Imagine a world without oil: Infographic
Thanks to our oil addiction, such a world would include rolling blackouts, minimal transportation, dwindling food supplies and possibly war.
Mon, Feb 06 2012 at 6:09 PM
 19
Infographic courtesy of One Block off the Grid
 
Infographic of the world without oil

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anonymous
Peter North Mar 13 2012 at 9:10 PM

The biggest problem is in this world is that is way too many people here and population keeps on rising. There is no way to stop our demise without some sort of disease or natural disaster to limit our population. sorry to be so morbid but it is the truth

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anonymous
animatorfrank Apr 10 2012 at 3:53 PM

Yes, it is said that a sustainable world population of humans is around 2 billion. We are heading towards 9 billion.

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anonymous
The Godfather Feb 12 2012 at 11:23 AM

You do know that Hemp fuel/oil would be the greatest thing. A plant that is the most universal the world has to offer. Something that can be grown anywhere, would make clothes, foods, buildings, houses, cars, plastics, fuel, and of course OIL.

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anonymous
guthrum Feb 11 2012 at 6:08 PM

World without oil? What about the oil we need for lubrication? Oil that is used in many engines, motors, and other machinery? How about hydraulic fluids? We get more than gasoline from petroleum. How about plastics?

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anonymous
Mark Goldes Feb 10 2012 at 12:42 AM

See Moving Beyond Oil at www.aesopinstitute.org

Note 400 Chernobyls? on the same website to understand why superseding fossil fuels can take place much more rapidly than might be imagined.

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anonymous
Muir Feb 09 2012 at 2:22 PM

Nice graphical representation, but the pic for 8.8 of 10 Americans commute by car shows 7.8 cars out of 10. Otherwise very well done.

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anonymous
Lonnie J. Harris Feb 08 2012 at 7:39 PM

I totally agree with Ron's suggestion of taxing gas an additional $3.00. It would be very painful for the 99% of the Nation, but pain is a great motivator for us to do what we need to do.

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anonymous
cannibal Feb 08 2012 at 8:37 PM

Taxation hasn't stopped people fom smoking or drinking.

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orbit7er
orbit7er Feb 08 2012 at 11:05 AM
The FIRST thing to save oil is to run our existing Green public transit! Since the 2008 crash over 150 Green transit systems have had drastic service cuts and fare hikes just as public transit ridership was increasing by double digits in months. The US uses 3 times the oil per capita of Europe as a whole due to our auto addiction. Yet a Brookings study last May showed that 70% of working age Americans in 100 US metro areas ALREADY live only 3/4ths mile from a Transit Stop! BUT due to infrequent service,
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lack of local/express service, horrible connections and the last mile only 30% could reach a job in less than 90 minutes during peak commute times. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0512_jobs_and_transit.aspx Rail is in many cases ALREADY electric, uses 10-12 times less land, is already "automated" so that personal driving is not required, and uses way less energy and emits way less Greenhouse emissions than Autos. The US already has 233,000 miles of rails all over the US, in all likelihood within a mile or so of 90% of the readers of this Website. We need to run the trains we have, add local/express service, and provide the last mile connections via safe bikeways, walking or shuttles. During WW II in just 4 years from 1941-1945 the US quadrupled intercity train, bus and local transit ridership in order to save oil, rubber, metals for the War effort. If we value the planet and our future civilization we need to do the same again. For more info please see the well documented book - "Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight without Oil" http://transportrevolutions.info
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anonymous
mguyross Feb 08 2012 at 9:21 AM

Our national goal should be to totally remove ourselves from the use of oil, as quickly as possible; while reserving the remaining oil within our control. In other words: Instead of being dependent on the last drops of oil left; we should be in a position to be selling the last drops of oil left.

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anonymous
Richard H Feb 07 2012 at 11:33 PM
This seems to be operating from obsolete information. In 2005 it was accepted that Peak Oil was possible. Mainland american oil reserves reached a minimum amount in 2008. But, US oil reserves have increased every year since then. A new technology called horizontal drilling was developed. American oil drilling has advanced to the point that with a precise GPS location and depth, they can put a drill through a 5 gallon water bottle, vertically or horizally up to 5 miles down. The tech called fracking
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coupled with horizontal drilling is 20 times more expensive than conventional drilling, but yields much more oil per well that lasts decades longer. This is the neccessary combo to unlock shale deposits. There is one shale deposit that was first drilled in 1902 and has produced 102 trillion barrels of oil. It was considered pumped dry. Recently, a new 3 billion barrel reserve has been proved from fracted horizontal wells. Oil industry insiders expect the Backen Shale to prove up 24 billion barrels when fully developed. The Eagle-Ford Shale is expected to have 20 billion barrels when fully developed. North America has most of the worlds shale deposits and many are unexplored.
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anonymous
Guest Feb 16 2012 at 5:22 PM

fracking - as you suggest - also includes damaging/poisoning the underground water tables. It is not a viable source at the expense of contaminating our natural water supplies.

