How come we have twice the proven reserves of oil today that we had 30 years ago? In spite of the fact a lot of the reserves from 30 years ago have been used up?
Look at the chart here: http://www.apme.org/media/public_documents/20010918_091529/PEI1B.pdf
And that's just oil -- natural gas "proven reserves" are growing even faster.
Why? Because we're better at finding the stuff than we used to be. Technology again.
And refining is more efficient than it used to be -- that will also continue to improve.
Have you seen any of those hybrid cars on the road yet? They get twice the fuel efficiency of old-fashion IC engines, and produce less polution. That's only the beginning . . .
Find more . . . produce it more efficiently (less waste) . . . use less . . . eventually switch to alternative energy systems (it all comes from the sun one way or another anyhow) . . . yes I think in 100 years we won't be needing "oil" anymore.
People have been predicting doom & gloom & the "big crash" since the 1800's . . . still no sign of it.
