View Full Version : What will aero engines use for a lubricant in 50yrs time???
Well, I recently found out that out of all of the fossil fuels that we burn, oil is the one that i going to run ou soonest. In 50 years in fact at the current rate of cunsumption.
Oil is such an important part of our lives......we use it in plastics, combustion as well as many other things.
My question is, if we are going to run out of oil, and presumably lubricants for our lovely powerplants, what are we going to ue to replace it?
Has anyone got any ideas as to what is being developed/alternatives?
You have been had.
Oil makes jetfuel and everything else.
We have been "running out of oil" for years. Technology and exploration is staying well ahead of consumption. Supplys of crude are more or less limitless. The choke point these days leading to high prices has been lack of refinery capacity.
The only thing that will happen is the price will rise. We won't run out. It will just get expensive, and when that happens alternatives will be cost competative.
If we were so worried about oil we should be building Nuke plants left and right. We certainly shouldn't be generating electricity with gas and oil.
Cheers
Wino
[This message has been edited by Wino (edited 05 April 2001).]
Coriolis
5th Apr 2001, 23:52
Not sure that lube is a major worry if there's no oil left to crack into fuel...maybe if we just turn the oceans into oxygen & hydrogen we could burn the hydrogen and hang the spools on air bearings...by that time, since all the locked up CO2 will be wafting about in the atmos, the greenhouse effect will have raised the temp to a level that will allow the airco packs to be turned off (so there's another fuel saver).
Mind you, with temps that high all the flight manual graphs will have to be rewritten (is 50yrs long enough to do that?)
Still, if George W stays around, we may not have 50yrs to work in, 'cos you sure as hell mustn't inconvenience our cousins by asking them to figure in the clean up costs......
(how many buttons did that just push???) ;) ;) ;)
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Ground tested, no fault found
airsmiles
6th Apr 2001, 00:30
How about KY Jelly ?
toolow gere
6th Apr 2001, 00:47
I dunno about the oil not running out, I read somewhere that 50 years ago "they" were finding 4 buckets of black gold for every one that was being used , now it`s the other way round. "we" are using 4 for every 1 that is consumed!
toolow gere
6th Apr 2001, 00:59
Sorree! for consumed read found!
Trislander
6th Apr 2001, 01:02
How about WD 40 ?
Apparently scientists are work9ing on several types of fuel for the future:
Liquid Hydrogen
Liquid Methane
Liquid O2
Of which two of these are already used widely in rockets.
I think I also heard about nuclear, but it would be disatrous if something went wrong.
Don't worry, 20 years ago no one would think we would all have our own small WAP and SMS enabled digital GSM mobile phones with voicemail and an expensive range of covers to change the appearance of them.
I am sure the boff's at Oxford can sort it out!
Tri
Unwell_Raptor
6th Apr 2001, 01:21
A couple of decades ago Lockheed experimented with a 1011 fuelled with gas in the form of hydrogen.
It was okay until they got to 30000 feet, when the pilot went out.