The Problems
Every reputable scientist now agrees that our world is changing. We face climate disruption, peaking resources, oceanic devastation, draught, and displaced populations. These compounding social, economic, and environmental crises are just symptoms of a bigger problem: our culture of consumption. The unlimited consumption of limited resources is patently unsustainable.
The House that Oil Built
There are no two ways about it: we're seeing the last of light sweet crude. We have extracted nearly all of the easy, cheap oil and are scrambling for what remains, namely the difficult to reach, expensive stuff. The majority of the planet’s reserves are under miles of ocean, in the Arctic, or tangled up in shale rock and tar sands. Sure, there are some heavy sour crude reserves, but the economic and environmental costs to get them out of the ground and turned into usable product are just too high.
Petrochemicals are in Everything
The brutal reality is that our oil addiction extends far beyond fuel or energy. Petrochemicals are in virtually everything we manufacture and consume: our homes, cars, cell phones, the clothes we wear and the food we eat. Food? Yup. Almost everything found on a supermarket shelf is grown with oil-based fertilizers, or contains artificial flavorings derived from oil. Incredibly, 90 percent of all chemicals are derived from 7 base petrochemicals. Chemical production is the second largest global energy consumer, accounting for 3 million barrels of oil a day or 25 percent of all energy used worldwide. Oil has a direct, dirty hand in environmental degradation, famine, violent resource wars, and political and economic instability. We must immediately pursue the technology and infrastructure to displace not only petroleum-based energy, but all petroleum-based resources.
The Waste Crisis
Our insatiable consumption has left us with a severe waste crisis. Landfills and waste treatment facilities are reaching capacity while human populations continue to expand. These landfills emit large volumes of methane, a greenhouse gas much more destructive than carbon dioxide. It’s time for a fundamental cultural shift in how we view consumption and waste.
Classic industries, with products destined for landfills, are clearly unsustainable. We must shift to renewable industries in which production infinitely recycles resources. Blue Marble Energy has the technology and willpower to take the first step in this direction by displacing crude petroleum products with carbon neutral biochemicals and clean energy solutions.