OIL / NATURAL GAS
Human Species: Petroleum Man
(beta)
(You are at Part 4 of The Energy Chain, if you would like to start at the beginning part, click here.)
The
Industrial Revolution, fueled by the use of coal and coal products,
changed the way humans worked and lived. However, the use of oil,
natural gas, and their products by modern man changed humankind and
societies so completely that many believe it created a subset of humans
called Petroleum Man: the species of human that is dependant on hydrocarbons for its survival.
Oil
was known to mankind for thousands of years. In many places on the
planet it could be found oozing to the surface from cracks and fissures
in rocks and collecting in pools and bogs. As early as 4,000 B.C., the
Sumerians used asphalt as a mortar. During Roman times, oil pots were
used as a source of light. Later, flaming pots of oil, mounted on the
front of ships, were used to destroy enemy ships. Around 600 B.C.,
regions of the Caspian Sea (modern-day Azerbaijan) were using oil for
heating, lighting, and medicine (Azerbaijan means "the land of fire").
Marco Polo found it used in the Caspian Sea region to treat camels for
mange. The first oil exported was in 1539. It came from Venezuela as an
intended gout treatment for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
But what sparked the sudden increase in development, research, and use of oil?
Need.
Two main reasons pushed the development for oil products: Light and Lubrication.
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The kerosene lamp, invented in 1854, created a large need for
petroleum. People liked this new lamp fuel because it did not go bad
like animal oils and smelled less when burning. Kerosene was first
derived from coal, but it was discovered that it could be made a lot
easier and cheaper from petroleum. By the late 1880's, almost all
kerosene was made from oil.
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The legions of new machines that were cropping up almost overnight
during the Industrial Revolution were thirsty for lubrication. Metal
rubbing against metal produced heat, which caused the parts to expand
and sieze (stop -- stuck in place). The lubrication most used during
that time was whale oil and other animal oils; vegetable oils could not
really handle the increased friction and speed with which the new
machines operated. With the increase in demand, whales became scarce
and whale oil became very expensive.
Prior
to the 19th century, oil "wells" were just that, wells: a large hole
dug by hand. But with the increase in tool making and production,
drilling aparatus and machines were put into operation in mining and in
oil well production.
- 1848:
first modern oil well (not dug by hand) was drilled in the Bibi-Eibat
area of the Absheron Peninsula by a Russian engineer, F. N. Semyenov.
- 1854, oil wells 30 to 50 meters deep were being drilled in the Carpathian mountains of Poland and Romania.
- 1858, a major oil field was discovered in Ontario, Canada, while digging for a source of drinking water.
- 1859, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin Drake drilled the first well in the United States specifically in search of oil.
By 1860, in the U.S. alone, more than 30 kerosene production plants were in operation.
In
1879 though, the new electric lighting invention suddenly put a damper
on the lamp fuel business. The petroleum industry would remain in a
slump until the late 1880's where another new invention, the
automobile, by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, created the largest need
yet.
GASOLINE: The Waste By-Product That Was Turned Into Gold
Contrary
to what many people think, gasoline was not invented, it was a waste
product of kerosene production. It was sometimes used as a solvent, but
usually was simply burned-off or discarded as too hazardous (it liked
to explode easily).
But it was found that the engines on those new fangled "automobile" things really liked the explosive flavor of gasoline...the rest is history.
The
use of gasoline (and diesel) in transportation and commerce certainly
changed the planet in a hurry. Let's look at some statistics:
- The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DoE) estimates that there are over 700 million vehicles in the world today (see Spencer Abraham speech).
- The
estimates for the number of all gas and diesel powered engines in the
world today (vehicles, boats, planes, ships, tanks, motorcycles, lawn
mowers, etc.) are well over a billion and increasing daily [estimates
from DoE, UN, and Oil Industry statistics].
But what is it about gasoline in particular that made it become the number one (#1) petrochemical [meaning: derived from oil] product? Its ability to do WORK!
GASOLINE is coverted into WORK this way:
When
gasoline is BURNED in a process called COMBUSTION it releases its
stored hydrocarbon energy in the form of a chemical reaction (CHEMICAL ENERGY).
Combusting gasoline hydrocarbons causes gases to be released very
quickly. These rapidly expanding gases, when caused to push against an
engine piston, for example, convert the CHEMICAL ENERGY into MECHANICAL ENERGY. The efficiency at which the chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy is also its ability to do WORK.
