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THE PROGRESS
Intelligent Energy

Energy is a vital part of modern society; it enables life after dark, the movement of people and goods, and the continuous advancement of technology. Energy sources such as crude oil have been advantageous in serving the growth the population for stationary and transportation purposes. However, the use of fossil fuels for power has resulted in many negative consequences; including severe Currently

& STAINABILITY adS

OF BLACK GOLD

Life; a miracle in the universe, appeared around 4 billion years ago, and humans only 200,000 years ago, yet we humans have succeeded in disrupting the balance that is essential for life (see Home, 2009)

pollution and resource depletion.

sustainable systems of meeting the worlds energy demands do exist and are on the international agenda, but will this be enough to create a sustainable future?

Humanity has benefited from tapping into the energy buried deep in the earth. Pockets of sun light, pure energy, the energy of the sun captured over billions of years, by billions of plants more than 100 million years ago, its coal, its gas, its oil. (see Home, 2009)

The use of fossil fuels increased rapidly during the twentieth century, and has almost quadrupled since the 1980s (see mundi index). Developed and developing nations are consuming petroleum products at a rate much greater than the rate at which they are formed due to our pursuit of our modern unacceptable lifestyles (see, Klingholz, 1999). According to the wall street journal China is currently the third largest consumer of oil; The U.S. is

Humans have broken free from the shackles of time, acquiring unprecedented comforts, and in a single life time, the earth has been more radically changed than by all previous generations of humanity, with the current population reaching 7 billion (see Home, 2009)

the biggest oil consumer, going through roughly 19 million barrels a day on average (Swartz, 2010). So, the question is; are we making the most of the oil reserves we have left?

The goal of short-term profit causes many ecological disasters. Natural resources continue to diminish because we do not take into account the costs of our actions on nature (Brown, 1999)

SUSTAINABILITY
Earth as a closed system
The worlds energy demands
500 million containers of agriculture produce are transported per year, from the country of production to the country of consumption, 90% of which travels by seas (see Home, 2009). Over 18,000,000 million cars have been produced this year and over 600,000,000 million cars travel the streets. In combination with consumerism and agricultural energy demands; according to the World oil outlook April, 01/2009 report, world oil last year amounted to 85.5 million barrels per day, estimated to rise to 105.5 million barrels per day, (OPEC, 2010 p10). Oil presently supplies 50% of the UKs energy demands. There is an estimated 14 billion 240 million barrels of oil left on earth (CNBC, 2011), which if calculated by 100 million barrels a day accounts for at least under fifty years of fossil fuel energy, before it runs out completely in the year 2061.

When changes are made in one part of a closed system, the results of those changes will eventually affect other parts of the system (Murck, 2005)
It is evident that their seems to be a paradox between the dependence that modern life has on oil and the fact that regardless of new scientific sources of energy, half of humanity are pursuing an unacceptable lifestyle (see, Klingholz, 1999). Our daily demands do not only contain externalities effecting species but threaten the very systems that support life. There seems to be a fundamental problem with what is considered within modern society as being valuable and sustainable. For instance, the status symbol of automobiles and impractical consumerism represents the responsibility that does not only lie with the government to find solutions to our energy demands, but lies with each conscious human being; to not only question what is truly valuable to human life such as clean air, water and food, but what unnecessary burdens ones desires and lifestyle is putting on earths life support systems. The only true benefit that will arise from the complete depletion of oil will be
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The Dark Side of offshore oil Extraction

The amount of petroleum products ending up in the ocean is estimated at 6 million tons per year (NASA, 2011). Over the past 60 years 04/2009 have been 667 oil spills, which have taken weeks or April, there even decades to recover from (SDWF, 2007). According to the scientific community it is also evident that the waste products of fossil fuels heat the earths atmosphere and pollute the earths air, water and ground, has resulted in decreasing the living conditions for all species on earth (see earth-touch read, 2010). These concerns combined with the modern worlds present dependency on fossil fuel and its dangers and inefficient usage, we must ask ourselves whether we are really effectively and efficiently meeting our energy demands with such counterproductive damage being caused towards planet earth.

