Gas Prices - should it matter to you?

ECO NEWS, September 2008, by Deanna Fry 

 

Gasoline Prices
Should it Matter to You? 



Even if you don’t drive or own a car I’m sure you’ve heard about the high prices of gas. It’s a petroleum product made from crude oil; the liquid form of non-renewable fossil fuel.

COOL FACT
When the plants and animals from millions of years ago died, they decomposed and became buried over time. Their fossils evolved into the solid, liquid and gas forms of ‘fossil fuels’, i.e. coal, oil and natural gas. They are non-renewable because they don’t grow back quickly; it would take a few million years to produce them again!

Our use of fossil fuels as a source of energy started with coal, a couple hundred years ago, which was mined and burned in fireplaces, furnaces and machines to release heat energy.

Crude oil is fossil fuel in liquid form, also found deep under the ground or water. It is welled, then refined or processed into transportation fuels and oil products to heat homes and buildings, generate electricity and make lubricants, waxes, asphalt, plastics and synthetics. We’ve become very dependent on fossil fuels, using millions of barrels of crude oil daily.

THE REASON
Canada’s average is 2.1 billion barrels per year. The USA uses 19.9 billion barrels, by far the most of any other country in the world. Canada and the USA produce oil because we’ve found it in places like Alberta and Texas. Canada produces more oil than we use, so we sell or export the oil to other countries. The USA only produces less than half of what they use. Some countries have no oil reserves, so they’re completely dependent on the ones that do. Aha! ...producers and consumers, supply and demand; it’s the reason for high prices.

The amount of fossil fuels stored in the earth is finite, meaning limited. ‘Running out’ is part of the concern and reason for soaring prices. Another is that burning these fuels is the leading cause of climate change. We’ve become so dependent on fossil fuels, the demand is higher than the supply.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
Use the family car less, walk to school, ride a bike or the bus, vacation locally, cut down on your use of heating, air conditioning, electricity, water and material goods. Investigate the use of solar, wind, geothermal and other alternatives. If we demand to be able to consume energy from renewable, healthier sources they will be produced and supplied. The law of supply and demand can work both ways!

~ Deanna

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