Division of petroleum usage

tmazanec1 · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 12, 2004 Posts: 424

How does a person (say an American) use oil? Is it mostly directly, as in gasoline? Or is it indirectly, in making and transporting other goods? Whicj use will prove more elastic as the price goes up?

Sys1 · Intermediate Crude Joined: Feb 25, 2005 Posts: 678

i'm sure that by stopping fast food and personnal cars, USA would become ok with oil current prices.
Too bad they created "drive in" stuffs everywhere. Will be hard to stop personnal car for them. Not a single country in the world is so dependant of cheap oil than US.
Here in Europe, especially France, we have smaller towns, smaller cars using far less oil, and Nuclear plants. We suffer less from this pre peak oil time.

aahala · Intermediate Crude Joined: Feb 03, 2005 Posts: 954

About 70% of oil used in US is for transporation and about 80% that is for highway transportation.

NeoPeasant · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject:

Look at the bright side. When all those cars are forced to remain parked for lack of fuel, our system of bike paths will be the envy of the world.

OldSprocket · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:12 pm Post subject: Re: Division of petroleum usage

pilferage · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:52 pm Post subject:

That ratio sounds vaguely distrurbing. Do you have anything to back it up?
_________________
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. "

Frank · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:29 am Post subject:

Will this help?

OldSprocket · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:07 pm Post subject: Thanks Frank

ECM · Heavy Crude Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 230

Oil Usage

nocar · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 05, 2004 Posts: 685

I looked at those very enlightening diagrams. The industrial use is just a fraction of the use for transport.

I have been wondering for a long time about the comparison between gasoline and plastic bags and food containers. Lots of people who drive long distances to a supermarket without any regrets are very upset about the use of plastic food containers and bags.

A plastic container for 2 liters or quarts of ice-cream weighs about 50 grams, less than the weight of 0.1 liters of gasoline, or about a third of a measuring cup in American kitchens. How much petroleum is used to make to container? My hunch is that it is about the same as the corresponding amount of gasoline by weight, but I really would like to know. Perhaps there is more energy needed to make plastic?

Until someone can give me figures to prove me otherwise I say: Stop driving first. After that, it will make sense to cut down on your disposable plastic use. Or weigh your weekly plastic consumption and compare it with your weekly gasoline or petroleum use, by weight.

I like plastic better than cars, but I am old enough to remember pre-plastic housekeeing. It is entirely possible! Smile

Mercani · Heavy Crude Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 100

I think the people who are opposed to plastic bag usage are doing so mostly because of environmental reasons, not oil usage. It takes centuries for a waste plastic bag to decay naturally in nature.

The problem is, what do you use instead of plastic bags? I think paper bags are more harmful to the environment, because they are made from trees. If waste paper is used it may be good, but still waste paper can be used for other things. (e.g. newspapers)

Maybe we should use non-disposable plastic or wooden boxes and carry them to the supremarket with us.

SpasticDancer · Coal Joined: Jan 20, 2005 Posts: 18 Location: OR, USA

nocar · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 05, 2004 Posts: 685

"I think the people who are opposed to plastic bag usage are doing so mostly because of environmental reasons, not oil usage. It takes centuries for a waste plastic bag to decay naturally in nature. "

I guess I had the Swedish situation in mind, where trash (household waste) usually is burnt in incineraters often used for district heating. So plastic bags and containers usually end up the same way as heating oil and gasoline. Still lots of Swedes are very upset about wasting all these one-way containers, but not at all upset about their gasoline consumption.

As the plastic stuff does not decay in landfills, but just pile up, in the next century maybe the landfills will be mined for things to burn!

Cloth bags - for ice-cream? In the pre-plastic era, there were waxed paper cartons. They leaked. And were throw away. Plastic is good in housekeeping.

Cars might be good for some things, like ambulances and fire trucks, and for physically challenged persons, but for personal transport they are grossly overused. Post Oil living will have lots of silver linings.