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Re:What if we never run out of oil? (2013) by blacksmith_tb on Monday April 14, 2014 @07:35PM (#7589524)
So, if we switch to using methane hydrates and shale gas instead of coal and oil, we will be emitting less CO2 - obviously not as big a step away from fossil fuels as going all renewable (and/or nuclear), but seemingly better than doing nothing...
Re:What if we never run out of oil? (2013) by AbsoluteDestiny on Monday April 14, 2014 @09:00PM (#7589772)
It doesn't matter how quickly we put carbon in the atmosphere. It has a 200 year effect - taking 60 more years versus 20 is meaningless if you end up putting it all up there anyway. The only difference would be how soon we suffer the worst effects - it's too fast for adaptation in nature for most evolutionary or migratory processes either way. I suppose you could hope for a technological silver bullet but that's effort made while dealing with a much more costly carbon economy.

Also, we should really avoid the worst effects. Even the middling effects are pretty awful.

Re:What if we never run out of oil? (2013) by fulafel on Monday April 14, 2014 @08:22PM (#7589673)
No, that's mostly on top of oil and coal extraction. (Also gas isn't big enough improvement on co2 emissions to the small extent it does displace coal or oil)
Re:What if we never run out of oil? (2013) by thaumaturgy on Tuesday April 15, 2014 @12:42AM (#7590341)
As the article pointed out, near the end, we'd also be potentially releasing far more methane, which could be worse than CO2.