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From the asphalt and plastic to our very Vaseline waxes, humans have almost become addicted to petroleum. But petroleum is a limited resource and it is becoming clear that it will not last much longer under our growing demands for petroleum. So what is the world doing in order to prevent this major global crisis? And what is the solution to preventing this disaster?

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From this video, you can get a general impression of where we are all heading to: the end of a steep, steep cliff. The oil we have been using for thousands of years are starting to deplete, threatening to change our lives forever.

Why is this such a big deal? How much petroleum reserves currently exist? How does petroleum affect the environment? What are some possible solutions to this issue? Conclusion ||
 * Table of contents ||
 * What is petroleum used for?
 * Biofuel
 * Wind Power
 * Solar Power
 * Hydro Power
 * Geothermal





There is an endless list of items that require petroleum to produce and the part of the reason is because the list is continuously growing today. A lot of items that now have important roles in our everydays life include: energy, Gasoline, Oil, Propane, Asphalt, Plastic, candles, clothing (polyester, nylon), hand lotions, petroleum jelly, perfume, dishwashing liquids, ink, bubble gums, car tires, ammonia, and etc.

So how are all these items derived from just petroleum? On the right, there is an example of how petroleum is refined to produce the various types of fuel and asphalt. There are all types of specialized fuel for the various types of transportation that exists today, including the floor itself. Petroleum is widely thought as something mainly for transportation (Campbell).

While we can clearly see that petroleum is unbelievably useful, that brings up an interesting point as the world's supply of petroleum is decreasing endlessly: Is the world prepared to endure such a dramatic change? Can we survive without all these things that have become a part of our lives? Is a world without transportation imaginable? And a one without all the plastic products that we use? These unbelievable and horrifying thoughts are few of the reasons why people are so willing to devote themselves to further research for substitutes of petroleum.



This is a big deal because petroleum has become such a major part of our lives, the outcome of petroleum shortage could easily be forseen: energy crisis, transportation crisis, and the lackage of everyday products like plastic. When a good number of the everyday goods we use today are comprised of petroleum, or use petroleum as an energy source, we are no longer able to ignore this depletion that is ongoing. It is clear that sooner or later, the energy crisis will come. These various crises are no longer a distant matter, and must be confronted and resolved as soon as possible before the situation becomes worse. The best solution will be to find a substitute for petroleum: one that is renewable, unlike petroleum. If we can't accomplish that and move into conversion quickly, ther exists only the hard way through: to suffer the global chaos, even possibly wars for possesoin of petroleum. This is a globalized matter. Even as you are reading this very sentence, there are people suffering from people's greed for possession over petroleum (Iraq).

There are people who predicted that a majority of the rural population would be moving to the cities where they could walk to most places, once the price of oil skyrockets, or even when the depletion is complete. Food prices will also rise because most farmers would be farming by hand. As the Hubbert peak theory takes place, the world's natural resources, especially oil, will affect all aspects of our lives: economy, transportation, politics, etc. Hubbert made a theory concerning the decline of the world's resources once we reached the climax of production. Astonishingly, his calculations and predictions are unbelievably accurate. On the left shows a picture of Norway's crude oil statistics. We can see how dangerously accurately Hubbert's graph is being followed as we are all plunging down the slope on our way to complete depletion. We must find a way to keep this from occurriing

media type="custom" key="3938763" This video shows us clearly the realities of the world currently. Everything from the world status to the results of the oil crisis is shown. We can also see just how much we depend on oil. AND the truth is that we are helping this crisis grow and continue. WE NEED TO CONFRONT THIS CRISIS!

 Petroleum was formed from the remains of past organism s that lived millions of years ago in a marine environment. Overtime, mud, rocks, and land slowly accumulates over the organisms. Heat and pressure from these layers helps the remains of the organisms to turn into what we commonly call petrol eum. The word "petroleum" means "rock oil" or "oil from the earth. Throughout history, scientists have found different uses for petroleum and gradually, demands for it has skyrocketed. One thing is clear however. That petroleum is a nonrenewable resource and it will run out quickly if we continue at such a pace. According to some research, the world petroleum supplies will be depleted completly by 2050, and if there are new wells found, that will only help us for a decade or two. It is clear that we must find a quick solution to this matter, unless we are willing to face this upcoming crisis in which the whole world will suffer devastatingly from. With this much petroleum reserves, it doesn't solve anything to think that this is unrelated with our generation; we must prepare to combat the lack of energy and come up with substitudes for petroleum in multiaspects including: plastic, energy, clothing, and etc.



