclear reactors. Each of these has its own set of drawbacks though...wind power isn't very efficient. You have to build an awful lot of windmills to generate a significant amount of power, and they're reliant on local climate conditions. A region that experiences insufficient wind forces would never be able to survive off of wind power, even if they had the land space to devote to it. Hydroelectric power is clean and produces substantial energy, but is limited by location. Nuclear power presents serious issues regarding the proper disposal of nuclear waste, and the slim (but real) chance of a core meltdown. Solar energy is clean and can be very effective, but has limitations in sunlight exposure and land area needed for panels.

I suppose the main issue facing peak oil is the reliance of some nations (especially the United States) on gas-powered automobiles. Without them, every day life becomes virtually impossible in many places around the country. I frankly would like to see more effort put into developing cars that run on alternative energy...it would just make me feel more comfortable about the way things are developing. I suppose that necessity is the mother of invention though.

I agree with Volrath here:

[Username]

I have to agree with Volrath (Not his way he argues or his temper, but his points)

Wishing people to suffer is plain wrong. And that is what would happen if prices shot up that high. Think in terms of man. People were stealing gas and yelling at the gas attendants when it hit a peak five dollars. Think what those morons would do if something like that were to happen? Innocent people would suffer; People might even kill over gas, Stealing gas from other people's vehicles! Don't put it past man for a second.

And people have jobs that require a vehicle. If prices shot that high public transportations would stop due to prices. Schools couldn't afford to use buses anymore. It would put drivers jobs at risk and cause poverty to rise! Use your imagination! I think we depend on oil too much but you can't just take a coke head off of coke and expect him to survive or get better it has to be a gradual change and not forced.

Alternative fuel is too expensive right now (Shouldn't be if those fat cats had any foresight) I know my family can't afford it. Sure there is coal driven trains but how many of those still exist not to mention working tracks! Not nearly as many as people remember!

The Government like many others share the blame for the current slouch in oil and it's mass use. We the people don't demand new ways as much as we should, and oil companies refuse to see that a gradual change is needed and beneficial in the long run. I could go on as to the faults but that won't fix this problem. We need to (While still using oil) demand a better and cheaper way, and help the people (Concerned scientist and others) in finding ways to improve Hydrogen cars so we all can share in the eventual benefits.
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