Total destruction of the United States’ economy, this statement may sound outright ridiculous, but could be the outcome of the future. Oil has become the main resource consumed by the world, primarily used for generating electricity, household use and transportation. Due to oil being a non-renewable resource, inefficiency and over dependency will eventually drain the world of the fuel. Electric motors may lead the way in developing alternate energy for transportation combined with newer developments. With today’s fluctuating oil prices America’s current mode of transportation will meet its end; clean electric power would serve as a way to preserve America’s future. The liquid responsible for heating our homes and powering the …show more content…
This number may comfort some, but there is still reason to be fearful. Ninety percent of Earth’s refined oil is burned through transportation, with the United States consuming 25 percent alone (Davy par. 5, 6, 8). Collectively, factors will add up to devastating consequences later if change isn 't pursued. Geophysicist M. King Hubbert confirmed, through a calculated formula, that oil production will increase to a peak in the year 2030, but will proceed to decline soon after until oil drains too far down to be economical to continue drilling or having the well run out entirely (Davy par. 3, 4, 6). The future remains unclear, unexpected events may occur leaving America in desperation as oil becomes sparse. Therefore, precautions must be made to alleviate the immediate fear of there being no oil to spare. Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the
Through the many years planet Earth has existed natural organisms have been created into oils that we use today. This process has occurs due to the process of organisms dying and floating to the ocean floor and over years getting covered by sediment which then creates oil. Since the discovery of petroleum over 150 years ago, the market for oil increased drastically. It’s still unknown if this discovery has been a positive for our world or negative. The good that has come from petroleum is the major industrialization that has taken place worldwide. While there are positives about petroleum there also are negatives that have a huge impact on the environment. Although we have been running strong and feeding countries with oil the supply source has to run out at some point. The movie The Human Footprint states how it’s projected that we will run out of resources such as oil by the year 2030. It’s a scary thought but how long petroleum has lasted for us is amazing. Using natural occurrences to supply for people can be made from anything using the technology there is today and it
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.
Margaret Atwood has written a piece of paper called “The future without oil” in 2009. In the article she addressed three important assumptions about oil i.e. fossil fuel. These assumptions points of the future without oil, what is going to be happen if oil run out of the planet suddenly and what are the plans and other energy resources to overcome? She explained each assumption with some consequences. The use of fossil fuels raises serious environment concerns. The burning of these fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide into atmosphere, it leads to global warming and climate change. She also gave the signs of warning like transformation of oceans, shortage in rainfall after long time in California and the rise in ocean level. Strengths of this text is that she explained arguments with some relative examples.
Oil damages the environment in other ways, such as the emissions oil produces into the atmosphere. Bryan Walsh says in his article, Over a Barrel, in TIME Magazine, that with the price of oil dropping, the urgency to find an alternative energy source is not where it should be. Walsh states that while we are not working to find another source to replace oil, the dependence on oil will only increase. It is estimated that oil production will increase by 20 percent by the year 2020. With the increase in production, CO2 levels will only increase in the atmosphere which will deteriorate the ozone layer of the atmosphere (Walsh).
is an examination of how different sources of energy impact the environment. The information in the article includes the results of a study they conducted to ascertain how the different sources of energy affect the environment and the ecosystems. Therefore, it looks at the different sources of energy and how efficient they are from the environmental conservation point of view. According to the journal article, all sources of energy including natural gas, Oil, and water have adverse effects on land and the general environment but of all the three, the most environmentally destructive source of energy is oil, which places natural gas at a better position when looking at how good each of the sources of energy are I relation to their impact on the natural environment. This article will be helpful when making a comparison o the benefits and effects that oil and natural gas and oil have on the environment.
Since the oil embargo of 1977, there has been an increased awareness of our nation's energy security. As global population and energy consumption rise, the need for a stable energy supply has become a hot topic and a politically volatile issue. As our negative trade balance grows larger by the day, the United States finds itself in a rather precarious position. We are becoming more and more dependent on Middle East oil.
