[ExI] How the world collapses

[BillK]

On Sun, May 18, 2014 at 3:31 PM, spike wrote:
> It's a nice goal of course.  Now explain how we are going to handle the load
> when a billion more Chinese people and a billion more Indian people want to
> drive.  And the billion more that will be born in the next decade want to
> eat.
>
> Of course it is, now.  Oil is still practically free: it is easy to recover.
> How hard is it to extrapolate forward all the trends we already see?  How
> long do you expect oil to stay practically free?  How will we do when we are
> having to cook the stuff out of the oil sands of Canada?  Will we really
> need to keep tearing around to the latest hip-hop concert or football game?
> What are we doing that is really all that important?
>
>

And remember that oil is not only used in transportation. Much of our
modern civilization depends on products made from oil. Plastics,
medicines, fertilizers, cosmetics, synthetic fabrics, lubricants,
rubber, TVs, computers, etc. When we eventually get every rooftop
covered in solar panels, a lot of that solar power will be used to
create oil that we can't do without - no matter how expensive it
becomes.

Telepresence should reduce the demand for tearing around in V8s.
Millennials already don't drive much and instead use cycles and public
transport.  There is a new - different! - generation getting ready to
take over.

BillK