Is Oil Evil?

 

 

1. Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem?

 

My personal consumption of oil is a big part of the problem. When one person uses a little oil, they don't think it has an impact at all. But, everyone may only us just a little bit and together, that is a huge impact. So, it is each and every person's consumption of oil separately without noticing what it does that creates the problem. People continue thinking that all the other people are the ones that need to change but forget to look at how much oil they themselves are using. They just assume that they aren't doing anything wrong. If people keep thinking like this, nothing will ever be solved. 

 -Kyoko Yamamoto, 12/15/07

 

     Each individual's consumption of oil adds to the consumption of oil as a whole. You may not realize it, but almost anything we do requires oil. I use oil everyday because I have to drive to get to and from school. Also, by participating in a variety of activities, you may think it is just time consuming to you and your parents, but it is also consuming large amounts of fuel. When at school, the school has to provide heating in the winter, and air conditioning in the spring and summer, as well as lighting, running water, and power for all of the electronics available. These facilities all require the burning of fossil fuels to be powered. When you look at society as a whole, from a materialistic point of view, everything we own, from computers to clothes and food, has been through a process in a factory to be produced. For the factory to be powered, oil is used as the fuel. Another main thing to look at when thinking about your personal consumption of oil is that whether or not you would be able to live without it. I do not think I would be able to, because I am so used to my lifestyle, as it is, with oil as an everyday necessity.

-Mukti Patel, 12/15/07

 

    I also agree that each individual's consumption of oil adds to the total consumption as a whole. One major problem is that as a society, we are too dependent on technology. Some of these new "gadgets" are useless, and are simply things we can do well on our own. These extra technologies add to the amount of oil we use altogether, as well. For example, we usually tend to buy things that seem "cool" to us, even though it may be totally unnesessary, and we use it more and more, which means more oil is being consumed for a useless purpose. These "gadgets" include paper shredders, and electric can openers.

-Mukti Patel & Kyoko Yamamoto, 12/15/07

 

 

 

 

 

2. What impact does oil have on our environment?

 

    There is a high demand for oil in the world, and it impacts our environment. To obtain oil, fossil fuels such as coal are burned, and these fuels emit carbon dioxide into the air. Because there is such a high demand for it, the burning of fossil fuels occurs more frequently. This makes it so that there is no longer a balance of gases in the atmosphere, as the amount of carbon dioxide is increasing rapidly. This process leads to global warming, which means that the temperatures around the world are rising, leading to the melting of ice caps. Also, the melting of ice caps leads to severe conditions such as land slides, and floods. Large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions lead to lower water quality, and increase in the spread of infectious diseases, as well. Another major problem is oil spills. When ships carrying this "precious fuel" sometimes face a difficulty out at sea, or the ship collides, the oil being carried empties into the waters. You may think, "Oh, it will go away, and at least its not on land where something bad can happen," but have you ever thought about the animals that live in those waters? Many fish die because of these oil spills, and its not their fault. Oil spills are another one of those impacts that oil has on our environment.

-Mukti Patel, 12/15/07

 

      The melting of ice caps:                                                        Oil spills cause harm to underwater creatures, such as killer whales.                                                  

                                                                                         

 

 

      Our consumption of oil impacts the environment around us greatly. As mentioned earlier, the burning of fossil fuels to obtain oil leads to global warming, which causes the ice caps to melt. People are always talking about how the sea level is rising and more and more floods are occuring, but we are forgetting that we are not the only form of life on this planet. The ice caps are home to animals such as the polar bear, and penguins. Also, according to Live Science, many fish are swimming to the north in search of cooler waters to live in. These animals are losing their homes because of our rising consumption of oil.  

-Kyoko Yamamoto, 12/15/07

 

 

 

 

 

3. Are there any viable energy alternatives?

 

     Yes, there are viable energy alternatives. Some of these include ethanol and solar power. Solar power, however, is not very efficient because it would only work in the day time, if there is sunlight. Ethanol, on the other hand, has shown great promises. This "power source" is a clear alcoholic fuel, which is made from the natural sugars found in grains. Some sources include corn, sorghum, wheat, and potato skins. The most used out of these sources is corn because there is plenty of it, and it is fairly cheap (Ethanol 1). The starch in the corn goes through a process called fermentation, turning into sugar, which is also fermented, turning into alcohol (Ethanol 2). Ethanol is able to power things such as cars, furnace, electricity, and almost anything that oil powers. The advantage of ethanol over oil is that it reduces the amount of greenhouse gases being given off. This is because it is made from sources that "exhale" oxygen, and take in carbon dioxide. Ethanol is the future power source (Ethanol 3).

-Mukti Patel, 12/15/07

 

Click here to learn more about ethanol.

