Fuel Consumption Problems and Solutions free essay sample

Tischenko Professor Ball Solutions to the Oil Consumption Problem 8 March, 2012 Section 5 A couple weeks ago, I stopped at a gas station to fill up my tank. As a pizza delivery driver I spend a decent amount of money on gas every week. While I was getting gas, I wandered, are we ever going to run out of it and will we survive without it? In this essay I will attempt to solve one of the biggest problems in modern world – dependence and very large consumption of gasoline. According to the Seattle Times, Americans use over 880 million gallons of gasoline per day. With an average of 755 cars for every 1000 people, the United States of America consumes more gasoline than South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia combined (Source: Energy Information Agency) ! Modern world get well more than 80% of its energy from fossil fuels, major part of it is oil. We use oil everywhere, from lipstick and painkillers to gasoline and tires. We will write a custom essay sample on Fuel Consumption Problems and Solutions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Almost everything that we use on daily basis is made out of oil. According to the EIA, over 60% of world transportation is ran on oil based fuels. How much longer can we consume the resource until we run out of it? If someday we run out of oil, I think that the world should be prepared! Gasoline is a petroleum-delivered liquid that is used in internal combustion engines which are used in almost every type of transportation. Over the years, the consumption of gasoline is increasing, while the sources are exhausting. Many geologists propose that most of the sources of oil on Earth have reached so-called â€Å"peak oil† which is the point where the amounts of oil produced start to decline. American Association of Petroleum Geologists provides a good example of the peak. In 1861, oil derrick called McClintock #1 produced 50 barrels of oil daily. In 2006, 145 years later, it produced 1 barrel a day. This example shows that everything has a limit. â€Å"Peak oil† is also what causes dramatic price changes on gasoline around the world. In 2000, one gallon of gasoline cost $1. 95 (EIA), right now its $3. 79 and it keeps on going up. â€Å"Peak oil† in the United States also caused the increase of import of the oil from foreign countries. I believe that instead of consuming more and more every year, and increasing the import of gasoline, not only the U. S. , but the whole planet should limit themselves in consumption and find new ways to power their vehicles. The first solution that I’d like to propose is stimulating people to purchase vehicles with hybrid engines. In past two years, the automobile companies have been working very hard to create hybrid powered vehicles that will save as much gasoline as possible. The concept of hybrid engines is simple and effective. The hybrid engine consists of two parts: small gasoline powered engine and electric battery that is charged by the wheel rotation. In 2011, the average miles per gallon ratio was about forty five which is almost twice less than non-hybrid cars consume (http://www. greenhybrid. om). But only 2. 6% of Americans own at least one hybrid vehicle which does not do enough impact on the consumption problem. In my opinion, this is where the government needs to step in. We need radical changes in vehicle production. First thing that the government needs to do is start stimulating people to buy electric powered vehicles by giving out loans, grants, or any extra money towards the purchase of the vehicles. Another thing that would help the problem is allowing people to trade in their old, gasoline powered vehicles for hybrid vehicles at little, or no cost. The cars that are traded in can be recycled and the material can be used in the production of hybrid cars. Another great source of energy is the sun light. For many years, people used solar energy to power different electric devices or even entire houses. Some automobile companies attempted to produce a vehicle that would run entirely on solar energy. It worked perfectly fine during summer due to the sun activity, but when it came to storing the energy, they faced problems. Solar energy takes a lot of space to store. Solar batteries are also very expensive. To find the solution to this issue, I have talked to one of the students at Thiel College. His name is Benjamin Hellner-Burris. Ben was a part of a research group called Solar Hydrogen Activity Research Kit (ShARK). The main goal of the ShARK is to find an inexpensive way to store the solar energy. Ben believes that if the program is well funded, the solution might be found. The last solution that I’d like to propose is promoting alternative fuels. There are many substances on our planet that, potentially, could substitute gasoline as the main type of fuel in the world. The US News article called â€Å"The Pros and Cons of 8 Green Fuels†, Rick Newman describes different types of alternative fuels. According to him, top three â€Å"green fuels† are biodiesel, hydrogen, and corn ethanol. Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oil, animal fat, and even used cooking oil! Unlike most other alternative fuels, biodiesel does not require major changes in the vehicle, as long as its powered with a diesel engine. It is fully renewable and relatively clean burning product. Comparing to any other alternative fuel, biodiesel is used by many people around the world. There are many gas stations that have a biodiesel pumps such as Exon and Mobile Fuels. But the only way for biodiesel to work without any issues is if it’s pure, which is not how it’s sold at gas stations. Because of the high cost, it’s usually mixed with regular diesel. Such mix tends to damage engines and fuel pumps of the vehicles. (U. S. News) Hydrogen can be extracted from water or natural gas. During the process of the extraction, hydrogen and oxygen convert into electricity. Unlike biodiesel, hydrogen is not used widely due to the problem of storage. In order to use it as fuel, hydrogen needs to be kept under high pressure at all times. (U. S. News) Corn ethanol is a pretty common fuel as its mixed with most types of gasoline at any gas station. The concentration of ethanol can reach up to 85%, but it still needs gasoline on order to combust. Ethanol is extracted from corn which grows widely in the United States. Just like the biodiesel it is fully renewable. The only problem with corn ethanol is that it doesn’t provide as much energy as gasoline does, therefore its 30%-40% less efficient. (U. S. News) All these solutions have been discussed by many research groups and politicians. But I’d like propose something they do not talk about. Henry Ford and Rudolf Diesel designed their first engines to run on the most organic and efficient fuel on the planet – hemp. Up until 1937, citizens of the United States were allowed to grow hemp and take advantage of this great material. For hundreds of years, hemp was used in almost everything. Food, clothing, medicine, fiber, fuel, and many more things were made out of hemp. It is fully renewable and recyclable. It grows at a very fast rate producing p to 25 tons per hectare per year! In my opinion, hemp is the solution to the problem of dependence on fossil fuels. If we grow hemp on as little as six percent of the U. S. territory, we can stop using fossil fuels once and for all. The only issue with hemp is that growing it is illegal! The best material on the planet is the illegal one. It’s a complete nonsense! The advocates against hemp argue that it can be used as a drug, but this information is not proven. Hemp contains almost no THC, which is the chemical that gets, people who smoke it, â€Å"high†. Therefore, hemp is worthless as a drug.