Petroleum is mostly used by burning and this is one of the main causes of global warming. As we commonly know, petroleum is burned in the form of gasoline, fuel, plastic (to get rid of waste), and disel. There different ways in which petroleum is burned adds up to make petroleum a lethal factor to the global warming. Thus, petroleum is one of the major, if not the greatest, factor of global warming. In addition, it is stated by conservation groups that 50% of all marine litter is in the form of plastic (Katharine, Plastic). This is few of the millions of different ways in which petroleum is harming the environment. While we may not have a choice in whether not to continue using petroleum or not, it is clear that not everything will be at lost; our environment will be saved significantly. Therefore, it is crucial that we find not only a substitute for petroleum, but a one that is environmental friendly. It will be a chance to take back the damages we have done to the atmosphere to speed up global warming. Instead of trying to recycle trash in "project global cooling" clubs, it will be much more efficient if petroleum use is restrained. Of course, this will be done regardless of our wills, but of now, the important thing is to admit that the petroleum lackage is not completely a bad thing because we will no longer be threatened of our environment by petroleum. But if we are not willing to let go of all the things that have composed our lives until now, it is an inevitable fact that we must find the alternative to oil, plastic, petroleum and all the other luxuries provided and produced with the refinement of petroleum today.

The picture on the right shows a clear visual of how the world relies so much on petroluem. But that is the thing that is sinking us to the bottom of a black black pool of murky water. It is clear that petroleum will destroy both our Earth and our lives. Especially when we are being threatened with both issues concerning both global warming and petroleum depletion.

But it is not always the burning of petroleum that is causing all the harm. As itself, petroleum, or to say, crude oil is lethal to most plants and animals when consumed directly without refining. Oilspills, therefore, are devastating to the environment and there has been several cases throughout history in which oilspills from ships and other storage routes have released petroleum in places where life was abundant. The result was chaos. Almost no lifeforms even have a chance of surviving after consuming food covered in that pitch black water. Even recently, there has been an oilspill in Korea that completey destroyed the food cycle along the west coast.



