• Question: How much longer do we have fossil fuels for?

    Asked by SHOOOOONNNNNNNAAAAAAA to Stevie, Sandra, Liena, Dona, Andrew on 8 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Andrew Allan

      Andrew Allan answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      There are a few different questions here:
      How many years of fossil fuels exist at the current rate of use?
      How long will we use fossil fuels for energy generation?

      With climate change and the drive for low carbon generation, I believe we will see a reduction in the amount of energy that comes from fossil fuels – lots more from wind and other renewable sources. So the remaining fossil fuels may last forever – if we stop using them soon!

    • Photo: Steven Wray

      Steven Wray answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      According to the internet, we have about 50 years of oil and gas and about 100 years of coal left. But as Andrew said this could change based off all sorts of things like how we use them, if we find more and if we use them at all in the future!

    • Photo: Dona Galhena

      Dona Galhena answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      Currently, the global fossil fuel consumption rate is very high so that it is predicted that our known oil deposits will be over by 2052– if we carry on at this rate without any increase for our growing population etc. Then we will have only gas and coal as fossil fuels for energy generation. But if we increase the gas and coal consumption to fill the gap left through depleting our oil reserves, gas reserves will last up to 2060, while coal deposits will last till 2088. We will be able to depend on fossil fuels a little bit longer, if some new reserves will be found.

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