4.2 Environmental Issues with Crude Oil
The first issue with crude oil comes about during the extraction process. Sometimes accidents happen and there is a large oil spill. For example, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. Millions of gallons of crude oil was leaked into the sea, which covered wild life in oil and destroyed beaches. Oil is often transported in large transportation boats and there is a risk of oil being leaked during the transportation of oil.
The combustion of hydrocarbon fuels releases energy. The hydrogen and carbon in the hydrocarbons are oxidised. The carbon becomes carbon dioxide and hydrogen becomes water (which is in vapour form).
The combustion of hydrocarbon fuels releases energy. The hydrogen and carbon in the hydrocarbons are oxidised. The carbon becomes carbon dioxide and hydrogen becomes water (which is in vapour form).
The word equation for combustion.
The burning of hydrocarbons may also release carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and oxide of nitrogen.
Hydrocarbons tend to contain sulphur impurities, which when the fuel is burnt it leads to sulphur dioxide being produced and emitted into the atmosphere. Sulphur dioxide mixes with clouds and becomes sulphuric acid, which leads to acid rain. Acid rain causes soils, lakes rivers and anywhere that the rain lands on to become acidic. This can destroy animal and plant life and effect our ability to grow crops because the soil is acidic (the accidences of soils can be solved by putting on fertilisers to neutralise the soil, thus making plants able to grow). Some scientists have suggested that there is a link between acid rain and human health problems.
We are able to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by taken the sulphur out of the fuels before it is burnt. Most petrol and diesel used in are low sulphur versions. If there is less sulphur in the fuels, less sulphur dioxide is reduced when they are burnt, meaning that there will be less acid rain as a result. Automobiles have catalytic converters on them which reduce the amount of harmful substances they emit. Similarly, power stations have acid gas scrubbers that take out harmful gasses before they are released into the atmosphere.
When there is plenty of oxygen the fuel will burnt completely. This is known as complete combustion. However, if there is not enough oxygen, the fuel will not fully burn leading to solid particles being released and carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas). Solid particles that are released into the atmosphere are known as particulates. These particulates are carbon (known as soot and unburnt fuels. Soot being released into the atmosphere can cause global dimming. Global dimming is a theory that explains why less light is reaching the earth’s surface. It states that the increasing amount of soot in the atmosphere is reflecting light back into space and preventing it from hitting the earth’s surface. The soot particles can help to increase cloud cover, which reflects sunlight back into space. The evidences of global dimming comes from researchers who have found that there is 25% less sunlight hitting the earth’s surface now compared with 50 years ago. Other scientist dismiss these claims stating that the measuring equipment was inaccurate.
The combustion of hydrocarbons releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the enhanced greenhouse effect (which is global warming). The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increases drastically in the last few hundred years and the rate of increase in carbon dioxide is rising as countries are becoming more industrialised/ developed and there is a rising population. This will result in the climate warming leading to the melting of the ice caps, draught in certain location, hurricanes in more locations (and more severe hurricanes), and changes to weather patterns etc.
Governments and authorities have to balance out the benefits and costs of using fossil fuels and create policies, which limit their impact and encourage other resources to be used, instead of fossil fuels. Also, there needs to be internal cooperation to reduce their combustion so that crude oil is available for future generations and that the effects of their combustion (global warming and global dimming) are reduced. However, this could be tricky with Trump not believing in climate change and him being in charge of the largest and most polluting economy in the world.
Hydrocarbons tend to contain sulphur impurities, which when the fuel is burnt it leads to sulphur dioxide being produced and emitted into the atmosphere. Sulphur dioxide mixes with clouds and becomes sulphuric acid, which leads to acid rain. Acid rain causes soils, lakes rivers and anywhere that the rain lands on to become acidic. This can destroy animal and plant life and effect our ability to grow crops because the soil is acidic (the accidences of soils can be solved by putting on fertilisers to neutralise the soil, thus making plants able to grow). Some scientists have suggested that there is a link between acid rain and human health problems.
We are able to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by taken the sulphur out of the fuels before it is burnt. Most petrol and diesel used in are low sulphur versions. If there is less sulphur in the fuels, less sulphur dioxide is reduced when they are burnt, meaning that there will be less acid rain as a result. Automobiles have catalytic converters on them which reduce the amount of harmful substances they emit. Similarly, power stations have acid gas scrubbers that take out harmful gasses before they are released into the atmosphere.
When there is plenty of oxygen the fuel will burnt completely. This is known as complete combustion. However, if there is not enough oxygen, the fuel will not fully burn leading to solid particles being released and carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas). Solid particles that are released into the atmosphere are known as particulates. These particulates are carbon (known as soot and unburnt fuels. Soot being released into the atmosphere can cause global dimming. Global dimming is a theory that explains why less light is reaching the earth’s surface. It states that the increasing amount of soot in the atmosphere is reflecting light back into space and preventing it from hitting the earth’s surface. The soot particles can help to increase cloud cover, which reflects sunlight back into space. The evidences of global dimming comes from researchers who have found that there is 25% less sunlight hitting the earth’s surface now compared with 50 years ago. Other scientist dismiss these claims stating that the measuring equipment was inaccurate.
The combustion of hydrocarbons releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the enhanced greenhouse effect (which is global warming). The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increases drastically in the last few hundred years and the rate of increase in carbon dioxide is rising as countries are becoming more industrialised/ developed and there is a rising population. This will result in the climate warming leading to the melting of the ice caps, draught in certain location, hurricanes in more locations (and more severe hurricanes), and changes to weather patterns etc.
Governments and authorities have to balance out the benefits and costs of using fossil fuels and create policies, which limit their impact and encourage other resources to be used, instead of fossil fuels. Also, there needs to be internal cooperation to reduce their combustion so that crude oil is available for future generations and that the effects of their combustion (global warming and global dimming) are reduced. However, this could be tricky with Trump not believing in climate change and him being in charge of the largest and most polluting economy in the world.
Alternative Fuels
There are some alternatives to fossil fuels, such as:
There are some alternatives to fossil fuels, such as:
- Ethanol
- Biodiesel
- Hydrogen gas