But WHY gasoline? What is so special about its ability to do work?
Let's do some comparisons. But firstly let us define the UNIT of ENERGY: the JOULE.
Joule (abbreviated "J")
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The joule (symbol J, also called newton meter, watt second, or coulomb volt) is the SI (International System of Units) unit of energy and work. The unit is pronounced to rhyme with "tool", and is named in honor of the physicist James Prescott Joule (1818-1889).
1 joule = 1 N ? 1 m = 1 newton ? 1 metre = 1 kg ? 1 m2 ? 1 s-2
1 joule = 1 C ? 1 V = 1 coulomb ? 1 volt
1 joule = 1 W ? 1 s = 1 watt ? 1 second
One
joule is the work required to exert a force of one newton for a
distance of one metre, so the same quantity may be referred to as a
newton metre or newton-metre (also with meter spelling), symbol N?m or
N m. However, to avoid confusion the newton metre is usually used as a
measure of torque, not energy.
Another
way of visualizing the joule is the work required to lift a mass of
about 102 g (e.g. a small apple) for one metre under the earth's
gravity.
One
joule is also the work required to move an electric charge of 1 coulomb
through an electrical potential difference of 1 volt.
One
joule is also the work done to produce power of one watt for one
second, such as when somebody takes one second to lift the small apple
mentioned above through one metre under the earth's gravity.
1 joule is equal to:
* c. 2.78 ?~ 10-7 kW?h (kilowatt hour)
* c. 0.239 cal (calorie)
* c. 0.000 948 BTU (British thermal unit)
* c. 0.738 ft?lbf (foot pound force)
* 1 W?s (watt second)
* 1 N?m (newton metre)
* c. 23.7 ft?pdl (foot poundals)
* 10 000 000 erg (ergs)
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OK, now how about that little comparison. Let's compare the energy released from ONE gram of GASOLINE to ONE gram of TNT (the high-explosive):
 4,184 J -- energy released by explosion of one gram of TNT.
50,000 J -- energy released by combustion of one gram of gasoline.
Is that a bit clearer now? Gasoline has a tremendous amount of stored chemical energy.
It is also very compact, easily contained and transferred, very
portable, and can be converted very simply into a lot of mechanical
energy to do WORK.
Remember
COAL and STEAM ENGINES? One had to burn very large quantities of COAL
in order to turn large quantities of water into STEAM; which could then
be converted into mechanical energy in order to do WORK. Lots of steps
and large pieces of equipment.
Petrochemical
energy in the form of gasoline or diesel can be converted into WORK
simply by combustion in a relatively small space.
<energy calculator here>
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EROEI Concept: The fewer the steps in converting one form of ENERGY into another is also (usually) the most efficient (the least LOSS).
This can also be expressed using the Laws of Thermodynamics:
The 1st Law of Thermodynamics (Law of Conservation of Energy) states that energy can be transferred from one system to another in many forms. However, it cannot be created nor destroyed.
But the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (Law of Entropy)
states that it is impossible to obtain a process that, operating in
cycle, produces no other effect than the subtraction of a positive
amount of heat from a reservoir and the production of an equal amount
of work. (Kelvin-Planck Statement).
In
other words, if you change one form of ENERGY into another form
(CHEMICAL into MECHANICAL for example) IT TAKES ENERGY to do so, and/or
there will be a LOSS OF NET ENERGY at the end. |
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OIL / NATURAL GAS: It's the FOOD We Love to Eat!
Yes,
gasoline and diesel changed our lives (we love our cars), but
petrochemicals in another form, help to create our lives every day...in the form of food.
No, we don't eat OIL (hydrocarbons) directly, but OIL derived products have completely changed the way that we grow food (Fertilizers & Pesticides), farm food (Farm Equipment), and process food (Food Packaging and Storage).
Fertilizers and Pesticides
Pesticides
kill off organisms that may damage or hinder crops while fertilizers
change the nutrient aspects of soil in order that crops may grow
larger, stronger, faster, and yield higher amounts of produce...and
both are derived mostly from oil and natural gas.
Pesticides:
The
US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) mentions over 1,500 active
pesticides for the US alone and more are being added all the time (we
tried to get a complete list, but the NPIC [National Pesticide
Information Center] said that no such list exists). Most, if not all,
are derived from or use ingredients derived directly from
petrochemicals (OIL) or use petrochemical products in their extraction
and manufacturing. More than 2.5 million tons of industrial pesticides
are used each year.
