What if “fossil” fuels have absolutely nothing to do with decaying organic matter? What if the planet creates it by a normal geological process?
How would that single fact change your mental model of the world? 🤔 nostr:note1706ejgwqyzmmsp5wu0vznzx2yl8adnhlyns4mm4ydwdyrce5mpns8np78a
What
The remaining, decrepid form of the worldview I grew up with would be completely shattered.
You should do an episode on this.
Have had this very same thought myself.
My mental model for oil within the earth, is that it's somewhat like the blood or lympthatic systems, within the body...
They move materials around... supplying and supporting much larger / more complex systems...
I think it is replenished though not always in the same spot. That doesn't change that it's destructive and expensive to pull out and process. Compared to nuclear anyway and hopefully better tech in the future.
Finally someone talks about this.
This, fossil fuels are not fossil but many are not ready to talk abou this
100 %.
Or do we assume that Jupiter and Saturn moons had dinosaurs walking around?
Abiogentic oil is my favorite conspiracy.
Agreed, what an incredible earth we live on 💜
I actually heard a Q&A podcast of Neil Tyson where he actually touches this and what you say actually is on point.
Interesting never heard him say anything on this.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JfcVV6c3G5j0PCkAo5yGU?si=5UhNozcLSlStSDDB9ZVPIQ&t=2345
Check out this question. His comment in it is very interesting. Not 100% the same but some concepts play in with what you said, imo.
There are a plethora of reasons to discount this possibility.
1) life incorporates hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons present on the earth would get exposed to the surface over time and get devoured by living creatures
2) the presence of oxygen would cause them to oxidize into carbon dioxide and water over time. You'll note, in all the hydrocarbon rich planets out there they all have simple hydrocarbons, alkanes basically, the hydrocsrbons not produced or replenished, just present, and they all lack oxygen
3) the amount of energy hydrocarbons contain has to come from somewhere. The only thing we know of that traps sunlight in hydrocarbons is life.
It is pretty obvious what hydrocarbons are: biomass that has been sequestered by geological processes. I personally have no problem replenishing that sequestered biomass back into the biosphere, and I think there is probably a lot more of it than we think.
