The decibel of the energy crisis began to ring back in 1965 during the blackout of the Northeast. In the 1970's. the energy crisis began mushrooming; oddly enough, the 70's have been proclaimed as the environmental decade. I n the ~ O ' S , Americans landed on the moon; in the ~ O ' S ,a gigantic worldwide campaign has been under way to create a healthier environment for everyone. Did such a campaign trigger an energy dilemma? Do we really have an energy crisis? Has such a thing been fabricated for special motives? Or, is it a short-time matter of miscalculation? What are the causes and origin of the present energy crisis? The environmental decade brought along a wave of national support and secured fo the environmental issues a prominent position with leading scientists. engineers, judiciary, and politicians. Then came the 1969 proposal for building the 789-mi trans-Alaska pipeline. Plans were to have it operational by 1973. Environmentalists objected to the building of this line which would bring oil from the Alaskan slopes to the U.S. market. They objected because of the hazard to the environment, especially the permafrost; the courts ruled in their favor. For all practical purposes, the 1965 blackout of the Northeast was a bit of an indication for a develbping energy shortage; but the blocking of the Alaska pipeline was the trigger for the present so-called "energy crisis.'' Shortages have been reported as in the unavailability of gasoline for automotives and oil for the heating of homes and power plants. A gasoline shortage?
While the environmentalists have been on the aggressive side since.1969, the oil companies, in their special way, fought back. There has been a switch from wood to coal. petroleum, and gas, and perhaps there will be a switch !o nuclear energy. Oil and gas were favored because they are clean fuels. They do not contribute as
he energy crisis: Is it fabrication Esber I. Shaheen University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201
Solutions to the shortage range from foreign oil to investigation of domestic resources
U.S. energy sources and consumption, 1970 ......
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much to the deterioration of the environment through air pollution. However, fuel with a high sulfur content can be treated and controlled by present-day technology and air pollution control equipment. Of course, this will cost money. Who pays the price? From January 1973 to January 1974, the increase in the price of gasoline across the U.S. has ranged from 15-200/gal at the pump stations. The average is approximately 17blgal; the charge to wholesale buyers, such as taxi cab companies and cities, was increased by 150,' gal. In 1972, the U.S. consumed nearly 102 billion gallons of gasoline-an increase of 6.5% over 1971. Thus, every penny in the price increase translates itself into $1 billion in cost to the consumers. These consumers are ordinary taxpayers, not only motorists. They have to pay for the gasoline used by buses, police cars, and county and municipal vehicles. With an average increase of say 170/gal, the increase in income from gasoline alone would be $17 billion. There is no doubt that such tremendous hikes in gasoline contributed extensively to the terrible inflation rate which has taken place between January 1973 and January 1974. Inflation soared to an annual rate of 9.2%. The bill for cleaning the environment is, in the end, paid by the consumer; the problem is that sometimes it is paid many times over. How much of the $17 billion. gained in gasoline price hikes, have gone to the cleaning of the environment? It was just recently reported that the 1973 net profits for business as a whole has been the highest in American history! Gasoline has been available mostly to the brand stations; those stations which belonged to a mother campany. The independent companies or independent oil dealers have suffered extensively. Thousands' of independent stations closed, and some refineries owned by independent companies had to be shut down for some time because crude oil was not available.
