CHAPTER 1 who controls OUR ENERGY Energy rules our daily lives We use it when we get out of bed in the morning when we travel to school and when we play a video game Energy is defined as the capacity or ability to do work ENERGY TYPES Energy takes many forms Electrical energy lights our homes and powers our devices Heat energy cooks our food Kinetic energy is present in moving objects We need a source to make energy Coal gas the Sun and wind are all energy sources Both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources are used to make electrical energy Nonrenewable energy sources are those that will one day run out Fossil fuels oil coal and natural gas are nonrenewable energy sources They are burned in power plants to make electrical energy Burning fossil fuels pollutes the environment and releases 4 greenhouse gases which warm Earth’s temperature Renewable energy sources are those that will not run out They include the wind the Sun and moving water These energy sources do not release harmful gases Globally demand for renewable energy grew more than 6 percent in 2017 but fossil fuel energy accounts for more than 80 percent of the total energy used
Fossil fuels are burned to create energy in power plants such as this one Harmful gases are released through the thin chimneys BURNING UP The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases The gases build up in the atmosphere trapping heat and causing global warming which is a rise in Earth’s temperature In 2017 carbon emissions reached their highest-ever amount at 32 5 gigatons So why do renewable energy sources not take up more of our energy needs DARK SCIENCE SECRETS Government representatives help decide what energy should be used and how But outside forces often try to sway their decisions in favor of a certain side These outside forces are lobbyists people who are paid by companies or organizations to try to lobby or influence government decisions Both the oil and gas industry and environmental groups use lobbyists Environmental groups lobby government representatives to reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable energy sources Oil and gas lobbyists try to gather support for such things as approval to build more pipelines However studies show that the oil gas and transportation organizations that rely on fossil fuels outspend environmental groups energy sector by ten to one in lobbying budgets and the renewable Organized protests about global warming also hope to change political opinion and actions 5
CRUDE OIL AND BIG BUSINESS Crude oil is a thick liquid found beneath Earth’s surface We use oil products for everything from asphalt on roads to gasoline in vehicles to plastic in bread bags Saudi Arabia and Russia each provide 13 percent of the world’s supply of crude oil The United States supplies another 12 percent and Canada follows in fourth place at 5 percent Governments and private companies play different roles in getting oil from the ground to the consumers or the people who buy and use the oil OIL COMPANIES In the United States and Canada many oil production companies are independent and operate only in their home country Some operate across North America A few U S oil companies operate internationally including ExxonMobil Chevron and ConocoPhillips Oil production is big business In 2018 ExxonMobil was estimated to be worth 344 billion Chevron is worth 239 billion and ConocoPhillips comes in at around 79 billion Oil pipelines transport oil to consumers They often run through previously undisturbed landscapes 6
There are almost half a million oil wells in the United States Crude oil production rose 10 percent in 2017 BIG WORLD OF OIL Oil production companies are motivated by profit or making a lot of money To make as much money as possible the companies want to develop oil resources quickly In 2018 in the United States oil production rose to its highest level in nearly 50 years More than 10 million barrels a day were produced Politics are driving this surge in U S oil production The Trump administration proposed spending an extra 281 million on fossil fuel research and development in 2019 At the same time it proposed cuts to programs designed to study and reduce the effects of climate change It also wants to cut further research into forms of renewable energy DARK SCIENCE SECRETS The U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA plays an important role in developing policies that can help the environment In 2016 the EPA wrote a series of rules requiring oil and gas companies to limit methane gas emissions In 2018 the changes made by the Trump administration meant that the EPA rules were weakened This has made it easier for energy companies to release methane into the air Methane gas is a powerful greenhouse gas and it greatly contributes to climate change 7
