fossil-fuels

From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Doug Brugge, Tufts University School of Medicine.

When the well beneath BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig blew out in 2010, 4.9 million barrels of oil poured into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the massive clean-up effort, significant quantities of oil made their way to into region’s coastal ecosystems.

Biomass — wood chips, tree parts and agricultural waste burned to generate heat and electricity — currently generates more 50% of the United States’ renewable energy production.  Because biomass is carbon neutral, it has significant advantages over fossil fuels.

Bicycle commuting is a relatively common in many parts of Europe, China and India, but less so elsewhere. While it is gaining support in the United States — a federal tax break for bicycle commuters became law in 2008 — it remains significantly less popular here than abroad.

The increased global production of biofuels such as ethanol has become a subject of controversy, as land formerly dedicated to the growing of food crops is repurposed to meet energy needs. Each year, more crops such as sugar, palm oil, corn and cassava are diverted for these purposes.

The Republic of South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on July 9, 2011. Although the Second Sudanese Civil War officially ended in 2005, nearly 40 years of conflict have left South Sudan with substantial economic and infrastructure challenges, ranging from protracted border disputes to a high rate of illiteracy and limited access to clean water.

Because wolves were considered to be the primary threat to the dwindling woodland caribou population in the petroleum-rich Alberta oil sands region, the Canadian government implemented an aggressive wolf eradication policy in 2010. However, human encroachment has also been exerting pressure on the caribou population, as part of expanding natural resources extraction efforts in that region.