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Posted by on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 3:17 PM (PST)
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INDEPENDENCE FROM... OIL
- Renee Gannon, Assistant Website Editor
If there’s anything that makes me want to pull my hair out lately, it’s the price of gasoline. I know our economy is headed in an unfavorable direction, and unfortunately, the supply and demand of many necessities are linked to the production and use of oil. Feeling very uneducated in regards to this, I decided to do a little research on why exactly the price of oil had become so high. This is what I came up with (courtesy of the NY Times):
A major factor behind the steady price rise, virtually everyone agrees, is that energy consumption is surging in high-growth countries, and oil supplies are not growing fast enough to keep up. But what confounds many experts is that the price of oil seems to be changing much faster than the world is changing.
For example, it took five years, from 2002 to 2007, for oil to go up by $60 a barrel. In just the last year, it galloped another $60 higher. For the first time since oil drilling began in the 1850s, the price has climbed for seven consecutive years.
Old rules of thumb and assumptions that once helped traders foresee the direction of prices no longer seem to work. For example, since the oil shocks of the 1970s, a weak American economy used to mean lower prices. But during a period of sluggish growth in this country the price of oil has kept rising, to about $135 a barrel. Energy experts offer radically diverse predictions for the coming year, ranging from $60 oil to $200 oil.
Many economists see a straightforward explanation for rising prices: Global oil supplies remain tight and there is a deep-seated fear that demand will outpace new production growth for years to come. In that climate, they say, the price will rise until it reduces global demand. But demand is still rising, even with oil at $134.62 a barrel. (NY Times)
So… what do we do now? I think the most obvious answer is that we (and by “we” I mean America and the rest of the world) look into alternative fuels (and alternative fuel vehicles). What are alternative fuels, you ask? And what are our options?
Alternative fuels are derived from resources other than petroleum. Some are produced domestically, reducing our dependence on imported oil, and some are derived from renewable sources. Often, they produce less pollution than gasoline or diesel. To promote alternative fuels, the Federal government offers tax incentives to consumers purchasing qualifying alternative fuel vehicles.
Biodiesel burns cleaner than fossil fuel diesel, expelling fewer aromatic hydrocarbons and less soot and carbon monoxide. Because the carbon dioxide released by biodiesel is the same kind absorbed by the plant (or animal) source from where the fuel came, biodiesel is called a carbon neutral fuel. Unfortunately, biodiesel releases more nitrous oxide than regular diesel, a factor in smog. In 2005, the U.S. produced around 75 million gallons of this alternative fuel and in 2006, 65 companies reported having biodiesel plants under construction.
Ethanol is another popular alternative fuel that is usually made from fibrous materials like wood chips or from the starch or sugar found in common crops like corn. Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline while reducing greenhouse gases.
Ethanol is already in use, powering nearly six million flex-fuel vehicles already on the road. The United States is widely considered the world's largest ethanol producer, cranking out 4.6 billion gallons of ethanol each year.
Vegetable oil can power a diesel engine after just a few simple modifications, turning junker cars into low emissions vehicles. Before use, vegetable oil must be put through a conversion system so that it is heated to the appropriate temperature to properly run an engine, but once users get the hang of the process, there are many benefits beyond the low emissions.
Because both unused and used vegetable oil work to fuel a car, people who convert often brag about never having to pay for their fuel, instead relying on the never-ending supply of used cooking oils from restaurants.
Electricity isn't new, but modern science has found interesting and eco-friendly uses for it. Electric vehicles are eco-friendly because they don't produce tailpipe emissions, although the generators producing the electricity used to charge EV batteries do emit pollutants. However, these pollutants are considered to be minimal when compared to the usage of gas. There were over 55,000 Full-Electric Vehicles in 2004, and this doesn't even include hybrids! Annual growth has skyrocketed since then at an approximate growth rate of 39%.
Hydrogen currently isn't powering any consumer vehicles, though many city bus systems have already made the switch to this zero-emissions alternative fuel. Because of the many benefits, it seems to be only a matter of time until this efficient fuel makes its way into your vehicle. The U.S. government is working towards overcoming the cost and production challenges and anticipates progress sometime soon.
Compressed Natural Gas is clear, odorless, and non-corrosive. Impressively, vehicles run off of natural gas show an average reduction in ozone-forming emissions of 80 percent compared to gasoline vehicles, and CNG is produced at a relatively low cost and is cleaner burning than gasoline or diesel fuel.
Other alternative fuels on the horizon include:
* fruit-derived fuel
* biogasoline
* rice-based ethanol
* and more fuels of the future.
In addition to being "American-made" fuels, alternative fuels burn cleaner than traditional petroleum fuels, in some cases up to 90 percent cleaner. Alternative fuels help reduce such emissions as carbon monoxide, organic compounds, nitrogen oxide, sulfur and particulate matter. Alternative fuels along with better engineered engines, have helped bring down pollution levels in most urban communities over the past 10 years.
Let’s all declare our independence from oil and start demanding alternative fuel from all the oil-utilizing companies that affect my daily life and yours!
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