In the XXI century, the use of the oil and its derivatives has become widespread all around the world. Petroleum supplies one-third of the world energy, and it is the primary economic activity of many countries such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Emirates Arab United; however, behind all the economical advantages that the oil brings there are many more disadvantages that the world is not concern about them.
In 2015, the United States’ president Barack Obama took the first step to make aware the world about the detrimental effects of the petroleum to the environment because he denied the construction of an oil pipeline, called Keystone Pipeline XL, that would connect Texas with Canada’s oil mine in Alberta. Obama stated that the elaboration of the pipeline will bring deleterious effects to the climate change, and also he mentioned that the world is prepared to explore deeply the uses of alternative fuels.
Even though the petroleum governs the world economy, produces one-third of the world energy and is extracted easily, the use of the fossils fuel should be replaced to alternative fuels that could topple the power of the petroleum in the world. Since the past century, the petroleum has dominated the world economy. During the World War II, the fossil fuels played an important role in the battle because all the participants in the war needed combustible; therefore, countries as Venezuela and Norway started to export petroleum to the countries that were in the dispute.
Subsequently, all the countries’ economy started to revolve around petroleum, and some of them began to build a monopoly in oil becoming in world power nations. But not all the countries were benefited from that, for example, in the actually Venezuela is suffering one of the biggest economic recessions due to the dependency of petroleum in its economy. According to Arturo Uslar Pietri in his article “Sowing the Oil,” the only profitable use of the petroleum’s incomes is investing them in other technologies, which could be alternative fuels, and other economic sector as tourism and agriculture.
Also, Arturo Uslar Pietri claimed that basing the world economy in oil would create a monopoly and enrichments of only a few countries meanwhile others will fall in depression and impoverishment. The development of alternative fuels will create a new and equal market for the world that will increase each one’s economy without depend in one non-renewable source, as the petroleum, and it will create sufficient jobs for those who are working on the petroleum industry and those who are not.
Even though fossils fuels produce almost half of the world energy, the 82% of carbon dioxide emissions, which are part of the greenhouse gases, are emanated by the combustion of those fuels. According to the United Nation Environment Program, if the world keeps using the petroleum as primary energy source, the climate change will melt both poles in less than a century, and the consequences will destroy many nations. Also, it is know that certain alternative fuels can reach the same production of energy of the petroleum if they are exploited completely.
For example, the fuel cells powered by hydrogen produce around 5kWh per m3, almost the same as the combustion of gasoline (6 kWh per m3). The only inconvenient of the hydrogen is the transportation, but if a problem that could be easily solve with the help of new transportation devices of other material as titanium or steel. Additionally, the investment in develop hydrogen as a fuel will bring enormous benefits to the society because it will carry a new world of opportunities of all the industry related with alternative fuels, which include support, ratability and development.
Also, the replacement of gasoline with hydrogen will not change society’s pace life because the hydrogen is as efficient as the gasoline; therefore, both power source produce around the same quantity of energy. One of the biggest reasons of the perdurability of the oil in the energy industry is that the petroleum not requires an intricate process of extraction. Almost all the process is made by the action of pressure and Newton’s laws, but this resource is limited, so in a future it will not longer exist.
Scientists from the Organization of Petroleum Exporter Countries revealed that there are around 1617554384000 barrels of petroleum in all the reserves enough to cover societies requirements for just forty years. In contrast, the alternative fuels are produced by renewable sources, to illustrate, the sun-power energy just need the sun rays to produce electricity, and the Eolic requires and air flow to rotate its axis and produce energy.
However, there is another type of energy that is not completely renewable, but its primary source is almost inexhaustible that is the hydrogen. The main source of the hydrogen fuel is the water, which is one of the most abundant elements of the world. The production of hydrogen is made it by the electrolysis of the water that is a process of dissolution of a mixture in ions of different charges in this case the water is divided in hydrogen and hydroxide.
The ion of hydrogen is burned to produce energy, so it could replace the place of gasoline, and hydrogen reserve could last forever, not like those of the petroleum. In conclusion, the petroleum has brought enormous benefits to the society which include the establishment of countries’ economy, the development of the first transportation methods and the “enrichment” of certain nations, however, this new century needs new innovating ideas to decentralize the power of the petroleum in our society because it brought detrimental effects to the environment.
Also, the oil-dependent countries should start to “sow” the petroleum in other kinds of technologies to thrive economically. According to Arturo U. Pietri, the principal mission of the petroleum is being used to develop a society autonomous from the oil, and the petroleum is just a track to build an utopia based in tourism, agriculture and technology. Additionally, on November 6th, 2015 Barack Obama claimed that United States will continue to rely on oil and gas as we transition to a clean energy economy; therefore, the change is near.
