The advantages and disadvantages of oil.

Alejandro Bernal
Now the oil is an important part of the economic system in the world. 1Besides water, there's
no liquid that humans rely on more than petroleum. It fuels our vehicles, heats our homes,
paves our roads and fills our shopping shelves with innumerable consumer products.
About 85 percent of the petroleum, or crude oil, consumed in the United States goes into
fuels, such as gasoline, jet fuel, and home-heating oil, according the most recent data from
the Energy Information Administration. 1
The oil had been used for many years but the problem that the human just have seen is the
contamination of the environment and how we can stop it.
There exist more disadvantages than advantages in oil uses.
Disdvantages of oil:

2-1) Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) – One of the biggest Disadvantages of Oil is that
it releases Carbon Dioxide which has been sequestered for millions of years in the dead
bodies of plant and animals. This transfers the Carbon from the Earth to the Environment
leading to the Global Warming Effect. Global Treaties have failed in putting a Cost on this,
though individual countries are tying to account for this through Carbon Taxes and Cap and
Trade.
2) Pollution of Water and Earth – Oil Spills have caused massive pollution of water bodies
as massive oil supertankers lead oil. This leads to the death of thousands of animals and fishes
every year beside devastating the local ecology. The BP Oil Spill caused billions of dollars
in losses and even to this day small Oil Spills keep happening.
3) Growth in Terrorism and Violence – Oil is drilled in some of the worst dictatorships
like Saudi Arabia, African countries. This Oil Money goes directly into the hands of these
despots who have amassed trillions of dollars. They give rise to violence and growth in
terrorism as this oil money is used to fund these organizations. Osama Bin Laden comes from
one of the richest Saudi families. However the powerful Oil Money also manages to suppress
the voices of protest.
4) Emission of Harmful Substances like Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Acid Rain –
Oil Plants emit harmful substances such as Sulfur Dioxide which cause health hazards among
the surrounding population and Acid Rain. While modern equipment has reduced the
emission of these harmful substances, it is still very harmful to humans.
5) Leads to production of very harmful and toxic materials during refining, Plastic is
one of the most harmful substances – Oil exists as a mixture of hydrocarbons with traces
of sulfur and other compounds.-
Advantages of oil
1) High Energy Density – Oil has one of the highest energy densities which means that a
small amount of oil can produce a large amount of energy. This makes it very useful as its
high energy density has made it the preferred choice for use as fuel in automobiles.
2) Easy Availability, Infrastructure for Transport and Use – Oil is widely distributed in
almost all parts of the world. Also there exists a massive infrastructure to transport oil to
other places through ships, pipelines and tankers. This means that oil is available throughout
the world.
3) Crucial for wide variety of Industries – Besides Transport,Oil is a critical component in
a wide variety of other industries. It is difficult to think of a commodity which has such a
huge role to play in a wide variety of human products from Vaseline, cloth, medicines etc.
4) Easy to Produce and Refine – Oil is not very difficult to produce though most of the low
cost locations have already been depleted. Now Oil is being mined off the coasts in seas and
also tar sands. Oil Refinery Technology is also quite old and mature which implies that
refining of oil to get valuable products like diesel, petrol is also quite easy.
5) Constant Power Source and Reliability – Unlike solar and wind energy, oil can produce
power 24/7 and is highly reliable. Oil engines are a mature technology and highly reliable to
work with.-2
There are some threats.
Threats

Spill cleanup is impossible

There is no proven effective method for containing and cleaning up an oil spill in icy water.

We can't respond quickly to a spill

The difficult conditions of the Arctic, and its distance from where response capacity is
stationed mean it can take days or weeks to respond to a spill, even during ice-free periods.

Spill recovery is slow

The Arctic is characterized by a short productive season, low temperatures, and limited
sunlight.

As a result, it can take many decades for Arctic regions to recover from habitat disruption,
tundra disturbance and oil spills.
Economically and culturally important species are at risk

Offshore oil exploration, drilling and production can disturb the fish and animals that are
cornerstones of the subsistence and cultural livelihoods of Indigenous peoples in the Arctic.
Arctic fisheries, providing both food and economic value far beyond the Arctic, are also at
risk.

Ocean noise can injure marine mammals

Whales and other marine mammals use sound to navigate, find mates, and find food in the
often dark waters of the ocean. Seismic noises, like the air gun used by oil and gas
companies to explore for oil offshore, can be deafening for these species. Excessive ocean
noise from oil and gas exploration and drilling could cause injury, confusion, and even
death.

In the discussion we agreed the human needs a clean and a renewable type of energy that not
contaminate the planet.
Much people thing it will be perfect to stop right now the exploitation of oil but they haven´t
consider that it is may be the most important part of economy in the world, and not just
economy also the most easy to produce energy to cars, airplanes, etc…, and other products
of our daily life.
My personal conclusion is that we need another type of energy that not comes from oil, but
in this moment it isn´t viable. We need to improve our technology to make a good type of
energy and non-dependence from petroleum.
It may be last at least 5 years but it will be good for the environment. The bad news will be
to countries as Colombia that hasn´t exploited all the petroleum and it will be a bad situation
for economy.

Bibliography
1http://www.livescience.com/5574-chemistry-life-oil.html.
2http://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2011/07/07/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-
oil-cons-disregarded-by-powerful-lobbies/