Yeah, because “dump-it-and-forgett-it” hasn’t come back to haunt us in the past? We’ve got everything from toxic waste to old ammo and nuclear waste that are ticking time bombs we don’t know how to handle as is. But sure! Let’s add another one to the list!
The oceans are enormous, but so is the rest of the world. Didn’t stop us from affecting most of it. As you say, the ocean may be big enough to handle some, but we can’t afford to dump it all in the ocean. The waste will not build up to a hill, it will in a very short time build up to a mountain.
Inert in human time scales at least. What I’m getting at, is the sheer volume we have to deal with and that in and of itself is a problem.
If we are pumping up 100 million barrels of oil per day, Thats 16 000 million liters, or 16 million cubic meters. An ordinary house in these parts is about 40 cubic meters. So, 400 000 houses per day is added to the problem and the scale of what needs to be taken care of.
If we were to dump 400 000 houses worth of sand or other inert material onto any single plot of the seabed that part of seabed is dead. There are no two ways about it.
I don’t know wether to cry or laugh. Take one problem and substitute for another. There is the small problem of space, as in volume and we are back to the 1950-idea of dumping millions of tons of trash onto the sea floor. But hey, at least we didn’t die by cooking.
Sure, better range is always nice, if that’s the case, but I didn’t drive it enough to be able to come to that conclusion. The power usage from previous owners was as expected, though.
The problem I have with id7 is that it is bigger on the outside, smaller on the inside and not as fun to drive. Having said that, I recently got to drive a new Model3 and the changes the last 5 years has not done it any favours. Quieter, yes, but that’s about it for the positives.
State level isn’t where it’s at. And not climate change either. This is now a question of business continuity. How will your local government function if suddenly there is no oil, be it import blockade or lack of demand? Or if the bad neighbour invades your country?
Decarbonation isn’t a goal in and of itself at this point, but being able to run the local government for months on end with disrupted energy delivery is a goal. And that goal demands local energy production and local energy storage. Sun, wind and wood are the best sources for local energy in the winter. Add a battery pack to squeeze out those last sun rays to keep going a wee bit longer after sundown.
Sure, a diesel engine is the quick fix, but it requires refuelling every other day and even a small restriction, like a strategic mine field, will hamper delivery badly enough to potentially cause a crisis.
Me neither, I’m talking economics. Can’t do business if there is none.
Well, it won’t take much to disrupt big oil. I understand that they are trying. Norway is lost, most of Europe is leaning away and oil prices are going down. Just a little bit more and production outside OPEC wount be profitable any longer…
And that’s the problem we need renewables to solve. As long as the price can be pushed skywards as soon as there is no wind, reactors will unfortunately have to be brought offline for emergency maintenance or somesuch.
But the solution we need isn’t as limited as regular batteries, regardless of chemistry. We need more. Much more. And that’s the challenge. If we can’t store electricity, we need to store something that easily can be turned into electricity or, worsr case, store it as something that can reduce the need of electricity.
I wonder, is this the throwes of a dying oil industry? Delaying the inevitable. Delay.
What happens to the oil infrastructure in a country where 95% of all new cars are EV? How long will the gas infrastructure uphold? How many companies in heavy transport can afford to uphold their own refuelling infrastructure for long hauls? Farmers have it a wee bit easier, they always start and end their day at the farm. Yet, the one (green) hydrogen plant I’ve visited was at a farmer already doing agrivoltaics.
The fall of oil as fuel can be abrupt.
What happens to oil demand if whole countries suddenly stops buying oil? 2022 it was estimated that the cost of producing a barrel of oil outside OPEC was just below 50$. Today oil is traded at 70$. Slim margins, to say the least. What happens if the price drops further?
The fall of oil as fuel can be abrupt, indeed.
We need to prepare ourselves for a life without oil and we need to start today. And at grass root level. Politicians seems to have lost the plot.
I can’t come in today, I got a bad case of X… I don’t know, seems like a reason to self isolate already.
Well, demand is low, supply is little and inefficiency in production is high. With that said, EUs fit for 55 will soon provide plenty of solar power, so summer days will see practically limitless electricity. At least enough to brute force the inefficiencies. maybe then.
Ugh… I got to try those buttons the other day. Might work in an intersection. Horrible in a roundabout!!! No wonder nobody use them!