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anonymous
Ben Feb 07 2012 at 10:10 AM

If you knew 5 minutes before the Titanic hit the iceberg, would you say - I and my family and friends are all going to die OR what steps can I take to give them the best chance possible to survive. (btw - the very best research on long term survival points to not personal, but immediate community networking and cooperation. ...and guess what else guns actually count less than connecting with neighbors!)

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anonymous
Spencer Lane Feb 08 2012 at 12:26 PM
Ben, I agree with you. Community will be the key to survival. You may already be aware of the Transition movement that began in the U.K. a few years back. People living in towns and villages are working to make their communities "resilient" to the end of oil. Here is a link to the U.S. efforts http://transitionus.org/ If I may add that the graphic is missing one key element and that is the current rate of consumption will never stay current. Consumption will increase which means the known and easily
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gotten oil will be depleted much sooner than 41 years. Oil companies are searching high and low for new areas to drill. Areas that carry much higher risks to people and the environment. Such activity is a clear sign the Oilygarchs are desperate and know the end of oil is near.
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anonymous
Alanis Feb 07 2012 at 4:12 AM

What can we do? At the moment, it sure looks like we are screwed.

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anonymous
Ron Feb 07 2012 at 3:32 PM

Tax gas an additional $3 per gallon. Many people will start walking and bicycling to and from school and work and the to grocery store. People will stop buying those big gas guzzling SUV's and get motorcycles and mopeds instead for longer commutes. This will encourage alternative fuel useage, and electric cars will start selling like crazy (which will bring their prices down to much more realistic values).

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anonymous
Guest Feb 10 2012 at 11:05 AM
Hi Ron Gas (petrol) is already taxed in the UK a whopping 88% it still makes no impact. government will not help this problem, we need to help ourslves, tell me was it because government cared about organic food, that we now have it? of course not, it was all down to folk who cared, not government. be the change you wish to see, you can only change what you can influence, & you can only influence what you can yourself directly change. only way this will happen PEACE, but not to statism, corporatism &
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amp; hierarchism "No service should be provided out the barrel of a gun. This is not freedom, it is tyranny" World Energy Need 470.8Quad btu= Oil Demand of 33.215Bn brl/yr Alleged Oil Reserves:1,383,Tr brls Reserve overestimate 58.75% average Probable True Reserves 666.2Bn Brls From Apr 2011 we've 20 yrs left, if we're lucky! Easy Access Oil gone: 2031 (Src: eia.gov, IEA, BP, Oil Drum(Apr-Jul 2011)
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anonymous
just your avera... Feb 11 2012 at 1:04 AM

Hey annonymous, I have been to the UK and guess what TAXING DOES MATTER! The vast majority of vehicles are small and run 4 cylinders. No V8 vettes, camaros, mustangs, challengers, tundras, silverados, tundras, f150s, rams or suvs. And people use mass transit MUCH more extensively.

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anonymous
Paul Scott Feb 07 2012 at 6:37 PM
Ron is correct in asking for a tax increase on oil. While $3/gallon is more than warranted, we'll have a very hard time getting even the smallest tax increase in today's political climate, but that shouldn't discourage us from trying. The argument can easily be made that additional taxes to cover the external costs of oil should be over $5 more then they are today, but let's start with something smaller and concrete that can be argued without opposition to everyone. A recent RAND study (http://www.
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rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG838.html), concluded that the U.S. military spends $80 billion per year protecting our access to the world's oil. These military costs are exclusive of the wars for oil, just protection. This works out to 55 cents/gallon based on last year's sales. There are many more external costs, from the wars to environmental and health costs that would easily cost several dollars per gallon to cover entirely, but concentrating on this one item would be easier to pass than going for all of it at once. Plus it's coming from the national security side of things, so opposition would be minimized.
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