Pollution and Environment Essay - Modest Proposal for Methanol and Ethanol Power

this argument by addressing the need for a clean fuel in the US to bridge the gap between non-

With gas prices on a slow rise it is no surprise that the United States has a huge dependency on oil. In a recent statistic from the US Energy Information Administration stated that in 2012 alone roughly 10.6 million barrels of petroleum were imported into the US daily. Most recently BP was accused of spilling approximately 470 to 1228 gallons of oil. And in recent past the major oil spill with in the Gulf of Mexico which occurred in 2010 that is by many is considered to be the worst oil spill in US history. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil was leaked into the Gulf coast. Being detrimental to not only wildlife but also has a huge impact on the planets general population as well. Most if not all forms of transportation with a large portion being cars run on oil and little alternatives to what can be used as a substitute. With such a high dependency on oil as well as being a high risk factor why hasn’t the US looked to other forms of energy that are both clean and efficient? Many countries have found alternative ways to supply energy. Most notably Sweden, in which in later years has been noted to actually import waste to use for their energy. If a viable energy alternative is not implemented then dependency on oil may inevitably deteriorate the infrastructure in which this country is operated upon as well as consequently negatively affect natural resources and wildlife to a point in which it will be near impossible to rehabilitate.

Some economists believe total energy independence would reduce the demand for the US dollar, as the oil trade is done is US dollars. Since oil prices are set for the total supply of oil, the global market will decide the price of oil regardless of whether the US imports oil or not. Therefore, to keep the dollar strong we should continue to import oil. However, the U.S Department of Energy claims that although US petroleum production has increased and net imports have decreased oil imports have cost our economy around $116 billion in 2014 and oil price shocks and price manipulation are to blame. The solution the US Dept. of Energy has set out is to developed more advanced and fuel efficient vehicles, and create new energy sources to replace petroleum.

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

Many critics argue that oil has had too big an impact to our society that we have become too dependant on it. The fact that oil is a non-renewable resource makes us more vulnerable for the inevitable change in the future. However, oil is arguably the best energy provider in our generation. It is cheap and easy to develop and transport. It is highly efficient (compared to alternative sources of energy). To simply discontinue the development of the oil sands would leave huge consequences. The global economy would suffer, as well as, possibly, the quality of lives of people. The unlimited "need" for oil in our society cannot be limited by government decisions. Rather than changing an

By reducing imports of foreign oil, our country is no longer increasing the coffers of foreign governments that do not hold the same values as America or even subsidizing terrorists’ groups with oil money. After reading Amadeo’s account of the 1970s stranglehold OPEC had on our country during its oil embargo, motorists waiting tiredly at gas pumps and the ridiculous increase in gasoline prices; Americans were hostages to foreign control of energy supplies. We are now in control of our

Economically, the oil industry will only pull us down as a country. Professionals believe that even though oil prices are falling, the production will start slowing and the prices will skyrocket again. The typical consumer would see that the price of oil barrels has fallen from one hundred to eighty dollars in the past year, but the consumer will not see the impact it will have outside of gas prices. Back in 2005, sixty percent of U.S. oil was imported, and the effects of a drop in prices would have been observed in the countries that we imported from. Today, however, only thirty percent of our oil is imported. With such a high amount of domestic oil, the low prices impacts the American

Our dependence on foreign oil is ruining us. With the amount of money this nation owes other countries we simply can not afford to continue importing such expensive oil, not even considering it affect on our environment. raising taxes with not a senseless decision, for with the tax revenues, a mass

One example of how the United States dependency on foreign oil affects us is the situation in Iran. Iran is building a nuclear power plant, but that goes against the world law for Iran. Iran has threatened the world with the use of nuclear weapons and the creation of a nuclear power plant could help achieve those threats. The United States is struggling to deal with the actions of Iran because of the large amounts of oil they produce and export. They United States has to act on their own because the countries within the European Union do not want to upset Iran and compromise one of their supplies of oil. Many countries are taking advantage of their access of fossil fuels and going against United States foreign policy. However, if the United States controlled their own supply of oil they would be able to handle problems in the way that best suits them and the rest of the world. Another way that would ensure the United States national security is allowing ourselves to regulate how the crude oil is refined and guarantee clean oil is provided to consumers (About the Project). We would be able to control the way the oil is refined because the Keystone XL pipeline goes from the tar sands of Alberta directly to the refineries in Steele City, Nebraska. With the most up-to-date technology the once toxic tar sand oil would be converted to the pure oil like that oil refined from the

U.S dependency on fossil fuels adversely affects the environment and the economy. The dependency the U.S has with oil has been going on for a long time. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that fossil fuels were responsible 79% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 (Dorsey). Moreover, dependency on fossil fuel is expensive; governments are still spending up to $88 billion every year supporting fossil fuel exploration (Rowell). Stopping U.S dependency on fossil fuel will not only help the economy but the environment as well.

In my opinion the proposal is unethical due to the fact the way government is controlling prices and limiting the liberty of society taking into consideration majority of the population would not be able to afford either the higher gas prices from the increases taxes or the purchase of a more fuel efficient vehicle therefore, preventing each person living a life as he or she pleases. The libertarian approach best supports my position considering regardless of the improvement of society with a cleaner environment the increased taxes on gasoline interferes with ones liberty to travel whether it be for leisure or employment. Furthermore, the injustice built into such measure is the government is forcing individuals to fund efforts they might not

This report extensively analyses the production and breakdown of Ethanols, to assess its properties and their relation to being a fuel. The use of Ethanol as reliable source of renewable energy and its current effects on society. The potential use of ethanol as an alternative to coal and fossil fuels, the advantages and disadvantages of Ethanol.

The United States needs to continue working toward ending our dependence on foreign oil but it won 't be easy and will take some time. Currently 25% percent of U.S. oil comes from foreign countries, which is on the decline (U.S. Energy Information Administration, n.d). Our

In the world of global warming, all kinds of pollution and fuel shortages going on, renewable and clean/ green energy is increasingly the ideal solution of energy related problems we have to solve one way or another. Biofuel is one of the mainstream and highly supported solutions nowadays, an idea to make renewable fuel by living organisms such as fiber, corn, vegetable oil or sugar cane. Unlike nonrenewable fossil fuels over extracted by people causing various environmental problems like generating a considerable amount greenhouse gas, current technology already lets renewable fuel like biofuels to shrink a certain amount of greenhouse gas production, making it a more ‘clean’ source of energy.

For the past three decades Oil dominates the agenda of political discussion. With scares over price volatility, sizes of reserves, international imports and least of which are the environmental impacts due to carbon dioxide and other emissions. Various speculations and educated guesses place our total depletion of crude oil within the next 50 years and there is a general consensus between environmentalists that we steer toward a hydrogen transportation system given the projected work and nonexistent carbon dioxide emissions (Environmental Technologies class lecture, Santa Clara University). However many barriers stand in the way of attaining such a goal, most of which pertaining