But how did it come into being? The history of the formation of oil is one that stretches back over hundreds of millions of years. Roughly million years ago, the oil that we so nonchalantly use today began its life as innumerable microscopic plants and animals living in the sea. Throughout their lives, these organisms absorbed sunlight and the energy transmitted by it, which they unwittingly stored in their bodies in the form of carbon molecules.
Once their lives had run their course, they died and fell to the bottom of the ocean bed. Over time, they formed layer upon layer of microscopic bacteria due to the steady accumulation of dead plant and animal forms.
They were covered by layers of silt, sand and other dead organisms, which forced them ever deeper under the surface of the ocean. As the depth of their burial grew deeper, the pressure upon their bodies increased and the heat surrounding them rose as well. All of these factors combined to convert their bodies into oil, or natural gas, depending upon the variety of biomass concerned, the temperature of heat and the level of pressure.
Once this oil and gas was formed, it would do its best to force its way to the surface of the water through tiny pores in the surfaces of the rocks and clay that covered it. Some of it made it out and through to the surface, escaping to the surface. The remaining trapped oil is what we mine today and use as oil and natural gas.
We have relied upon oil and gas to create the energy needed to power our daily lives for a substantial period of time. However, the concerns about oil shortages and the likelihood that one day it will run out completely has led scientists to pursue innovative avenues of oil formation. One such avenue is through the production of biodiesel.
The news story, Microalgae Could Produce The Next Biodiesel , examines in detail the experiments undertaken by the United Arab Emirates UAE University to produce a clean, viable and cheap alternative to traditional petroleum a term for rock oil.
This method works to produce shale oil and gas, thus alleviating the fears of running out of our precious fuel sources, at least for a while. It looks at how shale can go a long way to providing a bridge between fossil fuels and a more sustainable source of energy. A new ASTM International standard will help in the design and monitoring of graphite components for molten salt design nuclear reactors.
Building on Every spring, the boreal forest releases immense amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere and keeps our air clean. It is home to a mosaic of plant and animal life, all of which depend on the mature trees, mosses, and lichen of the boreal biome. Surface mines are estimated to only take up 0. Refining Petroleum Refining petroleum is the process of converting crude oil or bitumen into more useful products, such as fuel or asphalt.
Crude oil comes out of the ground with impurities, from sulfur to sand. These components have to be separated. This is done by heating the crude oil in a distillation tower that has trays and temperatures set at different levels. Propane, kerosene, and other components condense on different tiers of the tower, and can be individually collected.
They are transported by pipeline, ocean vessels, and trucks to different locations, to either be used directly or further processed. Petroleum Industry Oil was not always extracted, refined, and used by millions of people as it is today. However, it has always been an important part of many cultures. The earliest known oil wells were drilled in China as early as CE.
The wells were drilled almost meters feet deep using strong bamboo bits. The oil was extracted and transported through bamboo pipelines. It was burned as a heating fuel and industrial component. Chinese engineers burned petroleum to evaporate brine and produce salt.
On the west coast of North America, indigenous people used bitumen as an adhesive to make canoes and baskets water-tight, and as a binder for creating ceremonial decorations and tools. By the 7th century, Japanese engineers discovered that petroleum could be burned for light. Oil was later distilled into kerosene by a Persian alchemist in the 9th century. During the s, petroleum slowly replaced whale oil in kerosene lamps, producing a radical decline in whale-hunting.
The modern oil industry was established in the s. The first well was drilled in Poland in , and the technology spread to other countries and was improved.
The Industrial Revolution created a vast new opportunity for the use of petroleum. Machinery powered by steam engines quickly became too slow, small-scale, and expensive. Petroleum-based fuel was in demand. The invention of the mass-produced automobile in the early 20th century further increased demand for petroleum.
Petroleum production has rapidly increased. In , the U. By , that number was million barrels per year. Today, the U. According to OPEC, more than 70 million barrels are produced worldwide every day. That is almost 49, barrels per minute. Although that seems like an impossibly high amount, the uses for petroleum have expanded to almost every area of life.
Petroleum makes our lives easy in many ways. In many countries, including the U. The United States consumes more oil than any other country. This is more than all of the oil consumed in Latin America 8.
Petroleum is an ingredient in thousands of everyday items. The gasoline that we depend on for transportation to school, work, or vacation comes from crude oil. A barrel of petroleum produces about 72 liters 19 gallons of gasoline, and is used by people all over the world to power cars, boats, jets, and scooters.
Diesel-powered generators are used in many remote homes, schools, and hospitals. Petroleum is found in recreational items as diverse as surfboards, footballs and basketballs, bicycle tires, golf bags, tents, cameras, and fishing lures. Petroleum is also contained in more essential items such as artificial limbs, water pipes, and vitamin capsules.
In our homes, we are surrounded by and depend on products that contain petroleum. House paint, trash bags, roofing, shoes, telephones, hair curlers, and even crayons contain refined petroleum.
Carbon Cycle There are major disadvantages to extracting fossil fuels, and extracting petroleum is a controversial industry. Carbon constantly cycles between the water, land, and atmosphere. Carbon is absorbed by plants and is part of every living organism as it moves through the food web.