Major
oil companies like Shell Oil, Chevron Oil, and Occidental Petroleum
have huge facilities and subsidiaries devoted to nothing but pesticide
development and manufacturing.
Pesticide types (from the EPA (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/types.htm) and the Compendium of Pesticide Common Names, http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk):
- Algicides, Control algae in lakes, canals, swimming pools, water tanks, and other sites.
- Antifouling agents, Kill or repel organisms that attach to underwater surfaces, such as boat bottoms.
- Antimicrobials, Kill microorganisms (such as bacteria and viruses).
- Attractants,
Attract pests (for example, to lure an insect or rodent to a trap).
(However, food is not considered a pesticide when used as an
attractant.)
- Avaricides or miticides, which kill mites
- Avicides, which kill birds
- Biopesticides,
Biopesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural
materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals.
- Biocides, Kill microorganisms.
- Chemosterilants
- Disinfectants and sanitizers, Kill or inactivate disease-producing microorganisms on inanimate objects.
- Fungicides, Kill fungi (including blights, mildews, molds, and rusts).
- Fumigants, Produce gas or vapor intended to destroy pests in buildings or soil.
- Herbicides, Kill weeds and other plants that grow where they are not wanted.
- Insecticides, Kill (or prevent the development of) insects and other arthropods.
- Miticides (also called acaricides), Kill mites that feed on plants and animals.
- Molluscicides, Kill snails and slugs.
- Nematicides, Kill nematodes (microscopic, worm-like organisms that feed on plant roots).
- Ovicides, Kill eggs of insects and mites.
- Pheromones, Biochemicals used to disrupt the mating behavior of insects.
- Repellents, Repel pests, including insects (such as mosquitoes) and birds.
- Rodenticides, Control mice and other rodents.
The term pesticide also includes these substances:
- Defoliants, Cause leaves or other foliage to drop from a plant, usually to facilitate harvest.
- Desiccants, Promote drying of living tissues, such as unwanted plant tops.
- Insect growth regulators, Disrupt the molting, maturity from pupal stage to adult, or other life processes of insects.
- Plant growth regulators,
Substances (excluding fertilizers or other plant nutrients) that alter
the expected growth, flowering, or reproduction rate of plants
(prevention of lodging in wheat).
Fertilizers:
The
need to feed the ever-growing population has intensified the demand for
fertilizer production and usage. Fertilizer use is primarily
responsible for the increase in corn production from an average of 29
bushels per acre in 1900 to 134 bushels per acre in 1998. We've turned oil into food...
Average U.S. corn yields from 1960 to 1998.
(History of U.S. Corn Production, W.E. Larson and V.B. Cardwell,
University of Minnesota. http://citv.unl.edu/cornpro/)
Most
inorganic fertilizers are derived from natural gas and mined minerals.
In 1909, German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch developed a method
for creating ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen (the Haber-Bosch
process). Ammonia synthesis accounts for over 99% of all inorganic
nitrogen that is used in farming today: "Global output of ammonia is
now about 130 million tonnes (that is, about 110 million tonnes of
fixed nitrogen), and 4/5 of it go into fertilizers, of which urea is by
far most important." (Enriching the Earth, Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production, Vaclav Smil, MIT Press, 2000)
"Of
the three major macronutrients in inorganic fertilizer, nitrogen is the
most energy intense. It takes 22,000 cubic feet of natural gas
feedstock to make one ton of ammonia that is 82% pure nitrogen. The
maximum pressure required during the production process, 2,500 pounds
per square inch, is equal to 170 times the pull of gravity on Earth.
Processing, packaging, transportation and application activities
require 52% of the total energy inputs in nitrogen fertilizer." (The Energy and Economics of Fertilizers,
Florida Energy Extension Service and Helen Helikson, University of
Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), 1991. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EH337)
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) has this to say:
"Natural
gas is the most costly component used in manufacturing nitrogen
fertilizer. Therefore, when natural gas prices increased in 2000ñ2001,
U.S. companies that produce nitrogen fertilizer reported adverse
financial consequences resulting from much higher production costs.
Concerns also arose that the nation's farmers would face much higher
nitrogen fertilizer prices and that there might not be an adequate
supply of nitrogen fertilizer to satisfy farmers' demands at any price.
