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Carbon is Neither Created nor Destroyed
I remember hearing that old depleted oil deposits tend to be found to have refilled somewhat if they are re-explored after some period. It seems that the surrounding rock is saturated with oil which then leaks out into the vacant areas from which the easily accessible oil had been extracted. New oil is not being "created" but is simply refilling the well like groundwater surrounding a temporarily drained water well. The rate of this refilling is not well known.
But even if all the world's oil deposits were used up, no new deposits were found, old deposits did not refill, and other types of oil deposits such as oil shales (Wyatt's Torch) and coal deposits were all inaccessible, we could still get all the hydrocarbons we need from oil crops such as corn, rape and hemp. The issue would be getting the energy to convert the crops' hydrocarbons to the necessary forms. This could be done using nuclear energy. Carbon itself is neither created nor depleted. The idea of a carbon footprint implies that people "use up" carbon. But this is a misleading idea that depends upon scientific illiteracy for its currency.
There is no real shortage of any chemical element or molecular substance, only a shortage of such resources lying about or enough available energy to get at those substances. Nuclear energy provides a known, safe and proven source of such energy.
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