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| Yes | 73% | 118 votes | Total: 162 votes | |
| No | 27% | 44 votes |
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Add to FavoritesI don't believe it's a question of, will water become more valuable than oil, but a question of, when will water become more valuable than oil? As we move towards viable alternative fuel sources,(and as ever hightening gas prices encourage us to move further and faster in this direction), I think it's clear that oil is on it's slow and steady way out. And even if you dispute this observation, you can't argue that oil has an endless global supply. We know for sure that this is not the case.
The 'Peak Oil Theory', devised by M King Hubbert in 1956, describes a likely decline in consumption as demand and therefor prices increase, while supply deminishes. He predicted Americas consumption peak to be between 1965-1970. Oil industry giants admit that most of the worlds oil reserves have already been found and globaly, we've peaked as far as daily production is concerned.
I believe that first the so called first world nations will move further and further away from oil as fuel, as alternatives become more reliable and cost effective. Once these alternative sources are perfected and proven, the second world nations then begin to move into them. Then of course, when prices fall enough as the new fuel routine becomes truly routine, the third world nations begin to switch, perhaps with a little help from thier friends. Once everyone has switched, the price of oil falls through the floor with it's demand.
The worlds population continues to grow, so too does the worlds oil shortage. Economics will definitely push us to develope our alternatives. But oil is not the only shortage we will face. Nor is it the most important. Fresh, clean water is also a limited resource. We do have technology to clean dirty water, but the process adds price to production. Nominal price so far, but as demand goes up and supply goes down, price goes up. And we can desalinize salt water into fresh but not very efficiently and so far, at great expense.
Our global ability to clean the water we dirty is not keeping up to the rate of consumption and as global population continues to rise, the shortage of fresh, clean water will become more and more evident. It may take another hundred years or so, but once the need for oil is all but faded into the annals of history, the need for water will not only still exist but likely increase. The only possible way to keep up will be to use technology to clean, re-clean, and clean again, all the fresh water we have. Every time we process it, we add cost to it's production. At this point water should be worth more than oil.
Global warming could very well continue to deminish our already limited supply of fresh water with each successive generation. This effect can only serve to tilt the scales more quickly. Water will absolutely be more valuable than oil at some point in the future, and then forever beyond. And any good philosopher would tell you, it already is.
Learn more about this author, Ivan Anthony.
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No
Water is priceless to a person perishing in the desert, he or she will give you the world for that glass of water if that is all that separates life from death.
Other than the above scenario, the relative value of water and oil is a pure matter of economics demand, supply and price dynamic equilibrium.
Will water ever become more valuable than oil?
Well, it always has been in the oil rich countries of the middle east where a liter of bottled water always costs more than a liter of gasoline, all because oil is more abundant than drinking water in these desert nations.
The current escalation of global oil prices is not new, but the reasons for its recent sharp rises can be attributed to many reasons and opportunistic price speculation as well as the weak US Dollar are inter-alia amongst the reasons.
The pertinent question is will water ever become more economically (as opposed to real) valuable than oil globally?
My take is, "No" for very simple reasons of demand and supply.
The total amount of water available today in the world has not change since the Jurassic time. The supply of fresh water we receive everyday comes from the power of the Sun through the renewing Hydrological Cycle. It can be said that there is actually no new water today, only fresh recycled water.
Chances are that the water you drank today was once somebody's urine, but because it has been distilled by the Sun's energy to form clouds and return as precipitation, harvested and treated by the local public water authorities, it become fresh drinking water again.
Oil also undergo the same but not identical renewable process, the only difference lies in the cycle: millions of years instead of days, weeks, months and years as in the case of water.
The Earth ought not run out of water since it is a renewable resource provided by Nature, but shortages in diverse places can happen when there is an imbalance of demand over supply.
The is still an abundant supply of water well distributed all over the world, unlike oil which availability only occurs in selected parts of the Earth.
The supply of oil will definitely run out because its renewable cycle is in a matter of a million of years rather than weeks like water is
Therefore, unless mankind is successful in being weaned off oil as a source of usable energy, the demand for it is not likely to fall, and with dwindling supply, its price must but rise.
The abundant and ubiquitous supply of water makes it a commodity with low economic value, but it is in no means unimportant or not valuable.
Like air, we take it for granted and treat it like nothing but free until one day, deprived of clean air with adequate oxygen, we being to appreciate the value of air. But alas, air is abundant and ubiquitous and therefore has no or low economic value.
Water will never become more economically valuable than oil, not even if man found a way to convert water into usable energy because like air, water is in abundance and well distributed all over the world, generally so that nobody or nation can exercise a control or monopoly over such a critical commodity.
No, water will never become more economically valuable than oil, generally.
Learn more about this author, Alex Kee.
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