OIL
(Turn out the lights... the fossil fuel party's over.)

Part 1 of an ongoing series.

Pictures & Photos

By Sidd (2001)

All of us depend upon oil. Everything we do involves oil. I am typing this message and you are reading it using products and energy that derive substantially from oil.

Here are some numbers:

world consumption in 2001: 77 million barrels per day out of this, 5 million barrels per day were consumed by OPEC countries. So, about 72 million barrels per day were exported to the rest of us profligate consumers.

What do we pay for it: an average price might be $20 per barrel: so 72 million barrels is $1.4 billion. Per day.
Half a trillion dollars per year.
About as big as US defense budget.
And a lot of that budget is spent safeguarding oil sources.
By comparison, US GDP is 10 trillion, world GDP is $40 trillion.

So, we spend more that 1% of the world GDP on oil. (Add in natural gas, we are well over 2%.)

But that does not take into account the other costs, one of which might be all the carbon dioxide released when we burn a great deal of the 72 million barrels.

And these numbers do not tell the whole story, for the world economy is predicated on cheap oil. As in, Wal-Mart could not afford to stock 70% Chinese goods, unless petroleum products were cheap enough for them to ship goods across the globe...

Which leads me to my next point: What do we use all that oil for?

Two thirds of oil goes toward transportation. Natural gas consumption is about 2/3 of oil again, and almost all of that goes into heat and electricity production.

So, more efficient transport, heating and electric might be one way to look.

Part 2

October 15, 2018
To: Sidd
RE: Energy and Climate Change

I've been thinking about a famous Sidd quote... and wonder if it still holds true?

Back in the day (2001), you recommended one of the best things to do was to turn off the lights!
"Turn out the lights... the fossil fuel party's over."
http://membrane.com/oil/

Since that time, some things have changed... sort-of... and I wonder if your thoughts have changed?

1) there is some evidence that light may be beneficial to plants and humans (perhaps other animals, too) ... such as, sleep cycle, jet lag, depression, light effects on circadian rhythm, etc.

2) LED, compact fluorescent bulbs, etc. appear to be much less energy intense.

Is it ok to leave on some lights now?

Sidd replied:
heeehee, ya LED is much more energy efficient ... but the light it provides is far from daylight. Nevertheless, LED electric consumption is much better.

But best of all is to frolic in the light of the sun.

Next turn off the AC and the heat. Deep eaves for shade and deciduous trees that shed their leaves in winter. And insulation, lots and lots of insulation.

The party's definitely over tho. Hangover is gonna get worse.

sidd

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

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