Alternatively, bio-engineering will make practical the efficient
   creation of liquid fuels from sunlight, water and CO2. No carbon
   footprint. No massive upgrades to utility grids, recharge vs. refueling
   time tradeoffs or distribution changes.
   Warrant Canary creator

   On May 17, 2017 11:25 AM, "John Newman" <[1]jnn@synfin.org> wrote:

     Kinda off-topic, but interesting.
     [2]https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/05/16/1942252/all-
     fossil-fuel-vehicles-will-vanish-in-8-years-says-stanford-study
     [3]http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/
     fossil-fuel-vehicles-will-vanish-in-8-years-in-twin-
     death-spiral-for-big-oil-and-big-autos-says-study-that-
     shocking-the-industry
     Stanford University economist Tony Seba forecasts in his new report
     that
     petrol or diesel cars, buses, or trucks will no longer be sold
     anywhere
     in the world within the next eight years. As a result, the
     transportation market will transition and switch entirely to
     electrification, "leading to a collapse of oil prices and the demise
     of
     the petroleum industry as we have known it for a century," reports
     Financial Post. From the report:
     Seba's premise is that people will stop driving altogether. They
     will
     switch en masse to self-drive electric vehicles (EVs) that are ten
     times
     cheaper to run than fossil-based cars, with a near-zero marginal
     cost of
     fuel and an expected lifespan of 1 million miles. Only nostalgics
     will
     cling to the old habit of car ownership. The rest will adapt to
     vehicles
     on demand. It will become harder to find a petrol station, spares,
     or
     anybody to fix the 2,000 moving parts that bedevil the internal
     combustion engine. Dealers will disappear by 2024. Cities will ban
     human
     drivers once the data confirms how dangerous they can be behind a
     wheel.
     This will spread to suburbs, and then beyond. There will be a "mass
     stranding of existing vehicles." The value of second-hard cars will
     plunge. You will have to pay to dispose of your old vehicle. It is a
     twin "death spiral" for big oil and big autos, with ugly
     implications
     for some big companies on the London Stock Exchange unless they
     adapt in
     time. The long-term price of crude will fall to $25 a barrel. Most
     forms
     of shale and deep-water drilling will no longer be viable. Assets
     will
     be stranded. Scotland will forfeit any North Sea bonanza. Russia,
     Saudi
     Arabia, Nigeria, and Venezuela will be in trouble.
     --
     John

References

   1. mailto:jnn@synfin.org
   2. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/05/16/1942252/all-fossil-fuel-vehicles-will-vanish-in-8-years-says-stanford-study
   3. http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/fossil-fuel-vehicles-will-vanish-in-8-years-in-twin-death-spiral-for-big-oil-and-big-autos-says-study-that-shocking-the-industry