loss of fossil fuels - Writers Forum

saeferth · 02-28-2006, 01:28 PM

i need to know your opinions on what would happen to the world if fossil fuels were to suddenly run out. i need to know what you think would happen to technology, people and temperature in both long and short term

Drzava · 02-28-2006, 03:41 PM

I'd probably joyride less.

Hodge · 02-28-2006, 04:18 PM

If the world's fossil fuels suddenly disappeared (and I assume we're talking oil, coal, and natural gas), the economies of first world countries dependent on fossil fuels would collapse. This means the U.S.. France would be alright since they're mostly nuclear power, and I think a couple other European countries are off oil now... But for the most part, it would suck big time. Electricity prices would skyrocket in most places (those who live off hydro, wind, or nuclear power would be hit the least), and trade would come to almost a standstill. Countries would collapse, dictators would come into power, there would be mass rioting, revolutions, political coups--it would suck.

character1_Caitlin · 02-28-2006, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saeferth

i need to know your opinions on what would happen to the world if fossil fuels were to suddenly run out. i need to know what you think would happen to technology, people and temperature in both long and short term

Well for one things, I would be out of a job. However at times I am very conflicted with the company I work for.

I would like to see more exploration in alternative fuels for cars, and this dam western habit of big huge stinking vehicles has got to stop.

I see a few hummers go up and down Yonge street, like who the hell needs a dam tank to go to work?

A car is a means to go from point A to point B, a status symbol it should not be -- not just cause I do not have an expensive car but really it is just a car.

If you want smell like a deep fryer you can convert a diesal car to run on vegetable oil, and I know someone who is connected to an electric car society.

A really bad crisis will spur innovation.
Maybe the glaciers will stop melting eventually.

Plus what Hodge said -- Ditto

Drzava · 02-28-2006, 04:45 PM

But places like islands that are small, or use geothermal, like Iceland, would also face problems as they tend to be dependent on imports from other countries, so I don't think any place would be untouched except maybe a few tribes that are living in the stone age in Greenland or Siberia or something...

Mike C · 02-28-2006, 05:30 PM

Fossil fuels will not 'suddenly' run out. They'll be in short supply, and those with access to them will hoard them or profiteer from them. Which means the countries with the biggest requirement will 'acquire' the supplies. Which mean the west will have new reasons to dump on the middle east.

If they were to run out we'd suddenly find ourselves living in a pre-industrial revolution age. No cars. No machinery of any kind. No solar panels without the energy and plastics necessary to make them. Forget wind farms, or any kind of alternative energy sources - no means of casting lightweight alloys or producing the electronics. We'd get by for a while by cannibalising existing redundant equipment.

Drzava · 02-28-2006, 05:44 PM

I think when it gets down to crisis time America can tap into its oil and Canada can as well, the Middle East won't be vital during an emergency, but I would assume for the story that the supply will somehow run out suddenly

Hodge · 02-28-2006, 09:30 PM

We can create synthetic plastics, and ethanol works even better than gasoline, so our modern conveniences wouldn't disappear. They'd just become very, very scarce, and only the rich would be able to afford them.

Shawn · 03-01-2006, 11:03 AM

We'd have to learn to survive on our own again, without the use of modern technology, for the most part. People out at sea would be screwed... except for those in nuclear vessels. But there would be a transitional stage, oil can't suddenly disappear or anything; for something created over millions of years, it doesn't sound like its going to go away in a split second. Though the loss of fossil fuels would kind of be like natures way to reset...

saeferth · 03-01-2006, 04:36 PM

thanks for your help. i now need to think up a way i can have a sudden ice age that goes on for at least a thousand years (not some short thing like the day after tomorrow), but im having a bit of trouble, my dad suggests something like a fusion reactor (in the future obviously) going wrong and creating a small blackhole which sucks in all the heat, but i think that would destroy the world, and thats not gonna make much of a story. any ideas? id prefer something thats gonna draw in a lot of energy to one place, but i cant think of anyway i can do that.

Spudley · 03-01-2006, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hodge

the U.S.. France would be alright since they're mostly nuclear power

You're kidding, right??? Have you any idea how dependant the US is on the automobile, and on oil in general? (and France too, come to that)

If there were a sudden cut-off of all fossil fuels, the world economy would stop dead in its tracks. Practically everyone who lives in a city would be dead within a month or two, because without fuel, there would be no way to transport the food to the cities, the stores don't stockpile enough, nor in the right places, to cope with that kind of contingency, and the people living in the cities don't have the land, tool or skills to grow their own food.

