Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled on this install. Learn more.
Petroleum, Refineries, and the FutureMain MenuAppreciating Oil Refinery ScienceBy Shailesh ThapaExploring Pollution and the Environmental Impacts Associated with Petroleum RefiningBy Bailey KlauseDisaster Risks and What Refineries Can do to Best PrepareBy Nick SteinhoferThe (In)visible Violence of Petroleum RefineriesBy Klara BeinhornGlobal Environmental Justice: Holding Oil Refineries ResponsibleBy Sam HermannHealth, Petroleum Refineries, and the FutureBy: Jake RamesContributorsOil Boom Inquiry 2017Jonathan Steinwandc8ac305627e647489509eb85de97dd9cc5413a58
12017-12-01T17:49:14-08:00Energy Inefficiency7By Bailey Klauseimage_header2017-12-11T10:23:42-08:00Image: ExxonMobile Baton Rouge. By Adbar (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The process of refining crude oil requires tremendous amounts of energy. As laid out in the U.S. Energy Information Administration table “Fuel Consumed at Refineries”, one of the biggest sources of energy for refineries is natural gas. In 2016, U.S. refineries used 882,611 million cubic feet of natural gas alone (“U.S. Fuel Consumed at Refineries”). They also used 47,388 million kilowatt hours of purchased electricity, 123,533 million pounds of purchased steam, and smaller quantities of various other energy sources like distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, still gas, petroleum coke, and coal (“U.S. Fuel Consumed at Refineries”). When you burn a gallon of gas, you burn not only that gallon but the many other resources that were put into its production and transportation. The inefficiency of using energy to produce energy is something that needs to be considered in the future
U.S. Energy Information Administration. “U.S. Fuel Consumed at Refineries.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. Department of Energy, 21 June 2017. Web. 17 Nov. 2017.
