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Is Oil Evil?

ANGEL OR DEVIL?

PT.1    Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem?
PT.2   What impact does oil have on our environment?
PT.3   Are there any viable energy alternatives?
PT. 4   Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East?
Sources:
Contributors:

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

Whenever it comes to consumption of anything in general, individuals contribute to it. It technically is not possible for no individual contributing to no waste of oil, but still have the outcome be that there is much less oil than there was in the first place. Although the consumption of oil may not be significant in any one person, there are about six billion people living in this world today, and the majority of these people consume oil on a regular basis. When asking whether or not personal consumption is part of the problem of oil today, it can be answered in more than one way. For example, if asking this question to a driver for businesses that drives all day long, their answer would be completely different than asking this question to a little kid that still walks to school everyday. The driver might respond by saying that without a doubt they consume lots of oil, and that they contribute to the oil problem most definitely. If the little kid knew what they were talking about, he or she might respond by saying that they do not really contribute to the problem. In a way, both of these people would be correct. Although, the little kid still does contribute to the problem more than they think. Something that many people don't think about when asked about oil, is that form oil comes in, isn't only gasoline from driving in a car or riding an airplane. Oil has many forms. Even though we may not all drive or travel by plane frequently, our consumption of oil still does become part of the oil problem we have today. The different forms of oil can be used in food, clothing, transportation, leisure, and many more things. Now that we now some of the things oil can be useful in, think about if your personal consumption is a problem. Personally, my own oil consumption is a problem (although it is not as significant as many others). I do not drive, nor own a business that consumes hundreds of gallons of oil a day, but even though, I own clothes, eat food, and get driven to school everyday.

(Written by: Sarah E.)

December 2007

PT.2 What impact does oil have on our environment?

I think that the people working with oil have interpreted mistakes into their actions. Intentionally or not. Sometimes the mistakes are big, and sometimes mistakes are small. No matter the size of the mistake, these action hurt our environment. If all the oil was still in the ground in their huge oil pools, it wouldn't do anything to the environment. There still would be riches to be made from them, but because these resources are natural, they would not harm the earth. However, humans are able to bring it over the ground and ship it all over the world. The oil that gets matufactured into separate uses by burning, pollute the air with the smoke. Some of which the oil is needed for are cars, ships, planes and more. That pollution from cars is a big factor of Global warming (if one can argue whether or not global warming is actually happening). Global warming has an effect on plants and animals because of climate changes and so also on us humans. People who are not vegetarian or vegan, that do not eat meat, would not necessarily be affected diet wise, but because those of us that are not vegetarian, meat is part of the diet. If animals are affected, so will the people that want them. Because of the climate, the Poles melt and living space is destroyed. Sometimes oil spills happen, and tons of animals die from that, and it also costs tons of money to pay for the clean up. Even animals that don't live in the water, but eat seafood, suffer from hunger.

Oil does not only have a negative effect. Although the cons may outweigh the pros in many ways according to nature, social lives continue easily. Oil has given us heat, light, travel experiences, food preparation and much more. As mentioned before, oil comes in many forms. Those forms can be used for endless possibilities. That is the problem that effects our environment, the ways of creating the forms to use the oil. So, as one can see, oil has both a positive and negative affect on the environment.

The following video represents how our world 'has no escape' from what we have gotten ourselves into and to tell America that there really is a problem. Although it is short and succinct, the message can be easily interpreted:

Penguins covered in oil from an oil spill

(Written by: Sarah E. and Michaela F.)

December 2007

PT.3 Are there any viable energy alternatives?

When looking for alternatives, there can be over a million. Especially with oil, there are hundreds of different alternatives. Although some may be harder to find, refine, or use than others, there still are alternatives out there. Some of the general ideas for energy alternatives are:

Electricity from:

Wind energy
Solar energy
Deep ocean temperature difference

Thermal energy
Nuclear energy
Wave power

Substitutes for gas for motorized vehicles:

Ethanol

Electricity

Hydrogen

Natural gas

Fuel cell

Helium (for planes)

As one may wonder, "if these alternatives are out there and can help conserve the oil we have left today, why not use them?" Well, as said before, these alternatives may not always come cheap or easy to use. One can guess that years and years from now we will still be looking for alternatives for oil. However some of the alternative energy sources, like solar energy and wind power are already used a lot in for example Germany. Germany wants to produce 20% with renewable energy sources by 2020. But they are ahead of schedule so they could even hit 30%. They invest a lot of money in solar energy because private solar cell owners get 50 cents per KW/h for the energy they sell to the grid, but they pay only about 20 cents buying it from the grid. So in the end of the month owners almost always make a profit. They have mass production of solar cells in Germany, so the prices have dropped and soon the cost of them is not a good reason for not owning some. Within the next two decades Germanys solar panels and wind generators could be providing one third of the countries electricity. This would be a major decrease in destroying the environment.

Denmark is the world's leader in wind power. They save millions of Euros, 500,000 tons of CO2, coal, the environment, ... by producing 20% of their power with wind energy. This link is a article, which talks about the wind power technology, the research and innovation, clean energy facts, and the people. It explains pretty much everything detailed, but not too long, about the wind energy in Denmark, and that it works.

Click this link, it's informational!:

http://www.scandinavica.com/culture/nature/wind.htm

Huge Solar Power Plant

Wind Turbines offshore in Denmark

(Written by: Michaela F.

Beginning Revised by: Sarah E.)

December 2007

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

One can debate for hours on this issue with still no answer. But every action has a reaction (according to Newton's the law of physics). The point, is that even though the connection may be faint, there still is a connection between the violence and oil in the Middle East. Now, this would only be hypothetically speaking, in real life, absolutely do the two have a connection. This is because a lot of the violence exists due to people thinking that they are treated unfairly from the distribution of the oil. Money and wealth in general are not distributed evenly in the Middle East. There are the poor, and the wealthy. Barely can one find a large percentage of people in the Middle East with average wealth. The rich people, or the oil sheiks, are also partially in the government. They not only have the money, but they too have the power. This is a great disadvantage to the poor people. And unfortunately in this world, disputes are sometimes handled in violence. The poor or not as wealthy work for the rich, and because there are so many poor, getting a decent income is not always the easiest thing. They also usually dislike their jobs, which leads to a bad life, in the sight of many people. Something else that causes violence is the fight over oil. Those fights are more like wars. Right now there is no such war, but there have been some in the past and maybe there will be some in the future. One can only hope for the best. Some people choose to resent the idea that what is happening today in Iraq is not a war. To others, the bloodshed or fights are enough to call in one. Not only is there a connection to the violence in the Middle East with oil, but because of oil, there are disputes with the American countries against the Middle Eastern, and vise-versa.

The following picture shows that people today are so addicted to oil, that they would even go to war for it.