Do People Actually Believe The World No Longer Needs Oil?

[ZenOps]

Solar panels can be dumped into the middle of the ocean after you wash the coating off the top (if you want to wash the coating off the top). What came from sand, returns to sand. The aluminum frame can be recycled just like a popcan.

While solar panels take up tons of room when you shave them into sub millimeter thick panels, once you squish that area into a cube, its surprisingly compact amount of waste, even if Spain sized, assuming you might want to replace every 20 years.

https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/...ell-parameters

What is truly remarkable nowadays is that you can do a certain amount of copper mining and refining with just electricity. Electrowinning, although slower than traditional coal burning - does eventually create refined copper.

[ExtraSlow]

I think most forms of waste can be dumped into the deep ocean.

[ZenOps]

Dumped responsibly though? Technically many solar panels can be dumped in a landfill without any adverse effects at all. I'd have no worries about licking a 20 year old monocrystalline solar panel with my tongue. Silicon is never worth "recycling" because its sand, literally more common than iron and given enough time oxidation and erosion it will return to sand.

Lick any of the thousands of parts of a brand new combustion car engine? Russian roulette, could not pay me enough to dare to try.

The more I look at it, other than hail damage: Solar PV is the way to go.

[davidI]

I think you're over-simplifying it. I find this to be one of the more recent and detailed reviews re: solar waste/recycling: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...11467X19301245

[ZenOps]

Nope, they are pretty much overcomplicating it. Everyone wants to be an expert so that they can charge money for "expert advice". The new way to make money instead of trying to improve a combustion engine by 0.05% and then charging $100 on every vehicle for it.

How do you recycle paint from any car? The answer is simple: You don't because it cant be done (all sorts of weird chemical additives and pigments to get a million different shades of magenta) The answer to solar panels is simple: Don't recycle it because it doesn't really need to be recycled (other than frame and maybe silver traces)

Its literally asking the wrong question. Must be funded by big oil to ask that one, lol.

[ZenOps]

To expand: Nearly all types of glass after being lightly crushed (and dumped in the ocean) will absolutely return to a material indistinguishable from beach sand. Because it is silicon, which is sand. All it needs is two years of tidal motion, and voila. Of which one can thank the moon, which could alternately power the entire world through the Bay of Fundy if solar is not adopted as fast.

How do I recycle my 8088 computer chip? You don't, just melt sand to make a new one.

"dominated by silicon-based c-Si panels, which accounted for a 92% share of the market" from your source.

Silicon is 900x more abundant than Carbon on the surface of the earth. Its not like sand is actually floating around the atmosphere and getting in your lungs (unless you live in Dubai that is)

[Buster]

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I think you're over-simplifying it. I find this to be one of the more recent and detailed reviews re: solar waste/recycling: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...11467X19301245

you know who you're arguing with right? lol

[ExtraSlow]

I'm convinced some users browse this forum with all user names turned off.

[you&me]

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I'm convinced some users browse this forum with all user names turned off.

I don't know why you bother posting... No one reads your posts, ZenOps

[Misterman]

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Question: What would happen if new oil production stopped today? Would the impact be as significant as Covid19? Based on the current reserves, will it be enough time to accelerate clean/alternatives? Similar to Digitalization, Covid19 forced the inevitable of moving away from traditional workplace, buying/selling, etc.

Humans are very resilient and will find away to adapt to changes. I believe oil will still relevant for a long time not because of "need", but because people do not change quickly unless they have too.

The big problem is we haven't invented any clean alternatives yet other than nuclear. It's virtually impossible to guess when these inventions will happen.

[Power_Of_Rotary]

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The big problem is we haven't invented any clean alternatives yet other than nuclear. It's virtually impossible to guess when these inventions will happen.

Sure it could be impossible. But my question was "if all new oil production stopped". What if all the oil just disappeared. Would humans go extinct? Most likely not. The hypothetical question and answer somewhat answers the OP. Sure we need oil, just as much as we need to toilet paper. But if it were to run out/disappear, I am sure we would move on just fine with hiccups and forced tech acceleration.

[Buster]

if all oil production stopped humanity would be in enormous trouble.

[Misterman]

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Sure it could be impossible. But my question was "if all new oil production stopped". What if all the oil just disappeared. Would humans go extinct? Most likely not. The hypothetical question and answer somewhat answers the OP. Sure we need oil, just as much as we need to toilet paper. But if it were to run out/disappear, I am sure we would move on just fine with hiccups and forced tech acceleration.

Yes people in temperate climates would move on and figure things out. Huge portions of the population would die.

