How long the world can run on oil?, not even another hundred years, according to a recent study conducted by University of California, Davis.
If the global consumption continued like that of today, the world will run out of oil around 100 years before replacement energy sources are available, warns researchers at the University.
For the study, researchers used the current share prices of oil companies and alternative energy companies to predict when replacement fuels will be ready to fill the gap left when oil runs dry.
The study said if the world's oil reserves were the 1.332 trillion barrels estimated in 2008 and oil consumption stood at 85.22 million barrels a day and growing yearly at 1.3 percent, oil would be depleted by 2041.
A viable alternative fuel to oil will not be available before the middle of next century, warns the study.
researchers analyzed the share prices of 25 oil companies quoted on US, European and Australian stock exchanges, and of 44 alternative energy companies that produce fuels such as ethanol or bio-diesel, or are developing fuel cells, batteries and propulsion systems aimed at replacing gasoline and diesel in vehicles of the future.
What they found is that the market capitalization or total value of all stock shares, of traditional oil companies far outstripped that of the alternative energy companies.
That indicated to them that investors believe oil is going to do well in the near future and occupy a larger share of the energy market than alternative energy, said researchers.
Their calculations show that there would not be a widely available replacement for oil-based fuels before 2140, which, even if the more optimistic date of 2054 for oil depletion is retained, would mean there could be a gap of around 90 years when it might be difficult to run a motor vehicle.
Nearly two-thirds of crude oil is used to produce gasoline and diesel to run vehicles.
The researchers' calculations were based on the theory that long-term investors are good predictors of when new technologies will become commonplace.
However the study said all is not doom and gloom. On the oil supply side, consumption could well decrease in future as more energy-saving measures are introduced and used by consumers, and new oil reserves could become available as extraction techniques improve.
On the alternative fuel side of the equation, the study did not look at nonprofits, government agencies and universities which are developing new fuels, because they are not quoted on the stock market.
And if governments announced new policy initiatives to promote alternative fuel development, share prices of alternative energy companies would rise, and the gap between the end of oil and the kick-in of alternative fuels would shrink.
If the global consumption continued like that of today, the world will run out of oil around 100 years before replacement energy sources are available, warns researchers at the University.
For the study, researchers used the current share prices of oil companies and alternative energy companies to predict when replacement fuels will be ready to fill the gap left when oil runs dry.
The study said if the world's oil reserves were the 1.332 trillion barrels estimated in 2008 and oil consumption stood at 85.22 million barrels a day and growing yearly at 1.3 percent, oil would be depleted by 2041.
A viable alternative fuel to oil will not be available before the middle of next century, warns the study.
researchers analyzed the share prices of 25 oil companies quoted on US, European and Australian stock exchanges, and of 44 alternative energy companies that produce fuels such as ethanol or bio-diesel, or are developing fuel cells, batteries and propulsion systems aimed at replacing gasoline and diesel in vehicles of the future.
What they found is that the market capitalization or total value of all stock shares, of traditional oil companies far outstripped that of the alternative energy companies.
That indicated to them that investors believe oil is going to do well in the near future and occupy a larger share of the energy market than alternative energy, said researchers.
Their calculations show that there would not be a widely available replacement for oil-based fuels before 2140, which, even if the more optimistic date of 2054 for oil depletion is retained, would mean there could be a gap of around 90 years when it might be difficult to run a motor vehicle.
Nearly two-thirds of crude oil is used to produce gasoline and diesel to run vehicles.
The researchers' calculations were based on the theory that long-term investors are good predictors of when new technologies will become commonplace.
However the study said all is not doom and gloom. On the oil supply side, consumption could well decrease in future as more energy-saving measures are introduced and used by consumers, and new oil reserves could become available as extraction techniques improve.
On the alternative fuel side of the equation, the study did not look at nonprofits, government agencies and universities which are developing new fuels, because they are not quoted on the stock market.
And if governments announced new policy initiatives to promote alternative fuel development, share prices of alternative energy companies would rise, and the gap between the end of oil and the kick-in of alternative fuels would shrink.
