Current Events > Electric cars are the future I hope? Once oil finishes, then what?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Will something come along to replace electricity? Can solar powered houses, cars and street lamps be a thing in 10, 20, 50 years? That's about the time people theorize oil will be over and done with, reserved barrels notwithstanding.

Hope we figure it out by then.
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Cars powered by orphans
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As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.
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Energy companies will probably move onto a subscription-based recharging business model for electric vehicles.
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LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

Why fight it? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in it so that when the oil does run out, they already own like 51% stake in this new business they put money into that will make them rich? Richer at least.
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saspa posted...

LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

Why fight it? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in it so that when the oil does run out, they already own like 51% stake in this new business they put money into that will make them rich? Richer at least.

Why would rich business men, who already make a ton of money want to take a risk no matter how tiny, when they are getting a ton of money right now?
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money drives everything.

Once the oil money runs out you can bet your dollars to donuts there will already be something to take it's place.

People just like to fantasize about "the end" and "apocalypse" bullshit.
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Solar cars
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saspa posted...

Can solar powered houses, cars and street lamps be a thing in 10, 20, 50 years?

Yes. For almost no cost.

bluezero posted...

Solar cars

https://www.australiansolarquotes.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sunsw.jpg

\o/
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Nuclear cars.

there will be no end of oil. its all in your head
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LightHawKnight posted...

saspa posted...

LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

Why fight it? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in it so that when the oil does run out, they already own like 51% stake in this new business they put money into that will make them rich? Richer at least.

Why would rich business men, who already make a ton of money want to take a risk no matter how tiny, when they are getting a ton of money right now?

They will when the only oil left is harder and more expensive to reach. But right now, it makes more sense for them to keep going after the easy money and let someone else front all the research and developement costs on newer technologies.

We're not gonna suddenly go "oh no, the oil is all gone and we haven't prepared with sources of renewable energy!!!". What will happen is eventually the remaining oil will just be harder and more expensive to reach, but it will still be an option. Until eventually the balance shifts so that it is the more expensive option and renewable energy will make more sense financially. That's when energy companies will shift, but not until then.

LightHawKnight posted...

Why would rich business men, who already make a ton of money want to take a risk no matter how tiny, when they are getting a ton of money right now?

Isn't that pretty much exactly what venture capitalism is?
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LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

It's Asia that oil has to fear, not America
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Secret Asian Man posted...

Nuclear cars.

I can hope.
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Renewable resources do not have the capability to power and sustain our society. They just do not have the efficiency, nor power, to do so. Coal/Oil/Gas/etc all provide very cheap and easy to use power.

In other words, it will be quite some time before we can move to renewable resources (if ever). Nuclear is the way to go in the meantime though.
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I want a flying car shaped like a cat that runs on milk and canned tuna juice.
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Electric cars are most definitely the future at this point. It won't be long before the majority of new cars sold are electric (sometime in the mid to late 2020s I am guessing). Eventually it will become the vast vast majority.

And as for replacing electricity with things like "solar powered homes", you have to understand that what you are imagining is still electricity. Once electricity is on the grid, it's essentially the same regardless of what source produced it (if you want to be super technical about it there are probably variations in the current and voltage waveforms but that's an aside). So we're not going to be replacing electricity, just what sources are used to generate electricity.

Renewables are making huge progress, way more than most people realize. It's happening very fast and the mainstream media isn't really aware that it is going on. Paired with storage, we can have a grid that is powered 100% by clean sources. It's going to take decades to get there but I think it's a question of when it will happen and not if it will happen.
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Electric cars still have to generate that electricity from somewhere, and until America stops being paranoid about nuclear, it's almost certainly going to be sourced from coal or natural gas.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Electric cars still have to generate that electricity from somewhere, and until America stops being paranoid about nuclear, it's almost certainly going to be sourced from coal or natural gas.

Coal is already dying and on the way out. Natural gas is better in essentially every way. So the question is really how much will be natural gas versus from clean sources, which could be nuclear or renewable. It's not likely that nuclear is going to be able to fill that role in my opinion for regulatory reasons if anything else. So much regulation and bureaucracy goes into building a nuclear plant (which also means it takes like a decade) that it is incredibly expensive to do so compared to other forms of generation, including renewables.

