The Effects of Oil depletion in the near future essays

The Effects of Oil depletion in the near future essays Oil is a finite resource that originally developed from prehistoric algae and other microorganisms. Colin J. Campbell from Depletion and Denial states: The prolific formation of oil has occurred only a few times in the Earths long geological history. For example, almost all the oil from the Gulf Coast of the U.S. to Peru, including the vast degraded deposits of Venezuela, which hold even more than the Middle East, was the result of a brief period of excessive global warming 90,000,000 years ago. Algae flourished in those ancient warm, dead, stagnant, and anoxic seas. Another such epoch, 140,000,000 years ago, was responsible for the oil in the North Sea and much of the Middle East. (2) However, many people know little about the controversial issue of oil and oil depletion besides what they have been told by un-informed experts. It has become so controversial because of the difficulty in predicting the current oil supply. Most people are too optimistic in their estimates of the supply because of the dire implications of a shortage. Simply put, energy is the key that unlocks all other resources. As of today, oil accounts for 40 percent of all energy use in the world. This accounts for 26 billion barrels annually. The problem is intensified by large population increases and growth in energy demands. Jacob Fisker states that developing countries make up 80 percent of the population, but they only use 20 percent of the worlds resources. The developed world is the remaining 20 percent of the population, but it uses 80 percent of the worlds resources.(1) Furthermore, one perfect example of oil over-consumption is in the U.S. Its entire economy is largely dependent on oil for energy and many indispensable products. Many experts in the oil industry such as Colin J. Campbell, a petro leum geologist, predict that demand will exceed supply by around 2010. From there, it will pr...