France and the UK will run out of fossil fuels within the next five years

[techbeck]

The UK will run out of its own gas, coal, and oil within the next five years, according to a report released by the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University. And France, which continues to rely heavily on nuclear energy, could run out of its remaining fossils fuels within the next year, reports the BBC. This means that the two countries could soon become completely reliant on global fossil fuel suppliers such as Russia, Norway, and Qatar.

 

The report, which outlines worldwide fossil fuel vulnerabilities, paints a varying picture of Europe's natural resources. Given the UK's current rate of fossil fuel consumption and its current known reserves, the country is said to have 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal, and three years of gas left. In contrast, Germany ? a country that's willing to bulldoze a village to get at its coal reserves ? has 250 years of coal left. And Russia, the report says, has more than 500 years of coal at its disposal.

 

"Much of the discussion about ?Peak Oil' overlooks the fact that oil is unevenly distributed globally," the researchers write in the report. They note that Kuwait has more than 700 years of oil left, but countries like Japan have very little, which means they are highly vulnerable to market fluctuations. Overall, however, "the clearest conclusion to be drawn is the vulnerability of Europe," the researchers write, because current oil reserves and consumption rates indicate that the region has the lowest number of years left.

 

more...

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/16/5723880/france-uk-run-out-of-fossil-fuels-next-five-years

 

[ Direct link to the report:

http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/microsites/global_sustainability_institute/our_research/resource_management.Maincontent.0017.file.tmp/Global%20Resource%20Observatory_Country%20Resource%20Maps%20Report.pdf - Andre S.]

[DocM]

Canada and the US would be happy to supplement you guys from our shale deposits ;)

[Arkos Reed]

France never really had oil reserves to begin with, it's a Natural Gas exploitation started in the 60's that will run out of reserves next year (240 Giga cubic meters)
And regarding Coal, exploitation became too expensive (too deep) in the early 80's

[Crisp]

Wasn't this the reason behind the Iraq war?

[neufuse Veteran]

I have zero problems with using fossil fuels. BUT I always wondered why is there a black and white break on this subject? It seems like pro oil gas people hate solar, and solar people hate oil / gas... why can we not have both?

 

We could make a to of electric if we got solar panel systems cheaper and put them on every house and fed back into the main grid system. Then use fossil fuels for supplemental power and other things like cars (nat. gas powered cars in addition to gasoline)

 

When I say this I get evil eyes from both sides of the political sides... but seriously, why can't we do both

[XerXis]

I have zero problems with using fossil fuels. BUT I always wondered why is there a black and white break on this subject? It seems like pro oil gas people hate solar, and solar people hate oil / gas... why can we not have both?

 

We could make a to of electric if we got solar panel systems cheaper and put them on every house and fed back into the main grid system. Then use fossil fuels for supplemental power and other things like cars (nat. gas powered cars in addition to gasoline)

 

When I say this I get evil eyes from both sides of the political sides... but seriously, why can't we do both

erm...we are doing them both? Or all three of them if you want to divide in nuclear, fossil and renewable.

 

Btw, solar panels are incredible toxic to make and recycle, they might not be the solution to the problem ;)

[neufuse Veteran]

erm...we are doing them both? Or all three of them if you want to divide in nuclear, fossil and renewable.

 

Btw, solar panels are incredible toxic to make and recycle, they might not be the solution to the problem ;)

 

not everywhere, which is my point... In the USA it's a huge political fight

[McKay]

Guess we'd better start building more Nuclear stations  :rofl:

[Andre S. Veteran]

That's good. This means prices will increase and there will be more incentive to transition to other energy sources. We really need to transition out of oil and coal in particular ASAP.

 

Btw I've added a direct link to the report in the OP, it's an interesting read that goes well beyond what the article talks about.

[LaP]

Hydroelectricity FTW.

[Torolol]

solar panels are toxic during the making, but the finished products and usages of said panels poses less health problem than fossil fuels.