South Korea Cleans Up Big Oil Spill By CHOE SANG-HUN SEOUL, [|South Korea], Dec. 9 — Thousands of fishermen, soldiers and volunteers struggled on Sunday to clean up an oil spill that has caused an environmental disaster in South Korea. It has blackened once scenic beaches, coated birds and oysters in sludge and driven away tourists with its stomach-churning stench. But the 7,000 people mobilized were too few to clean up the oil slick, which has been washing up since Saturday along a 12-mile-long shoreline of the nation’s west coast. Strong tides, which dragged the sludge before pushing it ashore again, hampered the cleanup operations by villagers, who complained of headaches and nausea from the stench. The oil spill occurred Friday when the steel wire linking a tugboat to a barge carrying a crane snapped in stormy seas. The barge lurched toward the Hebei Spirit, a Hong Kong-registered oil tanker, which was at anchor, and punched three holes into its hull. The spill came a week after the South Korean port town of Yosu won the right to be the host in 2012 for an international event called Expo. Bidding for the event, South Korea championed the theme of “the living ocean and coast,” a slogan it hoped would bolster environmental awareness in Asia. The size of the oil spill was about one-fourth that of the 260,000 barrels, or 11 million gallons, leaked into Prince William Sound off Alaska from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. It was twice as big as a spill off South Korea in 1995 that cost $101 million in damages to fishermen and required a cleanup operation that took months. By Sunday, it became clear to local residents that they were battling an environmental disaster. The tidal flats near Taean County, about 95 miles southwest of Seoul, are home to rich wildlife, oysters and fish farms, and a national park. Each year, millions of tourists flock there to bathe in the summer or watch migrating birds stop to feed in the muddy flats teeming with clams. About 64,000 people live in Taean. “Everyone is out there fighting — there is so much oil we have to use buckets to scoop it up,” Moon Hong-chol, a resident in the village of Wonbuk in Taean, said by telephone. “The dark brown slime is all over our oyster and abalone and clam beds. Tourists are canceling resort reservations. I think we are finished.” The provincial government appealed to people to donate used clothes for soldiers who were collecting the sludge in the freezing cold. The central government declared a state of disaster, which makes it easier for regional governments to mobilize personnel and equipment. Neither ship involved in the spill was in danger of sinking, and there were no casualties. But the tanker spilled an estimated 10,500 tons, or 2.8 million gallons, of crude oil before the last of the three holes was plugged Sunday. “The worst is over in that there is no more spill,” said Ryu Young, a coast guard official in Taean. “We are doing our best to contain as much of the slick as possible before it reaches the shore.” The 147,000-ton Hebei Spirit was five miles off the coast at the time of the collision, waiting to unload its 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at a nearby port. The barge belonged to Samsung Heavy Industries, a shipbuilder affiliated with the Samsung conglomerate. The police were questioning officials of the company, as well as the crews of the barge and the tanker, the Yonhap news agency reported. Kang Moo-hyun, minister of maritime affairs and fisheries, said Sunday that it would take at least two months to complete the cleanup. “The oil stuck to the shore or sank to the sea bottom, causing serious damage to the maritime biology and ecosystem in the region,” Mr. Kang said. “Even if some maritime organisms survive, they won’t be marketable for quite a while.” Coast guard vessels hurried to establish floating oil fences, but high waves left them useless. Offshore, 105 coast guard, navy and private fishing boats were throwing absorbing cloth and spraying chemicals, as oil continued to zigzag toward the shore, where people wearing rubber gloves and masks spread out with mats to absorb oil. “All day, people have been scrubbing boulders coated with oil and scooping up sand soaked with oil,” said Lee Hyun-jin, a resident in the village of Sowon in Taean. “But now they are retreating because the sea is in high tide again. We feel hopelessly outnumbered.” Kim Eun-young, in the nearby village of Yiwon, said: “This morning, we found clumps of oil floating like ugly pan-fried cakes. They retreated with the tide and now are coming back again.”“This is getting worse, and we have 260 villagers out there today with buckets, cans and whatnot, compared with 57 yesterday,” Ms. Kim added.

From the New York Times

This is one good example of how petroleum affected the environment throughout the history. The villagers, although a lot of help was given to them, suffered endlessly from the black water that covered their seas and killed everything in them. Although large scale petroleum spills are the type of things that appear on newspapers, it is surprising to find that most petroleum spills are caused by ships and vehicles that are going through the water. Oil is deadly to organisms living in water; we are once again killing our Earth by using petroleum. media type="custom" key="3905451"



There are numerous possible solutions to this issue that the scientists around the world have been trying to develop. Most scientists have given up finding new ways of transportation and have devoted themselves to developing and searching for new ways of obtaining energy. Some of the more popularly used power sources include:  **Biofuel**
 * Biofuel ** is one of more common alternatives to petroleum that is continuously being developed. Biofuel is used in many different ways including the heating of homes, to power vehicles, and for cooking. (Hempcar)

**Biodisel** is one of the most commonly used energy source for vehicles in Europe. This is very efficient and clean way to provide energy to cars and buses. Pure biodisel is proven to produce the least amount of emission. Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar, 10 times less toxic than table salt, and has a high flashpoint of about 300 F (about 149˚C) which is much higher than regular disel created and derived from petroleum.


 * Bioalchohol ** can be used as a direct replacement of gasoline. At numerous times, ethanol is blended with gasoline when sold.

Similarly, vegetable oil, **biogas **, and **bioethers ** are few of the many ways biofuel is used to substitude fuel.

In many different ways and forms, biofuels provide and show us that a substitute does indeed exist for petroleum and that becoming independent from petroleum is not an impossible thing.