[Power_Of_Rotary]

Come on people, stop just throwing out random thoughts with no articulation or clarity. What does "enormous" problem fucking mean? Is covid19 considered an enormous problem?

Please elaborate why a huge portion of the population would die. Human beings lived fine prior to the reliance of oil for thousands of years.

[Xtrema]

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Sure it could be impossible. But my question was "if all new oil production stopped". What if all the oil just disappeared. Would humans go extinct? Most likely not. The hypothetical question and answer somewhat answers the OP. Sure we need oil, just as much as we need to toilet paper. But if it were to run out/disappear, I am sure we would move on just fine with hiccups and forced tech acceleration.

Even if we all stop burning oil for energy, that only cut the need by 50%. And we are still 20-30 years away from that goal if we ever hit it.

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Please elaborate why a huge portion of the population would die. Human beings lived fine prior to the reliance of oil for thousands of years.

We won't have our current medical tech without plastic. And there ain't enough avocado seeds to replace oil.

So we can't fight COVID or whatever next = more deaths.

There may be alternatives but probably not abundant enough.

[Misterman]

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Come on people, stop just throwing out random thoughts with no articulation or clarity. What does "enormous" problem fucking mean? Is covid19 considered an enormous problem?

Please elaborate why a huge portion of the population would die. Human beings lived fine prior to the reliance of oil for thousands of years.

Yes they lived and got by. But the globes huge flourish in population was a direct result of oil though. Is this not common sense? If you need to burn trees to heat your home now, how many people in close proximity do you honestly think can be supported? How would most people adjust when they suddenly don't have access to vegan this and that, or most vegetables and fruit? A lot of people would likely just commit suicide due to the shock of their world being flipped upside down. Essentially we are talking about anarchy for awhile until things get settled out and the tough few have killed whoever they need to to procure their own supplies to sustain life.

[Power_Of_Rotary]

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Yes they lived and got by. But the globes huge flourish in population was a direct result of oil though. Is this not common sense? If you need to burn trees to heat your home now, how many people in close proximity do you honestly think can be supported? How would most people adjust when they suddenly don't have access to vegan this and that, or most vegetables and fruit? A lot of people would likely just commit suicide due to the shock of their world being flipped upside down. Essentially we are talking about anarchy for awhile until things get settled out and the tough few have killed whoever they need to to procure their own supplies to sustain life.

Life flourished because of innovations, not sole due to oil. If oil were to suddenly evaporate completely off the face of the earth, I am sure darwinism will happen to a small portion of the population. If heating was an issue, those with half a brain would move somewhere warmer or live in an igloo. Life finds a way, the hiccup may only slow down the growth but wont reverse it.

[Misterman]

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Life flourished because of innovations, not sole due to oil. If oil were to suddenly evaporate completely off the face of the earth, I am sure darwinism will happen to a small portion of the population. If heating was an issue, those with half a brain would move somewhere warmer or live in an igloo. Life finds a way, the hiccup may only slow down the growth but wont reverse it.

Here you go OP. Now you know how people can actually think the world doesn't need oil. They just live in a bubble and don't pay attention to oils influence on life on earth.

[rage2]

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Come on people, stop just throwing out random thoughts with no articulation or clarity. What does "enormous" problem fucking mean? Is covid19 considered an enormous problem?

Please elaborate why a huge portion of the population would die. Human beings lived fine prior to the reliance of oil for thousands of years.

Transportation would be the easy answer. Inability to move basic needs and supply chains breaking down would have an enourmous effect on feeding the population. We would have to wait for renewable transport to catch up, but shit will be fucked while we wait. And that’s just first world countries. Third world countries would need to build infrastructure to support renewable energy before they could even transition.

So compared to COVID, while we’re comfortably sitting at home waiting for a vaccine, we wouldn’t survive while waiting for a replacement of oil and gas.

[Power_Of_Rotary]

I am using a very extreme case of Immediate loss of oil. My point is humans find ways to live and to adapt to the environment even if oil were completely depleted today. And I am asking you guys to elaborate why lots of deaths would happen and define "lots/enormous/etc". These words mean nothing without a quantifiable figure. What I can see is some third world countries are less effected given they are somewhat less reliant on technology in the first place. Lots of villages around the globe dont even have roads or clean water to start with. They still farm with traditional means without heavy machinery. Its first world cities that are very spoiled and will not be able to cope quickly with less luxuries and convenience. That said, third world countries are not "transitioning" into new renewable energy, they are merely surviving the changes.

I said before, oil is still feasible and relevant today and for the next few decades (at least). Dont confuse my hypothetical scenario with bias to oil.