Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Recovery and processing of fossil energy also have environmental impacts. As
supplies dwindle, increasingly large amounts of energy will be required to extract
the remaining usable energy, causing the extraction to be less energy efficient and
more costly. As conventional oil supplies become more difficult to obtain, pres-
sures to extract energy from alternative fossil sources grow. These sources, such
as tar sands, extra-heavy oil, and oil shale, contain large amounts of energy but
require more energy to extract, transport, and process than more desirable petroleum
sources. In addition, expanded drilling, mining, and extraction activity will likely be
more environmentally damaging and use larger amounts of process water, leading to
additional potentially damaging ecological impacts.
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The third major issue with fossil energy, and especially with oil, is the economic
impact of depending on it as a primary energy source. This impact is manifest in
the negative effects on economies of countries that must purchase large quantities of
energy. For the United States, oil import costs have exceeded $1.5 billion dollars per
day, an annual cost of over $0.5 trillion. Petroleum import costs account for about
two thirds of the negative U.S. trade balance. Of course, as the price of oil increases,
these expenditures, with their significant national and international security implica-
tions, will also increase.
If collateral damage concerns associated with fossil energy use and dependence
could be alleviated such that the security, environmental, and economic issues asso-
ciated with their use would vanish, it is still important that this source of energy be
used wisely. Fossil fuels have many positive energy attributes, but because supplies
are finite, what remains should be considered precious and be prudently conserved
for the long-term benefit of humanity.
In fact, conservation is an energy management strategy vastly undervalued in cur-
rent energy discussions. For example, in spite of technological advances, the U.S. cor-
porate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for its motor vehicle fleet had remained
unchanged for over three decades (Public Citizen, 2008) until recently passed legisla-
tion mandated that fuel economy of cars and light trucks be increased by about 30%.
But, it will take several years for the policy to fully take effect in spite of the fact that
technology is currently available that could bring about much greater increases in
vehicle fuel economy and could significantly reduce transportation fuel demand.
The need to use energy, whether fossil or renewable, more efficiently is essential.
Economics has driven development of some technology, such as combined heat and
power facilities, to use energy more efficiently. Generally, however, fossil energy
has been cheap or at least sufficiently low cost to discourage development of new, or
commercialization of existing, technology that would improve energy-use efficiency.
As a result, inefficient practices and dependence on fossil energy have become firmly
entrenched. Improved energy use efficiency would lower energy demand, lessen the
challenge of providing adequate amounts of energy, reduce the environmental impact
of producing and consuming fuels, and improve the environment while enhancing
the quality of human life.