Responding to congressional concerns, GAO undertook a study to
determine (1) how the price of natural gas affects the price,
production, and availability of nitrogen fertilizer and (2) what role
the federal government plays in mitigating the impact of natural gas
prices on the U.S. fertilizer market." (Domestic Nitrogen Fertilizer Production Depends on Natural Gas Availability and Prices, GAO, Sept. 2003, http://www.gao.gov/htext/d031148.html)
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EROEI Concept:
Any decrease in availability (or increase in cost) in any item in a
production chain will effect the other items further down that chain.
Also see article: Truckers Pass the Fuel Buck |
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Farm Equipment
It used to be a farmer and his trusty ox team toiling away in the field. Not anymore...
Today farmers drive air-conditioned, CD-playing, 10-ton beasts that
plow the fields at the control of GPS satellites in space. Farmers plot
fields by computer, plant seeds with hydraulic inserters, spray crops
by airplane or helicopter, and harvest produce with diesel-driven
microprocessor-controlled precision and speed.
Farming has gone hi-tech...at what cost though...Energy!
As
the EROEI Concept stated at the end of the Gasoline section: the fewer
the steps in converting one form of energy into another, the less loss
of energy. Put another way: the MORE steps it takes in converting one
form of energy into another, the HIGHER the energy costs.
Let's look at the modern farm:
Food IS energy too. The energy of food is measured in kcal (kilo-calories).
4,186 J = 1 kcal or food calorie (1kcal is 2 Joules more than 1 gram of TNT...Hmmmm.)
So,
food is an energy. That means, according to the 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics, that EVERY TIME an OUTSIDE ENERGY is used to help
process the food, THAT OUTSIDE ENERGY must be ADDED to the total ENERGY COST of the food.
Let's look at the numbers here:
The average American diet is 3,500 kcal per day.
If you add up all the petrochemical energy used in the production of
food (as above) the figure is between 30,000 kcal - 35,000 kcal (Pimentel, D. 2004. Livestock Production and Energy Use. In: Encyclopaedia of Energy. Cleveland, C. (ed.). Elsevier, San Diego, CA, vol. 3. pp. 671-676 ). That is 10kcal of hydrocarbon energy used to produce 1kcal worth of food or 10 times the energy is used to grow the food than is released by eating it.
Note: This figure DOES NOT
include the energy required to bring the food to a distribution center,
manufacturer, then central market, then local market. It also does not
include any of the energy required to package and store (cool/freeze)
the food (it also does not include any of the energy costs involved in
making the wonderful machines used throughout the farming and
distribution chain). Richard Heinberg, in his book, The Party's Over, states that:
"A
typical food item may embody input energy between four and several
hundered times its food energy." "Today in North America, food travels
an average of 1,300 miles from farm to plate." (Richard Heinberg,The Party's Over, New Society Publishers, 2003, pg. 175-176)
Please alse see this article:
23.Jul.04 - The Oil We Eat: Following the food chain back to Iraq. (read)
Food Packaging and Storage
Plastics, made from oil hydrocarbons, used in food packaging and storage is all around us.
Here is a list of some of the resins approved by the U.S. Food &
Drug Administration to be used in making "food grade" plastics:
Polyethylene
Polyethylene Terephthalate
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl Chloride
Polystyrene
Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC, Saran)
Ehtylene-Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH)
Polycarbonate (PC)
Nylon
Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA)
(thank you to www.plastics.org)
We can't possibly say plastics better than the industry itself...
What Is Plastic?
(from http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/plastics.html)
Plastic
is made from hydrocarbons derived from petroleum or natural gas. The
hydrocarbons are formed into chains called polymers, or plastic resins.
By combining hydrocarbon molecules in different ways, different types
of plastic can be created.
What Is Food Grade Plastic?
The
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requires that plastics used
in food packaging be of greater purity than plastics used for non-food
packaging. This is commonly referred to as food grade plastic. Plastics
used to package pharmaceuticals are held to an even higher standard
than food grade.
Food
grade plastic does not contain dyes or recycled plastic deemed harmful
to humans. However, this does not mean that food grade plastic cannot
contain recycled plastic. The FDA has detailed regulations concerning
recycled plastics in food packaging.
Another
aspect of food grade plastic is matching the appropriate type of
plastic to the food in question. Foods that are highly acidic or that
contain alcohol or fats can leach plastic additives from the packaging
or container into the food. As a result, you should only use plastic
containers that are FDA approved for the particular type of food the
plastic will come into contact with.
Finally,
it should be noted that a plastic container can no longer be considered
food grade if it has been used to store non-food items like chemicals,
paint, or detergent.