 

 

     There are some energy alternatives. But, a lot of them are inefficient. The cost to produce turns out more than the energy you actually get from it. Technology is a pretty good energy alternative. There are solar cells, hydrogen storage, clean coal, CO2 recycling, and synthetic fuels which are all energy technology alternatives. Coal is a large source of energy. Unfortunately, it has to be mined and it is not as easily transported as oil is. It also has a lot less energy density and coal production and burning still have some environmental problems. This of course, is a big problem but they are getting better. Some people think that Nuclear power will be a good energy alternative. But, while it makes a much less impact on the environment, it can be dangerous. Because of this, lots of other people reject the idea. So, there are some energy alternatives to oil, but as for now, they aren't very good ones!

-Kyoko Yamamoto, 12/15/07

 

 

 

4. Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East?

 

     I think that there is a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East. The reason for this is because oil is one of the most "needed" products of the world, today. As you may already know, in the Middle East, there is a large supply of oil. So, whoever is "in control" of the area where oil is present, will get some profit. An example of this would be just after 9-11. It was said that Hussein planned to attack the United States, or Iraq's bordering nations with weapons of mass destruction (Iraq 7). Although experts went into Iraq and found no evidence of this, the United States attacked Iraq (Iraq 7). Now, three-fourths of the world's oil reserves are under US control. So, the connection between oil and violence is that whichever country controls an area with an oil reserve, they control that oil reserve (Iraq 9).

-Mukti Patel, 12/15/07

 

This graph hows that the Middle East is home to most of the world's oil reserves:

 

Yes there is definitely a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East. As there becomes less oil to find, prices start to soar. At the same time, Middle East violence starts to rise more and more. The tensions of the oil market are leading to violence. In Nigeria, twin explosions hit oil installations belonging to Italian oil giant Agip. Money is like always the center or origin of every conflict. For Iraqi, oil exports are the government's greatest source of revenue. Looks like to me that since oil is becoming scarce, Middle Eastern countries are trying to sabotage other oil companies so that they still earn their profit. If there wasnt such a big oil issue, I think the violence in the MIddle East would be significantly lower.

-Kyoko Yamamoto, 12/15/07

 

Click here for a timeline of more events that link oil and violence in the Middle East!!!

 

 

 

 Response:

Ramina Abbasi--- I agree with you guys, alternatives are a great way to start helping our

earth. Our enviornment deserves to be taken caare of and a great way to do it

is solar powered machines. This would make a huge impact and would make a diffrence.

 

Caitlin M.- Mukti- even though I agree that we need to start using new energy resources, I don't think that ethanol is the best choice. If you research how hybrid cars that use ethanol are made, you will see that it requires much more energy to make them. besides, If we could harness the power of the sun, wind, and water to get our energy, we would be alot better off. Not only that, but we could use all the extra corn grown to feed the hungry, which would kill two birds with one stone.

 

Sources:

 

          Information

 

  1.   "Ethanol Made From Corn and Other Crops." Carjunky. 2006. 17 December 2007.

               <http://news.carjunky.com/automotive/ethanol_made_from_corn_and_other_crops_ab1391.shtml>.

  2.   "A Timeline of Oil and Violence-II." 2006. 17  December 2007. <http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline-Iraq_040903c.htm>.

     

     

     

    Pictures/Videos

     

     

  3.   Koverik, Bill. "Crude Oil Reserves of the World." 2003. 17 December 2007. <http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/oil/oil.reserves.67.gif>.
  4.   http://youtube.com/watch?v=8yoq86gHSdE

 

 

 

Contributors:

Mukti Patel

Kyoko Yamamoto

 

 

 

 

 


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  • Recent comments:
    Mehak:I agree with what you've said about the consumption of oil. We do contribute to the huge amount of oil consumption a lot because we use it so much, and it's an everyday necessity used in so many things that we might not even realize. It's also probably really hard to give up the oil we use since we are so used to our lifestyles in which oil plays a huge role.
    Kyle M.:Of course everybody uses oil, and I'm glad that they acknowledged that. The penguin picture was a great way of demonstrating their point, and how Global Warming has affected the Earth, and Kenny brought up an even more detailed perspective in his comment about the concept.
    Kenny W:The odd thing about the penguins is that they prefer the global warming, it is the polar bears who dont (you ever seen march of the penguins, u think they enjoy that?) Anyways... You seemed pretty intent that "ethanol is the energy of the future" however, producing ethanol requires manufacturing even more heavy machinery and equipment, plowing miles of crops with tractors, sending Co2 emissions a good deal already, and burning ethanol creates just as much Co2 as burning gas (an oil product) does. It is using the ethanol for other purposes and the ability to create it (corn is not a fossil fuel) that makes it benefit the environment. Also, creating so many miles of farmland and maintaining it involves spraying miles of land down with pesticides, poisons, and chemicals, also killing nearby animals, do u really think that it is that much better? While i do not believe that being fully dependant on oil is a good thing, i do not believe that the Earth as a whole is fully prepared to take the next jump forward. Overall, the presentation is good and has quality thoughts and effort. I like the pictures, they are very thought provoking, and the responses are long and well planned out. Good Job!
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