ddoubleez

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Everyone will love and hate this thread......

Jevons paradox can be applied on a huge spectrum......

An example of Jevons paradox is:

If I buy a hybrid car or a more efficient refrigerator, this will not increase the longevity of fossil fuels, because the energy I save will only make energy available to someone who does not see things the way I do, or keep the same finate source avalible longer....

I can put solar on my home and it will just make more electricity available to my neighbor who wants cheep energy from a coal fired power plant......

I will cut to the chase to make things interesting and wait for questions to further explain this thread.....

No matter what we do we are doomed unless we simultaneously give up on the modern way of life........

Before posting, I only ask that you have a understanding of the law of thermodynamics (9th grade physics, I do believe) and an understanding of the principals of energy return on energy invested.........

And yes this is a doomsday thread........

PMBalls

When finite resources become more limited and their prices skyrocket, more and more people will invest in renewable energy, because by then the daunting 'start price' will not be so daunting in the face of sticking to the sinking sink that is finite resource energy.

The bigger problem is the collapse of nationwide markets after truck drivers have to jack up their travel expenses so high to compete with gas prices.

shiiboi

Well, yes and no.

In the short term, if you switch to an alternative fuel (i.e., solar) to heat your home it will make it cheaper for your neighbor to consume more petroleum-based fuel.

But when sufficient numbers of people switch to solar, the cost of solar will become less than petroleum and more will switch to solar. In fact, the only cost of solar is purchase and maintenance of the system to collect it, the energy supply itself is limitless. Resources are only expensive when they are scarce.

Sheepe

Side note: Solar energy isn't limitless, but from our context might as well be.

This little paradox doesn't actually work in this case, because we haven't drilled to every available reservoir of oil yet. As alternatives drop in cost (such as green Gas, Methane, Solar, etc.) the demand for new sources will drop as well, even if people using oil decide to use more of it. Eventually, no more wells will be drilled, despite the fact that there is still demand for oil. The oil that has been drilled will simply be used up and consumption for natural oil will stop, as by that point, alternative sources of petrochemicals will have been found for use in their various specialized tasks. (Thermal Depolymerization comes to mind). Of course the power source for these alternate sources will be and can only be alternative sources of energy.

-Sheepe
Rambler