Warnings about the hazards of reliance on fossil fuels fill the news. Climate change, air pollution, and soaring gasoline prices are all part of the equation, and while alternative sources of energy are gaining ground, petroleum is still king. Fossil fuel products are the underpinning of the world economy, and will probably remain so until they become unprofitable. Crude oil transportation is an essential component of production.
Pipelines carry much of this toxic material. Freshly extracted petroleum is not a benign substance. Rather than being a single uniform liquid, it is a mixture of chemicals that vary according to geography. Spectacular accidents off southern Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico are recent historical illustrations of the environmental destruction a transport mishap can leave behind.
Big oil companies are an easy target to vilify, but most people have no intention or interest in divorcing themselves from the benefits oil provides. It powers our automobiles, and is used to create most plastics and other consumer products. In some areas it is still burned to generate electricity, to heat structures during winter, to move products across country, and for many related purposes.
Most easily accessed oil regions have already been exploited. Canada has experienced a production boom in the northern shale oil fields, and the United States has become a top producer once again through the development of hydraulic fracking, a method of extraction using high-pressure liquid to force deposits to the surface. Getting that oil to market without harming people or the environment has become an important issue.
Pipelines are still the least destructive method in use. The mind-boggling amount of this product produced each day in northern Canada would fill over 15,000 tanker trucks and nearly 5000 rail cars. The most practical means of moving it is through pressurized tubes, but no method is totally safe. A recent American pipeline break created an ecological mess, as well as a public relations debacle.
Many big city harbors routinely host sea-going oil tankers. They carry millions of barrels of oil each day through dangerous waters, including the Persian Gulf. Comparatively speaking, industry sources put the present amount of oil floating in world oceans as a result of oil taker mishaps at about 8% of the total. That is still an enormous amount, but only a small portion of the entire problem.
The transport method currently causing the most concern utilizes both rail and truck tankers, especially in remote areas having little existing pipeline infrastructure. A spate of recent rail mishaps in Canada and the U. S. Has led regulators to require local notification when shipments are passing. An explosion on a ship is devastating, but in the middle of a city or town is deadly.
Short of halting production, there is no easy solution to the problem. As regulators urge shippers to improve safety, residents adopt a not-in-my-backyard attitude, and both sides are enmeshed in political controversies that cloud the issue. The modern world is not going to stop using oil until forced to do so, and producers have the responsibility of shipping their product safely.
Pipelines carry much of this toxic material. Freshly extracted petroleum is not a benign substance. Rather than being a single uniform liquid, it is a mixture of chemicals that vary according to geography. Spectacular accidents off southern Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico are recent historical illustrations of the environmental destruction a transport mishap can leave behind.
Big oil companies are an easy target to vilify, but most people have no intention or interest in divorcing themselves from the benefits oil provides. It powers our automobiles, and is used to create most plastics and other consumer products. In some areas it is still burned to generate electricity, to heat structures during winter, to move products across country, and for many related purposes.
Most easily accessed oil regions have already been exploited. Canada has experienced a production boom in the northern shale oil fields, and the United States has become a top producer once again through the development of hydraulic fracking, a method of extraction using high-pressure liquid to force deposits to the surface. Getting that oil to market without harming people or the environment has become an important issue.
Pipelines are still the least destructive method in use. The mind-boggling amount of this product produced each day in northern Canada would fill over 15,000 tanker trucks and nearly 5000 rail cars. The most practical means of moving it is through pressurized tubes, but no method is totally safe. A recent American pipeline break created an ecological mess, as well as a public relations debacle.
Many big city harbors routinely host sea-going oil tankers. They carry millions of barrels of oil each day through dangerous waters, including the Persian Gulf. Comparatively speaking, industry sources put the present amount of oil floating in world oceans as a result of oil taker mishaps at about 8% of the total. That is still an enormous amount, but only a small portion of the entire problem.
The transport method currently causing the most concern utilizes both rail and truck tankers, especially in remote areas having little existing pipeline infrastructure. A spate of recent rail mishaps in Canada and the U. S. Has led regulators to require local notification when shipments are passing. An explosion on a ship is devastating, but in the middle of a city or town is deadly.
Short of halting production, there is no easy solution to the problem. As regulators urge shippers to improve safety, residents adopt a not-in-my-backyard attitude, and both sides are enmeshed in political controversies that cloud the issue. The modern world is not going to stop using oil until forced to do so, and producers have the responsibility of shipping their product safely.
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