Types Of Plastic (food-grade)
According to the American Plastics Council,
the following six resins account for nearly all of the plastics used in
product packaging. You're probably familiar with these symbols on
plastic containers and packaging.
 | 1 - PETE PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate)
is a clear, tough polymer with exceptional gas and moisture barrier
properties. PET's ability to contain carbon dioxide (carbonation) makes
it ideal for use in soft drink bottles. |  | 2 - HDPE HDPE (high density polyethylene)
is used in milk, juice and water containers in order to take advantage
of its excellent protective barrier properties. Its chemical resistance
properties also make it well suited for items such as containers for
household chemicals and detergents. Most five gallon food buckets are
made from HDPE. |  | 3 - V Vinyl (polyvinyl chloride, or PVC) provides
excellent clarity, puncture resistance and cling. As a film, vinyl can
breathe just the right amount, making it ideal for packaging fresh
meats that require oxygen to ensure a bright red surface while
maintaining an acceptable shelf life. |  | 4 - LDPE LDPE (low density polyethylene)
offers clarity and flexibility. It is used to make bottles that require
flexibility. To take advantage of its strength and toughness in film
form, it is used to produce grocery bags and garbage bags, shrink and
stretch film, and coating for milk cartons. |  | 5 - PP PP (polypropylene)
has high tensile strength, making it ideal for use in caps and lids
that have to hold tightly on to threaded openings. Because of its high
melting point, polypropylene can be hot-filled with products designed
to cool in bottles, including ketchup and syrup. It is also used for
products that need to be incubated, such as yogurt. Many Cambo,
Tupperware and Rubbermaid food storage containers are made from PP. |  | 6 - PS PS (polystyrene),
in its crystalline form, is a colorless plastic that can be clear and
hard. It can also be foamed to provide exceptional insulation
properties. Foamed or expanded polystyrene (EPS) is used for products
such as meat trays, egg cartons and coffee cups. It is also used for
packaging and protecting appliances, electronics and other sensitive
products. |
Another
important type of plastic is polycarbonate, a clear shatter-resistant
material used in restaurant food storage containers and recently in the
Rubbermaid Stain Shield line of home food storage containers.
Why do we need different types of plastics, anyway? This excerpt from the American Plastics Council Web site explains it well.
"Copper,
silver and aluminum are all metals, yet each has unique properties. You
wouldn't make a car out of silver or a beer can out of copper because
the properties of these metals are not chemically or physically able to
create the most effective final product. Likewise, while plastics are
all related, each resin has attributes that make it best suited to a
particular application. Plastics make this possible because as a
material family they are so versatile." | |
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OK, now you know everything you wanted to know about food grade plastics.
Something to think about:
Around
0.48 megajoules (MJ) of energy is consumed to make one HDPE singlet bag
including the energy content of the bag (the embodied energy). Another
way of considering this is that the energy consumed by driving a car
one kilometre is the equivalent of manufacturing 8.7 plastic bags. (Nolan-ITU Pty Ltd 2002, Plastic Shopping Bags - Analysis of Levies and Environmental Impacts, prepared for the Department of Environment and Heritage, Canberra.)
In
this segment we showed that oil and natural gas is the reason for
almost all the "motive" power on this planet, it has been turned into
food through agriculture use, is used to wrap, preserve and store food,
and is pretty much present in every segment of our lives.
Sounds good, right?
Everything is working just the way it should be, right?
Take
a look at these charts. This is the total energy consumption of the US
from 1949-2003. The US was importing oil since before 1949. Consumption
exceeded production in 1958 and has not looked back.
Energy Information Administration / Annual Energy Review 2003
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_4.pdf
In
2003 the figure is 98.2 Quadrillion Btu's of energy. That works out to
more than 338.6 Million Btu's of energy consumption per person in the
US. That would be 3.57x1011 Joules. Considering that 8.64 x 1010 J = 1 MW?d (megawatt-day), a unit used in the context of power plants, that is a lot of power for one person.
At the time of writing this web page the US and WORLD populations were:
U.S. 296,065,380
World 6,440,175,628
11:04 GMT (EST+5) May 08, 2005
This fact brings us to our next topic...
Next Section:
ENERGY ECONOMICS
Deep Breath
[click here]
| BOOKS WE RECOMMEND - Peak Oil / Peak Energy and Beyond | |
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Oil/Natural Gas 
