Oil consumption in the United States is at 20.7 million barrels per day, most people do not realize that a barrel of oil equals 42 gallons. This would convert our 20.7 million barrels per day usage to 869,400,000 gallons per day, or almost 3 gallons per man woman and child in the USA.
China our nearest competitor in total consumption uses 6.4 million barrels per day, which converts to 268,800,000 gallon or approximately .2067 gallon (less then a quart) per man woman and child.
The United States has almost 300 million people while there are almost 1.3 billion Chinese people. The United States uses 3 times as much oil yet has less then one forth the population .The world is not able to support consumption at the rate we in the United States blow through resources.
I was employed by Uncle Sam in the late 70’s early 80’s. One day while sitting on an aircraft carrier during high speed running I calculated ship fuel consumption. This did not cover the aircraft flying around, just the propulsion of the vessel, we were moving at approximately 11 feet per gallon. Worked on tankers carrying crude out of Alaska in the late 80’s feet per gallon was under 60 and container ships in the early 90’s at about 75 feet per gallon. The rates of usage are not sustainable.
They have vehicles in Europe that get over 70 miles per gallon yet we keep burning up fuel. It really is inexcusable. The size of the holes in the earth with all the resources that are being sucked out must make it look like Swiss Cheese underground.
There are solutions to our over consumption habits but they would require a fundamental shift in our thinking (like we are privileged, we deserve everything). We need to shift to solar power as soon as possible, this will necessitate educating the people about the engineering aspects involved, it really isn’t that complicated and can be done throughout the United States fairly easily.
Unfortunately the big oil companies hold extensive patients on Solar technology and are only interested in making lots of money instead of playing nice in the sand box. Solar could be run on average 360 out of 365 days per year in Western Washington with the technology that was around in the late 1980’s. The recent advances in solar power have been incredible.
P.S. We also need to quit wasting water, average daily consumption in the USA exceeds 50 gallon per person. The rates of usage also are not sustainable.
Oil Crises