the era of humanity where the dark side of offshore oil extraction no longer occurs, as these risks will no longer threaten the air, water and the soil that we depend on and share with the species of this planet. The revolutionary ideas of the current government, whether they will occur or not, they are admirable, especially the benefits of an energy infrastructure using (CHP) Combined Heat and Power, along with wind, solar, hydropower and transporting energy via an electric internet, but nuclear, even if it is a cheap and reliable supply of energy, the risks are evident from the unfortunate earthquake that occurred in Japan and the issues with disposing nuclear waste, such a risk should not be pursued. But above all else personal responsibility, the psychological impact of stewardship and ethical environmental values must be at the forefront of any efforts towards a sustainable future. This must be encouraged by heavy governmental intervention and investment into developing a replaceable form of energy and a new cultural awareness of valuing the limited resources that the earth has provided us with. But this will only work by building an eco-economy that values the intrinsic worth of life and not that which threatens life.

The new ideas of meeting our needs

Current policies and subsidies of investment aim to transform the Energy industry by producing a real impact on meeting energy demands and reducing CO2 emissions (see IEA, 2010). Britains conservative government has pledged for a de-carbonized economy, by 2050 including; tidal power, biomass, off shore wind, wave energy will become part of the grid to deliver electricity and heat homes (see ICE p3). They are also producing an electric internet, a new revolutionized technology of delivering electricity, including a system of combined heat and power, which is a more localized energy supply network (see CHP). They have also pledged to produce Marine Energy Parks and Nuclear power plants (Now for change, 2009: p45).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CNBC, 2011. Oil Will Be Gone in 50 Years: HSBC. Internet WWW page at URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42224813/Oil_Will_Be_Gone_in_50_Years_HSBC CHP Combining heat and power? Film. Directed by Greenpeace (2010) what are we waiting for. Internet WWW page at URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klooRS-Jjyo (accessed 04/05/2011) Brown, L (1999) cited in Artus-Bertrand, Y (1999) The Earth from the Air London, Thames & Hudson. p11 Spawing on the oil spill (2010). Film clip. Directed by Earth Tough, Internet WWW page at URL: http://blog.earth-touch.com/nature-news/spawning-in-the-oil-spill/ (accessed 04/05/2011) Home, 2009. Film. Directed by Bertrand-Arthus, Y. USA: PPR = see video: http://www.youtube.com/homeproject#p/a/f/0/jqxENMKaeCU (accessed 04/05/2011)

IEA (2010) World Energy Outlook: executive summary, Internet WWW page at URL: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/docs/weo2010/WEO2010_es_english.pdF (accessed 04/05/2011) Klingholz, R (1999) Renewable Energy in Artus-Bertrand, Y (1999) The Earth from the Air London, Thames & Hudson. p332 Murck, B W (2005) Environmental Science, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons. p23 Mundi index: World Crude Oil Consumption by Year (Thousand Barrels per Day), Internet WWW page at URL: http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx (accessed 04/05/2011) NASA (2011) Pollution at Sea: Oceanography from the Space Shuttle. Internet WWW page at URL: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceancolor/additional/science-focus/education/shuttle_oceanography_web/oss_122.shtml (accessed 04/05/2011) Now for Change (2009) The Low Carbon Economy Security, Stability and Green Growth, Internet WWW page at URL: www.conservatives.com/~/media/files/.../lce.ashx?dl=true OPEC (2010) World Oil Outlook, Internet WWW page at URL: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/publications/WOO_2010.pdf (accessed 04/05/2011) SDWF (2007) Oil Spills, Internet WWW page at URL: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceancolor/additional/science-focus/education/shuttle_oceanography_web/oss_122.shtml (accessed 04/05/2011) Swartz, S (2010). China Tops U.S in Energy Use. Wall Street Journal, Internet WWW page at URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720504575376712353150310.html (accessed 04/05/2012)