Environmental Science and Economics

Oil is an incredible carrier of energy. ‘One gallon (3.8 litres) of gasoline (petrol) provides the work equivalent of more than 400 hours of labour of an average adult’. You can fill your average car with fifty litres of gasoline and drive your family for hundreds of miles in safety, with headlights illuminating the road and in comfort, while being cosy in warm ambient temperature, listening to music. Petroleum carries a great punch. When I was a student at the graduate school, petroleum was synonymous with energy.