How is this oil spill not a big deal?

goof2 · 05-06-2010, 04:11 PM

Even if we replaced every internal combustion engine with electric (except jets, that may be a little impractical even for this exercise), only fed the increased energy demand with nuclear, and replaced every existing power plant with nuclear as I understand it we would still need over 5 million barrels per day of refined products from oil. Nuclear can play a large part in reducing our dependance on oil but even in fantasy land it only takes us so far.

As for the impact of this spill, I'm not arguing that it won't be huge due to its concentration, but lets put it in to some perspective. According to the National Research Council's best estimates over 1.1 million barrels of oil enter the seas in North America due to natural seepage from the ground every year. Worldwide their best estimate is almost 4.4 million barrels per year. While we do add to the total oil is going to get in the ocean no matter what.

05-06-2010, 04:11 PM	#22
goof2 AMA Supersport Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 4,756	Even if we replaced every internal combustion engine with electric (except jets, that may be a little impractical even for this exercise), only fed the increased energy demand with nuclear, and replaced every existing power plant with nuclear as I understand it we would still need over 5 million barrels per day of refined products from oil. Nuclear can play a large part in reducing our dependance on oil but even in fantasy land it only takes us so far. As for the impact of this spill, I'm not arguing that it won't be huge due to its concentration, but lets put it in to some perspective. According to the National Research Council's best estimates over 1.1 million barrels of oil enter the seas in North America due to natural seepage from the ground every year. Worldwide their best estimate is almost 4.4 million barrels per year. While we do add to the total oil is going to get in the ocean no matter what.