More interestingly though, humans have even found ways to create artificial versions, or alternatives, of “living” natural resources. We’ll let you decide if such things are technically the same as the original or not. While this does, obviously, increase the relative consumption of the metal, humans have found ways to use it more sparingly over time, or use alternatives instead. We have even found new sources for this precious metal once thought impossible — “fool’s gold“.
List of countries by proven oil reserves
In 2011, Venezuela overtook Saudi Arabia as the country with the highest share of proven oil reserves in the world. So if, and likely when, oil begins to become even more restrictively costly in the future, consumers will increasingly shop around for alternatives. If this doesn’t happen, which is unlikely, then innovations will soon appear to use fossil fuels ever more efficiently. “Proven” oil reserves are those oil reserves that any given region can theoretically extract based on the infrastructure they have in place or plan to have in the near future.
This is because the carbon budget used only gives a 50% chance of 1.5C and because the scientists assumed a significant level of CO2 removal from the atmosphere using technology that is yet to be proven at scale. Because proven reserves include oil recoverable under current economic conditions, nations may see large increases in proven reserves when known, but previously uneconomic deposits become economic to develop. In this way, Canada’s proven reserves increased suddenly in 2003 when the oil sands of Alberta were seen to be economically viable. Similarly, Venezuela’s proven reserves jumped in the late 2000s when the heavy oil of the Orinoco Belt was judged economic.
- Most of the hundreds of thousands of years of existence of human beings transpired without crude oil, and doubtless, we’d survive in the future without it.
- Even pharmaceuticals derived from organic materials like plants are frequently refined using petrochemicals, making the production process more effective and less expensive.
- Other sources up this estimate a bit, but most agree we have around 50 years left, give or take.
- Previously, it wasn’t economically feasible to extract these resources.
- If successful, this sort of initiative would kill two birds with one stone, dealing with waste and reducing society’s dependence on crude oil.
- However, as we are constantly reminded, crude oil is not in infinite supply.
- Hannah Osborne is the planet Earth and animals editor at Live Science.
Open Data
Technically recoverable oil is also liable to greatly fluctuate in quantity. Sulfur is a big deal as it is very corrosive to steel, which is obviously not good news for equipment like that used in refineries. Sulfur-rich oil is very complex and energy-intensive how much oil is left in the world to process which obviously increases the cost of bringing it to market. For reference, a barrel of crude oil is about 42 gallons or about 159 liters. So long as we have access to some viable DNA of a creature in question, we could possibly, using bioengineering, recreate them too. Scientists, for example, are currently attempting to “de-extinct” some animals, like the Woolly Mammoth.
Nuclear power plants, renewable energy sources, and biofuels already exist and can readily be used to provide heating and power for many nations worldwide. Oil has various uses once extracted, but the vast majority is distilled to make liquid fuels like gasoline or is used to make plastic or chemicals. So long as societies around the world maintain their demand for fuel, plastic, and other stuff made, in part, from crude oil, an estimate of 47 years is probably quite conservative. With regards to other fossil fuels, we have an estimated 53 years of natural gas, and 114 years of coal left to rip out of the ground. The conclusions of the report are “bleak” for the fossil fuel industry, implying that oil, gas and coal production must have already peaked and will decline at 3% a year from now.
One example, Bio-BDO (1,4-butanediol), has been developed by Genomatica (a biotech company) as a natural, sustainable substitute for current petrochemicals. Genomatica uses renewable feedstocks like sugarcane, sugar beets, and other sources of carbohydrates like corn in place of petrochemicals. Even pharmaceuticals derived from organic materials like plants are frequently refined using petrochemicals, making the production process more effective and less expensive. Others, such as penicillin, an antibiotic made from natural fungus and microorganisms, frequently use phenol and cumene as preservatives.
International
- But, the drive for decarbonization will likely seal crude oil’s fate in the long run.
- While this does, obviously, increase the relative consumption of the metal, humans have found ways to use it more sparingly over time, or use alternatives instead.
- This is used to refer to those oil reserves that can be extracted using current methods and technology but may not be profitable to do so.
- While Earth-derived material is “lost” in a sense when fired off into space in the form of probes, even the stuff on those could be recovered in the future if we put our minds to it.
- Peak oil is that last full and flowing cup before the final decline begins.
This could lead to rationing, starvation, and eventually civil unrest in many places worldwide because of the lack of essential foods. As it happens, according to the Energy Information Authority (EIA), the United States has somewhere in the region of 373 billion barrels of TRR oil. On the other hand, it has only around 47 billion barrels of “proven” reserves. Lighter elements like hydrogen, helium, and oxygen are continually escaping into space.
It all depends on how much consumers are willing to pay for that oil. Japan, for instance, is planning to one day extract methane from undersea hydrate deposits — these types of deposits may contain more than twice the amount of carbon as all of Earth’s fossil fuels. It was the Russian company Gazprom that brought home the first barrels of oil from the Arctic in 2014, and more have followed since. Now, some 20% of Russia’s GDP and 30% of its exports come from these chilly lands. Global oil supply can’t meet the current rate of global oil demand forever, necessitating new energy sources and usage practices. Even if technology allowed us to harvest every last drop of oil in the planet (thereby increasing scarcity), rising prices and climate impacts would necessitate widespread change long before we actually ran out of oil.
This is obviously dependent, as we previously stated, on the oil extraction methods and technology. While that sounds like quite a lot, estimates of 47 years are based on oil consumption being maintained at around 35 and half billion barrels a year, or 97 million barrels of oil a day. Based on the 2016 world population, that works out at around 5 barrels per person per year, or 0.5 gallons per person, per day. Crude oil is one of the most important resources we have ever discovered. Oil and the many products made from it have literally and figuratively transformed the world beyond all recognition. However, as we are constantly reminded, crude oil is not in infinite supply.
The severe disruption of this kind of commodity has historically brought even the most remarkable civilizations, like the Roman Empire, to their knees. So, will we ever run completely out of oil, to the point where there is none at all? In short no, it is practically and economically not feasible that this would happen. Or would they be more likely to display it, perhaps, contain it in vials and wear it as jewelry? Who knows, we might see a future where diamonds are replaced with tiny oil vials? “Oil is a girl’s best friend,” certainly has an interesting ring to it.
Another more recent innovation is our ability to process and extract shale oil, more specifically a material called kerogen (a waxy mixture of hydrocarbon compounds). This tends to be found within shale deposits and needs to be heated to around 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees centigrade) to extract and process. This process converts the solid kerogen into something similar to oil. What’s more, there is an absolute glut of this stuff in places like the USA. However, if the global push for decarbonization is accelerated, or indeed successful, this estimate will prove to be a gross underestimate of remaining reserves. Another problem with estimations of remaining oil reserves is the fact they are necessarily blind to what we don’t know.
Denmark and Costa Rica recently founded an alliance of countries setting an end date for fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have formed over an extensive period of time from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Another important term to get to grips with is “technically recoverable resources“, or TRR for short. This is used to refer to those oil reserves that can be extracted using current methods and technology but may not be profitable to do so.
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