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biffvernon · Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 13921 Location: Lincolnshire

A good question. Here are a couple of rough numbers to head us in the right direction. You get more than 3 tonnes of oil seed rape per hectare and over 300 litres of oil per tonne, so, roughly, consider 1000 litres of oil produced per hectare.

We'd need to know the tractor fuel consumption. 5-10 litres per hectare depending on the job.
How many tractor operations, plough, harrow, drill, spray, cut, combine. Let's say 50 litres used per hectare
And the embodied energy in tractor manufacture.
And how many hours the tractor survives before being scrapped.

I can't even guess at those but we've still got 950 litres per hectare spare so my gut feeling is that the tractor will easily pay its way.
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http://www.transitiontownlouth.org.uk

SleeperService · Joined: 02 May 2011 Posts: 923 Location: Nottingham UK

emordnilap · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 9485 Location: way out west

Next time you come across anyone with their engine running but the vehicle stationary - ie, getting zero miles per gallon (refrigerated trucks might be excused) - ask them if they've ever complained about the high price of fuel.
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The human appears to have no idea what its ideal diet should be; has self-inflicted diet-related diseases; causes extensive environmental destruction through basic food production & creates pathogenic infestations that widely infect its food supply.

JavaScriptDonkey · Joined: 02 Jun 2011 Posts: 1474 Location: SE England

Standuble · Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 82

I can imagine the museum having: an artistic themed piece with an oil barrel partially buried in sand but surrounded with human bones.

- Similarly, a skeleton holding a petrol pump.

- A rusted car with no tires, wheels or window glass. Supposed to signify how little of the car was renewable and how short a car's average life was.

- A shell or BP petrol sign

- A display of the word "oil" made out of non-renewable oil based products, e.g. garbage bags, carrier bags, tires etc.

Mean Mr Mustard · Joined: 31 Dec 2006 Posts: 1415 Location: Cambridgeshire

The Oil in Art display was a great success.

As oil will never run out, and is used sparingly these days, the Museum is planning an exhibition on how we still do use oil beyond the Oil Age.

Oil Paintings being one example. And did you know that 3in1 has been around since 1894, and still going strong, especially now we are in the second bicycle age?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-In-One_Oil

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1855 Advertisement for Kier's Rock Oil -
"Hurry, before this wonderful product is depleted from Nature’s laboratory."

The Future's so Bright, I gotta wear Night Vision Goggles...