Leftists like Bill McKibben of 350.org suffer from irrational fantasies that lead them to believe that we can move society forward without all the benefits that petroleum brings to our modern society.
They’re dead wrong of course, and this short humorous video illustrates just what life might be like without the many products and energy sources that are derived from petroleum. My favorite is ink, which if we didn’t get from petroleum, we wouldn’t have to see print editions of NYT, WaPo, and the Lost Angeles Times, to name a few.
You also wouldn’t be able to read this article, because the very keyboard I am typing this on is made from plastic, which you guessed it, is derived from petroleum.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), this is a list of petroleum products and their share of total US petroleum consumption in 2013.
- Gasoline 46%
- Heating Oil / Diesel Fuel 20%
- Jet Fuel ( kerosene) 8%
- Propane / Propylene 7%
- NGL / LRG 6%
- Still Gas 4%
- Petrochemical Feedstocks 2%
- Petroleum Coke 2%
- Residual / Heavy Fuel Oil 2%
- Asphalt / Road Oil 2%
- Lubricants 1%
- Miscellaneous Products / Special Naphthas 0.4%
- Other Liquids 1%
- Aviation Gasoline 0.1%
- Waxes 0.04%
- Kerosene 0.02%
Here is a partial list of products made from petroleum.
There is a quite a large list of products made from petroleum. This list is constantly growing as new inventions are created. Here are some of the items which are made from petroleum.
| Solvents | Diesel fuel | Motor Oil | Bearing Grease |
| Ink | Floor Wax | Ballpoint Pens | Football Cleats |
| Upholstery | Sweaters | Boats | Insecticides |
| Bicycle Tires | Sports Car Bodies | Nail Polish | Fishing lures |
| Dresses | Tires | Golf Bags | Perfumes |
| Cassettes | Dishwasher parts | Tool Boxes | Shoe Polish |
| Motorcycle Helmet | Caulking | Petroleum Jelly | Transparent Tape |
| CD Player | Faucet Washers | Antiseptics | Clothesline |
| Curtains | Food Preservatives | Basketballs | Soap |
| Vitamin Capsules | Antihistamines | Purses | Shoes |
| Dashboards | Cortisone | Deodorant | Footballs |
| Putty | Dyes | Panty Hose | Refrigerant |
| Percolators | Life Jackets | Rubbing Alcohol | Linings |
| Skis | TV Cabinets | Shag Rugs | Electrician’s Tape |
| Tool Racks | Car Battery Cases | Epoxy | Paint |
| Mops | Slacks | Insect Repellent | Oil Filters |
| Umbrellas | Yarn | Fertilizers | Hair Coloring |
| Roofing | Toilet Seats | Fishing Rods | Lipstick |
| Denture Adhesive | Linoleum | Ice Cube Trays | Synthetic Rubber |
| Speakers | Plastic Wood | Electric Blankets | Glycerin |
| Tennis Rackets | Rubber Cement | Fishing Boots | Dice |
| Nylon Rope | Candles | Trash Bags | House Paint |
| Water Pipes | Hand Lotion | Roller Skates | Surf Boards |
| Shampoo | Cell phone case | Paint Rollers | Shower Curtains |
| Guitar Strings | Luggage | Aspirin | Safety Glasses |
| Antifreeze | Football Helmets | Awnings | Eyeglasses |
| Clothes | Toothbrushes | Ice Chests | Footballs |
| Combs | CD’s & DVD’s | Paint Brushes | Detergents |
| Vaporizers | Balloons | Sun Glasses | Tents |
| Heart Valves | Crayons | Parachutes | Telephones |
| Enamel | Pillows | Dishes | Cameras |
| Anesthetics | Artificial Turf | Artificial limbs | Bandages |
| Dentures | Model Cars | Folding Doors | Hair Curlers |
| Cold cream | Movie film | Soft Contact lenses | Drinking Cups |
| Fan Belts | Car Enamel | Shaving Cream | Ammonia |
| Refrigerators | Golf Balls | Toothpaste | Gasoline |
Source: IAG
Tribology. The science of friction, lubrication and the actions of contact between surfaces.
Back to the days of whaling and the seal hunt with ships of sail.
Excellent example of dystopia.
Every time I give a lecture about mining, I start with this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp1t8rPVnpA
From now on I’ll finish saying: Now think, mining without oil? We would return to the Paleolithic.
They had mines in the Neolithic period. There’s one that’s been excavated in Norfolk, England — Grime’s Graves. Can’t say it was a fun job — but they made it work. Antler pickaxes, tallow lamps and tunnels you could just about crawl through. Interestingly, there was industrial specialization back then. Mining was one village’s operation, another one worked the flints, which were then traded across southern England.
Grime’s Graves is a fascinating site — I first went there as a kid, when a lot of it was open to the public and you could climb down a 30ft ladder into the mine and crawl through a couple of the tunnels. Terribly unsafe –couldn’t possibly let kids do that now!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime%27s_Graves
Yes, a very informative video, but the mistake that normal people make is that they think they can reason with leftists. You can’t. Whether it is from hatred or ignorance they are wedded obsessively to their beliefs. They want the world to be a certain way, so they act out the fantasy that it is that way. For example, they are so emotionally tied to their desire for a 100% ‘renewable’ energy world that it has become reality to them. Look at their language: solar and wind are coming down in price and will soon be cheaper than coal; batteries will one day be able to store all our energy needs; electric vehicles are coming down in price and will soon be able to travel 1,000 miles and be recharged in under 10 minutes – and so on. It’s always the same: they so much want it all to be true that they act on the basis that all their wishes are coming true.
And you have just described a spoiled brat stuck on demanding “I want what I want!” So many of the genuine grownups have left the scene that we are left with the puerile who can’t be bothered to actually dig down for what has provided them their own life’s essentials, as they ingraciously float along on the accomplishments of their forebears whom they witlessly despise for being ‘so yesterday’. Meanwhile they virtue signal contrived substitutes for genuine virtues to assure themselves of some worth.
“What would life be like without fossil fuels such as gas and oil?”
Venezuela only worse.
Or the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, where 24% of the population was dead within four years.
It might be an idea to give the pupils who skipped class a copy of the list and get them to tick off the items that they would willingly sacrifice to achieve their aim of stopping the use of fossil fuels.
As an aside there was a very comprehensive look at the importance of the much criticised diesel engine on BBC 4 called ‘ The engine that powers the world ‘ , but it is ‘not available’ on the BBC website now. I wonder why? However it seems to be available on:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5v74wq
It would be interesting to see how all the uses could be replaced by electric vehicles, and how would we generate the amount of electricity be.
..electricity needed.
the film clip is a black nothing for me.
anyone got a link to whatever it is?
No steel.
If you control co2 you control everthing.
what life might be like without the many products and energy sources that are derived from petroleum.
[] ink, which if we didn’t get from petroleum, we wouldn’t have to see print editions of NYT, WaPo, and the Lost Angeles Times, to name a few.
The Guardian has an work around – oktopus ink:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/09/why-do-cephalopods-produce-ink-and-what-on-earth-is-it-anyway
partial list of products made from petroleum:
Hair Curlers + clip hair + hair extensions + etc.pp.