Crude oil is vital for modern society to even function. But what would happen if we ran out of oil? Crude oil is the lifeblood of modern economies and nations, but what would happen if this vital fuel source were to ever be exhausted? Needless to say, it would be a pretty serious event.
But is it a realistic scenario for the future? If this ever happened, and our current logistical infrastructure had not responded in time, this would potentially be a very serious problem.
The human race is a global civilization and is heavily reliant on a plentiful supply of crude oil. Between and , humanity has seen an increase in demand for crude oil by about two and a half times. We are using twice as much coal and three times more natural gas. As you can see, if these supplies were to be perturbed significantly, it would be a big shock to the system, to say the least.
Oil, in particular, is an interesting and unique substance. It has a high energy content and is readily refined into liquid fuels through distillation. It's distillation products like petroleum and diesel, run practically every mode of transport around the world.
Oil and other fossil fuels are also vital for the production of electricity. We literally depend on them for pretty much everything.
Food, materials, clothes, computers, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, etc all either directly or indirectly require crude oil and other fossil fuels for parts of their production or transportation. Other resources, like natural gas, are also important for making some fertilizers. Without that food production would directly be affected around the world. Sticking with agriculture for a moment more, most of a farm's larger equipment and machinery, like tractors and combine harvesters, run on oil-fuel derivatives.
Planes, trains, and automobiles are also essential to move foodstuffs around the world. Unlike with a petrol engine, which will turn over with a couple of pumps of the accelerator after refuelling, getting a diesel going again may need a professional with the right tools. If you drive a hybrid, you still need to think about your fuel, because running out of both fuel and electricity really would leave you stuck.
You might think that the odds of running out of fuel are slim. But, these things do happen, especially if you get stuck in bad traffic for a long time. That way, the engine is only ever drinking clean fuel, and not the dirty stuff at the bottom of your tank. If the injectors are left plugged up too long, though, there's a chance you'll have to replace them which is a bummer, since most modern fuel injectors are designed to operate for about , miles.
When you completely run out of gas, your car shuts down as if you took the key out of the ignition while driving. That shutdown poses a serious risk for many reasons. Not only can it cause you to become distracted, but a change this sudden can cause mental panic and dangerous driving. Your brakes won't necessarily stop working when you run out of gas, but the brake pedal will feel much heavier and harder to push down.
Your brakes are power assisted and use hydraulics to transfer power from the brake pedal to the brake pads. But when your engine shuts off, this feature shuts off, too. Without a little hydraulic help, it's going to take a lot more leg power to stop your car. Something similar happens to your steering wheel. When you run out of gas, the first and most important thing to remember is to stay calm. If possible, exit the highway and find a parking lot or other open area free of traffic.
Avoid the left side of the road, which exposes you to the fast-moving traffic in the passing lane. Look for wider shoulders and straightaways. Your hazard lights were made for this is the type of situation! The lights help warn other drivers of your presence, especially if you are not able to move your car out of traffic. Because of global population rise, there is a growing demand for energy. This growth is endangering our future.
What will we do when fossil fuels run out? What energy sources can we rely on after this happen? In figure 1 [4] we show the future energy reserves in billions of oil equivalent, Btoe, as a function of year. While we obliviously use up fossil fuels without taking stock of about what future reserves look like, we should take note of the endpoints shown here. These endpoints are dangerously close: Since our society is so dependent on fossil fuels, it therefore is extremely important for us to know when these fuels will run out according to [4]:.
However, according to BP [5], earth has 53 years of oil reserves left at current rate of consumption. This is obviously unsustainable. These are horrific figures that will happen sooner than we can possibly mitigate. Global oil demand grew by 1.
It has consumed billion barrels [7]. The world has been consuming an equivalent of over 11 billion tonnes per year [4]. Crude oil reserves are vanishing at a rate of more than 4 billion tonnes a year. Many oil wells have already peaked and new wells are becoming more difficult to find. Another 1, billion barrels of proved and probable reserves remain to be recovered. The base case projects growth of around 3 million barrels per day over the next 5 years.
Overall projection is that global oil production capacity will grow by 6. BP has also revised its prediction which is similar. In its recently released Energy Outlook [10] , it predicts that the U. China and India have the highest rate of growth.
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