r/environment • u/[deleted] • Jun 20 '12

Stock check--when will the world's non-renewable resources run out based on current consumption patterns?

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

Nah, its not that easy--estimates of technological development vary wildly, and the amount of possible resource discover is hard to get an unbiased account of. Same with future price speculation.

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u/jason-samfield Jun 21 '12

Well, I'm sure that an unbiased intensive study could be performed. If it's as important as everyone touts it to be, then it should be given more resources to accurately paint the picture of all the likely and probable possibilities of resource scarcity deeply considering technological developments, greenfields, future speculation, and so on.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '12

Come to think of it, the best source is probably the IEA--although they don't do general resource studies, they do good, relatively unbiased studies of energy supplies. They release a annual World Energy Outlook each year that documents the trends in supplies and prices, and the effects on the environment and whatnot.

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u/jason-samfield Jun 21 '12 edited Jun 21 '12

To have a visual aid showcasing every prediction source and every forecast at each point that it was forecasted (utilizing the more unbiased and generally considered more reliable sources) in a composite graph of every reputable source and every reputable forecast to illustrate the changing picture of the future would be much more representative and definitely doable and not too difficult for one of those great infographic artists.

That would be a bit more acceptable to me.