Welcome to the Machine.

if the rate of carbon based life dying on a universal scale is a constant x and the ebb and flow of the earth over the millions of years it has been in existence is a constant y (which it is, i dont care what you say) and the amount of life,a, does not exceed the amount of death,b, in such a way that there will not be an excessive amount of positive life to negative death then it would be impossible to run out of fossil fuels. so x+y-(a+b)=crude oil. right? its impossible. no way to ever run out. its a mathematical impossibility. amoebas & bacterium & sealife & plantlife & dinosaurs & eventually apes & humans all die at a constant rate so the rate of population increase, corrected for the difference in carbon based material in something large like a dinosaur and something small like a person, minus the rate of population decrease equals the amount of life in existance. the amount of population decrease minus some indetermined amount (the amount of carbon based material not turned into oil) equals raw energy. why do we find oil where we find it? because we look for it there. we could very well find oil/gas anywhere, in large or trace amounts, if we look, dependant on the formation of the earth. running out of fossil fuels is a bunch of shit. won't happen. even if you figure in the unheard amount of population increse (china) it can't make up for the amount of deceased carbon in the earth that will form fossil fuels. bunch of shit.