Introduction It is an indisputable fact that oil resources are diminishing across the globe. The demand for oil is increasing in countries that are benefitting from the shift in manufacturing and services to underdeveloped countries. In order to maintain particular standards of oil-dependent living, nation states establish unbalanced trade arrangements which contribute to global disharmony. The continued use of oil in its many applications is a dominant cause of air and water pollution, which is substantially contributing to global warming. Only by reducing mankind's dependence on oil can these issues be constructively addressed. Alternative forms of energy are the rational solution for reducing global oil dependency, which will result in positive changes to the global environment and to global political affairs. Oil reserves are not a renewable resource, dependent as they are on the planet-forming forces that constitute a cycle that take eons to complete. Predictions about how long global oil supplies will last are made every few years. In 1999, the American Petroleum Institute estimated that global supplies of oil would be depleted sometime between 2062 and 2094 (Owen, et al, 2010). This estimate was based on an oil consumption rate of 80 million barrels per day, and reserve levels at 1.4 trillion and 2 trillion barrels, respectively (Owen, et al, 2010). In 2004, estimates were changed to reflect the increased consumption of oil, which was shifted up to about 85
In terms of oil dependence, most of the general public believes that the world has enough oil to support us for the next hundred years; in truth we are rapidly depleting our petroleum sources due to the increasing population and demand. In fact, as was initially theorized by the Hubbert Peak Theory in 1950, Earth peaked in oil supplies in 1973 and the largest oil resources that have been discovered since then have been in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Here it must be
Petroleum has been a mainstay of the United State's economy for almost a century. However, oil has now been recognized as a strong catalyst for global warming, it is becoming scarce and therefore, an expensive necessity to America's economy. In the recent years many universities and scientists have looked for alternatives to oil in the form of renewable energies. These renewable energy sources would be cheaper in the long run, more efficient and environmentally clean. America as a whole must look into these new forms of renewable energy to determine if they are a practical alternative to the use of petroleum as an energy source. If we do not try to find a clean and efficient alternative to fossil fuels, I am concerned
America's dependency on foreign oil is slowly crippling the average citizen's hard-earned income with outrageous fluctuation in gas prices. The American government seriously needs to step it in gear and start taking action on possible supplemental energy sources to replace foreign oil and actually begin providing those sources to the public without overpricing. Today's foreign oil is polluting our air and crushing we as American's pockets. "Rising U.S. demand for imported oil accounts for more than a third of the U.S.
The U.S. should invest in alternatives to oil, and drill on the United States grounds because it will assist the economy, preserve energy and fix the world’s environmental problems. The supply and demand for oil is always on the rise, and problems are contemplated with the use for oil. Those problems are starting to catch up to the modern world, and something needs to change before the world enters a black out. Experts can predict that there is estimated to be somewhere around 61 years of oil left for us to use at our current rate. The demand for oil is always rising. People in today’s modern society rely so heavily on oil, that they would not know what to expect if it
It is estimated that 1.3 trillion barrels of oil reserve is left in the world’s major fields (Institution of Mechanical Engineers 2015). At present rates of consumption this will be enough oil to last approximately 40 years. By 2040, it is intended for production levels may be down to 15 million barrels per day which is approximately 20% of the amount of oil which is currently being consumed (Institution of Mechanical Engineers 2015). It is likely by the year 2040 that the world’s population will be twice as large (United States Census Bureau 2015). Additionally, it is likely that more of the world will be industrialized and therefore more dependent upon oil.
The topic of this paper is America’s foreign oil dependency. The purpose of this paper is to suggest how might America completely destroy or at least greatly mitigate its dependency on crude oil to fuel Americans’ cars, especially foreign crude oil. Library literature, newspaper articles, encyclopedias, and the Internet were all sources used to compile this paper. The conclusion reached in this research topic is that America’s great foreign oil dependency is a crisis and other energy sources to fuel our cars need to be adopted and implemented before the people
The excessive use of oil in the United States has been a very controversial debate with American experts and scientists. In his article “How America Can Free Itself of Oil-Profitability,” Amory Lovins addresses the many different issues associated with excessive oil consumption and the risks versus the benefits. Amory Lovins is a physicist, environmental scientist, writer, and Chairman/Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written numerous research articles arguing for the use of renewable energy and alternatives for oil. Lovins also regularly gives presentations to other environmentalists discussing the pros and cons of oil consumption. It is clear that his target audience is the demographic of academics, scientists, and well-informed policy makers. In this article, Lovins is not arguing against the consumption of oil but is rather presenting a solution to the issue. This style of writing will attract academics, environmentalists, and even big corporations in the oil industry. It presents useful information that these people can use to their advantage.