The attorney generals of six different states have accused the major oil companies of working together to drive the independents out of business. By creating small shortages in gasoline, prices were hiked, as witnessed, to a high level in a short time. The independent marketers, who serve 22% of the retail gasoline trade, suspected that the major oil companies have contrived the shortage to drive prices up and force them out of business, along with taking the initiative from the environmentalists. The position of the big oil companies has been the following: to remedy the situation of the gasoline shortage by raising the oil depletion allowance so that they could afford money for exploration purposes to lift price controls so that gasoline prices will reach levels which will discourage consumption to delay the Federal Anti-Pollution Standards which cut into the auto gas mileage to lift price controls (currently about 344/1000 ft3) on natural gas b to allow the market to determine the price of gas and oil, and with this to increase exploration, simply because the incentive would be there. The big conglomerates of the oil industry seem to have a vast monopoly over the oil operations, not only in the U.S. but in the world. The so-called cooperation among the companies in oil explorations and processing has been questioned by legislators and politicians for possible violations to the laws enacted against monopolistic practices. For example, the oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast, or the breakup of the Torrey Canyon involves not one oil company but a consortium of oil companies. In other words, the fact that many oil operations are governed by a number of companies lends itself to the decrease in the spirit of competition among those com-
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Sources of electricity
panies. This decrease in competition contributes to some flavor of monopoly which can manipulate markets, prices, and demands. Despite the gasoline shortage, it has been noted that in April 1973, the nation's refineries were working at only 88.7% capacity. Again, environmentalists have blocked the building of refineries in many parts of the country, simply because of the hazard to the environment. The companies, however, could install all the necessary equipment and use the present technology for cleaning the environment and limiting the degree of pollution. it has been indicated rather clearly through recent elections, that the consumer is willing to pay the price for cleaning the environment. But paying the price to clean the environment is one thing, and subjecting oneself to extensive rises in prices to give windfall profits is another. The shortage in gasoline did not have to take place if the oil companies refined their oil at optimum capacity, and if some independent refineries were not forced to stop 318
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for some time. Many could have operated at or near 100% capacity. Foreign oil an answer? Why not open the doors to foreign oil if production rates were not possible at the proper levels needed? Of course, the oil companies have been strongly against opening wide doors to the foreign oil. Foreign oil is strongly dominated by American interests, specifically the oil companies who do not wish to compete with foreign oil in the U.S. while they have the market elsewhere. Also, this oil, say transported from the Middle East to the U.S., could be sold at a much lower price than the oil produced in the country. I t is noteworthy that the oil companies and many advocates worry about depletion of our petroleum supplies. If this were the real worry, and not the hunger for hiking prices by creating shortages, why not use all we can of the foreign oil resources, whenever possible or feasible, and thus conserve our reserves until the time of need becomes more pressing and more drastic? Some say foreign oil supply may not be too reliable. So why not use it while the reliability exists and while the influence is there? To be sure, the American influence will be there for many years to come. Some say this oil will be expensive and will create a strain on the dollar. The oil operations of the Middle East are run by more than 7000 Americans who bring in lots of money, boosting the strength of the U.S. dollar. The devaluation of the dollar was not brought about by the dumping of so many U.S. dollars on the world markets, especially by the oil-rich shieks who exchanged their dollars for gold. This did not have anything to do with the balance of payments, as far as the oil-rich countries of the Middle East were concerned. But it was directly related to the fact that the U.S. dollar has been considered an international monetary unit used by many countries up until 1968. These oil-rich people preferred to have their payments in U.S. dollars because they 'believed in the strength of the U.S. dollar. The dollars were not just payments from the U.S. for the imported foreign oil. These dollars were gathered by Japan, Europe, and other countries, and found their way into the Middle East. From all angles, the oil operations of North Africa and the Middle East are extremely beneficial to the position of the U.S. dollar and to the welfare and interest of the mainstream American. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) control nearly 85% of the free world crude oil reserves, outside the U.S. and Canada. They account for 90% of the oil exports which find their way into world markets. It has been estimated that by 1975 the OPEC countries wiii have revenues of nearly $40 billion per year; this is compared to $8 billion in 1970. Of course, there is an increase in the royalties and profits, but the oil companies receive their lion share of all price hikes for crude oil. The U.S. oil deficit was $2 billion in 1970. In 1973 it is approaching $7 billion and by 1985 it may reach over $20 billion; such a deficit has to be weighed against exports of goods and of petroleum-derived products which find their way back into the mother countries of the oil. Also, it should be weighed against the income that comes from the oil operations through the U.S. personnel working there and the profit sharing operations between the industry and the respective governments. What could then be done to ease the immediate and long-range energy demands of the U.S.? Of course there are ways and means of conserving energy. In the long run, other novel energy sources will have to be sought. The energy sources have progressively moved from wood to coal. petroleum, nuclear, and other ways. I t seems fhat the dependency cycle on a basic source of energy
changes every 50 years. What may seem to be a very serious dilemma in energy needs now may be totally out of the picture a number of years from today, simply because the energy source will be a different one. Alternative sources Coal gasification, nuclear, geothermal, solar, fusion, solid waste or hidden energy, magnetohydrodynamics, wind, and tidal waves are some of the energy sources. Research has been done on many of these, but leading among them is the nuclear approach. In 1973, the federal appropriation was $272 million for nuclear research; primarily, the breeder reactor. For 1974, this amount has jumped from $272 to $323 million. The oil and gas research amounted to nearly $20 million, while other sources such as solar energy research was appropriated $4 million for 1973 and $12 million for 1974. Coal gasification produces a gas from high-sulfur coal by contacting coal with hot steam. The hydrogen atoms
in the steam combine with the carbon in the coal to produce a hydrocarbon which is very similar to natural gas. One of the latest processes for making this low-Btu gas from coal has been proposed by the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT). This process uses a fluidized bed operation which combines the coal with air and steam at 18001900°F and 300 psi. Conventional desulfurization helps in removing the hydrogen sulfide from the product gas. Some work is being done on the use of the electric arc in coal gasification. Coal entrained in gas is aspirated by the arc, where the carbon in the coal, and the water in the coal along with the necessary additional water, react with each other. The removal of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide downstream will produce a high-Btu pipeline quality gas. The arc temperature is about 10,000" C. Coal gasification falls under the category of synthetic fuels. Here, some research is continuing to be done on fuel cells, where the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces an electric current.
