Helinski+Fuel

Fuel Josh Tickell 2010

This film depicts the crippling dependency that the world has on crude oil, and how it is regarded by every stakeholder. Much like many of the other films which we have seen throughout the semester, Fuel does an excellent job with expressing how damaging this dependency is, yet goes beyond the initial shock factor to explain how those who are making wealth from this addiction is jeopardizing much of modern society without having anyone catching on. The motions of modern society have become so dependent on this fossil fuel that no one realizes the situation that we have put ourselves into, and the only ones who do are those becoming profitable from it and will not reveal the devastation that is going to be inevitable on this dependency pace. An example of this is how the film expresses the original fuel supply of the automobile as ethanol, but it was standardized oil who converted it to crude oil in order to make a profit from this limited resource to the world.

Throughout this investigation of the web of dependency there are many stakeholders which are touched upon. The most standardized ones are those who supply the oil such as the OPEC countries who are becoming profitable from the addiction as well as the big oil companies within the US. Following closely behind them are the politicians who defend our fuel choice within the government, while being highly compensated from the previously mentioned stakeholders. The web trickles all the way down to those who use the oil on a daily basis, which at this time is almost everyone in the world. Fuel does a good job on specializing on those who can be classified within the everyday user group yet have more of an impacted life from the dependency such as soldiers who fight to defend our resources or those who may live within refinery areas. These people are users just like you and me yet face much more severe consequences from the world’s dependency.

As this country began its technological revolution during the industrial revolution, oil was an abundant resource that seemed to be the key to our success. Unfortunately as time has passed we continue to make technological advancements with the same mentality that oil is the center of everything, without realizing that this vital resource is running out. Current lifestyles are based around the use of products that almost entirely depend on crude oil at some point throughout their product or use. The amount of resources left to be refined is not going to be capable of supporting a lifestyle that continues to base its function off of this mentality. This film expresses how this way of life may all be based off of big oil’s intentions and efforts to establish themselves as key factors in the success of society. As Tickell explains the early creation of the automobiles, the original intentions were to have the automobile run off of ethanol and to have the diesel engine be powered by biofuels, yet it was Standard oil that came in and suggested the use of crude oil for both of these products which have become a staple of modernization. Once Standard oil made these suggestions there was a lot of gray area surrounding the matter which was expressed as cover-ups to ensure that oil was taken in as the power fuel of the future.

As demand increase and production decreases, there are many issues which will arise that are touched upon. The first of which is the foreign dependency that the US will become more reliant on. As the US continues its gas guzzling way of life, it is forced to ensure that it has enough resources to support its citizens. This either depends on the invasion of foreign countries to ensure that oil will continue to be imported to the US, or attempting to become allies with unstable Middle Eastern countries. Both have been done in the past and both will need to be continued in order to support the US’s oil consumption rates. As the country stands in extreme amounts of debt as it, these continued foreign affairs will only add more stress to our fragile economy. As the US continues its rate of consumption, other foreign countries are attempting to raise their standard of living to equal that of the US, which results is a higher foreign demand in crude oil. This exponentially growing demand places only greater strain on the depleting resource creating greater foreign tensions. In addition to the foreign issue that is arising, the method of extraction is another sore point in the oil dependency. We are dependent on the earth for all resources and the manufacturing and refining of oil is placing all of our other natural resources at risk of being contaminated and destroyed. As expressed in the film, Louisiana experiences outrageous amounts of oil and gas leaks due to the sheer volume of oil refineries that are located within the state. This high volume of toxins that are being released into the environment are not only placing the wildlife at risk, but are leading to serious health complications of those who live in the surrounding areas. Our dependency has placed us in a situation where we are poisoning ourselves in order to feed our addiction.

