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Humans rely on them because they are the most effective and economically viable fuel source currently available.

They have discovered other energy sources and how to utilize them (such as hydrogen, natural gas, bio-fuel[ethanol], and solar) but these sources have not been found to be impractical because as of this moment humans have not been able to produce produce these forms of energy at an output that would be at a high enough level above what they put in (ie lets say 1 liter of hydrogen can generate 270 BTU but lets say it costs 200 BTU to generate, this example may not be true, it is just a hypothetical situation. Fossil fuels usually only require half of the energy they put out to gain, so 100 BTU per gallon of gas costs 50 BTU to extract)

The reliance of humans on fossil fuels is very great at this point in there history, but evidence suggests that this will change in the next few decades should they survive the collapse.

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14y ago

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