Oil's primary importance lies in the fact that it is a very versatile and powerful source of energy. There are many other energy sources that we routinely use, including firewood, coal, and hydroelectric and nuclear generating stations. All of these sour ces have their advantages and disadvantages. A clean and renewable source of energy, would certainly be the most desirable.
Oil is a non-renewable source of energy. What this means is that our natural sources of oil are finite; there will come a time when we have used them up. One of the exercises at the end of this chapter will ask you to calculate how long our present known supplies of oil will last at today's consumption rates.
The reason that oil has such importance is that it provides the fuel that runs the internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine was invented by Karl Benz in 1885-86. Gotlieb Daimler improved on this invention and eight years later Rudolph Diesel created the engine that bears his name. These types of engines are still used today in all kinds of machinery including automobiles, ships, tractors, generators and tanks. Oil is also the raw material for the fuels that are used in jet engines and in some cases to fuel rocket engines to propel spacecraft into outer space.
It should now be obvious why oil plays such a dominant role in today's world. If oil supplies were to be cut off, cars, boats and planes would grind to a halt. We would have to find alternate means of heating many of our homes and generating sufficient electricity. Our personal security would also be threatened because our military forces and police forces would be largely immobilized.
RSS Feed (xml)
