Global Fuels Production – Australian Context
Background information (only use Australian reputable sources)
Currently, oil accounts for more than 90% of global liquid fuels production (Sorrell, et al., 2010) and will continue to do so into the near future (Miller, 2017). Most of the world’s oil was discovered between 1946 and 1980. Since 1940, the volume of oil production (and consumption) has risen (at a rate of 1.5% a year since 1995) while the volume of new discoveries has dropped at the same rate since the mid-1960s. Roughly two-thirds of oil consumed each year comes from established operations and one-third from new discoveries. New discoveries tend to be smaller, deposits more difficult and costlier to extract. Consequently, we are depleting crude oil reserves at a rapid rate, with some estimates suggesting that we will run out within our lifetime. Hence the supply of petrol to power our cars is unsustainable and comes from a non-renewable resource.
To combat fossil fuel depletion, biofuel production is promoted and increasingly available to consumers. The most common sources are from sugar cane and canola grown in developing nations such as Brazil and in South East Asia. Biofuels are not as efficient as petroleum-based fuels, but they usually are made from plant extracts (oils, sugars, etc.), and are hence considerably more ‘renewable’ than oil.
Please complete the four tasks below.
The question this week is a four-part one designed to get you thinking deeper about issues, causes and effects, and about important themes we explored in earlier content. Approaches and concepts practised here include biofuels, the IPATS equation, the triple bottom line (TBL) approach, demographic transition, and environmental justice/social justice considerations. (100 words per part)
- Often transitions to reduce impact occur too slowly for many. Should Australia ‘just bite the bullet’ and outlaw domestic and imported crude oil and extracts as fuels, and mandate the use of biofuels (currently available primarily as imports to Australia) instead? (Hint: employ the TBL approach.) 100 words
- Given the common and most likely sources of biofuels are developing nations currently (e.g., Brazil, SE Asian nations), should land that previously was used to feed people in these nations, and other lands there, now be used to grow plants specifically for biofuel production? 100 words
- How would the impact (think ‘IPATS’) of biofuel production be shared among the developed and developing nations? If you were able to compare the impact of biofuel production and the impact of crude oil production – which one appears worse? 100 words
- What might be the impact of a developing nation growing biofuels on agricultural land on their demographic transition? What else might a developing nation, with few cars, be giving up if it grew biofuel for a developed nation (with many cars)? 100 words