Oil is the main fossil fuel used today to create diesel fuel and gasoline, kerosene, asphalt ingredients (bitumen) and a number of chemical reagents that are used to manufacture pharmaceutical products and a wide range of plastics.
To manufacture all these useful products for mankind, crude oil needs to be first refined through a process called distillation.
Being a crucial commodity in the today’s society, oil is still the main energy source powering the transportation sector.
Oil as Fuel
Oil is a fossil fuel that releases harmful emissions into the atmosphere when burning, and this is the main reason why mankind will no longer use oil as an energy source in the future.
It is true that oil is cleaner than coal, but because is more harmful for us and the environment compared to natural gas, we consider that fossil fuels such as coal and oil will be the first fossil fuels sacked by mankind as energy sources.
Natural gas is a low-carbon energy source that can be used to generate electricity, to produce heat and also to power vehicles without polluting the atmosphere as much as using coal and oil.
Advantages of Oil Energy
Oil has today more advantages than disadvantages due to its availability, accessibility and low price.
1. Is an Inexpensive Source of Energy Due to Large Reserves and Good Accessibility
Oil is available today in all the countries of the planet, which means that is a very accessible resource for all of us.
The transportation sector is developed worldwide, mostly because oil is an affordable and available resource that can be used to produce different kind of fuels, but also plastics, and other useful products.
Oil has become such an accessible resource due to the presence of the channels used to transport oil worldwide, which include ships, tankers, and of course, a huge network of pipelines.
Turned into useful fuels, oil is accessible worldwide, however, when used for electricity production, oil becomes less available, especially in remote areas of the planet.
2. Is a Fossil Fuel with High Energy Density
Among all the other fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, oil has both high specific energy and high energy density.
The specific energy of a fuel equals the energy released from the fuel, divided by the mass of the fuel consumed.
The energy density of a fuel refers to the energy produced per unit volume, and equals the energy released from the fuel, divided by the volume of fuel consumed.
As I mentioned above, fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal have relatively high specific energy, and with the exception of natural gas, they also have relatively high energy density.
Specific energy and energy density for different energy sources
In this table, we can see that oil or petrol is the fossil fuel that has high values for both specific energy and energy density.
A higher energy density of oil means that more energy is released from the same volume of fuel (higher than in the case of natural gas or coal).
3. Is a Versatile Source of Energy
Oil is considered a versatile source of power because is used to produce various forms of energy.
Almost all fuels used to power conventional vehicles (cars, planes, ships, etc.), contain oil or components of oil.
This liquid fossil fuels is also used to generate electricity at large scale, and for industrial and residential heating.
4. Oil-fired Power Stations are Efficient
Large amounts of electricity can be produced by burning oil to generate steam that will spin the large turbines, which are connected to generators.
Heat energy (produced by burning oil) becomes this way mechanical energy (the spinning turbines), and then electrical energy (the electricity produced by generators).
The electricity produced by an oil-fired power plant can be easily transported through the grid.
To work 24/7, an oil-fired power plant needs to be placed near oil fields or can be located anywhere else as long as it is constantly supplied with fuel.
However, gas fireplaces are cleaner because they use as fuel, natural gas or propane, which are both cleaner than oil.
5. Is A Reliable Power Source
Being a fossil fuel like coal and natural gas, an oil-fired power station can provide energy 24/7 or as long as the power plant is constantly supplied with fuel.
Today, mankind has decided to increase the renewable energy generation capacity and reduce the use of fossil fuels (including oil), but giving the fact that renewables like solar and wind are intermittent sources of power, they need to be paired with energy produced from fossil fuels (like oil or other fossil fuels) to provide a constant supply of power for the grid.
As long as we have oil supplies, the energy produced from oil will continue to be an option for us, at least until the clean sources of power will dominate the energy mix of the planet.
Disadvantages of Oil Energy
Being a fossil fuel that releases harmful emissions into the atmosphere while burning, oil has several disadvantages mostly related to its effects on the environment.
1. Is a Non-renewable and Fast Depleting Energy Source
Oil is a reliable source of power (like all the other fossil fuels), but at the same time is a finite resource, which means that someday it will run out.
Almost all of the world’s oil reserves are located today in vast reservoirs of several countries.
However, whether that oil can actually be extracted is referred to as “proven or unproven” reserves.
Proven reserves mean that we have a 90 % chance to extract them because we know where are they located, however, unproven reserves mean that we believe that oil is there, but extraction is uncertain due to a number of reasons.
Generally, oil estimates of proven oil reserves, and today’s reports of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), say that roughly 1.7 trillion barrels of oil are still available.
Top Countries with the Largest Oil Reserves on the Planet
- 1. Venezuela – 300 billion barrels;
- 2. Saudi Arabia – 266 billion barrels;
- 3. Canada – 169 billion barrels;
- 4. Iran – 158 billion barrels;
- 5. Iraq – 142 billion barrels;
- 6. Kuwait – 101 billion barrels;
- 7. United Arab Emirates – 97 billion barrels;
- 8. Russia – 80 billion barrels;
- 9. Libya – 48 billion barrels;
- 10. United States – 39 billion barrels.
Today, mankind consumes about 35 billion barrels of oil every year, and because the consumption is increasing, estimates say that we have a little over 50 years before the oil runs out.
However, in five decades from now on, mankind may master the nuclear fusion reaction, which could put an end to the fossil fuel era.
2. Is a Major Source of Air, Water and Soil Pollution
The use of oil on our planet is a major source of pollution because we are polluting the water and the soil with oil spills, and the atmosphere when we burn oil for electricity and heat generation.
Environmental groups trying to stop oil drilling and oil spills.
When we burn oil to run our vehicles or to generate electricity and heat in oil fired power plants, a large amount of harmful emissions (greenhouse gases and other chemicals along with particulate matter) is released into the atmosphere.
All these emissions are affecting our health and the environment, and are generating global warming and climate change.
3. Mining of Oil is Another Activity Affecting the Environment
When crude oil is taken out of the ground, it consists of two parts: one is the marketable crude and the other is the waste product.
The marketable crude goes to the refinery and on to the commercial market, while the waste product consisting of toxic water (2% crude) that contains some of the worst carcinogens known today is usually injected back into the ground, but in some less developed countries it ended up being dumped into the environment, and leading to a major soil and water pollution of the area.
4. The Price of Oil Keeps Rising
Being a finite resource and due to the fact that oil is used widely on our planet, the oil reserves are decreasing yearly, which means that oil will become more expensive as it gets less available.
Estimates say that oil reserves will last for another five decades, but these estimates relate to the today’s consumption, which will definitely increase in the near future.
Because coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel among all, the use of coal continues to decline, which means that the use of the other fossil fuels like oil and natural gas will significantly increase.
The increased demand for oil will slowly increase its price as well.
Final Conclusion
Giving the fact that renewable energy requires further development in order to be able to replace all the energy produced by fossil fuels today, I consider that oil will continue to be used along with natural gas to replace the declining use of coal.
However, when renewable energy will finally be able to cover the energy demand on our planet and when our cars will be 100% green, oil along with the other fossil fuels will finally become only a part of the recent history.
From the little I could say I know, with an ever-rising global population and limited resources, energy has always been a challenging and dynamic sector. There have been a handful of well-established Energy Law LL.M. programs, historically focused on the oil and gas sector in the U.S., Texas has always been a hub for the industry, making the University of Texas School of Law and University of Houston Law Center popular choices for LL.M. students looking to focus on the U.S. market.
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