Will Fossil Fuels Run Out? | Earth Science

Greg Foot looks into the dirty world of fossil fuels. Will we run out of fossil fuels and what cost will we likely pay for their use?

Footnotes

[Adam-lfvs]

I went to school in the 90s and was told we would have ran out by now

[chickenguy]

You also need oil for the production of plastics so we still have to worry about that

[cjmgjgt]

Petroleum is more than a fuel
Commodities like asphalt, tires, medicine, lubricants, paints, plastics, nylon, textiles, rugs, adhesives, etc. are made out of petroleum. Fracked petroleum is a very lightweight oil that is only a source of fuel. The US fracked petroleum is exported and the heavy petroleum that our refineries can make all of the non fuel commodities out of is imported. When petroleum is history, the world will be back in the 1880s with wooden wheels, dirt roads, no medicines etc
As a PhD Chemist, I am very concerned about the future for our kids

[ConnorEllisMusic]

This is dumbed down too much. I feel like I'm watching CBBC.

[josephfox]

wait. is there still baby oil? or will we run out?

[Zangle]

Good video. I have a degree dealing oil / natural gas. I live next to an oil field that once ran "out" of resource, and by this I mean it went from producing 20k BBL/day to just 20 BBL/day. 15 years later they went back to check old equipment and after checking the down hole pressure they realized AND learned the 'rock' around the formation was porous enough that oil during this time was seeping back in. This was the first oil well scientist and industry realized that oil in fact over time WILL refill the well. FURTHERMORE, they have developed unique techniques to "wash" oil off and out of walls without fracking to recover more. This is what they're doing on Alaska's north slope. They have 30 - 40 more years of oil because of this. ALSO there has been some new discoveries in which have not been mentioned to the community yet.

Would like to say I am all for renewable "green clean" energy, but want people to realize to manufacture, dig, and transport this stuff still requires coal / crude products, especially when it comes to maintenance.

[heliomoonwave]

Big Oil won't let us move on to all the better alternatives out there until every last glistening drop of black gold has been milked from the ground.

[JagoBridgland]

i'd love to see the fossil fuels run out, not because I eat seeds and swap sandals with my dread-locked friends, but because i'd love to see the sudden drastic demand for innovation that will have to be forced upon humans at that time. I think we'll do something amazing

[garthlyon]

Key problems of current renewables are a) inability to store electricity, and b) variance in generation out of phase with consumption and not conducive to grid high voltage maintenance. This means that for every wind turbine or solar panel you need back-up by a constant always-on source. The choice here is either nuclear or non-renewables. So for every pretty windmill you spot, a nasty nuclear/conventional power station is lurking in the background.

[timorean]

Fossils are not found after about 8K feet, no deeper. We drill for Oil at over 20K feet. The word "Fossil" was only added to make it seem scarce.

[misakamikoto]

What will happen if Fossil Fuels Run Out? Can we decrease usage of crude oil?
Corona: Say no more. We got you.

[highcard]

Its strange that No Fossils exist at the depth of most oil reserves.

[craigreustle]

Obviously, there is a finite amount of oil and if we keep using it we will run out. However, the oil companies that did the "research" for when we will run out have a huge financial interest in leading people to believe we will run out sooner than later.

[milkhbox]

I'm honestly surpised there hasn't been an effort to artificially generate mass quantities of crude/coal, but I'm glad it seems that isn't the case.

[BScb]

The drill at 01:06 was turning in the wrong direction. Turning that way it wouldn't have been able to drill down because the dirt wouldn't be transported upwards but rather be compressed at the bottom of the drill.

[jackrand]

Well, im lucky i'll die before the oil ran out

[kingjokrz]

*petrol heads watching in nervousness*

[warrenpeece]

Oil is not a fossil fuel, it's a product of the earth's magma. "Fossil fuel" is a marketing term, like "man made global warming." I remember the headline in 1970 : "Oil to run out by 2000." And, of course, by 1971 oil began it's inexorable price rise. By the way, the Russians scientists discovered the true nature of oil long ago, but that did not fit the oil companies plan to market oil as a limited resource.

[VytautasLDK]

"All scientists agree that oil will end up till year 2000."
- All scientists, 1985.

[SimplestUsername]

Good video!
I respect the intellectual honesty. You seemed interested in sharing facts and figures rather than pushing a political narrative.