Introduction to oilImportance and properties

What is oil?

• Fossil Fuels – forms of stored solar energy– About 90% of energy worldwide– Crude oil is organic-rich sediment, made mostly of

plant matter. It is generally found at least 500m below the earth’s crust where increased temperature and pressure transform the sediment into oil and natural gas. (2)

• In 2000, oil and natural gas made up a little over 60% of energy in the United States. (3)

What is oil?• Petroleum, or crude oil, is a liquid composed of

hundreds of hydrocarbons from decaying organic matter. – Different gases, gasoline, heating oil, diesel are all

refined from crude oil and are separated based on their boiling point. (3)

– This is done in a fractionation tower.– After water, oil is, or was, the

most abundant liquid in the upper crust. However, 62% of the oil can be found in only 1% of the oil fields. (2)

Click image for video (4)

The beginning of oil as an industry

Click image for video (5) Click image for video (6)

Oil and the economy

• Approximately 2/3 of oil reserves are in the middle east – EXPENSIVE!

• Estimates vary, but it looks like oil may run out within the next 70 years (2, 7). – This may be reduced to as few

as 17 years if LEDC develop and use oil at the same per capita as the United States (the leader in oil use). (7)

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Oil and the economy

• The Peak Production is the maximum production rate per time of an exhaustible resource such as oil.

• This was defined by Dr. M. King Hubbert in 1956. (9)

• We are still not sure exactly when peak oil will hit, but estimates are not promising.

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2010

• Thinking back to our systems unit:currently, for oil… outputs are four times great than inputs. (2)–This is why it is not a renewable resource.

• Peak oil is somewhere within a 20-50 year period of now.(2)

• Even if we find more oil, should we continue to assume that we can rely on it forever?

• What other issues are caused by oil?

Oil Exploration• We must drill for oil.• In the seafloor, this means finding wells

beneath the ocean.• Advances in technology make it easier to

locate wells, but at what cost?– We have also discussed what disrupting the

seabed can do to ecosystems when talking about offshore windfarms.

– What does this do to sea life?

Oil exploration• Off shore exploration:– Blowouts (like Deep Water Horizon) are rare.– The average drill rig only impacts about 1km2 of

seabed.– Though this may impact less than the average

fishing vessel, the risk of spills with digging and transport of oil is still there. (10)

Oil exploration• Off shore exploration:– Blowouts (like Deep Water Horizon) are rare.– The average drill rig only impacts about 1km2 of

seabed.– Though this may impact less than the average

fishing vessel, the risk of spills with digging and transport of oil is still there. (10)

(11)

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– Different types of rigs may have different impacts.

Oil as a chemical

• Oil is non-polar. • This means that it does not dissolve in water.– It may temporarily mix with water if shaken (think

salad dressing). – This makes it difficult to

clean in the open ocean. Wave action can diffuse the oil, but not dissolve it.

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Oil Discovery Lab

CHALLENGE!• Clean up an oil spill• We will be using vegetable oil instead of

motor oil (because it is less flammable and this is a school).

• Use the provided supplies or ones you brought get as much oil out of the water as possible.

Sources cited1. Background image: Los Angeles Times. Gulf oil spill: Schwarzenegger no longer supports plan to expand

drilling off California's coast. May 3, 2010. Accessed on 11/26/2010 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-schwarzenegger-no-longer-supports-plan-to-expand-drilling-off-the-california-coast.html

2. Botkin, DB and EA Keller. Environmental Science: Earth as a living planet; sixth edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007. ISBN: 978-0-470-04990-7. p 366-370.

3. Raven, PH and LR Berg. Environment: 5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006. ISBN: 0-471-70438-5. p 238.4. Video Clip 1: Treasures of the deep, our ocean resources. 1996. Accessed through Discovery Education on

11/27/2010. 5. Video Clip 2: Dr. Dad’s PH3. Episode 07. 1995 .Accessed from Discovery Education on 11/27/2010. 6. Video Clip 3: The American Industrial Revolution. 1997. Accessed from Discovery Education on 11/27/2010.7. Rutherford, J. Environmental Systems and Societies Course Companion. IB Diplomma Programme. Oxford

University Press. 2009. ISBN: 978-0199152278. p 200.8. Image 2: 11.11 Clothing. 20 Simple Ways to Reduce Oil Consumption. Accessed on 11/27/2010.

http://1111now.com/wordpress/20-simple-ways-to-reduce-oil-consumption/. 9. Hubbert, MK. Nuclear Energy and Fossil Fuels. American Petroleum Institute. Shell Development Company.

June 1956.10. Watling, L. The Global Destruction of Bottom Habitats by Mobile Fishing Gear. From Marine Conservation

Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity. Ed. EA Norse and LB Crowder. Marine Conservation Biology Institute. Island Press. 2005. p 206-207.

11. Image 3: Armstrong, O. Oil Jet Pump. Accessed on 11/28/2010 from http://www.oiljetpump.com/offshore-drilling-rigs.htm

12. Video Clip 4: Treasures of the deep, our ocean resources. 1996. Accessed through Discovery Education on 11/27/2010.