Fossile Fuels

For at least 700 million years the Earth’s vegative life has used photosynthesis to capture the energy of the sun to create fossil fuels … coal, oil and natural gas. Obviously this reservoir of stored energy is enormous. Then for the last 200 years mankind has been using these fossil fuels for heating, transportation, cooking, food production and numerous consumer products.

This has allowed the world’s population to grow from 1.5 billion people to over 8 billion … most of whom owe their existence to fossil fuels. The key question is: How much longer will our wealth of fossil fuels last? At our current population levels, for coal, it is well over 200 years. And for oil and natural gas, the pace of new discoveries suggests that their lifespan may be equally extensive. 

700 million years of deposits is a very long time.

So what do we do when fossile fuels run out? Clearly some other technologies will need to suppply the required world’s energy … be they nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or some other unknow development. Pilgrim, I am confident, we cannot support our current population and lifestyles with wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power. 

If, as been predicted, populations naturally decrease in the years ahead, then the “green energy” sources may play a bigger role. But there is still a major problem … and that would be reduced carbon dioxide levels. The burning of fossils fuels also feeds out plants this basic food. If this food is significantly lowered, our plants will struggle for survival. Current CO2 concentrations are 400 parts per million. If they fall below 170 parts per million, all plant life will disappear … and thus all animals will also disappear. We are animals.

So Pilgrim, please use the above information to guide any desire you have to go completely green.

STAND UP FOR FOSSIL FUELS!