Question: when will the world run out of food, oil and water?

Emma Pilgrim answered on 15 Jun 2010:

Tricky one that. We know that globally the world population is getting bigger and consequently the demand for food is also increasing. We need to plan know how we are going to be able to manage to feed such a population especially since a lot of agricultural land worldwide has been developed for housing or may even be planted for bio-energy crops. Hopefully if we get it right and the scientists from a range of disciplines can co-operate worldwide we can achieve the aim of ensuring that there is a supply of nutritious food available for all. It is very important though that we don’t do this at the expense of the environment i.e. by polluting rivers, allowing soil erosion to occur as this will reduce our chances of providing food long term. We will also be polluting the environment we live in whihc could effect human health – not a good thing to do

Oil – we are predicted to run out of that a lot quicker which is why there is such a lot of interest in trying to develop alternative forms of energy: bio-energy crops, renewables ( wind, tidal etc). Personally I quite like the idea of biogas to power our homes/ schools etc. This could be created by the break down (fermentation) of food waste which would cure two problems at once: a landfill problem and limited energy availability

Water: This is essential for all life and there are fears that in the future, particularly in the Middle East there are going to be wars over this precious resource. The most simple answer is to enaure that we all use it wisely and don’t leave taps running unnecessarily…..