Most people may not realize that the underground black tar commonly referred to as crude oil is essentially useless unless refined into something usable. Fortunately, in less than a few centuries, mankind’s ingenuity led to 250 groundbreaking hydrocarbon processing and refining techniques being discovered. The impact of that ingenuity continues today, benefiting the 8 billion people living on Earth with more than 6,000 products and transportation fuels that are derived from oil.
Across the world, people are living longer. In 1900, the average life expectancy of a newborn was 32 years. By 2021, this had more than doubled to 71 years. Today, it’s better than 75 years.
Today, we have more than 50,000 merchant ships, more than 20,000 commercial aircraft, and more than 50,000 military aircraft that are built with products made from oil. The transportation fuels to move the heavy-weight and long-range needs of jets moving people and products, and the merchant ships for global trade flows, and the military and space programs, are also dependent on what can be manufactured from crude oil.
In addition to the large oil reserves, the world has an abundance of coal that can somewhat replace crude oil through coal gasification and coal liquefaction plants, but they, too, have emission challenges.
We know that raw crude oil is useless unless it can be refined into derivatives that are the basis of more than 6,000 products, and for various transportation fuels.
Technology is always evolving, like fracking, but at the current crude oil usage of about 82 million barrels a day, those “known” reserves of crude oil may run out in the next 100 years or more.
Refineries in America are getting old, and several are starting to shut down.
It’s almost impossible to get a new refinery sited, permitted, and built in America.
Coal gasification and coal liquefaction plants may face the same or even greater challenges for new refineries – getting them sited, permitted, and built.
However, the expansion plans for refineries, coal gasification, and coal liquefaction plants face challenges, particularly with growing environmental concerns and policy shifts towards reducing emissions and fossil fuel consumption, according to the Institute for Energy Research.
In recent decades, no new refineries have been built in America. Building these projects is not only expensive but also fraught with environmental and political opposition, particularly with rising concerns over climate change and the transition to greener energy. These projects can experience delays due to various factors, including financing, logistics, and regulatory hurdles.
Read the rest of this piece at America Out Loud.
Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book "Clean Energy Exploitations."
Photo: courtesy America Out Loud.
Email this Story
