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Ronald Stein
Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book Clean Energy Exploitations.
World demand for products and fuels made from fossil fuels that did not exist before the 1800s is giving dollars to oil producers to increase supply, then claiming the suppliers are causing climate change.
Thanks to all the products and fuels, human ingenuity has been able to develop over the last 200 years, after the discovery of crude oil, the world has populated from one to eight billion. Today, crude oil is the basis of our materialistic society and the lifeblood of our civilization.
Looking back at the history of the petroleum industry, it illustrates that the black cruddy looking crude oil was virtually useless unless it could be manufactured (refineries) into oil derivatives that are now the basis of transportation fuels and also the oil derivatives that are the basis of products, such as silicon-based semiconductor chips, plastics, lubricants, and medications, that are essential for supporting modern lifestyles.
The few wealthy countries of the United States, Germany, England, and Australia, representing about six per cent of the world’s population (509 million vs eight billion), are mandating social changes to achieve net zero emissions.
As a reminder, we had a net-zero emissions society before the 1800s when there was no fuel-based transportation of cars, trucks, planes, ships, militaries, or launches into space, and no coal-fired power plants, no natural gas power plants and no crude oil to be manufactured at refineries into usable products.
Before the 1800s, there was nothing that needed electricity, such as iPhones, computers, and data centres, which are all made from oil that now require electricity to operate.
The wealthier developed countries may not be cognizant that 80 per cent of the eight billion on this planet, which is more than six billion on this earth, are earning less than $10 a day, may never be able to enjoy the materialistic living styles of those in wealthier countries, or ever own an automobile.
Those developed countries have come a long way from the zero-emissions society that existed before the 1800s when:
- There were no iPhones, computers, or data centres
- There were no coal-fired power plants before the 1800s
- There were no natural gas-powered plants before the 1800s
- There were no nuclear power plants before the 1800s
- There were no products for heating, cooling, or irrigation to prevent weather-related fatalities and injuries before the 1800s
- There were no tires or asphalt to support transportation infrastructures
- Life expectancy was short, as life longevity was about 40 years of age before the 1800s
- When people were born, they seldom travelled more than 100 miles from their birthplace before the 1800s
- There was no medical industry before the 1800s
- There were no electronics before the 1800s
- There were no transportation infrastructures before the 1800s
- There were airplanes and thus no airports before the 1800s
- There were no cruise ships nor merchant ships, other than sailing vessels, before the 1800s
- There were no military ships or planes before the 1800s
More than 6,000 products that are based on oil are being used for the health and well-being of humanity, and the generation of electricity did not exist a few short centuries ago.
In two short centuries since 1800, we now have more than 50,000 merchant ships, more than 20,000 commercial aircraft and more than 50,000 military aircraft that use the fuels manufactured from crude oil.
The more developed countries are continually seeking:
- Smaller, faster, and greater capacity of their iPhones, computers, and semiconductor chips
- Larger and faster planes and ships
- Greater access to space exploration
Before we accuse big oil of not having a zero-emission society, we need to ask ourselves: “How dare WE in the wealthier countries continue to increase our demand for the products and fuels manufactured from crude oil that make OUR lives more comfortable?”
Without a replacement for those petrochemical derivatives manufactured from crude oil, phasing out oil would phase out the medical industry, militaries, transportation, communications, and electrical power industries, none of which existed before the 1800s.
Sarcastically, or more realistically, these are a few boomerang impacts of a society less addicted to the fuels and products from crude oil:
- Without oil, there would be a significant loss of billions of lives of the eight billion on this planet from starvation, diseases, and weather-related fatalities because of shortages of food, medications, and products and a reduction in transportation infrastructures, all of which are based on components made from fossil fuels!
- Without oil, we would drastically reduce the homeless population as all the tents and sleeping bags utilized by the homeless are made from fossil fuels! The homeless will need to live like cavemen in a non-materialistic society like that in the pre-1800s.
- Without oil, we would drastically reduce the unfunded pension liabilities associated with those who retire early from business or start collecting Social Security in their mid-60s and collect pensions well into their 80s, as few people would live beyond their 40s!
- Without oil, a smaller number of colleges would be needed because there would be no need for doctors for hospitals or engineers for infrastructure development, as those hospitals and various infrastructures are all based on components made from fossil fuels!
Climate change may impact millions, but without fossil fuels and the infrastructures and products we have today that did not exist before the 1800s, we may lose billions from diseases, malnutrition, and weather-related deaths.
Eradicating the world of crude oil usage would ground the 20,000 commercial aircraft, ground more than 50,000 military aircraft in the world, leave the 50,000 merchant ships tied up at docks, and discontinue the military and space programs!
“Big oil” only exists because the wealthier countries are addicted to the products and fuels that are manufactured from fossil fuels that make our life more comfortable?”
Reducing the demand for the products and fuels manufactured from crude oil will end the fossil fuels era! Are we ready to revert to the zero-emission society that existed before the 1800s?
Please share this information with your friends to encourage energy literacy conversations at the family dinner table.
This article originally appeared at America Out Loud.