 * Windpower **[[image:wind_turbine.jpg width="284" height="368" align="left" caption="Wind Turbine at the Sea"]]


 * Wind turb ****ines ** turn with the power of wind and convert wind energy into a usable form of electricity. Every year, 1.5% of the world's electricity is made with wind turbines. Although this may seem like a small number, the number has doubled over the past 3 years and some countries even achieved to produce more than 15 percent of their electricity with wind turbines. Although there are some problems concerning how we can not control wind, wind power continues to be a growing factor of renewable power source.

While wind turbines are extremely clean, environmental friendly methods of producing electricity, the amount of electricity that could be collected is limited and the con is that the wind can not be controlled, which may result in periods of no electricity if wind turbines were to be used as our main source of energy.

**Solar Power**


 * Solar power ** is one of the most widely known ways of collecting energy. In US, 50% of residential and 30% of commercial air conditioning, ventilation, and heating. Although there is so much solar energy available to us, we tend to ignore its usefulness. By making even better use of solar power, it may be possible to take a big part in substituting petroleum in all aspects including heating, energy, and etc. There already has been researches concerning utilizing solar energy to create solar cars and it may be able to produce a fully electricity-solar running car in the near future. With running vehicles accomplished, the petroleum crisis would not hit us as hard as it would have otherwise.

Like wind power, the con of solar power is that we can not control the weather. In addition to the weather barriers, this power source is only available for about 3/5 of the day. However, solar energy does still continue to be one of the most widely used ways of capturing electricity and energy.

 ** Hydro Power **

Hydropower derives from water and has been used for centuries. It is relatively simple as it uses the force of water to turn waterwheels or mills. It is quickly growing as it supports 19 percent of the world's electricity. As a turbine is turned with the force of water, like wind and geothermal energy is generated, the turbine is connected to a generator that produces electricity. Being relatively simple, easy to make, and considering the fact that water is extremely abundant, hydropower is one of the most efficient ways to produce energy. In addition, it doesnt emit any harmful gases. The downside is that it takes a lot of land, to build dams on rivers and may flood multiple regions, which hinders the growth of hydropower. It may be inefficient in cost depending on the situation and region of the river. (USGS, Water)

 **Geothermal Energy **

Geothermal is a costly but efficient method of obtaining energy directly from the Earth's heat from the core. Although it takes a lot of money to first build the structure for capturing energy, it takes little money to run the actual plants. There are three ways in which the heat from the core is converted into usable energy. The usage of dry steam, flash, and binary power plants.(EERE, Geothermal)

The method of dry steam involves the usage of steam from the ground to turn the turbine that is connected to a generator.

Flash plants use hot water from the ground to make steam and turn the turbine.

Binary power plants take hot water from the ground to boil organic fluids that turn the turbine, thus make energy.

[]

Nuclear Power is NOT a renewable resource and must not be mistaken. It produces long lasting radioactive waste and excessive amounts of radioactive emissions. (Eia, Non-renewable Resource)

Other solutions to solving this issue include purely conserving petroleum by simple, efficient methods like riding bikes in short distances and limiting the wasting of electricity in plugged in cords and lights.



Although the world relies heavily upon the need for petroleum, it is obvious that our petroleum supplies will not support us much longer. As this crisis is becoming clearer every minute, the world must face the truth instead of avoiding it and try to solve this issue more fervently. By using and developing technology including biofuel, wind power, solar power, hydropower, and geothermal energy, scientists may find a solution and a substitute to both replace this depleting supply of petroleum, and save our environment that is being destroyed and polluted majorly due to the usage of petroleum in various products. This is no longer a distant matter; sooner or later we will find ourselves regretting if we do not start fighting its depletion quickly because when its too late, we wont be able to help ourselves from using petroleum because we are already addicted to it.

There are several already found ways to substitute petroleum and there are more currently being found. Even from an environmental perspective, we must come out of our petroleum habits to save our precious Earth that is continuously becoming devastated as an effect of global warming. Regardless of who, where, how you live, petroleum depletion is an issue that must be recognized and should be confronted quickly.

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