Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:27 pm
I agree with Cold Void on this, he has hit the nail on the head about Global Warming.
Concerning Plastics, I was considering the same conumdrum earlier but the more I thought I about, the more I realised it is was less of an issue that one might think. There is very few plastic products in existance to which there isn't an alterntive for them. Indeed, Plastics are a recent invention that have found their way into every home, but virtually every plastic can be built with other materials (metals, paper and ceramic being the main three).
And the other thing is that the problems of being without plastics is a short term problem only once (and if) space exploration gets under full swing and we start exploring properly the rest of our solar system, there is solutions at hand. Most plastics are made up of Hydro-Carbons (if I remember my chemistry days at college correctly). This means essentially, plasitcs are a composition of Hydrogen and Carbon atoms, sometimes with a few oxygen atoms chucked in for good measure. Hydrogen and Oxygen are easily obtainable (Electrosis again from water, not only from this planet as we know ice is abundance in the solar system) and astronomers have figured out many of the asteroids in this solar system are mostly carbon based.
Off course, one could also use the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen gained out there to synthesis oil and petrolium as well, but by the time we could do that, the only use out of oil will probably be as a lubricant as we will have turned to other fuel sources by then.
But back to the topic of the thread (and all this intrinsically connected), I will re-illiterate a point I made earlier, I wonder if the oil companies realise that the oil is running short (whatever side of the fence you sit on with the Global Warming issue, no one can refute that there is only a finate about of oil locked up in the Earth's crust) which is why prices are rocketting, especially with increased demand from countries that are catching the rest of us up (like China). Very few scientists will tell you that if we continue to use oil like we do that it will last more than the next 100 years, and if demand is increasing.... well, thats even less time left.
Again, scientists are in disagreement as to how many years we have left, but predictions are between 5-75 years left of oil at the current rate. And as much as we may think about how we survive today with high prices for petrol in our cars today (I am not a car owner, I use public transport as much as possible and half the buses in our city are on gas power instead of diesal - not that it is really much better as there is only so much gas as well), I have to consider even more the world off tomorrow for my children as well in which oil and petrol will no longer exist as a consumer product. If the higher prices is them funding research into alternative power sources (I know Shell and BP do carry out scientific research into alternative power sources) I have to ask, is some discomfit in higher prices today going to make a better future for my kids tomorrow?
But another thing to throw into the mix, completely of the conservation track but another possible cause of higher prices is the knock on effect of every disaster that occurs in regards to oil. In 1991, Sadam Hussain in his temper over the Allied Forces increasing victories against him, set fire a large number of oil wells in Kuwait and caused one of the largest oil spills in history into the gulf. My father was there onboard a Royal Naval Mine Hunter and he brought back footage on a camcorder that I have watched repeatidly of events in the gulf (this is the uncut stuff you don't see on the News). Despite whatever the news broadcast at that time (and I remember it well), it was nothing compared to the uncut stuff. The coast was no where in sight for the ship, yet the oil spill was so bad that the part of the gulf they sailed through looked solid and the sky, in the middle of the day at the equator, was black with oil smoke. One wonders how much was lost that year by the oil companies, not just in oil, but in production facilities as well. And how much does insurance companies pay out for losses incurred thanks to war, remembering the insurance bills against terrorism were only set up by insurrance companies shortly before 9/11. And even if insurance was paid, that will bump the oil companies premiums up considerably.
It is not the only disaster either to hit the oil companies in the last 15 years. Several more tankers have run aground and the companies not only have to try and claim back on insurance for the lost goods (not to forget that each one bumps the premiums up a little higher) but also are obligated to help fund the clean up operation. Parts of the Welsh coast are only now being declared clean once more after a tanker spilled it contents several years ago.
And if you want an example of another oil disaster in the last 15 years, what about accidents at oil refineries? If you think they don't happen or are minor, think again. Late last year, one of the largest oil refineries in the UK caught fire in Hemel Hamstead. The entire refinery was wrecked, most of the drums ended up on fire and fire fighters struggled for days to bring the blaze under control. The smoke produced by it was occasionally visable to west of my own hometown, over 100km away from the source of the fire. Considering Britian is one of the many countries that has a large oil comsumption and that it was one of Britians largest refineries gone, that is even more oil lost and oh look... premiums with the insurance companies will have risen again.
