For years the media has run stories on the dangers of fossil fuel reliance. Air pollution and climate change top the list, and the continuous climb of gasoline prices constantly makes headlines. While alternatives are making steady progress, there is no escaping petroleum, the indisputable foundation of 21st century world economics. Crude oil transportation today is faced with new hurdles created by the expansion of this industry.
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.
Big oil companies are an easy target to vilify, but most people have no intention or interest in divorcing themselves from the benefits oil provides. It powers our automobiles, and is used to create most plastics and other consumer products. In some areas it is still burned to generate electricity, to heat structures during winter, to move products across country, and for many related purposes.
Most easily accessed oil regions have already been exploited. Canada has experienced a production boom in the northern shale oil fields, and the United States has become a top producer once again through the development of hydraulic fracking, a method of extraction using high-pressure liquid to force deposits to the surface. Getting that oil to market without harming people or the environment has become an important issue.
The least dangerous transport involves sealed pipelines. Without them, the amount produced in the Canadian north during just one day would require over 15,000 standard tank trucks, and almost 5000 railway tankers. Even though moving the liquid under pressure is practical, there is never a guarantee of absolute safety, as recent American pipeline ruptures have demonstrated.
Oil tankers are a familiar urban harbor sight, and many pass through war zones such as the Persian Gulf. Ocean spills are difficult to contain and clean up, but according to industry sources, only 8% of that crude pollution exists as the result of tanker accidents. While that figure is comparatively enormous, it does point out the advantages of shipping by sea rather than over land.
Of greatest concern is the transport method that utilizes both truck and rail tankers. This burgeoning segment has grown because there is currently little pipeline infrastructure convenient to the newest production sites. Recent rail disasters in Quebec and the United States has made it necessary to notify local authorities when a shipment is scheduled. A ship explosion is costly and dangerous, but railroad tanker disasters are 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.
Big oil companies are an easy target to vilify, but most people have no intention or interest in divorcing themselves from the benefits oil provides. It powers our automobiles, and is used to create most plastics and other consumer products. In some areas it is still burned to generate electricity, to heat structures during winter, to move products across country, and for many related purposes.
Most easily accessed oil regions have already been exploited. Canada has experienced a production boom in the northern shale oil fields, and the United States has become a top producer once again through the development of hydraulic fracking, a method of extraction using high-pressure liquid to force deposits to the surface. Getting that oil to market without harming people or the environment has become an important issue.
The least dangerous transport involves sealed pipelines. Without them, the amount produced in the Canadian north during just one day would require over 15,000 standard tank trucks, and almost 5000 railway tankers. Even though moving the liquid under pressure is practical, there is never a guarantee of absolute safety, as recent American pipeline ruptures have demonstrated.
Oil tankers are a familiar urban harbor sight, and many pass through war zones such as the Persian Gulf. Ocean spills are difficult to contain and clean up, but according to industry sources, only 8% of that crude pollution exists as the result of tanker accidents. While that figure is comparatively enormous, it does point out the advantages of shipping by sea rather than over land.
Of greatest concern is the transport method that utilizes both truck and rail tankers. This burgeoning segment has grown because there is currently little pipeline infrastructure convenient to the newest production sites. Recent rail disasters in Quebec and the United States has made it necessary to notify local authorities when a shipment is scheduled. A ship explosion is costly and dangerous, but railroad tanker disasters are 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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