Dear Questionswap.com
Posted: 21 Apr 2006, 08:30
Morning all,
So recently at work I've been messing about on questionswap.com, a simple website which lets you ask a question then then lets you answer one. It's all totally random with, from what i can tell so far, a big mix of people using it. After asking the usual 'what should i have for lunch' questions, I decided to move onto Peak Oil and asked the question:
What will you miss once cheap oil becomes a thing of the past?
And these are the replies I got in return. I thought I'd post them here just as a general snapshot of what the average joe public thinks:
Nothing. I will be happy to run my car on hydrogen made from renewable energy. Although salad dressings will never be the same...
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Fresh, variable food. Most people don't realize that a significant amount of oil goes into both the production and transportation of foodstuffs. I do not look forward to having to grow my own personal cucumbers.
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Cars that drive on the ground.
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For one thing my dad works on an oil rig and such so I doubt that will be a problem for me =/
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I will miss cheap oil. I dont really understand the question.. Do you mean because i will miss out on something else because i'm paying for fuel?
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Ease of transport with my car (assuming no other forms are inroduced). Nothing else really comes to mind, but I'm sure there will be repercussions in many other aspects of life.
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I will miss getting rides to school and having to take the metro or walking instead.
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I walk to work, so I won't miss driving. Heating, however, is a bit of an issue. It's about minus a billion degrees here in the winter and without heating oil the options are fairly limited. Going back to coal isn't necessarily the answer because coal is not that good for the environment. Definitely some sort of alternative heating system would be in order; otherwise, by mid-January we'd all be sitting around like Jack Nicholson at the end of "The Shining."
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I suppose international flights. I cannot see expensive oil changing my life in a major way (i'm british and used to it, plus i don't drive a hummer) but as the cost rises some things will have to be sacrificed and I think it will probabbly be long haul flights and holidays.
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Being able to jump in my car and just drive to the sea and take my family out for the day!
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Oil is cheap now? Hey... Im a broke bitch, nothing is cheap to me. Im not even satisfied when they roll back those prices at Wal-Mart.
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Hmm, that's an interesting question. I don't think I'll particularly miss anything, it's more like a downward slope. Gas gets more expensive, so I drive less. Oil costs more, so I turn down the heat and turn off lights, maybe I'll buy a electric car sometime in the future, maybe I'll buy a environmentally friendly house. The point is, these kinds of things don't just happen at once. I don't think I'll miss anything, since it'll all change gradually. Who knows, I might actually like an electric car better.
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I will miss driving. I love driving a lot. I love my car a lot. I love driving around in my car a lot. It's a very economical car and all, and right now the company i work for pays for all my fuel, but the price of fuel is already ridiculously expensive. It's a shame. I really enjoy driving.
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I will miss the sense of world domination that the United States still possesses. Without plentiful, cheap oil it will become harder to maintain our position in world affairs.
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I don't think that it will be as big a problem as people think, as there is a lot of research going on regarding alternative energy sources. Nuclear energy is cheap and efficient, and can provide as much electrical energy as we need, as many nations have large reserves of uranium. Ethanol and bio-diesel can be substituted for most fossil fuels, and can be manufactured quite easily. Coal reserves aren't going to run out anytime soon. Experiments into sustainable nuclear fusion are quite promising, and once the initial engineering problems are solved, fusion can deliver as much electrical energy as we could ever need without the hazardous waste of nuclear fission.
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Driving. I refuse to spend that much on oil. I have 2 legs and a heartbeat. I will use them!
---
So recently at work I've been messing about on questionswap.com, a simple website which lets you ask a question then then lets you answer one. It's all totally random with, from what i can tell so far, a big mix of people using it. After asking the usual 'what should i have for lunch' questions, I decided to move onto Peak Oil and asked the question:
What will you miss once cheap oil becomes a thing of the past?
And these are the replies I got in return. I thought I'd post them here just as a general snapshot of what the average joe public thinks:
Nothing. I will be happy to run my car on hydrogen made from renewable energy. Although salad dressings will never be the same...
---
Fresh, variable food. Most people don't realize that a significant amount of oil goes into both the production and transportation of foodstuffs. I do not look forward to having to grow my own personal cucumbers.
---
Cars that drive on the ground.
---
For one thing my dad works on an oil rig and such so I doubt that will be a problem for me =/
---
I will miss cheap oil. I dont really understand the question.. Do you mean because i will miss out on something else because i'm paying for fuel?
---
Ease of transport with my car (assuming no other forms are inroduced). Nothing else really comes to mind, but I'm sure there will be repercussions in many other aspects of life.
---
I will miss getting rides to school and having to take the metro or walking instead.
---
I walk to work, so I won't miss driving. Heating, however, is a bit of an issue. It's about minus a billion degrees here in the winter and without heating oil the options are fairly limited. Going back to coal isn't necessarily the answer because coal is not that good for the environment. Definitely some sort of alternative heating system would be in order; otherwise, by mid-January we'd all be sitting around like Jack Nicholson at the end of "The Shining."
---
I suppose international flights. I cannot see expensive oil changing my life in a major way (i'm british and used to it, plus i don't drive a hummer) but as the cost rises some things will have to be sacrificed and I think it will probabbly be long haul flights and holidays.
---
Being able to jump in my car and just drive to the sea and take my family out for the day!
---
Oil is cheap now? Hey... Im a broke bitch, nothing is cheap to me. Im not even satisfied when they roll back those prices at Wal-Mart.
---
Hmm, that's an interesting question. I don't think I'll particularly miss anything, it's more like a downward slope. Gas gets more expensive, so I drive less. Oil costs more, so I turn down the heat and turn off lights, maybe I'll buy a electric car sometime in the future, maybe I'll buy a environmentally friendly house. The point is, these kinds of things don't just happen at once. I don't think I'll miss anything, since it'll all change gradually. Who knows, I might actually like an electric car better.
---
I will miss driving. I love driving a lot. I love my car a lot. I love driving around in my car a lot. It's a very economical car and all, and right now the company i work for pays for all my fuel, but the price of fuel is already ridiculously expensive. It's a shame. I really enjoy driving.
---
I will miss the sense of world domination that the United States still possesses. Without plentiful, cheap oil it will become harder to maintain our position in world affairs.
---
I don't think that it will be as big a problem as people think, as there is a lot of research going on regarding alternative energy sources. Nuclear energy is cheap and efficient, and can provide as much electrical energy as we need, as many nations have large reserves of uranium. Ethanol and bio-diesel can be substituted for most fossil fuels, and can be manufactured quite easily. Coal reserves aren't going to run out anytime soon. Experiments into sustainable nuclear fusion are quite promising, and once the initial engineering problems are solved, fusion can deliver as much electrical energy as we could ever need without the hazardous waste of nuclear fission.
---
Driving. I refuse to spend that much on oil. I have 2 legs and a heartbeat. I will use them!
---
In my experience questions are a far more powerful way of telling people about things than actually telling them. Anybody got any other ideas of websites where we could pose questions?