I am not excusing it, don't get me wrong, but I am throwing ideas into the pot as to reasons.
Concerning Plastics, I was considering the same conumdrum earlier but the more I thought I about, the more I realised it is was less of an issue that one might think. There is very few plastic products in existance to which there isn't an alterntive for them. Indeed, Plastics are a recent invention that have found their way into every home, but virtually every plastic can be built with other materials (metals, paper and ceramic being the main three).
And the other thing is that the problems of being without plastics is a short term problem only once (and if) space exploration gets under full swing and we start exploring properly the rest of our solar system, there is solutions at hand. Most plastics are made up of Hydro-Carbons (if I remember my chemistry days at college correctly). This means essentially, plasitcs are a composition of Hydrogen and Carbon atoms, sometimes with a few oxygen atoms chucked in for good measure. Hydrogen and Oxygen are easily obtainable (Electrosis again from water, not only from this planet as we know ice is abundance in the solar system) and astronomers have figured out many of the asteroids in this solar system are mostly carbon based.
Off course, one could also use the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen gained out there to synthesis oil and petrolium as well, but by the time we could do that, the only use out of oil will probably be as a lubricant as we will have turned to other fuel sources by then.
But back to the topic of the thread (and all this intrinsically connected), I will re-illiterate a point I made earlier, I wonder if the oil companies realise that the oil is running short (whatever side of the fence you sit on with the Global Warming issue, no one can refute that there is only a finate about of oil locked up in the Earth's crust) which is why prices are rocketting, especially with increased demand from countries that are catching the rest of us up (like China). Very few scientists will tell you that if we continue to use oil like we do that it will last more than the next 100 years, and if demand is increasing.... well, thats even less time left.
Again, scientists are in disagreement as to how many years we have left, but predictions are between 5-75 years left of oil at the current rate. And as much as we may think about how we survive today with high prices for petrol in our cars today (I am not a car owner, I use public transport as much as possible and half the buses in our city are on gas power instead of diesal - not that it is really much better as there is only so much gas as well), I have to consider even more the world off tomorrow for my children as well in which oil and petrol will no longer exist as a consumer product. If the higher prices is them funding research into alternative power sources (I know Shell and BP do carry out scientific research into alternative power sources) I have to ask, is some discomfit in higher prices today going to make a better future for my kids tomorrow?
But another thing to throw into the mix, completely of the conservation track but another possible cause of higher prices is the knock on effect of every disaster that occurs in regards to oil. In 1991, Sadam Hussain in his temper over the Allied Forces increasing victories against him, set fire a large number of oil wells in Kuwait and caused one of the largest oil spills in history into the gulf. My father was there onboard a Royal Naval Mine Hunter and he brought back footage on a camcorder that I have watched repeatidly of events in the gulf (this is the uncut stuff you don't see on the News). Despite whatever the news broadcast at that time (and I remember it well), it was nothing compared to the uncut stuff. The coast was no where in sight for the ship, yet the oil spill was so bad that the part of the gulf they sailed through looked solid and the sky, in the middle of the day at the equator, was black with oil smoke. One wonders how much was lost that year by the oil companies, not just in oil, but in production facilities as well. And how much does insurance companies pay out for losses incurred thanks to war, remembering the insurance bills against terrorism were only set up by insurrance companies shortly before 9/11. And even if insurance was paid, that will bump the oil companies premiums up considerably.
It is not the only disaster either to hit the oil companies in the last 15 years. Several more tankers have run aground and the companies not only have to try and claim back on insurance for the lost goods (not to forget that each one bumps the premiums up a little higher) but also are obligated to help fund the clean up operation. Parts of the Welsh coast are only now being declared clean once more after a tanker spilled it contents several years ago.
And if you want an example of another oil disaster in the last 15 years, what about accidents at oil refineries? If you think they don't happen or are minor, think again. Late last year, one of the largest oil refineries in the UK caught fire in Hemel Hamstead. The entire refinery was wrecked, most of the drums ended up on fire and fire fighters struggled for days to bring the blaze under control. The smoke produced by it was occasionally visable to west of my own hometown, over 100km away from the source of the fire. Considering Britian is one of the many countries that has a large oil comsumption and that it was one of Britians largest refineries gone, that is even more oil lost and oh look... premiums with the insurance companies will have risen again.
I am not excusing it, don't get me wrong, but I am throwing ideas into the pot as to reasons.