So the grid of the future is going to mainly be renewables + storage along with natural gas. The more renewables + storage and the less natural gas, the better. We're going to hit effectively 100% clean energy this century I am sure, but at this point the goal is to maximize the amount of natural gas we can replace with clean energy.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

So the grid of the future is going to mainly be renewables + storage along with natural gas. The more renewables + storage and the less natural gas, the better. We're going to hit effectively 100% clean energy this century I am sure, but at this point the goal is to maximize the amount of natural gas we can replace with clean energy.

The entire I-35 corridor is pretty much all "windy as fuck"
Why in the hell aren't there windmills from Laredo to Duluth?

Questionmarktarius posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

So the grid of the future is going to mainly be renewables + storage along with natural gas. The more renewables + storage and the less natural gas, the better. We're going to hit effectively 100% clean energy this century I am sure, but at this point the goal is to maximize the amount of natural gas we can replace with clean energy.

The entire I-35 corridor is pretty much all "windy as fuck"
Why in the hell aren't there windmills from Laredo to Duluth?

Minnesota right? Maps like these show you where the wind speeds are highest

http://apps2.eere.energy.gov/wind/windexchange/pdfs/wind_maps/mn_110m_potential.pdf

So the northern and especially northwest parts of the state seem to have the highest. You also have to take into account things like access to the grid and the cost of land. Even if one location has a bit more wind than another, it depends on what you're paying for the land versus how much money you're getting out of it from the electricity you're selling. It's all very carefully planned out as a financial investment. And the companies that do this are expanding very, very aggressively.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

So the grid of the future is going to mainly be renewables + storage along with natural gas. The more renewables + storage and the less natural gas, the better. We're going to hit effectively 100% clean energy this century I am sure, but at this point the goal is to maximize the amount of natural gas we can replace with clean energy.

The entire I-35 corridor is pretty much all "windy as fuck"
Why in the hell aren't there windmills from Laredo to Duluth?

Minnesota right? Maps like these show you where the wind speeds are highest

http://apps2.eere.energy.gov/wind/windexchange/pdfs/wind_maps/mn_110m_potential.pdf

So the northern and especially northwest parts of the state seem to have the highest. You also have to take into account things like access to the grid and the cost of land. Even if one location has a bit more wind than another, it depends on what you're paying for the land versus how much money you're getting out of it from the electricity you're selling. It's all very carefully planned out as a financial investment. And the companies that do this are expanding very, very aggressively.

We're getting there.
US 136 between Maryville and Bethany in Missouri is almost all windmills the whole way.

LightHawKnight posted...

saspa posted...

LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

Why fight it? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in it so that when the oil does run out, they already own like 51% stake in this new business they put money into that will make them rich? Richer at least.

Why would rich business men, who already make a ton of money want to take a risk no matter how tiny, when they are getting a ton of money right now?

But you see, The whole point is to make more money, always. Of course they'll invest in something (at least, after all their advisors tell them if it's a good or bad idea)

It's just like before oil when people were using, I don't know, steam or whatever. You're not gonna hear them say "why would I take a risk when I have a ton of money right now" that's not how rich men work. The idea is to always want more.
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saspa posted...

LightHawKnight posted...

As long as oil and coal companies make money, they will fight renewable sources to the bitter end.

Why fight it? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in it so that when the oil does run out, they already own like 51% stake in this new business they put money into that will make them rich? Richer at least.

The more that oil runs low and other alternatives are shuttered, the higher the prices will be for all of them. That's the only future they want to see.

Perhaps, but up to a point. I mean, this price jacking that you mention is already happening, it's not something that is gonna happen in the far foreseeable future.
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honestly when we run out of oil the gas going into you car will not be the first concern

container ships won't be able to transfer the goods that power most of the global economy
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if oil runs out, our lives are changed in enormous ways

Hydrocarbons(oil is in here) are used in countless ways in modern life, more then just energy. Think of your life without plastics.
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What happens once we suck all of the power out of sun?
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Gas will never run out and in fact will become cheaper than now in the farther future. 100% renewable energy will take over in the 75 years of gas we have left at the current rate of consumption.
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DoctorVader posted...

100% renewable energy will take over in the 75 years of gas we have left at the current rate of consumption.

That's only the oil we've found so far, and can get at easily.

Electric cars powered by Ethereum.
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Were_Wyrm posted...

What happens once we suck all of the power out of sun?

Impossible.
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