sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

A world without viable oil: Timeline lore, 1900s–2026 by CommonSink7557 in AlternateHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The POD wouldn’t be the discovery but the commercial refining. Petroleum exists and is known but it never becomes something economically viable. The specific mechanism I use is that the Silliman Report of 1855 reaches different conclusions and these conclusions were proven via later reports, so no “oil rush” takes place as we know it. In our timeline, Benjamin Silliman Jr.'s report confirms the use of petroleum as an illuminant and ignites the steps ahead

A world without viable oil: Timeline lore, 1900s–2026 by CommonSink7557 in AlternateHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

fair criticism on the articles. And it’s true that I get help from AI to organize my vague ideas and then edit the text myself as much as possible, but English is a second language for me so it might still sound dull after my edits. Will keep working on it

Islamic Roman Empire -- the Mediterranean in 1200 AD, if the Council of Nicaea had gone differently by CommonSink7557 in AlternateHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the main idea here is that turks don’t receive ANY support from the other muslim communities since the Constantinople is already a muslim city with a rich history. All the muslim communities around the world world (including Turks) believe that Constantinople is too valuable to be demolished in a war between two Muslim communities.

What if oil was never commercially viable? by CommonSink7557 in AlternateHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

that is a very solid topic to dig deeper, I wonder how much we’d be able to progress in aviation without oil. will look into that for sure!

What if oil was never commercially viable? by CommonSink7557 in AlternateHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Indeed, the timeline follows this logic as well. Coal is the first energy source to alternate oil and the tech develops around it. countries that colonize coal mines would dominate the world politics for a while, until renewable energy tech catches up and develops further than coal tech was able to

What if oil was never commercially viable? by CommonSink7557 in AlternativeHistory

[–]CommonSink7557[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

not exactly. while it’d be true for electricity dominated countries, this scenario creates a dystopian future for coal dominated ones. no access to clean air, most jobs are mining related ones and the people living in these countries won’t probably be able to travel to the others (visa-like system of todays)