Over the past 200 years, mankind discovered the fossil fuels and they used this source to produce hug energy. This affects the environment in many negative ways and caused many issues worldwide such as urban air pollution and acid rain, oil spills and the high temperature of earth. Saudi Arabia has the biggest oil reserves in the world by 19.66% (the world factbook, 2011) and the second oil producer country in the world with roughly 10.121 million barrels a day – which account for 12% of the total world production of oil in 2010 (Fontinelle,2011). Moreover, the country relies heavily on oil industry. And the most successful companies in the country are thus whose work in oil industry such as ARAMCO Company. The reason behind this success is because most of these companies get financial support and attention from the Saudi government and sometimes the government owes these companies. Because of the massive reserve of oil and the high income that generated from oil, the country has less attention to seek for other sources of clean energy such as solar energy and wind energy which leads to the increase of air pollution in the country. However, oil is expected to last in the next 50 to 100 years (Hubbert, 1956). Furthermore, the International organizations have made many decisions to protect the environment and environmental resource such as Kyoto Protocol which decided to raise the use of solar energy to 50%of the total global energy use by 2020 (UNFCCC ,2005 ). Recently, these issues lead the Saudi government to realize problems, such as air pollutions, and start to invest in clean energy area but not as expected. These days many people in Saudi Arabia argue the uses of clean energy and replace with the fossil fuels. And they d... ... middle of paper ... ...hese negatives and people can get positives from this and have clean and healthy environment. Moreover, they will have renewable energy. We also can create new jobs and we can use this fuel in transportations. However, this technology is very expensive but it can cover the cost in long term and sometimes in a short term. In addition, Saudi Arabia is large country and it is known as a desert country, which is suitable for this technology. Many believe that the best solution for this issue is to use both fossil fuels and clean energy and create hybrid power (KACST, 2009). Therefore, the country can get the benefit from both side and they can keep fossil fuels longer as much they can, save the environment and another source of income to the country. Finally, every person needs to think about this issue, so we will have a great and successful life in the future.
Indeed, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) predicts that domestic petroleum consumption will increase to 60 Btu by the year 2025. This statistic, in and of itself, is a matter of concern with respect to the greenhouse gas emissions that result from petroleum combustion. However, perhaps more disconcerting is the fact that U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 and has continued to fall since then (Campbell et. al., 1998). Therefore, the American public has turned to foreign oil, in particular Middle Eastern oil, to supplement its increase in demand. In an age where terrorism is at the forefront of people's minds, we still continue to import oil from the same nations that supposedly harbor so-called terrorist groups. The fact is that we are unwilling to responsibly face our energy future and instead choose to maintain a policy of increasing oil supply through importation.
important problem. This problem must be focused on and dealt with or the world is going
From human entered industrial civilization era. Our human beings are always finding more and more fuels to support increasing requirement. When we are enjoying the convenience brought from fossil fuels, we should think about climate change caused by fossil fuels at the same time. “Global temperature has risen by about 0.6ºC over the last 100 years, and 1998 was the single warmest year in the 142-year global instrumental record.” (Hulme et al. 2002) Fossil fuels were born to release energy; meanwhile they produce carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides, greenhouse gas, and oil leakage and so on. In 1952 the photochemical smog event in London had carried off over 4000 people’s lives. So many extremely serious events have made bad influences on human’s life. So we must take action to face a series of problems, in order to protect environment and ourselves.
From the home to factories, families and industries are reliant on the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels to feed the needs of the everyday human. Fossil fuels are the main source of energy over clean, renewable sources such as the use of wind, solar energy, and water to power our homes, schools, and industries. In fact, about 85% of energy use comes from fossils fuels. The main reason being that using fossil fuels is cheaper than wind and solar energy. “For nearly two centuries, fossil fuels have been the cheapest source of energy” and widely abundant (Marburger, A global framework: international aspects of climate change). However, overtime fossil fuels will disappear due to the lack of time to replenish itself with the human races rapid use of it. Despite its current status of availability, there are many controversial issue in using fossil fuels; the most prominent issue being that it is the cause of rapid climate
An important problem associated with the energy industry is a high level of energy consumption in the country. Government subsidized energy prices and carries an energy-intensive projects of industrialization and urbanization. According to the report of Saudi Electricity Company, in 2011 nearly a third of oil production in the Kingdom (8.5 million barrels per day) goes to local consumption. Moreover, the report's authors warn that if the consumption and production keeps the current level, by 2030 the country will be unable to meet the needs of the local population.
