1. “America is addicted to oil.”
PETROLEUM:
“America is addicted to oil.”
President Bush in his
2006 State of the
Union address.

2. America’s addiction to oil:
Great news for oil company profits
—in the short term
Bad news for the environment
—in the long term

3. https://www. americanprogress
Still profitable, even during current low prices.

4. Crude Oil & the Environment:
Why it is an issue
Most crude oil is used for transportation —the moving of people and goods from one place to another—has increased dramatically in the last hundred years, along with the world population, and the industrialization of China and India.

5. America’s crude oil addiction cannot last for 2 reasons:
There is a limited amount of fossil fuel; after just 100 years, peak oil is nearly or has already passed.
2. Extracting, processing, and burning the remaining oil will cause excessive environmental damage.

6. Crude oil, natural gas, and coal are often called “fossil fuels,” a reference to the slow processes that transform the remains of organisms that lived tens of millions of years ago.

7. How oil and gas deposits form:
Dead marine animals settle to the ocean floor and are covered with sediment, restricting oxygen.
Heat and pressure build. Over millions of years a chemical change takes place leaving oil & gas.
Oil and gas move toward the surface, some getting trapped below dense rock.

8. Who uses the world’s oil?
Top 4 oil-consuming countries (2014):
United States
China
Japan
India

9. World oil production is about 30 billion barrels/year.
On average each American consumes about 20 barrels of oil per year.

10. Oil production, 2014 Country Production (bbl/day) 1 United States
13,973,000 2
 Saudi Arabia (OPEC)
11,624,000 3
 Russia
10,853,000 4
 China
4,572,000 5
 Canada
4,383,000 6
 United Arab Emirates (OPEC)
3,471,000 7
 Iran (OPEC)
3,375,000 8
 Iraq (OPEC)
3,371,000 9
 Brazil
2,950,000 10
 Mexico
2,812,000

12. Natural gas production1
United States
728,200,000,000
2014 est. 2
Russia
578,700,000,000 3
Iran
172,600,000,000
2013 est. 4
Qatar
158,500,000,000 5
Canada
151,200,000,000 6
European Union
132,300,000,000 7
China
121,500,000,000 8
Norway
112,600,000,000 9
Saudi Arabia
102,400,000,000 10
Turkmenistan
84,800,000,000

15. America’s addiction causes
Environmental Damage and External Costs
Normal oil & gas extraction, processing, and distribution damages landscapes, and releases pollutants to the air, water, and soil.

16. Environmental Damage and External Costs
America’s addiction:
Environmental Damage and External Costs
Accidents, like the Deepwater Horizon, kill or injure people and wildlife, and damage ecosystems and human livelihoods.

22. What makes petroleum so valuable that we will risk so much?
Petroleum comprises hundreds of types of hydrocarbons—organic compounds of hydrogen and carbon—that are refined into a multitude of products.

23. We use petrochemicals, the products of distilling crude oil for many useful products:
organic chemicals
fertilizers
pesticides
plastics
soaps
synthetic fibers
explosives
paints
medicines

24. The production of a desktop computer consumes 10 times the computer’s weight in fossil fuels, mostly oil.

25. Good news about oil: Peak consumption reached!
The U.S. consumption of oil has declined since But no longer continues to decrease
Why?

26. What is Energy Security?
American businesses and lifestyle depend on access to affordable energy. Hostile people or governments could interrupt the flow of energy causing damage to the economy. Thus, energy is considered a part of national security, a concept called energy security.

27. So how do we get oil & gas out of the ground and usable?
Oil derricks or rigs on the ground or on platforms in the ocean drill down as much as 9,000 meters (5.5 miles) to reach oil and gas deposits.

28. Water or steam is injected to push out the oil or gas.

29. Don’t forget fracking (unconventional oil/gas)

30. Crude oil is distilled to refine it into useful products, producing a variety of pollutants and requiring large amounts of energy to reach temperatures of 600ºC (1040ºF).

31. The crude oil distillation process

32. Unconventional Petroleum Reserves:
Increasing energy security
Retrieving oil from tar sands or oil shale requires large mining operations with high levels of energy input.

33. The U.S. and Canada have large deposits of tar sands and oil shale.

34. The Environmental Costs of Tar Sands
Tar sand operations produce huge amounts of acidic and toxic wastewater stored at mining sites, and is thus susceptible to leakage or flood.

38. The processes of extracting, refining, and transporting energy from fossil fuels is expensive and causes damage to the health of individuals and ecosystems.

39. Remediation and Solutions:
How to increase energy security and reducing dependence on fossil fuels
Import energy from multiple sources.
Reduce energy usage overall.
Exploit local energy sources.
Develop alternative energy sources.

40. Remediation and Solutions:
Finding creative solutions
The petrochemical industry has spent decades developing products from hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil.
More money and time must be spent on developing products from alternative raw materials.

41. Remediation and Solutions:
How you can make a difference
Conserve energy by reducing driving and taking public transportation.
Reduce your use of disposable products, especially plastics.
Turn your thermostat down in winter and up in summer.
Become a part of the public conversation.

42. Keystone WTF?

43. What’s the big deal? Honestly, not sure.
Jobs benefits limited and short-term. Only 35 post-construction jobs.
Environmental damage? Tons from extracting tar sands, but not really relevant in this discussion. Some along pipeline for construction and leaks.
More CO2?
For export, not use in US.
Argument for? Higher oil company profits.

44. OK… let’s talk oil prices
OK… let’s talk oil prices. And why they got as low as about $27/barrel in 2016

46. Sigh… America, wtf?