Oil's Products<!-- .wolflink { font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #990000; text-align: center; margin-top: -2px; margin-bottom: -2px; } -->If you came to this page via a link or search engine, click here for the homepage. Transport : Electricity Generation : Farming : Plastics
TransportPetrol and diesel are probably the first things that spring to mind when one thinks of the uses of oil. Because of its liquid nature and the power/mass ratio, there is nothing else that can easily replace oil. Cars can be adjusted to run on electricity or hydrogen but these are wasteful of energy and unsuited to the future. Road transport can replaced to a certain extent with public transport and oils from plants, and ships could reduce their energy usage by modern sails. The biggest problem is with aircraft which cannot use alternatives like electricity. Along with their excessive consumption, this will be one of the first to be cut back.  Electricity GenerationAbout 42% of primary energy (oil, natural gas, coal) is used to generate electricity and if oil is our society’s lifeblood, then electricity is its oxygen. As seen by the blackouts in east USA and Canada in August 2003, even a few days without electricity and we grind to a halt. There are alternative ways of generating electricity but these make up only a small amount of electricity sources at the moment (see Chart S1), over three-quarters comes from oil, gas and coal. Hydroelectric is limited by availability of water and nuclear power is out of favour. The only option left is renewables and these are many years away from being developed enough. We should have been pouring money into research in the 1970s and 1980s. FarmingOne important use for oil which many people are unaware of is agriculture, and not just to fuel tractors and combine harvesters. Fertilisers and herbicides are oil- and gas-based, and farmers use animal feeds that come from around the world. The example of North Korea shows us what happens to agriculture when oil products are removed. After the Korean war, it had developed a modern farming system depending on machinery and oil-based fertilisers. After the Soviet Union fell, Communist aid to the country stopped and they were unable to purchase oil and supplies. Without oil, farm machinery was sitting idle (80% of its capacity by 1998) and large proportions of the people had to return to the agriculture. Unfortunately the soil had been drained of nutrients over the years and, without fertilisers, it was unable to produce the same output as before. Crop yields fell by 60% over the period 1989-1998. Unless it can get access to oil and fertilisers again, the population will decline until it reaches a sustainable level. This is such as important aspect that I have gone into more detail on the Agriculture page. PlasticsIt is often forgotten by many people that plastic products are based on petroleum. A glance around any room will show how pervasive they are. There are many other oil-based household objects. The following is a list of just some products that may disappear with oil.
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