Warnings about the hazards of reliance on fossil fuels fill the news. Climate change, air pollution, and soaring gasoline prices are all part of the equation, and while alternative sources of energy are gaining ground, petroleum is still king. Fossil fuel products are the underpinning of the world economy, and will probably remain so until they become unprofitable. Crude oil transportation is an essential component of production.
The bulk of this material flows through pipelines. Newly extracted crude is far from a harmless substance. Rather than being an chemically uniform mixture, its composition varies depending on the location of the field. In recent times there have been spectacularly harmful accidents in the Gulf of Mexico and southern Alaska, illustrating the environmental damage a tanker spill or well blowout can cause.
While it is easy to fulminate against the oil companies, most people are neither willing nor able to eliminate this product from their lives. Not only does it fuel vehicles, but petroleum is the major ingredient used to make most plastics and personal care products. It is burned to generate electricity, heat homes, to provide fuel for commerce, and has become essential to modern medicine and agriculture.
A century of extraction has targeted the most easily exploited fields. Today, Canadian shale is producing exceptional amounts in the far north, and in the United States an upsurge of hydraulic fracking allows companies to extract even more crude from less productive regions using water pressure. No matter which process is used, the product must be transported safely through populated regions en route to a refinery.
High-pressure pipes are still the safest and most cost-effective method. Without them, the amount of oil produced during only one day in northern Canada would require around 15,000 heavy trucks along with nearly 5,000 railroad tank cars, an impossible undertaking. While no method guarantees complete safety, pipelines are usually routed around cities. When spills do occur, they are more easily contained.
Many big city harbors routinely host sea-going oil tankers. They carry millions of barrels of oil each day through dangerous waters, including the Persian Gulf. Comparatively speaking, industry sources put the present amount of oil floating in world oceans as a result of oil taker mishaps at about 8% of the total. That is still an enormous amount, but only a small portion of the entire problem.
The transport method currently causing the most concern utilizes both rail and truck tankers, especially in remote areas having little existing pipeline infrastructure. A spate of recent rail mishaps in Canada and the U. S. Has led regulators to require local notification when shipments are passing. An explosion on a ship is devastating, but in the middle of a city or town is deadly.
Shutting down production would solve the problem, but is impossible. Consumers in many areas have adopted a not-in-my-backyard stance, and local politicians have become adept at partisan rhetoric resulting in few solutions. Until the world economy no longer depends on petroleum, the companies that produce this product ultimately are responsible for shipping crude oil safely, as well as economically.
The bulk of this material flows through pipelines. Newly extracted crude is far from a harmless substance. Rather than being an chemically uniform mixture, its composition varies depending on the location of the field. In recent times there have been spectacularly harmful accidents in the Gulf of Mexico and southern Alaska, illustrating the environmental damage a tanker spill or well blowout can cause.
While it is easy to fulminate against the oil companies, most people are neither willing nor able to eliminate this product from their lives. Not only does it fuel vehicles, but petroleum is the major ingredient used to make most plastics and personal care products. It is burned to generate electricity, heat homes, to provide fuel for commerce, and has become essential to modern medicine and agriculture.
A century of extraction has targeted the most easily exploited fields. Today, Canadian shale is producing exceptional amounts in the far north, and in the United States an upsurge of hydraulic fracking allows companies to extract even more crude from less productive regions using water pressure. No matter which process is used, the product must be transported safely through populated regions en route to a refinery.
High-pressure pipes are still the safest and most cost-effective method. Without them, the amount of oil produced during only one day in northern Canada would require around 15,000 heavy trucks along with nearly 5,000 railroad tank cars, an impossible undertaking. While no method guarantees complete safety, pipelines are usually routed around cities. When spills do occur, they are more easily contained.
Many big city harbors routinely host sea-going oil tankers. They carry millions of barrels of oil each day through dangerous waters, including the Persian Gulf. Comparatively speaking, industry sources put the present amount of oil floating in world oceans as a result of oil taker mishaps at about 8% of the total. That is still an enormous amount, but only a small portion of the entire problem.
The transport method currently causing the most concern utilizes both rail and truck tankers, especially in remote areas having little existing pipeline infrastructure. A spate of recent rail mishaps in Canada and the U. S. Has led regulators to require local notification when shipments are passing. An explosion on a ship is devastating, but in the middle of a city or town is deadly.
Shutting down production would solve the problem, but is impossible. Consumers in many areas have adopted a not-in-my-backyard stance, and local politicians have become adept at partisan rhetoric resulting in few solutions. Until the world economy no longer depends on petroleum, the companies that produce this product ultimately are responsible for shipping crude oil safely, as well as economically.
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