Replacing Crude Oil

Is it possible that after more than 100 years we now have the ability to replace crude oil as a source for fuel?

Dependence on Foreign Oil

That is the question that many people are asking and seeking for an answer since last year when oil and energy prices took a skyrocket jump around the globe. Our government has been calling for an end to the purchase of foreign oil due to unstable pricing and new national security risks; however, Americans consumption hasn’t diminished much from oil based products.

We are “Consumaholics”! We like our big cars, fast cars, big houses, etc… We use more energy per/capita than any other nation, we use more oil based products than any other nation, we create more waste, and we pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than any other nation. As the nation consumes – there are those, few and far between, who send out the call for people to become active in conservation. The problem is not enough people are willing to listen.

Over consuming is easy to do in the richest nation in the world. What is needed is diet-like measures of control with a conscious effort toward our responsibility as nation to reduce our use of oil based products.

Personally, I do not believe that we will ever (certainly not within the next 100 years) “replace” oil with some miracle product as-in biofuel. There are too many factors to take into consideration. The fact that there are too many politicians with their fingers in the till – some of them have their whole arm in up to their necks. The automobile companies have made their contracts with big oil companies to produce automobiles that run on oil based fuel – and to get certain gas mileage. And oil company’s are continually trying to buy new technologies in order to keep them from the market. All three of them have very deep pockets.

What can we do?

1. We can “reduce” our dependence on foreign oil consumption.
   As I have said, lets stop fooling ourselves or stop trying to fool the average citizen by telling them we want to replace all our oil consumption with some miracle biofuel or energy. But lets be realistic – if we as a whole decrease our personal household consumption by 20%, and then we are able to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 30%, and increase our own production by just 16% we CAN reduce our dependence on foreign oil in our lifetime.

   The Government can’t do it alone – and it shouldn’t be up to the government. It is up to us as a people united that we can effect change for future generations. We must be responsible as individuals first – then as a nation – and we must all act in order to make a difference.

2. We can increase alternative energy sources
3. We can reduce our oil based product consumption from buying things in plastic bottles, to the miles we drive on our car, to how much television we watch.You might be saying: “How can we reduce our oil based product consumption by watching less television?”Most of the major electric companies are coal-fired or natural gas. The more electricity you as a consumer use – the harder they have to work to supply that electricity.

Think of five things that you can do to reduce your dependence on any oil based product by 4% each month.

• For instance, make sure you are turning lights off behind you when you leave a room – it may not sound like much but it does add up.
• Drive a 4% less each month – it really is not that difficult to drive a little less. Instead of getting in your car to go one block down the street to the 7-Eleven or grocery store – walk. Instead of making 20 tiny trips to the store each week to buy groceries – make a list and buy everything in one day. Find a co-worker and take turns sharing a ride to work each morning. And be more fuel efficient – use gas with no ethanol!
• Recycle - It seems more of a novelty in the United States to recycle plastic but we are entering a stage of consumer use that has become a rapid acceleration of waste. Just take the example of buying water in small bottles by the case load. Wouldn’t it be easier to buy a water filter for your home save hundreds of dollars every year and reduce your use of plastic bottles (oil based products) by the ton. And then, the bottles we do use can be recycled and reused instead of creating millions more.Just about every major city that I know of has some type of recycle program. I live in “The Village” in Oklahoma City. When my wife and I first moved here they had one day per/month that the trash would only pick up recyclable products. Unfortunately, so few people actively take part in the program – this year they are discontinuing the program.

We all need to do our part and together, it will be the first major step toward energy independence!