Coal was still efficient, but the massive space needed to burn it was only available in factories and large-scale transportation like trains. Oil was the miracle fuel people found to remove the complication that stood before them. Oil and coal are both the compressed remains of long deceased beasts unimaginable but unlike coal, oil has a higher energy density thus it burns more efficiently. Under this circumstance, oil became much more widely used. In the end, oil ended up with much better transportation infrastructure and became required in certain manufacturing process’ (Green World Investor (GWI) ). I use oil products every day, accompanying every other person on earth. Cars, trains, water bottles, cleaning products, computers, packaging, and even some furniture all use oil and oil products as a fuel source, or in the production of said object. All this oil usage equates to massive greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide is released from the refining process in addition to “hydrocarbons with traces of sulfur and other compounds” (GWI). These chemicals mix in the atmosphere to form acid rain, pollute rivers and kill thousands of fish, and devastate the environment through accidental spills and leaks. Equally important to this is the fact that the majority of oil is imported from some of the most tyrannical and oppressive dictatorships in the world (GWI). These countries are
The world is not coming up short on oil itself, yet rather its capacity to deliver top-
The US was willing to go to extreme lengths to protect such an asset, and likely would do so again. This prompts the much valuable question, ‘If the United States did not depend so heavily in foreign oil would our economy be so fragile?
As humans continually exploit the earth for their own conveniences they become increasingly aware of the damage they cause. In the last 30 years the population has begun to notice just how serious the problem is and as a result great efforts have been put into amending the environment from our technological follies. Since the use of fossil fuels causes 70% of the earth's air pollution it's only logical that the human race must restrict the use of oil (Exploring Alternative Fuels) One of the main reason that fossil fuels are extracted from the earth is to provide oil for the propulsion of transportation vehicles. Scientist and researchers realized that oil is
In the United States, more than 50 percent of oil used is imported from other countries, and is shipped over by large tanker ships (Energy Quest 2012). Petroleum is made into various products such as gasoline/ diesel fuel, home heating oil, fertilizers, and plastic products (Energy Quest 2012). 74 percent of our oil is used for transportation including, trucks, buses, cars, and planes (Energy Quest 2012). Drilling of the oil is a costly process and has severe effects to the environment. Drilling on land requires a lot of space, disturbing the natural animal habitats, while drilling at sea impacts surrounding marine life (ELI 2015). Petroleum is toxic and not biodegradable, so when oil spills at sea, oil slick spreads rapidly over the water killing vast numbers of marine plants and animals (ELI 2015). Refineries emit toxins into the air and water supply as petroleum is processed to a usable oil, as it is used, petroleum products are emitted into the air contributing to global warming (ELI 2015). Additionally, other by-products have been linked to respiratory illness as well as heart disease in humans (ELI 2015).
Human existence and activities have proved to contribute immensely to the warming. When oil was first becoming a major world energy resource, greedy capitalists actively pursued any and all measures to profit from it. The expansion of embryonic corporations became the single most superior motive, forgetting completely about the care of the planet. All aspects of oil production, including the: extraction, refining and transportation generated considerable amounts of environmental pollution. Oil spills from international transportation became a major concern and in 1990
For nearly a century now, petroleum production and consumption has shown both the positive as well as the negative sides of its development. The industry has contributed to a very great extent to world economic growth and has improved the standard of living worldwide. On the other hand, the negative aspects of petroleum development has shown as the great damage which it has done to the environment. Hydrocarbons have though now become the most essential resource, but the harm the environment has to go through, in order to discover it none of them have given a consideration to it.
Fossil fuels have been used to power our vehicles since the invention of the car in the late 19th century. And with more people driving cars over the years, the total consumption of oil has increased dramatically. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States used 8.8 million barrels of gasoline (368 million gallons) a day for transportation in 2014 (Energy Information Administration). This is an alarming rate, considering the world only has so much oil. The EIA has predicted that the world has enough oil to carry the industries that rely on it through 2040 (Energy Information Administration). Beyond that, it is uncertain if we will have enough oil, not only for transportation, but also for the thousands of other industries that depend on it as their primary source of energy.
Imagine a world where money no longer had value and the only thing of worth was oil. This very well could be the foreseeable future as our dependence upon fossil fuels grows and the supply dwindles. We need to see a change in the way we use these irreplaceable fuels by attacking the source of consumption. Our cars. By sharing technology that was developed centuries ago, our current automobiles are a thing of the past. Technology is always advancing, but for some reason all this technology can only make it possible for me to send Tweets while I am sitting in rush hour traffic. Instead, there needs to be a change in power plant of these automobiles, we need renewable energy and fast. A world without oil is inevitably coming and it seems we are ill prepared. Current combustion engine powered vehicles must become extinct or else we will, due to the crumbling amount of oil left, the horrible pollution burning these fuels cause, and the fact that buying a hybrid will not make this problem go away; it could actually intensify it.