Friday, February 6, 2009

Peter, A limited necessity

The Baird text speaks about the limited supplies of fossil fuels but also on how more efficient ways to extract fuels in a more efficient and and conservative way. Nevertheless, according to the text there should be enough fuel to last mid-century but as the text notes and as well as our current economic situation has shown, at a much higher price then we have expected. Another interesting statistic is that according to Baird's text it took about a half a billion years for all these fossil fuels to get created, yet almost all of it has been used up in 200 years starting in the late 19th century.

A term that I felt the book could have given a bit more information about was kerogen, more info on this particular material would be appreciated.

I find that this part of the book to be incredibly relevant today. There are many concerns about humanity's rapid depletion of fossil fuels. Many efforts, such as alternative fuel sources have been proposed as well as finding ways to cut back on gas usage. The information discussed is of extreme impotrance in the long run and as are fuels start to run out more and more we may face an uncertain future in nothing is to be done to help solve this problem.

Baird, Colin Chemistry in your Life 2nd ed., pg.145-6

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