# Apparently, We're Out of Oil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306 "2004-12-06T03:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/21 "2004-12-07T00:01:26Z")
While not entirely on topic this is somewhat relevent. Somewhere I read (I know I’ll be hearing people yell “CITE” as I try and sleep tonight, but google isn’t helping me at the moment. I DID read this in a CREDIBLE book and not some blog or tin foil hat webpage. It may have been in “Culture Jam” by Kalle Lasn. Even if the statement is exaggerated it still makes its point. _phew_) that it would take the equivalent of FOUR planet Earths to provide the resources necessary to expand the level of consumption (Oil plays a big part there both in fuel and plastics) “westernized” nations have for every nation. I met the once-head of the Canadian Stock Exchange (before the dot com burst) and asked him about this. He had a rather interesting response (paraphrased, of course): “Before the invention of cars the city of New York realized that the projected number of people living in the city in just several years would require so much traffic that the city would become unliveable as the amount of manure on the streets would surpass any possible sanitation plan. The car was invented and live went on in New York.” My response: “So you’re saying we’ll invent something in the nick of time that will entirely free us from the potential problems of consuming nonrenewable resources?” His response: “Yes.” I hope he’s right but I have big doubts when _our_ nation’s energy plan was created by oil execs and even cutting back on oil consumption through hybrid cars will _still_ use oil… That’s besides the point that we still use massive amounts of oil in production of probably a hundred things within reach of you as you sit wherever you are reading this. Oh well. Whether it was the 1990s, later this decade or maybe near the end of my lifetime we’re going to see some BIG changes (if and) when the leading democracy, hyperpower, and consumption role model for the rest of the world comes crashing down. At least it won’t be boring ;). ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/22 "2004-12-07T00:27:47Z")
And then of course we must recognize that the great minds in Detroit are helping to fix the problem. They are now selling Hummers to urban housewives. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/23 "2004-12-07T00:47:32Z")
Thank gods I switched my doomsday ships to nuclear power, and bought several thousand tons of Uranium. Now, I can just sit back, and wait for the worlds fuel supplies to run out, then conquer the planet while the nations’ militaries are stuck in their bases. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/24 "2004-12-07T01:12:59Z")
Whales, yeah, that’s the ticket, we can go back to using whale oil. Maybe we could farm them, herd them, breed them, etc. And ladies we can go back to whale bone corsets. I’ve seen the future and it’s the past. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/25 "2004-12-07T01:14:55Z")
> [@PictsiePat](#): > > Whales, yeah, that’s the ticket, we can go back to using whale oil. Maybe we could farm them, herd them, breed them, etc. And ladies we can go back to whale bone corsets. I’ve seen the future and it’s the past. :dubious: Gentlement, we have met ourselves. And they are us. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/26 "2004-12-07T01:33:44Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Well, we still have plenty of Coal and Uranium. And we have plenty of turkey guts, too. Apparently, the [thermal depolymerization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization) technology is running at 667% efficiency in real-world commercial-use conditions over in Carthage. Missouri, that is. It’s generating 100 units of energy for every 15 units of energy put into it, producing about 100-200 barrels of number 2 and number 4 oil per day. Perhaps we could snag **Una** into giving us a real-world breakdown on how significant that amount of production is. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/27 "2004-12-07T01:59:24Z")
So…the factory is working, then? Last I heard there were issues that were blamed on the construction contractors/parts manufacturers or some such. Have they actually filled a barrel with oil yet? (kind of a long request for a “cite” for sucessful commercial-level implementation at the Missouri plant) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/28 "2004-12-07T02:10:07Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > We’re also heavily dependent on petrochemicals for manufacturing, though-- and neither coal nor uranium are particularly useful materials in that respect. Synthetic petrochemicals are technologically possible, and Coal is fairly useful for creating them. (Or turkey guts, for that matter, as **Punoqllads** notes.) [cartoonish supervillainy mode]Hell, if the tech works, and if we get desperate enough, maybe we could turn dead _people_ into synthetic petroleum![/cartoonish supervillainy mode] ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/29 "2004-12-07T02:37:32Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Synthetic petrochemicals are technologically possible, and Coal is fairly useful for creating them. (Or turkey guts, for that matter, as **Punoqllads** notes.) > > [cartoonish supervillainy mode]Hell, if the tech works, and if we get desperate enough, maybe we could turn dead _people_ into synthetic petroleum![/cartoonish supervillainy mode] [Charleton Heston]Solyent Black is made of people!![/CH] ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/30 "2004-12-07T04:59:27Z")
Curses. Too late for the obvious soylent feed… \<\\> ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/31 "2004-12-07T08:05:54Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > (kind of a long request for a “cite” for sucessful commercial-level implementation at the Missouri plant) Well, at the Wikipedia site that I cited it cites some sites where you might sight [http://www.changingworldtech.com/information\_center/press\_releases.asp?id=19](http://www.changingworldtech.com/information_center/press_releases.asp?id=19). I can’t find anything more recent than July, but they were apparently back on track and producing oil. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/32 "2004-12-07T12:50:05Z")
“The Stone age didn’t end because of a lack of stone, it ended because of _bronze_.” [http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?print\_page=y§ion\_id=20&article\_id=1502&page\_number=1&preview=](http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?print_page=y§ion_id=20&article_id=1502&page_number=1&preview=) ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306/33 "2004-12-07T12:51:39Z")
Oh. Wait. You didn’t **want** me to be rational. Did you? :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-were-out-of-oil/278306.md?page=1)