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In reply to the discussion: Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy [View all]Calista241
(5,586 posts)Society is going to change drastically as cars move away from oil. it's really going to be an inflection point in humanity's development, and carries great risk.
As more and more electric cars are developed and they start replacing the internal combustion engine, the demand for oil is going to drop. Oil that's cheap and easy to produce will always be needed for antique vehicles, lubricants, plastics, and other applications, but on a much reduced level that is required today.
Oil that is harder to extract, or more expensive to refine, like oil from Russia, Venezuela, Africa, Canada, and much of the northern US will cease to be developed, and will have a significant impact on those country's economies. In the US and Canada, there may be some mild hardship, but the overall results won't be terrible. But for Africa, Russia, Venezuela, and parts of the Middle East, it will be an economic cataclysm of epic proportions. Without diversifying their economies, they will collapse as oil revenue goes away. Most of those countries have shown little effort or success in the needed diversification.
We're less than 10 years before significant numbers of electric vehicles are on the road which will begin this unstoppable process.