Thread: The next 30 years..........

Originally Posted by tkdyo

I believe you are being extremely over dramatic. Do you think the big wigs of our government and oil companies are just going to let the cash cow that is america die? No, they will take hold of the alternative energy sources and transfer us in to it. Same as oil and continue to profit from it. What good would it do them to let it all crumble and go to waste?

I agree with you that America won't just shrivel up and die.

But we will almost certainly start to lose our hegemony, and other countries will fill in the power gap for a multitude of reasons other than oil. I predict in 30 years, if America is still the largest producer/consumer, it will have lost major influence in other areas. The US is just no longer sustainable at status qoute.

If that happens, that would be a fairly significant change over thirty years.
I'm considering changing my vote because of that...

Originally Posted by spockman

I agree with you that America won't just shrivel up and die.

But we will almost certainly start to lose our hegemony, and other countries will fill in the power gap for a multitude of reasons other than oil. I predict in 30 years, if America is still the largest producer/consumer, it will have lost major influence in other areas. The US is just no longer sustainable at status qoute.

If that happens, that would be a fairly significant change over thirty years.
I'm considering changing my vote because of that...

yes, this I agree with. We cannot continue to be the worlds only superpower, we are spreading ourselves too thin and not making smart economic choices. I assume china and india will take more of the influence we have and continue to use us for selling goods. This is part of the reason why I am getting a minor in chinese

I believe you are being extremely over dramatic. Do you think the big wigs of our government and oil companies are just going to let the cash cow that is america die? No, they will take hold of the alternative energy sources and transfer us in to it. Same as oil and continue to profit from it. What good would it do them to let it all crumble and go to waste?

This assumes that there are viable alternatives.

The thing is, oil represents at least three different things: an energy source, an energy store, and a material.

Why should the oil companies be the ones who control the future energy technologies? Why not the existing energy companies?

Originally Posted by Xei

This assumes that there are viable alternatives.

The thing is, oil represents at least three different things: an energy source, an energy store, and a material.

Why should the oil companies be the ones who control the future energy technologies? Why not the existing energy companies?

I dont think they should. I just predict they will because they will have the money to buy out the energy companies ahead of time. Of course, I would be plenty happy if they didnt. The oil company ceos are among the worst gougers there are.

Though, yes, I assume there will be viable alternatives, but I think it will be a combination of different alternatives based on the area.

Also, while current oil forecasts give our globe maybe 50 years of oil left, these forecasts are very unreliable. In the 60s people thought oil would be gone by the 90s. In the 80s, alot of folks were saying that oil would be gone by- well- today.

But countries are A. Still stockpiling crude and B. Always researching ways to use previously unusable oil.

We may have to start using more expensive extraction techniques, use sub-standard oil, go to swamps and such, etc. But we won't run out for a loooong time, even if it becomes more expensive to produce and purchase. If anything, I would suppose oil efficiency and vehicle gas mileage would grow at a similar rate to prices inflating.

Also, while current oil forecasts give our globe maybe 50 years of oil left, these forecasts are very unreliable. In the 60s people thought oil would be gone by the 90s. In the 80s, alot of folks were saying that oil would be gone by- well- today.

Which people?

The people who were actually qualified saw a peak in production (very different from 'no production') coming at around 2000; the 70s oil shocks ended up pushing that back a bit, but in the last decade almost all geologists have been placing the peak around 2010.

I don't think it was mentioned here but in the next 30 years I know that we will have for the lack of a better word "self driving cars".

Currently, this technology already exists for high way driving;although, it is very expensive. I read on another site that this technology should become commercially viable within 12 years.

Bits and pieces of this technology already exist. Such as cruise control which automatically monitors and adjusts the speed of your car in relation to the car in front of you (maintaining a safe distance between you and the car in front of you)

I voted yes, because...well, everything changes! We might have contact with other lifeforms in thirty years, which seems more likely than...oh, I dunno...food pills!