"Oil consumption is hurtling back...and demand for coal, the dirtiest of...fuels, is rising."
Pollution
Extraction
"Nalleli Cobo was 9 years old when her nose started bleeding...then...headaches and heart palpitations."
Why? An oil "drilling site just 300 feet from where she lived"?
In her teens she developed cancer, but as of 2021, she is cancer free.
"Certain chemical byproducts of oil extraction [include] benzene and hydrogen sulfide."
Excess gas is openly burned ("flaring") at drill sites and refineries.
Proposed EPA regulations "would still permit flaring of unwanted...gas from oil wells."
15% of fossil-fuel GHG pollution occurs when the material is taken out of the ground.
Transporting (trucks, rail, ships, pipelines) and processing create additional pollution.
Transportation
Processing
These are California's “Most frequent...routine toxic...emissions from...refineries:"
-
ammonia
-
formaldehyde
-
methanol
-
sulfuric acid (see photo)
-
hydrogen sulfide
-
toluene
-
xylene
-
benzene
-
hexane
-
hydrogen chloride
Petrochemical industry processes
produce plastics which "are responsible for
poisoning our bodies, reducing our fertility
Utilization
When the product is used in a car, a toxic brew of chemicals exit tail pipes
(benzene, sulphur dioxide, formaldehyde).
These and other auto pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM (soot),
carbon dioxide - can cause pulmonary and cardiovascular symptoms.
A similar chemical cocktail comes out of jet engines.
Carbon Monoxide Pollution...June 28, 2011
Abandonment
When gas&oil wells
or coal mines
become depleted
they are often
neglected - leading to
additional pollution.
"Methane is a super-pollutant."
4 major sources of methane are:
- leaks (see house)
- flaring (see top of page)
- cattle/cows (see food)
- garbage dumps (see shopping)
So now you know a little about pollution made during:
- extraction
- transportation
- processing
- burning / utilization
- & abandonment
But do you know future pollution?
"Trading coal plants for gas plants...left...cumulative future pollution...virtually unchanged."
Also called "stranded assets": these are assets that have been claimed, and paid for, but not (yet) taken.
This invested money will be lost - if the fossil-fuel is left untouched. See Investments and Profits.