In conclusion in this paper I talked about oil and its impacts on the economy and the environment in the country of Qatar. Qatar’s economy cannot support its city population if it were to run out of oil. Qatar has a lot to offer from oil, gas, and wind energy. This is why people come to Qatar, for jobs in energy. The economy is based on energy resources, which could be Qatar’s economic downfall in the far
In this regard, this research will try to address one of the most important environmental issues that we are: are alternative energy sources the answer to ending human dependence to oil? This is an important question because the reality of human dependence to oil is attested by the fact that countries all over the globe have to ensure energy security to sustain their economies and in case they fail, the threat of conflict becomes unavoidable (Moran and Russell, 2008). Furthermore, as of 2009, 85 percent of total primary energy consumption involves the use of fossil fuels – oil, natural gas and coal (Statistical Review of World Energy, 2009) and this is a big issue because oil is finite. In addition, the peril of global warming coupled with the probability of the increase in consumpt...
The current world dependence on oil leaves much to be said about the impact of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East on foreign policy and international politics. Presently the world's largest consumer of oil, the U.S. depends on Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East for the energy to run its businesses, its homes, and most importantly, its automobiles. In the past few months U.S. consumers have felt the pressures of increasing gasoline prices as they struggle to commute and live their daily lives. This leaves the U.S. with important decisions to be made on behalf of its citizens and its position in the international realm.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the oil used in the USA is imported. Most of this imported oil is located in the middle east and is controlled by OPEC members. Subsequent oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession (Reduce). We may never be able to fully eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand (Reduce). One way we can reduce our reliance on oil is through investing in renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydro power are all forms of energy which come from renewable resources. Unlike oil, solar, wind and hydro electric power is abundant and can be obtained locally.
“Pollution is the major disadvantage that is formed due to fossil fuels. When burnt they give out carbon dioxide, a green housed gas which is the main aspect of global warming.”(conserve-energy-future.com) That is an environmental hazard. Drilling can be inconsistent because some places may have a lot of oil, and some places do not. Sometimes if there is too much oil there can be a blow out. People also drill on their properties just for money, and some drill just to see if they have oil for money. Doing that is inconsistent. Gas prices rise and cause tension between nations. “Middle-east countries have huge reserves of oil and natural gas and many other countries are dependent on them for constant supply of these fuels.”(conserve-energy-future.com) Gas prices rise and some people cannot afford gas...
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a petrostate. It is a petrostate in the sense that the oil sector dominates the national economy and international exports. (Colgan 226) This is due to Saudi Arabia’s one crop economy, oil. (Ali 100) Oil accounts for 70-80% of the state revenue as well as roughly 95% of export revenues. Before the discovery of oil in the 1930s, the economy rested on Islamic pilgrims. Containing the Grand Mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia gets a large influx of believers every year for the Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. During this time of year, income was made by food and shelter sold to the travelers. This was enough to support the state, but not enough to make it the monetary power it is today. What allowed for Saudi Arabia’s climb in the world economic ladder was oil. Oil has been a valuable industrial resource since the beginning of World War 1. Since then the demand for oil has progressively become higher and higher amongst industrial nations, allowing for oil rich states to receive large amounts of affluence. Among these oil rich states is Saudi Arabia, the region with the highest capacity for oil production out of the entire Middle East. From their remarkably high oil production, Saudi Arabia was able to gain considerable amounts of wealth and political significance. Oil in Saudi Arabia politically affected the Saudi government in both their foreign and domestic policy by providing economic power, the ability to fund wars, the ability to use economic diplomacy.
