If petrol gets exhausted then what will happen?

Answer 1

If petrol runs out and no alternatives have been developed before this time it may well cause major upheaval.

However, there are other fuels already around that could be developed to act as replacements (Such as Alcohol, Bio-Diesel, or hydrogen), however there need to be the desire to actually develop them fully in due time.

It should be remembered that petrol is mostly used for private cars, so if the supply of fuels for private cars runs out it might just require people to switch to public transport running on diesel.

Bio-fuels are an obvious replacement. As long as the sun shines and the rain falls then crops can be grown that can be converted bio-fuels, and in theory they will be carbon neutral.

However there is one major problem with this: Food production.

In order to grow a fuel crop land currently growing a food crop is required.

At its most basic level the problem of "lack of energy" has one basic cause, OVERPOPULATION.

There number of people on the earth use as a whole more energy than the Sun (the only source of energy that will last almost for ever) that the sun actually supplies to the earth. Hence the need to use "fossil fuels" that are in effect energy that is from the past.

If the population was reduced, then at some point there a balance will be reached where we use no more energy than is supplied by the sun.

In effect we are "spending more than we earn" and can only do so now because for many millions of years the earth "saved for the future." One day the savings will run out, and there will be no one to borrow from.