Nuclear power research and development of the fast breeder reactor as a feasible source of energy has been funded with large sums of money. There are presently 171 nuclear power plants operating or nearing completion in the U.S. They use the conventional water-cooled reactors dependent almost entirely on uranium-235. US. sources and reserves of uranium oxide U238 are reliable and good for another 25 yr (Chern. Eng. Prog. 69, May 1973); the rate of consumption of uranium is high, and total depletion could happen in a short number of years if alternatives were not developed. To avoid the uranium crisis, top priority has been placed on the development of the fast breeder reactor. The name is derived from the fact that a chain reaction takes place. During this reaction, surplus neutrons from the atoms of U235 and its core bombard the surrounding cylinder of U238 or thorium 232, which is more plentiful, though not fissionable. This bombardment changes large amounts of U238 into plutonium or U233. The fissionable by-products may be used as a fuel for other breeders. Such a breeder can extend the fuel supplies for hundreds of years. In a conventional power plant and a nuclear plant, uranium 235 furnishes the energy necessary to make steam. The steam follows the same cycle as the conventional fuel-operated power plant. In a fast breeder reactor the heat from the reactor is removed by liquid sodium which is taken to another heat exchanger to make steam for driving a turbine, and finally for production of electricity through the use of a generator. Environmentalists have voiced strong objections. Fear has developed about the nuclear waste and its disposal. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has plans to place the radioactive waste into large concrete containers which will be placed in certain specific locations. In 1972, a British commission reported that "we are committing future generations to a problem which we do not know how to handle." And George L. Weil, a nuclear expert, voiced this fear, "the terrifying accumulation of radioactive waste, massive accumulation of mining waste and the scalping of the earth's crust for the infinitesimal amount of contained uranium." Geothermal energy results from using the steam available in underground reservoirs. Such harnessing of energy from underground has long been used in New Zealand, Finland, and Iceland. The only field development in the U.S. is geysers, developed in Sonoma County, California. Steam, brought to surface from underground, produces 302,000 kW of electricity by driving generators. This source supplies nearly 40% of the local energy requirements for the city of San Francisco. The AEC's Los Alamos Laboratory has been engaged in digging two holes near one another, until the hot basement rock (1000°F) is reached. Cold water is then pumped into one hole and the scientists hope to harness steam from the other hole. Such steam will be used to drive generators for producing electricity. A depth of 2500 ft produced enough heating; the goal is 7500 ft. The National Science Foundation predicted that by the year 2000, the geothermal energy resources will produce the equivalent of the total energy used today. Other alternatives Solar energy for desalination was researched extensively in the 1960's. Regions of the world which have an abundance of solar energy but are short on water, may use, to advantage, such energy for desalination purposes. Otherwise, the desalination process wiii use conventional fuels, and will cause an increase in consumption rate. Solar collectors are classified into two groups: those with optical concentration of solar energy, and those without such optical concentration devices. The latter are Volume 8, Number 4, April 1974
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usually stationary installations which receive solar energy directly. Lenses used as concentrating devices of solar energy may help in producing steam for other energy generation purposes. Parabolic reflectors were used centuries ago to concentrate solar energy to a boiler. Many houses in Australia, India, and parts of the Middle East heat their water with solar energy. Current research is geared toward supplying most of the energy needs at homes, such as air conditioning. One research undertaking consisted of operating a model home with slanted roof for harnessing and converting solar energy. Fusion energy comes from isotopes of hydrogen. Deuterium is the hydrogen isotope of mass two and exists in heavy water (D20) and in ordinary hydrogen (ratio of D to H of 1 to 5000). Tritium (T) the hydrogen isotope of mass three, exists in minute traces in nature, and can be prepared by means of nuclear reactions. It has been estimated that 1 ft3 of water contains about loz5 atoms of deuterium which have a mass of about 34.4 grams, and a potential fusion energy of 7.94 X 10l2 J. This is the equivalent of the heat resulting from the combustion of 300 metric tons of coal or 1500 barrels of crude oil. The energy necessary for separating deuterium from hydrogen is negligible compared to the amount of energy which may be released by fusion. Thermonuclear fusion is a process common to the sun, the stars, and the hydrogen bomb. Energy is released when nuclei of light elements fuse together to give heavier ones. In nuclear fission, the energy is released due to the splitting apart