Is Oil Evil?

 

By G.B. & S.W.

 

 

 

 

Question 1

 

 

        Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem?

 

 

ANSWER:    Yes, we use oil daily, and since everyone uses oil daily then overall it becomes a big problem.  Most people drive to school or work each day and that adds up to using a lot of oil for your car to work.  Everyday, we are driven to school about 20 minutes to school, so that adds up to a lot of oil being used in order to get to school everyday.  Electricity is also sometimes generated from oil, so when we use electronic appliances such as when we cook or when we use the computer for a project such as this one, we are contributing to the consumption of oil that is creating many problems that we have today.  As for the entire world as a whole, according to the 60 seconds "Thirst for Oil" article, in 2004 the worldly consumption grew by 3.4%- it stated that the world consumes 82.4 million barrels of oil a day!  They state that the US and China are the reasons for almost half of the increase since China consumes 6.6 million barrels of oil while the U.S. consumes 20.5 barrels each day.  Roberts writes in The End of Oil "oil companies and oil states will need to discover, produce, refine, and bring to market 140 million new barrels of oil every 24 hours, day after day, year after year, without fail. Simply building that much new production capacity (to say nothing of maintaining it or defending it) will mean spending perhaps a trillion dollars." So, it is easy to see our personal consumption of oil is part of the problem because almost everyone in the U.S. uses oil in their everyday lives and all that oil adds up to the problem of oil addiction we face today.

 

 

 

 

In Baghdad, an Iraqi worker arranges these barrels of oil.  Most likely, the barrels will go to the United States, who consumes 20.5 million barrels a day.

 

 

Question 2

 

 

        What impact does oil have on our environment?

 

 

    ANSWER:    It does have a big impact on our environment.  When oil is burned into the air, it generates heat, which contributes to global warming.  Also, it goes into the air that we breathe and in that way also contributes to global warming, which has made and will make many animals become extinct due to their natural habits becoming destroyed due to the climate change and/or their food source becoming extinct. Nick Middleton says in his writing of Tackling the threat of oil pollution (environment today) "oil spills from shipping occur both during normal operations, when loading and discharging at ports or oil terminals, and from accidents. Accidents tend to produce larger spills which can be devastating to the environment. Sea birds are particularly vulnerable because oil clogs their feathers, but crustaceans, fish and other wildlife are also affected." Another thing is the waste products of crude oil are very toxic and this is explained the video below. Thus, oil has a huge impact on our environment and most of it is negative.

 

 

Hi

 

You wouldn't want these cute, little baby polar bears to be harmed due to the indirect effects of oil, would you? =[

 

 

Crude Impact: Oil, The Earth and Humanity

 

 

 

 

 

Question 3

 

 

        Are there any viable energy alternatives?

 

 

ANSWER:    "Within 30 years, the world will have used up all the oil that is readily accessible, but the race to develop new and clean energy sources--such as hydrogen--is competing with the more basic need to produce enough energy of any kind. The situation is exacerbated by Western consumers' refusal to modify energy-dependent lifestyles and companies' and governments' failure to alter oil-consumption habits" says Roberts in The End of Oil. That is a big problem and there are many other energy alternatives.  For example, for cars, you can have them powered by the sun using solar panels on the car and then having an electric motor for travel in the night.  A team of Canadian students had their solar powered car, the Radiance, travel for over 30 days Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia, which is over 7000 km!  We can also use solar panels to power our houses which will make us not rely on electricity from oil and other sources contributing to global warming and instead produce pollutant-free energy.  Also, solar panels usually produce extra energy, so you don't have to worry about not having enough energy and night and you can even sell some to electric companies. And there's more than just solar power! Other viable energy alternatives are wind energy and geo-thermal energy.

 

 

 

 

 

A video that explains solar panels for producing solar energy.

 

 

Question 4

 

 

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

 

 

 

    ANSWER:   Yes, there is a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East. "Oil prices are rising in part because the old rules of supply and demand are being complicated by violence in the Middle East.   That includes an attack against the most critical overseas supplier of oil for the United States (Zarroil 1)."  Also, the United States is helping fund both sides of the war because we are sending money to our troops to fight terrorists while at the same time we are spending money on oil which is being used to help fund the terrorists fighting us.  Furthermore, there is a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East.

 

 

 

 

 

 Iraq's Dilemma Over Oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

 

 

"Analysis: Oil prices. (10:00-11:00 AM) (Broadcast transcript)." Morning Edition (May 6, 2004): NA. General OneFile.

 

    12 Dec. 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com/ips.do?prodld=IPS>.

 

 

Iraqiman worker arranges oil barrels at Al-Doura refinery near Baghdad (Online Image).  Avaliable <http://www.corbis.com>. March, 2003.

 

 

Polar Bear Cubs Inside a Snow Den (Online Image).  Available <http://www.corbis.com>. March, 2003.

 

 

"Solar-powered car sets new world record." (distance record set)(Brief Article) Geographical, Oct 2000

 

    v72 i10 p12. Science Resource Center. Thomson Gale. 08 December 2007

 

<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A66157183>

 

 

"Tackling the threat of oil pollution. (environment today)." Geography Review, Jan 2001 v14 i3 p32(2). Science Resource Center. Thomson Gale. 12

 

December 2007 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A90985505>.

 

"The End of Oil." (Environment) The Futurist, July-August 2004 v38 i4 p6(2). Science Resource Center. Thomson Gale. 12 December 2007   

 

<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A118586770>

 

 

"Thirst for oil." (60 SECONDS)(Brief Article) New Scientist, May 21, 2005 v186 i2500 p7. Science

 

    Resource Center. Thomson Gale. 08 December 2007

 

    <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A132941238>

 

 

 

Contributors

 

Gale Group Databases, Youtube.com, and Corbis.com

 

 

 

 


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  • Recent comments:
    Leo M.:I think this project was really resonable. You put the sources at the bottom which will help other get more information is they wanted to later on. I also enjoyed all the video's you put up, the one that talked about how were also intruding into others territory for oil when they themselves(the countries) have never had any oil fields. Over all this hase been a good blog exept for some of the data wasent discussed all the way like just how long would it take for the soaler car to be fully charged.
    Joe:I agree with your points presened. I like, Bridget, had heard that solar panels were ineffecint. Traveling 7000 kilometers in 30 days is no small task. The fact that they did all of it on solar energy is even more impressive. MY only question is how long they spent storing up the solar energy for the trip. That would be interesting to know. I loved your blog's layout and it was very visually appealing. Thanks for providing all your resources.
    BS:Your argument about the use of solar panels as an alternate source of energy brings up a very interesting point. I've heard that solar panels aren't really efficient, but apparently that's changing! 7000 km in a trip...that seems a lot more promising than I've heard before. Usually the arguments against solar panels state inefficiency and the fact that they can't work at night. The idea of an electric motor at night is perhaps feasible, but what exactly will that motor run on?...I mean, electric motors work on oil, so while we are cutting down, complete independence isn't achieved. This, however, seems like a good step to oil-independence.
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