People living in rural areas would be more likely to survive, but would descend quickly into subsistence living - or at least, those that had the ability to do so.

Hodge's reliance on nuclear wouldn't help, because without cars, the power plant technicians wouldn't be able to get there to keep them running. The power distribution network would also be unmaintainable, and even with nuclear power, only 20% of the total US electricity supply is nuclear (fact sheet link), so there certainly wouldn't be enough left to go round. The lack of power would have knock-on effects on water supply and sanitation, telephones, TV and radio, and most other services. Pretty much all modern technology would become useless (ie excluding the clothes on your back, probably 90% of what you own).

In short, there would be virtually no public utilities of any sort, no government, and no commerce, beyond local bartering.

Fortunately for us, however, the sudden cut-off scenario is implausible. Yes, the fuels will run out, and yes, it's perfectly possible that there may be severe shortages in the near future for one reason or another, but even if this did happen, there will be enough supply to keep the world economy ticking over, and prevent the city folk from starving to death.

The world (or at least, parts of it) is slowly trying to break the fossil fuel addiction, but it's a process that will take some time yet, and those changes are being made more because of the threat of global warming than any immediate pressure on fuel reserves.

Mike C · 03-01-2006, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saeferth

thanks for your help. i now need to think up a way i can have a sudden ice age that goes on for at least a thousand years.

Ah! Google 'nuclear winter'. all you need is a cloud of dust or sucklike that masks the sun, worldwide. It's thought that this effect, caused by a giant meteorite strike, led to the extinction of dinosaurs.

Spudley · 03-01-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saeferth

thanks for your help. i now need to think up a way i can have a sudden ice age that goes on for at least a thousand years (not some short thing like the day after tomorrow), but im having a bit of trouble, my dad suggests something like a fusion reactor (in the future obviously) going wrong and creating a small blackhole which sucks in all the heat, but i think that would destroy the world, and thats not gonna make much of a story. any ideas? id prefer something thats gonna draw in a lot of energy to one place, but i cant think of anyway i can do that.

The Day After Tomorrow seriously over-dramatised the whole thing, and made some huge errors, but they did get one thing right -- the world's current climate is dependant on the main ocean currents. Turn them off (or more accurately, change their course; you can't just turn them off), and half the northern hemisphere would freeze very rapidly (say within a couple of years), possibly as far south as northern Spain, depending on just how the currents were changed. Western Europe would suffer the worst, as the climate here is oceanic and relies on the gulf stream; The US and Russia would be less badly affected, since their continental climates already have cold winters quite far south. You could plausibly have the great lakes freeze over permanently, though.

Another possible cause of planetary cooling is volcanic activity. The erruption of Krakatoa cooled the earth by 1 degree C for several years, due to the amount of extra dust in the upper atmosphere. It doesn't sound much, but it is actually quite significant, and did cause noticeable changes in weather patterns. Given two or three eruptions like that in the space of a year or two (which is quite plausible), and you'd have enough cooling to cause serious climate problems. It wouldn't be long term, but it would be long enough to kill millions.

character1_Caitlin · 03-01-2006, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saeferth

thanks for your help. i now need to think up a way i can have a sudden ice age that goes on for at least a thousand years (not some short thing like the day after tomorrow), but im having a bit of trouble, my dad suggests something like a fusion reactor (in the future obviously) going wrong and creating a small blackhole which sucks in all the heat, but i think that would destroy the world, and thats not gonna make much of a story. any ideas? id prefer something thats gonna draw in a lot of energy to one place, but i cant think of anyway i can do that.

You could have your iceage brought on by a noble attempt to stop the current path of global warming that is in melting the worlds glaciers.
Not sure how you would do it but it could be something involving the ocean currents. Whatever manipulation was done to mother nature , has a horrible reprecussion thus bringing on a rapid ice age. ?

Just a thought.

Hodge · 03-01-2006, 08:22 PM

Solar emissions. The "little ice age" back in the 17th-19th century correlates directly with a sharp decrease of sun spot activity. Easy way to create another ice age (or a global warming effect).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spudley

You're kidding, right??? Have you any idea how dependant the US is on the automobile, and on oil in general? (and France too, come to that)

France wouldn't collapse. They'd still have power for the majority of the country, and France is actually less reliant on the automobile than the U.S. is. I'm not saying they'd be just peachy, but they wouldn't have a gargantuan spike in electricity prices and for the most part, everything would keep functioning. The U.S. I said would be screwed.