If I could have one wish fulfilled right now, it would be for someone to get fusion electricity production operational. Cheap electricity would, in a decade or two, make oil irrelevant. The Arab nations would go back to being Bedouins–and we could turn that part of the world into a giant nature preserve, as a reminder of what happens when you get stuck in the twelfth century, and refuse to move forward.
Clayton Cramer
Middle Eastern Oil Dependence
February 01, 2006
[Not entirely true but probably close enough for Mideast politics. Oil is used for lots of things besides energy. Lubricants, solvents, and plastics are just the start of a very long list.–Joe]
“[Not entirely true but probably close enough for Mideast politics. Oil is used for lots of things besides energy. Lubricants, solvents, and plastics are just the start of a very long list.–Joe]”
I suspect if we did not use oil for power production and the cost of electricity made it feasible to power cars with electricity (directly with batteris or indirectly by using electricity to produce fuel, e.g., methane) then we would not need to get _any_ oil from the Middle East. The other sources would likely be sufficient for the _many_ other uses of oil.