Two of the fossil fuels, coal, and natural gas, are used to generate continuous uninterruptible electricity, but crude oil, the third fossil fuel, is seldom ever used for electricity, but primarily used to manufacture oil derivatives that thousands of products are based upon, and the fuels for the various transportation infrastructures.
The primary usage of crude oil is NOT for the generation of electricity, but to manufacture transportation fuels needed by the world’s aviation, merchant ships, cruise ships, militaries, and vehicles, and to manufacture oil derivatives that make 6,000 products used in our daily lives, and the economy.
After crude oil was introduced around 1900, we created various modes of transportation, a medical industry, and electronics and communications systems. Oil reduced infant mortality, extended longevity from 40+ to more than 80+, and gave the public the ability to move anywhere in the world via planes, trains, ships, and vehicles, and virtually eliminated deaths from most diseases and from all forms of weather. The consequences of abandoning crude oil and all the progress after its introduction into society could be the greatest threat to civilization, not climate change.
While just 2 of the products manufactured from crude oil are gasoline and diesel fuels for the shorter-range vehicles of cars and trucks, EV technology is making progress to replace those two products from oil. EV owners have demonstrated that their usage of EV’s for approximately 5,000 miles per year represents a real opportunity to meet that short range need with EV’s.
Governor Newsom’s call on the global community to end reliance on crude oil, represents total blindness of the fact that crude oil is the feedstock to refineries for the manufacturing of products that have led to developed countries being healthy and wealthy.
The GND that Newsom and President Biden have bought into, seeks to replace ALL fossil fuels, including the innocent bystander of crude oil that is seldom used for electricity, but necessary for products and fuels. The “green” movement is all-in for breezes and sunshine to replace coal and natural gas for electricity, but the movement has absolutely no concept that the third fossil fuel of crude oil is the feedstock to refineries to manufacture products. Any grade school educated kid can understand that breezes and sunshine, can only generate weather-dependent intermittent electricity, but cannot manufacture anything.
Read the rest of this piece at CFACT.org.
Ron Stein is an engineer who, drawing upon 25 years of project management and business development experience, launched PTS Advance in 1995. He is an author, engineer, and energy expert who writes frequently on issues of energy and economics.
Photo credit: courtesy CFACT.org
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