The Soapbox | Where South Africans Speak Out

BY HYLTON TAYLOR

The environment is a topic which seems to bring out a number of emotions in most people. Because of this it is usually difficult to obtain any “facts” which haven’t been manipulated in favour of one side or the other, and so my facts come with a disclaimer!

As an engineer I find it surprising and scary that there are people who have such strong opinions of a subject (and are occasionally willing to get into violent protests) of which they have very little understanding, and have not bothered to actually read up both sides of the story. Yet, I am in awe of these people – imagine been so passionate about something in your life!

And so, I am not what people of the other side would term a “tree-hugger”. I remain doubtful about the “facts” behind the global warming argument yet I do believe in the principle for its sound logic, but the rate remains dubious in my mind. The same environmentalists were telling us in the 80’s and 90’s that industrial and household appliances using CFC’s were causing the hole in the ozone layer.

The environmentalist were right about those CFC’s, but it turns out that during the famous volcano / mountain eruption of Mount St. Helens in the USA duringthe 1980’s more natural CFC’s were released into the atmosphere than man has ever made or ever will make. It turns out that it was a brilliant marketing campaign to sell new household appliances, which was driven by environmentalists who hadn’t bothered to read up both sides of the story. I’m sure the various manufacturers were pleased.

The Gulf of Mexico

And so I send this story in a completely different direction and towards the Gulf of Mexico, where there is the small issue of an oil platform (Deepwater Horizon) which blew up on 20 April, killing and injuring numerous workers, and the oil well which continues to spew crude oil into the sea. You know, the one where they keep putting funny caps on which don’t always seem to fit because they keep fitting them, to capture oil because the “blow-out preventer” failed (sounds like a contraption made by Dr Evil in an Austin Powers movie..?).

Apparently it is big news in the south of the USA, but I haven’t really heard anyone in SA talking about it. In fact there are approximately 44 500 personnel, more than 6 563 vessels and 113 aircraft engaged in the surface oil clean up operations.

Unlike global warming this is an environmental disaster that one can see, and even if the numbers are been manipulated, the dead animals and oil washing onto shores et cetera, cannot be hidden. Such is the visual aid, even non-“tree-huggers” can see there is a problem here.

Estimates are that the well continues to leak up to approximately 50 000 oil barrels per day. With the new containment cap which is currently been commissioned, most of the 50 000 barrels will be captured. Up until now though there has been one oil collecting and gas flaring (burning) ship with a capacity of approximately 17 000 barrels per day, and a second oil and gas flaring ship with a capacity of 8 000 barrels per day. A third oil and gas collection ship, which will collect the balancing 25 000 barrels, will be used once the new containment cap has been commissioned, assuming it works. This does however still leave the question of where the 25 000 barrels was going, and the rest of the oil before that.

The various oils in crude oil have different densities, some being heavier than water. So whilst you see some oil washing up on the shore and being cleaned by crews or skimmed by the skimming ships on the surface, just remember there is oil which remains below the surface coating the sea floor, killing off coral and sea life which cannot be cleaned, let alone reached by humans. And what is really scary is that they are still finding oil from the Exxon Valdez incident 20 years ago, which is just as toxic to the environment today as it was then.

Which begs the question, “Why haven’t they fixed it yet?” Unfortunately at 2km below the surface, humans would be crushed and only robotic machinery can be used, which makes things tricky. Typically, repair technology only catches up years after the technology to do something becomes available, such as to pump oil from 2km below the sea surface. Did you ever hear about the rescue plan for the Apollo space missions? That’s because there wasn’t one.

As an engineer it brings my engineering philosophy into question though. I’ve always believed that with enough time and money, anything is possible. But here is a problem where all the money in the world has not provided an adequate solution (numbers vary from $2 – $50 billion!). Containment caps, pumping concrete and clay, skimming ships, drilling relief wells, centrifuges, Kevin Costner’s centrifuges (hey, desperate times call for desperate measures…), and even suggestions – apparently from the Russians – to  use a nuclear bomb to shut the hole….

But here is a question. What is the volume of an oil barrel? Surprisingly, most people don’t know! Thankfully however (and thank you Wikipedia), an oil barrel is smaller than the typical barrel you see in SA. The typical barrel seen in SA is a 55 US gallon barrel, which is approximately 210 litres. An oil barrel however, is a 42 US gallon barrel, which is 159 litres.

This equates 50 000 barrels to 8 million litres per day. With that oil, approximately 3.5m litres of petrol could have been made, enough to fuel my car for 50m km. Of course been a Citro?n it would have broken down after 20km, but that is another story. And that 2^nd ship is incinerating 1.25 m litres – enough to fuel my car for 8m km! Imagine that ship’s carbon footprint!

So is this as bad as the Exxon Valdez incident? It turns out that the Exxon Valdez incident was not the worst oil spill in history, although it is considered the biggest environmental disaster owing to its proximity to wildlife and an environmentally sensitive area. Exxon Valdez is only the 14^th worst oil spill at a total of 750 000 barrels. The Lakeview Gusher incident in 1910 remains by far the worst incident at 9m barrels, with the Gulf War intentional oil spill by Iraqi forces lying in 2^nd place at somewhere between 2 – 8m barrels. The Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater Horizon) incident as at 8 July – somewhere between 2.6 – 4.4m barrels, putting it in 3^rd position in the all time worst oil spills, and making it far worse then the Exxon Valdez incident.

So why are they getting oil from 2km below the sea surface? Because we need it, and at $75 per barrel it is financially viable. Don’t be surprised if we hear about another one of these incidents again in the future…

Coffee Time

So what does this have to do with coffee time? Probably not that much because we are too busy talking about our carbon footprint because some environmentalist who didn’t read up on his “facts” told some B-list “celebrity” to tell us about global warming and we listened.

Except for the fact that the artificial sweetener you just put in your coffee – because you are avoiding sugar due the same B-list “celebrity” suddenly declaring sugar was no longer natural (it boggles the mind) – is probably made from a chemical derived from a crude oil product, unless it is made from Xylitol.

So next time you’re out for coffee start talking about the Deepwater Horizon and how you are going to reduce your oil footprint. You don’t need a B-list “celebrity” to explain someone’s special mathematical model. You can see the pictures of the dead animals, the clean up crews on the beaches, and the skimming ships. You can even watch the live video feed showing the oil gushing out of the oil well if you want to.

Take care of that oil footprint and you will find that carbon footprint will take care of itself…

Hylton Taylor is a South African engineer working in Kwa-Zulu Natal, and a first time Soapbox contributor

Tags: climate change, Engineering, Global Warming, Gulf of Mexico, Oil