by 0mar » Mon 25 Apr 2005, 21:46:49
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Russian_Cowboy', 'F')or manufacturing, oil and gas play a VERY BIG role as a raw material input.
How big? Care to put a number on it? Certainly, in some industries oil and natural gas are a critical feedstock (fertilizer, plastics, petroleum). Those industries, however, constitute only a small fraction of all manufacturing. Some industries, like glass, aluminum, steel and paper products, use no oil or gas as a raw material input.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is why it will be EXTREMELY HARD to switch to other types of raw materials when oil and gas are depleted.
The total depletion of oil and gas will not occur at peak oil. Feedstocks can be produced from coal and tar sands, so we likely have 100 years at least before we run out of feedstock.