The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels — Summary
book by Alex Epstein
As a global civilization, fossil fuels are just the only realistic option right now. Alternatives that are “green” are unworkable because they are still too costly and unreliable. Our world has been transformed by fossil fuels, which have greatly improved our lives and shaped our civilization. Because we rely so heavily on fossil fuels for crucial energy, it is moral for us to continue utilizing them. The earth’s fossil fuel reserves should remain long enough for us to find better alternatives.
It’s been pounded into our brains that fossil fuels are evil. Coal burning pollutes the atmosphere, warming the earth; producing and transporting oil causes spills and possibly disastrous environmental repercussions.
Is this, however, true? This book suggests the opposite.
Not only is our usage of fossil fuels advantageous, but there is currently no viable alternative to coal and oil. The production and usage of so-called green energy, whether wind farms, biomass, or solar, is just too unstable and costly to supply the world’s energy demands today.
Fossil fuels have been critical to human life, aiding in the reduction of famine through increasing agriculture.
Every day, you hear how harmful fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil are to the environment.
But how do you reconcile the opposing viewpoint that fossil fuels are truly beneficial?
We owe much of our current affluence to fossil fuels, as their usage has given enormous advantages to civilization.
Fossil fuels, for example, have helped to battle global starvation by essentially revolutionizing contemporary agriculture.
Farmers can now grow significantly more food thanks to methane-based fertilizers and coal-powered electric irrigation systems. Oil-powered automation has increased the quantity of farmland that can be grown per worker, while oil-powered transportation networks have enabled us to reach more people with food.
You may also be unaware of the pervasiveness of fossil fuels. There are at least 50 items in your room that are manufactured from oil. Oil was used to make the insulation in your walls, the carpet beneath your feet, the computer screen you’re looking at, and even the chair you’re sitting in.
Fossil fuels are also the only source of cheap, plentiful, and dependable energy. To be affordable to a client, every step of the manufacturing process must be affordable as well.
While discovering and extracting fossil fuels is challenging, the entire process — from identifying a source to refining the raw product — is really inexpensive when compared to alternative “green” energy options.
Although the energy from the sun or wind is inexhaustible, the procedure and materials necessary to harness it are not only hard but also costly. Such energy sources are also unreliable since we have no control over when the sky will clear or the winds will blow.
Overall, fossil fuels are extremely useful to human life. They’re healthy for us and help our society, therefore the advantages should outweigh any other problems.
We will soon be able to mitigate the majority of the hazards and negative effects associated with the use of fossil fuels.
Regardless of the benefits, it is clear that utilizing fossil fuels has dangers and potential adverse effects.
But does this imply we should never use them? Definitely not.
People have attempted to address issues with whatever resources they have available throughout history. Why can’t we do this today with reference to the use of fossil fuels?
London’s coal-induced haze was worse than Beijing’s filthy skies today during the Industrial Revolution. Nevertheless, Thomas Edison’s discovery of electric power generation and delivery in 1882 alleviated this problem by substituting electricity for the usage of coal in dwellings.
Prior to this, coal was the primary fuel, and its advantages considerably surpassed its disadvantages. And this is still true many years later.
There is a lesson here: as a civilization, we should employ whatever the most advanced kind of energy is at the moment, even if it comes with hazards. And, for the time being, this means fossil fuels.
While there are hazards associated with utilizing fossil fuels, they may not be as hazardous as you assume.
Many individuals, for example, are concerned about the use of hydrofluoric acid, a vital ingredient in some types of oil drilling. This acid is so potent that it may dissolve bones!
Nonetheless, dangers may always be reduced. We may avoid employing such hazardous chemicals by developing new drilling techniques, like as fracking. We may also put strong safety protocols in place for employees who have to work with risky material.
Nuclear power, once the most feared energy source, has never resulted in a single fatality. In truth, the sort of uranium utilized in nuclear power plants is not even physically capable of exploding, making worries of nuclear meltdowns at reactors absolutely unfounded.
The same is true for skeptics of fossil fuels, who tend to overestimate the hazards.
Fossil fuels do not hurt the environment; in fact, they have made the planet a better place to live.
While evaluating the arguments against using fossil fuels, two major considerations emerge. One, fossil fuels pollute the environment, and two, they contribute to global warming.
Such views underpin the argument against the usage of fossil fuels.
But how true are these assertions?
While our world is warming somewhat, it is not doing so at a catastrophic rate — and this shift may even be beneficial.
Most of what is claimed about climate change is false or misleading. To be sure, our climate has changed, but the changes have not been as severe as many have suggested.
In fact, fossil fuels and carbon emissions have had a favorable influence on the ecosystem. Apart from the reality that some locations might benefit from mild warming, fossil fuels enhance our fertilizers.
Temperature rise has made our world more fruitful, allowing us to grow more food.
Fossil fuels are also non-polluting. In reality, they have made our planet cleaner, safer, and more generally better.
To filter filthy water, for example, we need fossil fuels. We may now disinfect and purify water with synthetic compounds derived from plants. We also use plastic pipes to deliver our drinking water.
People are safer around the globe because of fossil fuels. There were 5,073,283 climate-related fatalities in 1932, either to droughts, floods, or high temperatures.
In 2013, the total was 29,404, which was 99.4 percent lower. Machinery driven by fossil fuels has enabled us to construct cities and structures that are far more weather resistant.
Fossil fuels have also given us complete control over our climate. We can now live and flourish in severe settings thanks to air conditioning and heating systems (fueled by fossil fuels). Even arid regions, such as Southern California, may become quite desirable locations to reside.
For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels are a viable energy source.
How many times have you heard that if we don’t move to renewable energy sources like solar or wind power right away, the world would end?
This is completely untrue!
According to research, the globe still harbors massive amounts of fossil fuels. These resources are anticipated to last us another 3,050 years! It’s only that many fossil fuel deposits are concealed, making extraction difficult with existing technologies.
During the next 3,050 years, humans will almost surely invent new methods of exploiting fossil fuels. We may even be able to completely replace fossil fuels within that time span.
Even now, scientists are working to improve technologies for harnessing solar energy and nuclear fusion (which is different from current nuclear fission methods for producing energy).
In addition, if oil supplies run out, we can generate more with coal and gas. This is because all fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, which are composed of the same two elements: hydrogen and carbon.
Even if utilizing fossil fuels were unsustainable, we would have a difficult time replacing them with any of the existing “green” options.
Solar and wind power are just not feasible solutions since they are still prohibitively costly and unreliable.
Energy derived from biomass, or plant or animal materials (such as wood, agricultural waste, grass, and manure), is intrinsically restricted since it must be farmed on already scarce cropland. By competition for farming areas, biomass production indirectly raises food costs.
Hydroelectric energy, which converts the power of flowing water into electricity using turbines, has its own set of restrictions. The issue is locating ideal locations to harness the power of water on a huge scale. While China and Brazil rely significantly on hydropower because they have abundant water supplies, such as vast rivers, the United States has already exhausted its options for damming rivers.
Environmentalists sometimes overlook how much we rely on energy as a global civilization, and how difficult it is already to create enough energy to meet the world’s demands.
At the time, only fossil fuels can deliver the energy we all require at a reasonable cost.
