More oil is not the answer, making the other guys use his first will only cause conflict in the future. I found it interesting in Kenneth Deffeys book “Beyond Oil”, he explains how, “for years during the 1950’s up to the 1970’s America was the leader in oil production” (Deffeys 17). Now the Middle East is the world’s largest extractor of oil, in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and oil is their main product of export. The Middle East is very unstable and an unreliable source for oil. For example, look at the situation in the Middle East with terrorist groups such as ISIS or ISIL, in their attempts at creating a country of extreme Islamic rule, they have managed to cause chaos for everyone in the region. Surprisingly the price of crude oil has stayed low. Is the work of our government? Our current President has a Global Warming/Climate agenda that he has never abandoned. After taking this course and reading the text, I have changed my feelings concerning this issue. Reading about Carbon reservoirs, I now know this is a real problem that needs to be addressed. How does America even consider moving away from its dependency of crude oil? There are alternatives, like E85 ethanol and biodiesel, which can help to slow or put an end to these issues. These two sources are also sources that can be run in today’s conventional gasoline and diesel engines, with in some cases little to no modifications. Alternative fuels such as e85 ethanol and biodiesel need to be more widely used in America: it would lift dependence on foreign oil, give more work to the struggling industries in the American economy, costs little and is easy to convert, and does not harm the environment as much as gasoline or diesel. E85 ethanol and Biodiesel are both alternative fuels that come from natural sources. Therefore it is renewable, unlike fossil fuels. Ethanol is grain alcohol derived from corn, switch grass, sugarcane, and other renewable sources (Ethanol FAQ). There are even ways garbage can be made into ethanol. To make ethanol corn or other sources are ground up and distilled. This process is very similar to the distillation of alcohol and the final product is similar to alcohol such as Jack Daniels (Nerad 59). The final product of the distillation is pure ethanol which is very flammable. It is so flammable that it has an octane ratio so high that it is not suitable for the average vehicle. Pure ethanol has an octane ratio of about 105 to 113 (Nerad 58). Octane is the rate fuel burns at a given compression. If too high of an octane is used it could cause a ping or explosion of fuel in the combustion chamber. Engine ping is not good and could cause engine damage. An engine needs to burn fuel not explode it. A motor with high compression, such as a sports car motor, needs a higher octane ratio such as 93 or it may ping. Pinging will also occur if too low of
More oil is not the answer, making the other guys use his first will only cause conflict in the future. I found it interesting in Kenneth Deffeys book “Beyond Oil”, he explains how, “for years during the 1950’s up to the 1970’s America was the leader in oil production” (Deffeys 17). Now the Middle East is the world’s largest extractor of oil, in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and oil is their main product of export. The Middle East is very unstable and an unreliable source for oil. For example, look at the situation in the Middle East with terrorist groups such as ISIS or ISIL, in their attempts at creating a country of extreme Islamic rule, they have managed to cause chaos for everyone in the region. Surprisingly the price of crude oil has stayed low. Is the work of our government? Our current President has a Global Warming/Climate agenda that he has never abandoned. After taking this course and reading the text, I have changed my feelings concerning this issue. Reading about Carbon reservoirs, I now know this is a real problem that needs to be addressed. How does America even consider moving away from its dependency of crude oil? There are alternatives, like E85 ethanol and biodiesel, which can help to slow or put an end to these issues. These two sources are also sources that can be run in today’s conventional gasoline and diesel engines, with in some cases little to no modifications. Alternative fuels such as e85 ethanol and biodiesel need to be more widely used in America: it would lift dependence on foreign oil, give more work to the struggling industries in the American economy, costs little and is easy to convert, and does not harm the environment as much as gasoline or diesel. E85 ethanol and Biodiesel are both alternative fuels that come from natural sources. Therefore it is renewable, unlike fossil fuels. Ethanol is grain alcohol derived from corn, switch grass, sugarcane, and other renewable sources (Ethanol FAQ). There are even ways garbage can be made into ethanol. To make ethanol corn or other sources are ground up and distilled. This process is very similar to the distillation of alcohol and the final product is similar to alcohol such as Jack Daniels (Nerad 59). The final product of the distillation is pure ethanol which is very flammable. It is so flammable that it has an octane ratio so high that it is not suitable for the average vehicle. Pure ethanol has an octane ratio of about 105 to 113 (Nerad 58). Octane is the rate fuel burns at a given compression. If too high of an octane is used it could cause a ping or explosion of fuel in the combustion chamber. Engine ping is not good and could cause engine damage. An engine needs to burn fuel not explode it. A motor with high compression, such as a sports car motor, needs a higher octane ratio such as 93 or it may ping. Pinging will also occur if too low of