[Oil-Finder]

Here's your trivia of the day, for some perspective on scale.

The total amount of oil extracted in human history so far is about 1 trillion barrels (source). One barrel of oil contains 42 gallons. So, all the oil used by mankind so far is about 42 trillion gallons.

In comparison, Lake Ontario contains about 393 cubic miles of water. A cubic mile contains 1,101,117,140,000 gallons. So Lake Ontario contains about 432.7 trillion gallons of water.

In other words, the total amount of oil used by mankind to date is a little less than 1/10th the volume of Lake Ontario.

[Oil-Finder]

Here's a map of North America, with the western ~1/10 of Lake Ontario colored red. Yep, that red blip represents the total amount of oil mankind has extracted and used to date.

Click on the image.


BTW, please feel free to check my math in the post above.

[mos6507]

Everything's relative. The massive skyscraper of crude oil in "Crude - The Incredible Journey of Oil" leaves a different impression.

[s0cks]

Just goes to prove how scarce a resource Oil really is. Built a whole civilization on a substance no bigger than a lake

Oh how we failed. We failed good.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '
')BTW, please feel free to check my math in the post above.

[FreakOil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '
')BTW, please feel free to check my math in the post above.

[TonyPrep]

More trivia, which has no point whatsoever, except to demonstrate the power of the exponential function (excellently explained by Professor Albert Bartlett).

If we were using water like oil, over the last 150 years we'd have used only one tenth of Lake Ontario, leaving about 353 cubic miles left. How long would it take to use this remaining vast amount at, say, 1.5% growth per year? Well such a small percentage wouldn't have too much effect, surely? At present rates of consumption, we'd have 353 years of Lake Ontario left. But, at a rate that increases by 1.5% per year, it would be completely drained in 124 years, almost a third of the time that an R/P ratio indicates.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '.')..
Click on the image.

[kjmclark]

OK, but Lake Ontario is fairly deep. People aren't very good at imagining volume of deep lakes. Lake Erie is a bit better example, since it's fairly shallow. Lake Erie is about 116 cubic miles.

This would then be almost exactly a third of Lake Erie, but since the western side is much shallower, it would actually be about the entire western half of Lake Erie. Even then, the average depth is about five stories down.

So, imagine a five-story building the size of the western half of Lake Erie and you have the volume of oil we've used. I've lived near Lake Erie most of my life, and I can assure you that that volume is utterly incomprehensible.

[MD]

Have you read A Thousand Barrels a Second yet?

Niagara Falls flows at 150,000 gallons per second.

Since we are currently burning 42,000 gallons of oil per second, just imagine 1/3 of Niagara Falls flowing in oil.

That's what we are burning!

Now your images are in balance.

[Armageddon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'H')ave you read A Thousand Barrels a Second yet?

Niagara Falls flows at 150,000 gallons per second.

Since we are currently burning 42,000 gallons of oil per second, just imagine 1/3 of Niagara Falls flowing in oil.

That's what we are burning!

Now your images are in balance.

[Kingcoal]

Good thread; really puts things into perspective.

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kingcoal', 'G')ood thread; really puts things into perspective.

[Oil-Finder]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '
')I'm sure your math is fine. My question: what's your point? Is there some relevant comparison between the amount of water on the planet and the amount oil?

I see no enhanced perspective in your post. In fact, I'd say it creates just the opposite. The uninformed will likely make inaccurate associations instead.

[Oil-Finder]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'H')ave you read A Thousand Barrels a Second yet?

Niagara Falls flows at 150,000 gallons per second.

Since we are currently burning 42,000 gallons of oil per second, just imagine 1/3 of Niagara Falls flowing in oil.

That's what we are burning!

Now your images are in balance.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joewp', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kingcoal', 'G')ood thread; really puts things into perspective.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '.').
Is oil extracted and used throughout the entire world? Or is it used just around Niagara Falls? Since it is extracted and used around the entire world, the entire world would be the relevant frame of reference.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '.').
Is oil extracted and used throughout the entire world? Or is it used just around Niagara Falls? Since it is extracted and used around the entire world, the entire world would be the relevant frame of reference.

[Oil-Finder]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '.').
Is oil extracted and used throughout the entire world? Or is it used just around Niagara Falls? Since it is extracted and used around the entire world, the entire world would be the relevant frame of reference.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '.').
Is oil extracted and used throughout the entire world? Or is it used just around Niagara Falls? Since it is extracted and used around the entire world, the entire world would be the relevant frame of reference.