We have dug ourselves into such a large hole that there are almost too many issues with a shift away from oil to even consider it an option, but unfortunately we are going to have to face them. Oil dependency has reached levels that have allowed big Oil companies to have control over the American way of life. The high amounts of money spent in government funding from oil companies is returned in government favoring of oil invested actions. This can be seen through the high subsidies of gas prices at the pump and the continual price breaks on larger vehicles which in turn consume more gas. With the government being so pro-crude oil, it is hard for the general public to understand the oil crisis which is which there is such little support for a shift away from it. The largest example of this can be seen through Bush’s support for invading the Middle East in search of weapons of mass destruction. What he didn’t tell the American people is that the reasoning behind it all was to place more troops to ensure the US’s right to foreign oil without the truth, the people are clueless and with a government who is so funded and supported by big oil, the truth will continue to be difficult to uncover.

Moving to Louisiana after graduation, I found all of the information based around the density of refineries in the state to be most compelling. I will soon be calling Louisiana my home so understanding all that is occurring within the state and the risks that the people are facing is very real to me. The amount of corruption in government agencies such as the EPA is something that I found to be outrageous. I cannot believe that an agency such as that is allowed to have as much as 90% of its funding be supplied from big oil. It almost makes me lose faith in the government, knowing that a third party could be calling the shots in order to ensure that their best interests were protected. In addition to the Louisiana topic, I also found all of the conspiracy theories about the original creation of the diesel engine and automobile to be interesting because it seems very plausible that it could have happened. During such a critical point to the foundation of America, actions like those seemed very real to place big oil where it is today.

Although the film did a great job with a lot of information, the assumption that most of American military history was based around the expansion of US oil is a little too farfetched for my personal opinion. I do not know if I believe that the September 11th devastation could be directly linkes to the US’s oil position. The film also puts a lot of praise on the expansion of biodiesel as the solution to our future and raising its awareness such as things as the Oil Van. Although I am a supporter of such actions and believe that something like this is needed, I am skeptical of how something like this will succeed against the ever deep pockets of big oil.

As much of the film was spent in a single solution, the shift to biodiesel seemed to be the solution push from this film. Being able to create it from a varying amount of source, this could be the best solution on the table currently to our dependency. In addition to the large shift to a different fuel source, the film does a great job with promoting individual action. As shown through the example of seatbelts being made mandatory after the public demanded them, it is going to take similar action for a change to be made in the way we live our lives. Tickell briefly lists other renewable sources that could help relieve the oil addiction yet does not go into nearly as much detail as he did for the support of biodiesel. After viewing this film, I was compelled to do some more digging into the biodiesel world because I do feel as though it could be a excellent fuel resource. Specifically looking into algae biodiesel I found an article that supports the method as a way to reduce foreign oil dependency, but not to the level that I had once thought. As it expresses “ theoretically, they said, the U.S. has enough available land to produce "48 percent of the current transportation oil imports" with algae. However, that level of production across the U.S. would require too much water--an average of 350 gallons of water to grow and produce one gallon of algae oil. ” Although it is saying that the US does not have enough water to support the 48% claim, “ This would still give the U.S. the ability to produce 21 billion gallons of algal oil a year; roughly 17 percent of the amount of oil that was imported for transportation in 2008.”   Still a hopeful method of reduction of oil consumption, I am sure with advancement in technologies that these rations or algea oil extraction could be greatly increased. []

Knowing the concern on the agricultural side of biodeisl, I was wondering besides corn what other products were stressed with an increase in biodiesel production. The article I found showed the impact on soybean prices as biodiesels become a more popular topic. “Soybeans have taken the lead on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, rising 26 cents per bushel to $13.80 and for the first time demand for biodiesel is part of the mix.” With an increase in interest into creating fuel from agricultural products such as soybeans, the American exports could be hurt as it is explained “Soybean prices have been under pressure this month in news of a big crop being harvested in Brazil and reports that China is about to cut back its soybean purchases. China buys about 60 percent of U.S. exports.” This makes me wonder how different portions of the economy will be affected with a global shift towards biodiesel. []