How the Oil Industry may have profitted from the "Global Warming" Scare.

One of the greatest aspects of human history is that when face with adversity or crisis, ingenuity comes in to play to overcome the issue of the time.

In the 19th century the whaling industry was of great importance to the standard of living. The oil extracted from the whale blubber was used in a variety of house hold products including lamp oil and lubricants. As the demand for these produces increased, it became evident that this industry could not sustain itself. Whales were being hunted to extinction and as a result the cost for product gained from the industry, increased. Then in 1849 Dr. Abraham Gesner discovered a process for the distillation of kerosene from oil. That was the start of our dependence on oil.

We find ourselves at a similar impasse today. People have known for sometime that we have a limited supply of oil, and debate on climate change has put into question the long term effects on the environment of the energy industry.

One solution that has been present and is now be implemented is "Carbon Capture and Storage"(CCS). CCS has given the industry a method of lowering the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere, while at the same time increasing the longevity of our oil fields.

Here is the concept. Refineries and fossil fuel power plants capture the emissions from their stacks, separate the CO2 and compress it for transport. It is then pumped into reservoirs up to 2Km underground where it is sealed in and monitored. The compressed CO2 is also used to purge crude that we were unable to access before. This can revitalize fields that were considered spent and increase output on new fields by up to 18%. This goes a long way to answering the increasing energy demands, creating new jobs and lowering our usage costs.

Surprisingly enough the IPCC approves of this process. They released this statement about CCS, “For well-selected, designed and managed geological storage sites, the vast majority of the CO2 will gradually be immobilized by various trapping mechanisms and, in that case, could be retained for up to millions of years.” This leads to the question, if this is an acceptable solution, why does the push for "Cap and Trade", and other Carbon Taxes take precedence over CCS?

Now make no mistake about CCS, in the long term idea it is a temporary measure in dealing with these issues while other types of energy are being developed, but a far better alternative then rationing energy, or raising cost. The world could be 25 to 50 years away fully altering our sources of energy, CCS and other advancements go along way in dealing with today's issues.