Carbon is naturally released through volcanoes, soil erosion, and evaporation. Not all of the carbon on Earth is involved in the carbon cycle above ground. Vast quantities of it are sequestered, or stored, underground, in the form of fossil fuels and in the soil. However, that budget is falling out of balance. Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have been aggressively extracted and burned for energy or fuel.
This releases the carbon that has been sequestered underground, and upsets the carbon budget. This affects the quality of our air, water, and overall climate. The taiga, for example, sequesters vast amounts of carbon in its trees and below the forest floor.
Drilling for natural resources not only releases the carbon stored in the fossil fuels, but also the carbon stored in the forest itself. Combusting gasoline, which is made from petroleum, is particularly harmful to the environment.
Every 3. Gasoline and diesel also directly pollute the atmosphere. They emit toxic compounds and particulates, including formaldehyde and benzene. People and Petroleum Oil is a major component of modern civilization. In developing countries, access to affordable energy can empower citizens and lead to higher quality of life.
Petroleum provides transportation fuel, is a part of many chemicals and medicines, and is used to make crucial items such as heart valves, contact lenses, and bandages. Peak oil is the point when the oil industry is extracting the maximum possible amount of petroleum. After peak oil, petroleum production will only decrease. After peak oil, there will be a decline in production and a rise in costs for the remaining supply.
Measuring peak oil uses the reserves-to-production ratio RPR. This ratio compares the amount of proven oil reserves to the current extraction rate. The reserves-to-production ratio is expressed in years. The RPR is different for every oil rig and every oil-producing area.
Oil-producing regions that are also major consumers of oil have a lower RPR than oil producers with low levels of consumption. The oil-rich, developing nation of Iran, which has a much lower consumption rate, has an RPR of more than 80 years.
It is impossible to know the precise year for peak oil. Some geologists argue it has already passed, while others maintain that extraction technology will delay peak oil for decades. Many geologists estimate that peak oil might be reached within 20 years. Petroleum Alternatives Individuals, industries, and organizations are increasingly concerned with peak oil and environmental consequences of petroleum extraction.
Alternatives to oil are being developed in some areas, and governments and organizations are encouraging citizens to change their habits so we do not rely so heavily on oil.
Bioasphalts, for example, are asphalts made from renewable sources such as molasses, sugar, corn, potato starch, or even byproducts of oil processes. Although they provide a non-toxic alternative to bitumen, bioasphalts require huge crop yields, which puts a strain on the agricultural industry.
Algae is also a potentially enormous source of energy. Algae grows extremely quickly and takes up a fraction of the space used by other biofuel feedstocks. About 38, square kilometers 15, square miles of algae—less than half the size of the U. Algae absorbs pollution, releases oxygen, and does not require freshwater.
The country of Sweden has made it a priority to drastically reduce its dependence on oil and other fossil fuel energy by Experts in agriculture, science, industry, forestry, and energy have come together to develop sources of sustainable energy , including geothermal heat pumps, wind farms, wave and solar energy, and domestic biofuel for hybrid vehicles.
The pits have preserved fossils of saber-toothed cats, mastodons, turtles, dire wolves, horses, and other plants and animals that were trapped in the sticky substance 40, years ago. Bitumen continues to bubble up through the ground today.
A petroleum play is a group of oil fields in a single geographic region, created by the same geologic forces or during the same time period. A petroleum play may be defined by a time period Paleozoic play , rock type shale play , or a combination of both. Saudi Arabia 2. Venezuela 3. Canada 4. Iran 5. Iraq Source: U. Energy Information Administration. Leading Petroleum Producers 1. Russia 3. United States 4. China Source: U. Leading Petroleum Consumers 1. United States 2.
China 3. Japan 4. India 5. Also called a fractionating column. Also known as petroleum or crude oil. Abbreviated bbl. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Peat can be dried and burned as fuel. Also called an oil reservoir. Also called an electrical grid. Also called a nodding donkey, thirsty bird, rocking horse, or grasshopper pump. The ratio is the amount of proven reserves to the current extraction rate, expressed in years.
Also called reflection seismology. Also called oil sands. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Andrew Turgeon Elizabeth Morse. Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society. Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing. Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society.
For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. The last step involves the placement of a structure called a Christmas tree which allows oil workers to control the flow of oil from the well.
Oil can also be extracted from oil sands, often called tar sands. Oils sands are typically sand or clay mixed with water and a very viscous form of crude oil known as bitumen. The extraction process for oil sands is quite different from drilling due to the high viscosity of this extra-heavy oil. Rather than using drills, crude oil is extracted from oil sands through strip mining or a variety of other techniques used to reduce the viscosity of the oil. This process can be far more expensive than traditional drilling and is found in high abundance only in Canada and Venezuela.
As oil demand continues to rise, and reserves become depleted, oil sands could provide one of the last viable methods for extracting crude oil from the Earth. While just about every country in the world depends on oil, not all countries produce it. It is important to note that the term production here refers to crude oil extracted from oil reserves.
0コメント