of heavy nuclei. Deuterium and tritium are used in the fusion reaction because of their abundance. Tremendous energies are released with small amounts of radioactivity through the combination of hydrogen atoms to give heavier atoms of helium. The typical reaction is: 2 D2 He AE. AE equals the change in energy due to this fusion reaction. The fusion fuel is deuterium or heavy hydrogen. In a typical fusion process, deuterium is charged into a magnetic "bottle." The light elements fuse to form heavier elements and release energy. The high-velocity charged particles produced by the thermonuclear reaction may be trapped in some controllable manner to produce electricity and vast sources of energy. There is enough deuterium and tritium for the necessary reactions to supply the world's energy for 120 million years. The problem associated with thermonuclear explosions are the controls of the resulting gigantic temperatures. However, the potential is there. Much more research is needed to make the use of thermonuclear power more feasible and safe. This may not be just another imaginary hope. Nuclear energy is being put into peaceful uses, so why not thermonuclear energy? The AEC has recently released, in an experiment, the equivalent of an explosive force of 60 ktons in the form of three atomic bombs, exploded under the Colorado terrain to help release the trapped natural gas beneath the Rocky Mountain states. One hundred forty subterranean nuclear explosions are designed to help release nearly 300 trillion tons of natural gas estimated to be under the Rocky Mountains. Energy via magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is obtaining electricity directly from a hot conducting gas. A small seeding substance such as potassium carbonate must be injected to the flame to improve the conductivity of hot gases. The electricity is produced when the electrically charged particles of gas cut through the field of an external magnet. The efficiency in electrical generation is 60% rather than the usually encountered 33%. The U S is conducting limited research in this field; Russia expects eventually to satisfy 10% of its electrical energy needs with MHD.
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Windmills may also be used to generate energy. The building of large windmills right in the oceans on floating objects has been suggested. They would generate the necessary electricity for water desalination and for hydrogen to be used for fuel cells or for further processing to give deuterium. Tidal power may also be harnessed from the filling and emptying of a bay or an estuary which may be closed to make a dam. The rise and fall of the tides may be as much as 27 ft. Overall tidal power has been estimated at 64 billion watts, nearly 2% of the potential water power in the world. Energy from tides has been harnessed and converted to 240 million watts of electricity in the Brittany area of France. In the U.S. and Canada, the possible promising tidal sites, such as the Bay of Fundy between Maine and Canada, are located far away from the population centers. By the time electricity is generated at such tidal sites, much of it will be lost from dissipation through transmission lines before reaching the users. What's ahead The exponential growth in population and the large industrial growth of this century could not go on forever without serious societal effects. The Federal Energy Office was formed last December to project for the future, avoid shortages, and develop practical means and avenues for new sources of energy. Despite gloomy predictions, U S . energy position is strong. The U.S. has more coal than any other country in the world. If proper internal and foreign policies develop, the coal supply could last the next 300 yr. Such poitcies should eliminate the need for a quota system. The depletion allowance must work its way to create the incentive for further 'exploration of gas and oil, responsible exploration which will take into serious consideration the protection of the environment. The U.S. position, as far as foreign oil is concerned, is a strong one. American oil companies are producing most of the oil in the free world. Such productions bring huge profits and contribute to the employment of many Americans in the oil fields overseas. This brings health and strength to the American dollar, even with an increase in imports to ease shortages. The collision course between the environmentalists and the oil companies will continue for some time to come; responsibilities must be met by everyone. Leadership must be exercised by the government to streamline operations, ease difficulties, and spur the spirit of competition rather than the monopolistic approach which may have developed. Who knows? Treating petroleum and natural gas as a public utility may yet gain momentum in the years to come! Addifionaireading Conservation Foundation. "Wanted: A Coordinated, Coherent National Energy Policy Geared to the Public Interest," The Conservation Foundation,June 1972. Shaheen, E. I., "Environmental Pollution, Awareness and Control," Engineering Tech., Inc.. Mahornet, II I., 1973.
Esber I. Shaheen is associate professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. He had three years of industrial experience prior to assuming his academic career. He has also authored various articles and books in the environmental field.
