1. World Wide Fossil Fuels Chemistry Department Louisiana State University July 11, 2003 Brandy Courtney Derek Dorman

2. Fossil Fuel Reserves Oil¹: 140,400 million tons Coal¹: 984,211 million tons Gas¹: 5,156 trillion cubic feet Methane Hydrates²: est. 400 million trillion cubic feet Data Source: Oxford Atlas of the World 10 th Ed, 2002

3. Usage Of Fossil Fuels Crude Oil 3,4 : 7.37 million tons per day or 2,690 million tons annually, so at current usage we have 50-80 years of oil remaining! Coal 4,5 : 4,348 million tons annually, which leaves us with enough to last us for 226 years. Natural Gas 4,6 : 94 trillion ft³ annually; therefore, we have about 54 years left.

4. Research Gas hydrates: –How to mine? 7 –How to use? Biodiesel 8 : Gas of the future! CH 4. 6H 2 O Methane hydrate structure http://en-env.llnl.gov/gas_hydrates/what.html

5. The Future of Fossil Fuels Should our concern for future generations affect our current energy consumption? From above calculations, at best only 2 more generations will see fossil fuels as an energy source. We need to develop replacement energy sources rather than focusing on conservation of fossil fuels.

6. Conservation? Go for it! –But don’t go crazy. New technologies are being developed. –Methane Hydrates? Changing over to alternative energy sources will take time and money.

7. When Will We Stop! When there’s no more. Or when replacement energy sources make fossil fuels a thing of the past.

8. Conclusion Yes, there is a fossil fuel shortage. Its too late to try to conserve. So, we must move on and see what the future holds.

9. References Questions ¹http://www.sfu.ca/geog250spring03/index/250_georgia.pdf ²http://www.fossil.energy.gov/oil_gas/methanehydrates/ 3 Energy Information Agency 4 http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/energy/stats_ctry/Stat1.html 5 Ritter,S.K. Chem & Eng News 2002, 80, 30 6 http://www.nfcrc.uci.edu/energytutorial/naturalgas.html 7 Atkinson, S. PCT Int. Appl. 2003, 17 8 http:\\www.VeggieVan.org