In recent year, fighting climate change is a one of pivotal issues which require an interference from variety aspect in society, not merely a responsibility of government but also mandate of businesses. To defend a substanable growth of the business, taking care of stakeholder’s right should be paid attention, especially energy companies which directly integrate with government, community and environmental issue. A corporation is likely to obtain several perquisites throughout treats in a socially responsible manner, among them: the elevation of financial achievement and the mitigation of operating costs; the enrichment of the organization image and reputation; the upgrade of customer loyalty and sale (cited in Ciliberty, Baden and Harwood, 2011). BP is a global oil and gas company, supplying its clients with fuel for transportation, power for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items (BP.com website). They have approximately 79 700 employees, reach over 80 countries in 2010 and revenue of BP corporation in 2010 is 297,107 million dollars (BP annual report, 2010) and each share of BP costs about 41,92 dollar ( Nasdaq.com website, 2011). They are a one of leader international company in global oil and gas industry, hence, these activities associate with environmental matter always are paid attention. Each year, they spend more than 1 billion dollars on alternative energy development (BP annual report, 2010). However, the expansion of BP operation in 2010 had lead to extremely awful consequence for nature which is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This event cause the death of 11 workers, injured of 17 others and lost of over 3 billions dollar to deal with it (ibid). In t...
The three fossil fuels- coal, crude oil, and gas slowly formed over millions of years. These days, we use fossil fuels to power everything- homes, buildings, cars, computers, lights, etc. However, fossil fuels deposits will run out soon, which is a huge problem. Extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels are dangerous. There are also many negative biological and environmental impacts that result from the use of fossil fuels, such as ocean acidification, groundwater contamination, land subsidence, oil spills, and global warming. Therefore, we should be trying to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and explore alternative energy sources such as wind energy, hydroelectricity, and solar energy instead. Our world depends on fossil fuels, but they can also hurt us. Fossil fuels are both a blessing and a curse.
Most socially aware Americans have heard about something called the “oil crisis.” Many people understand the basic idea, but what most people don’t realize is that the oil crisis is an unstoppable global phenomenon that will permanently change the way we live. Most importantly, people do not know that, by many accounts, this “crisis” will occur sometime in the next three to five years. There is not much question among experts that the oil crisis will occur, but there is plenty of speculation about when it will occur and what it will be like. Our society is deeply dependent on oil to function. Almost every consumer good in America requires some form of petroleum somewhere in its production (Savinar 15). Oil also powers nearly all of our transportation industry. The factors determining the severity of the oil crisis are complex in the extreme, so making predictions about it is likewise very difficult. Because predictions are so speculative and the consequences are so important, there are widely differing opinions about when and how the crisis will occur. One important element of the crisis is the concept of “Peak Oil.” According to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil&Gas or ASPO, a multi-national network of scientists, affiliated with European institutions and universities, Peak Oil is the date at which global oil production will reach its greatest ever rate and begin to decrease. (ASPO). While some people believe that Peak Oil will bring a disastrous energy crisis, I would argue that Peak Oil will stimulate rapid advances in energy technology that will soften the transition from oil to alternative energy.
Although they have brought us benefits, they also have their downfalls. When we consume .oil, it is the cause for greenhouse gases to reach the atmosphere, climate change, and air pollution. While oil is a great fossil fuel, it is very limited which means the price of it is always increasing or staying high. “In view of the expected increase in global energy needs and of environmental concerns, we need to make rapid progress in energy efficiency and further develop a broad range of clean alternative energy sources to reduce emissions and solve climate change problems.” (Alternative Energy for Transportation) There have been many countries trying to develop and alternative energy source such as nuclear energy and solar power. They believe that nuclear energy should be the alternative for fossil fuels. It is less expensive than the power that is generated from oil. They have found two very reliable technologies that are called electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. If we are able to develop these two technologies within the next few years, it will have a huge impact on our future and it will help to also contain the price of oil and keep it