Imagine A World Without Oil

IMAGINE A WORLD OIL WITHOUT What would happen it we ran out of oil? Oil is the paramount means by which we run our mobile, high-tech life. Thanks to our oil addiction, a world without oil would include roving black-outs, minimal transportation, dwindling food supplies and possible war. With building tensions in the Middle East and oil reserves diminishing, we wonder if it is too late to break the habit? THE WORLD'S OIL ADDICTION Currently, the world consumes more than 85 million barrels of oil per day. That amounts to nearly 31.6 billion barrels annually. = 1 MILLION BARRELS CONSUMED PER DAY WORLD CONSUMPTION MILLION PER DAY According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are less than 1.3 trillion barrels of crude oil left in the world oil reserve. WORLD RESERVES | =1 BILLION BARRELS 1.3 TRILLION TIME LEFT WITH OIL If we continue at this same rate of consumption and the current reserves of crude oil neither diminishes nor increases we would have enough oil to last the world 41 more years. 41 YEARS CONSUMPTION TOP CONSUMERS Below are the top global consumers of oil, showing their individual shares of energy from oil, as well as the number of barrels consumed per day. = 1 MILLION BARRELS CONSUMED PER DAY UNITED STATES CHINA JAPAN INDIA RUSSIA 35.3% 19% 45% 23.7% 37% of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil 4.8 MILLION .... 2.9 MILLION 2.9 MILLION 7.8 MILLION 19.5 MILLION GERMANY BRAZIL SAUDI ARABIA CANADA SOUTH KOREA 32% 50% 52% 32% 45% of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil of energy consumed comes from oil 2.6 MILLION 2.5 MILLION 2.4 MILLION 2.3 MILLION 2.2 MILLION THE EFFECTS $ EFFECTS ON THE ECONOMY Nations dependent on oil exports could see their economies collapse. Seeing millions of jobs lost, these nations would be most prone to civil unrest and war. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SAUDI ARABIA RUSSIA IRAN KUWAIT 2.4 2.3 MILLION 8.4 6.8 MILLION 2.5 MILLION MILLION MILLION 80% 40% 25% 57.8% 50% of GDP is from oil exports of GDP is from oil exports of GDP is from oil exports of GDP is from of GDP is from oil exports oil exports EFFECTS ON TRANSPORTATION Transportation accounts for 66% of our oil consumption. If the world's oil supply were to dry up, transportation would all but cease. In addition, other industries would be drastically affected: shipping, airtravel, food industries and almost any other industry that requires their workers to travel to and from work. 30% Only about 30 percent of the energy that cars consume from gas is converted into mechanical energy. The rest of the energy is waste heat. 8.8 out of 10 Americans commute to work using a car. EFFECTS ON ELECTRICITY EFFECTS CONSUMER PRODUCTS While a majority of our electricity comes from natural gas and coal, we produce and procure these resources through machinery that use oil. In a world lacking oil and no alternative energy sources electricity would become scarce, causing simple everyday conviences – such as frozen food – to be a thing of the past. Many consumer products depend on oil as either a primary ingredient or through machines that are powered by oil. Below are just some of the thousands of items created from oil. MOVIE FILM TIRES TOOTHPASTE 3% 25% of oil is consumed for electric power of oil is consumed for industrial use HOUSE PAINT POLYESTER DETERGENT I EFFECTS ON SECURITY AND PEACE The effects of rationed oil have already been seen in the past. In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, Saudi Arabia led the Arab world in an oil embargo imposed on the United States and other western nations. This caused oil prices to increase 315 percent. 1972 1977 $14.95 /bbl $3.60 /bbl Again during the 1979 Energy Crisis, the Shah of Iran was deposed and Iranian oil production came to a standstill. Oil prices rose 138 percent. There were riots, shootings and strikes in the wake of that energy crisis. 1978 $14.95 /bbl 1981 $35.75 /bbl WHAT CAN WE DO? = 100,000 BARRELS SAVED PER DAY IMPROVE CAR MILEAGE The first step to decreasing our dependency on oil comes from making our cars more fuel efficient and having better fuel mileage. By simply setting stronger standards and forcing car manufacturers to average ,at least, 60 mpg by 2025 we could save nearly 3 million barrels of oil per day in 2030. That is nearly three times the amount of oil we import from Saudia Arabia. PER DAY 2030 THE ELECTRIC CAR = 100,000 ELECTRIC CARS President Obama has set a challenge to the nation where by 2015 there would be 1 million electric cars on the road. Since transportation consumes the largest percentage of crude oil, investing and encouraging electric and alternative fuel vehicles could help to drastically reduce our oil needs. 2015 FUND ALTERNATIVES Of course, the most imporant step to kick our oil addiction is investing in new technologies and alternative fuels. Using incentives, such as feed-in tariffs, will help boost renewables. Feed-in-tariffs are “the price per unit of electricity that a utility or supplier has to pay for renewable electricity from private generators. The government regulates the tariff rate." This may help cover the comparatively higher cost of renewables. SOLAR WIND WATER SOURCES: EIA.GOV I CIA.GOV I INFLATIONDATA.COM I NATGEO.COM I THEINDEPENDENT.COM I RANKEN-ENERGY.COM I LOWIMPACTLIVING.COM I "OIL SHORTAGES? IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN"- BY RONALD R. COOKE I ASSOCIATECONTENT.COM I NYTIMES.COM 1BOG.org -0- 85