With proper waste management the toxic created during its production can be localized and managed.

[neufuse Veteran]

Hydroelectricity FTW.

 

there's only so many rivers you can dam though... and the environmental impact of it is pretty big also, due to land flooding, migration patters changing, etc

[imachip]

The law of economics will bring about a change in thought about where we get our energy from.  When the cost of fossil fuels rise in the UK, then other sources look more viable.  Simple as it always is.  I love technology and breakthroughs but it's a slow road to electric cars and away from pollutants.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Honestly I think they need to take note from France and go nuclear.  Yeah it's expensive upfront, but it's cleaner and safer than coal and oil.  Yeah hydro and solar are great too, but the output is massively lower than nuclear.  Plus clogging up the every waterway and filling up land with windmills isn't going to be the best of ideas.

[FloatingFatMan]

That's good. This means prices will increase and there will be more incentive to transition to other energy sources. We really need to transition out of oil and coal in particular ASAP.

 

Btw I've added a direct link to the report in the OP, it's an interesting read that goes well beyond what the article talks about.

 

Meanwhile people who can barely afford our ridiculous energy prices now, will be completely shafted.  I'm already borderline on affording my travel costs to work...

Honestly I think they need to take note from France and go nuclear.  Yeah it's expensive upfront, but it's cleaner and safer than coal and oil.  Yeah hydro and solar are great too, but the output is massively lower than nuclear.  Plus clogging up the every waterway and filling up land with windmills isn't going to be the best of ideas.

 

Hydro & solar are also less viable in much of Europe than in places like the states, too.  Not completely unviable... just less so.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Meanwhile people who can barely afford our ridiculous energy prices now, will be completely shafted.  I'm already borderline on affording my travel costs to work...

At the same time, we import most of our goods from Asia as if energy was free. I think we have based many economic practices on the basis of cheap and abundant fossil fuels, as if that was going to last forever. We'll have to adapt.

[FloatingFatMan]

Adapt, sure.  But shoving prices up to the extent that people can no longer afford to GET to work, is rather stupid don't you think?

 

And no, I can't take the bus; there isn't one.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Adapt, sure.  But shoving prices up to the extent that people can no longer afford to GET to work, is rather stupid don't you think?

 

And no, I can't take the bus; there isn't one.

I think what is stupid is the lack of foresight to have not seen this coming. The rise of prices is inevitable as the resource becomes more difficult to acquire; yet we planned as if it was going to remain cheap and abundant forever. We're simply paying the consequences now.

[simplezz]

When I say this I get evil eyes from both sides of the political sides... but seriously, why can't we do both

Couldn't agree more. While eventually we all want sustainable energy, in the short term, fossil fuels (shale, coal etc) and nuclear are essential to maintain our supplies.

 

We could make a ton of electric if we got solar panel systems cheaper and put them on every house and fed back into the main grid system. Then use fossil fuels for supplemental power and other things like cars (nat. gas powered cars in addition to gasoline)

The thing is, if we mandated that every new house that's built has solar panels installed, we could massively reduce the prices of it. Economies of scale and all that.

In addition to feeding excess back into the grid, it might be a good idea to have battery storage too for each house.

[JJ_]

That's good. This means prices will increase and there will be more incentive to transition to other energy sources. We really need to transition out of oil and coal in particular ASAP.

 

Btw I've added a direct link to the report in the OP, it's an interesting read that goes well beyond what the article talks about.

 

Not good :(

[simplezz]

Adapt, sure.  But shoving prices up to the extent that people can no longer afford to GET to work, is rather stupid don't you think?

That's mostly due to wind power subsidies. Wind just isn't a financially self-sustainable model at the moment. Yet the government is pushing it hard down everyone's throats. if governments were serious about adopting renewable they'd install solar panels in every new house built, as neufuse suggested. As well as investing in future technologies like hydrogen fuel cells.

[Hum]

France can always use wine.