The view concerning the diminishing supply of fossil fuel resources, along with the concerns that climate change is worsening, has prompted research and development of national energy policies and renewable energy sources. There have been minimal studies concerning the depletion of fossil fuels as well as nuclear fuels and the transition and development to renewable energy sources. This paper studies the depletion pattern, using models, of fossil and nuclear fuels. The studies show that oil depletion will be the first concern. Electric vehicles are promising and economical but at this point cannot overcome the need for oil. Biofuels are very limited in their production. The study shows that if the relationship between technology and an economy dependent on oil does not improve, world economic growth will be severely challenged. More ambitious energy policies are needed than just the benefits of technology for a smooth transition to happen.
al., 1998). Once this occurs, oil production will decrease until it is no longer economically feasible to extract remaining reserves.
For the past several decades we have been relying on oil as our major source of energy. It is oil that driven the industrial revolution and turn the global economy into what it is right now. However, the increasing rate of our reliance and hunger for oil has been causing us devastating problems so awful that we can’t afford to ignore it anymore. It is a fact that the global oil reserve won’t run dry in either today or tomorrow but we are running out of supply. I believe that oil should not be the only major source of energy because of the following reasons, first, the
Modern society will remain dependent on crude oil, even with the development of alternative forms of energy. Oil consumption is vital because many heavy machineries, factories, ships, aircrafts, and automobiles are reliant on crude oil. It is true that efforts are being made (especially within the U.S.) to develop and employ other forms of energy, but, I think that sustainability of such efforts would be a major drawback.
The growing oil scarcity in the early 21st Century and its possible implications on the global economy, including economic growth, inflation, food security and poverty, is a subject that has been widely well known and discussed by a plethora of scientists and economists. Peak oil, a term coined by M. King Hubbert in 1965, is generally defined as “the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to incline forever”(Hirsch et al., 2005). By their finite nature, there is no argument over whether fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal – will go scarce, but rather when this will occur, whether alternative energy supplies will meet the ever-increasing demand, and how best to oversee such a transition. The failure to do so could result in a profound word-wide economic crisis leading to lower economic standards in developed and developing countries alike. Cuba, one of the only countries that has faced such a crisis yet, is an example of options and hope.
The theory of ‘peak oil’ refers to the inevitable peaking and consequent decline in the amount of oil produced in any nation throughout the world. The term ‘peak oil’ usually refers to the time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached after which a terminal decline in the rate of production occurs (Heinberg, R. 2003, pg. 97-98). There is an ongoing debate about when peak oil will occur; some economists deem it to be decades away, while others believe it has come to pass all ready (Strahan, P. 2007, pg. 202). As the world is so reliant on this finite resource it is a crucial problem that needs to be
The world is depended on oil and soon oil will become more valuable than gold and could lead to a worldwide war. Price for oil could soar to above two hundred fifty dollars per barrel. Oil and other fuel cell also cause green house gases which contribute to global warming. China is consuming two times more petroleum than 1996 and India is projected to consume three times the oil it currently does by 2050. Global house gas emission has increased by twenty percent from 2003 to 2006. Energy consumption has increased exponentially throughout the globe. The U.S. department of energy projects energy consumption will increase seventy percent from 2003 to 2030. The world has agreed to reduce emission by twenty five percent before 2020 and by over
Fossil fuel reserves is running out, it’s only a matter of time. Currently the world consumes the equivalent of 11 billion tons of oil in fossil fuels every year. Especially crude oil reserves are demising at the rate of 4 billion tons per year [1] – if we continue at this rate without taking into account our growing population and civilization, our known oil deposits will vanish by 2052.