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Peak Oil and Population reduction

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iamnotaparakeet
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02 Mar 2011, 1:26 pm

ruveyn wrote:
iamnotaparakeet wrote:
jamieboy wrote:
Maybe this question has been covered earlier in the thread but what are the potential benefits to the human race of space exploration relative to the economic cost?


In terms of this thread, space exploration - and more importantly emigration into space - would allow for there to be more resources per capita. The infrastructure in space would need to be in place before such emigrating could begin, but once the space industry is finally self sufficient it would be able to enable its own further expansion to the not-completely-lethal planets and moons of this solar system as well as the construction of more and more vast space stations. Being able to produce agriculture aboard centrifugal stations is a prerequisite to the further development of the space industry, but once that hurdle has been surpassed I think the rest would follow soon after.


Aside from orbital habitats there is no other place in the solar system where we can live, but here on Earth. And since the stars are so far away the solar system is the only neighborhood we shall inhabit for the foreseeable future.

ruveyn


Aside from orbital habitats, there is no other place currently in use. However, "ground-based" habitats on the moon are possible with current technology, although they'd be comparable more to an oversized lunar lander until any construction upon the moon were to start.



ruveyn
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02 Mar 2011, 4:09 pm

JWC wrote:
I work in oil and gas exploration, and I assure that we are nowhere near running out of oil.


And even further from running out of energy. What is lacking is mostly will and wits, not the material.

ruveyn



JWC
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02 Mar 2011, 4:16 pm

I'm sitting in an office with 1300 people who have both the will and the wits.



ruveyn
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02 Mar 2011, 4:18 pm

JWC wrote:
I'm sitting in an office with 1300 people who have both the will and the wits.


Well, all you need is the money and a way of removing the ecological crazies from circulation.

ruveyn



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02 Mar 2011, 4:24 pm

We've got the money. Would love to get rid of the ecological crazies, unfortunately most of them are running our gov't.



skafather84
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02 Mar 2011, 4:39 pm

JWC wrote:
I work in oil and gas exploration, and I assure that we are nowhere near running out of oil.


Define nowhere near running out. Is this like "the arctic ice caps are melting soon and there are giant reserves underneath" or "there are a ton of deep water sites" type nowhere near running out or actual land-based "no where near running out".


Also, there's a difference between running out and getting past peak production, do you mean we're nowhere near past peak production or simply that there are still reserves left in many wells that have peaked?


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02 Mar 2011, 4:48 pm

In most cases, we are only able to extract about 1/3 of the oil within a reservoir; as new technology develops, more is able to be extracted. Think of it this way: try to visualize a giant tub that contains all of the oil that man has ever pulled out of the ground. Now multiply that by 3. That is the amount of oil that we know is out there. Then factor in that the total amount of known oil reserves increases by approx. 15% every fiscal quarter. (These are by no means intended to be taken as exact figures, just in the ballpark to get the point across.)



skafather84
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02 Mar 2011, 5:26 pm

JWC wrote:
In most cases, we are only able to extract about 1/3 of the oil within a reservoir; as new technology develops, more is able to be extracted. Think of it this way: try to visualize a giant tub that contains all of the oil that man has ever pulled out of the ground. Now multiply that by 3. That is the amount of oil that we know is out there. Then factor in that the total amount of known oil reserves increases by approx. 15% every fiscal quarter. (These are by no means intended to be taken as exact figures, just in the ballpark to get the point across.)


Yeah, I know it's a moving target at spots but there seems to be a distinct peak oil effect for at least the time being until said new technology is developed.

What is that 15% growth representative of? New exploratory efforts? Is this growth like we'll be able to explore domestic sites again (old sites)?


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02 Mar 2011, 5:34 pm

New technology comes to market every single day. It's not a case of one big leap; more like a million small steps.

Yes, primarily new exploratory efforts. My intention was to make a conservative estimate, it very well could be much more. Many companies only buy wells that major oil companies have abandoned and profit by coming up with creative ways to extract more oil from them.