Disadvantages of Petroleum

1. Petroleum is a limited resource

Like all the other fossil fuels, petroleum represents a limited resource.

Being used to produce fuels, different medicines, clothes, wax, vaseline, cosmetics and various other products, the demand for petroleum increases year after year.

The current consumption of petroleum is about 11 billion tonnes per year (globally), which means that the remaining reserves will last for another five decades (if we maintain the actual level of consumption).

2. Is a major contributor to air pollution

Burning fuels obtained from petroleum release greenhouse gas emissions, particulate matter and other toxic gases that are a major contributor to air pollution on planet Earth.

The large number of vehicles with internal combustion engines (burning gasoline, diesel or kerosene) used today, have decreased the quality of the air, especially in the major cities of the planet, turning those places into a nightmare for all the people living there.

3. Petroleum is used to produce other products that are harmful for the environment

After refining, petroleum is used to produce many useful products for our society, but among them there is plastic, which is a non-biodegradable material.

Plastic pollution affects both people and the environment (it chokes our ponds, rivers and oceans and kills the sea life). Left on land, chlorinated plastics can release dangerous chemicals into the soil, which can reach and pollute the underground water sources.

4. Transporting petroleum products overseas can affect the environment

Due to the fact that oil is transported in very large tankers from one country to another, oil spills can occur if the ship suffers a breakdown.

Oil spills have already caused massive ocean pollution, which killed a large number of birds and sea life living in the affected areas.

5. Petroleum money can sustain terrorist activities

Petroleum reserves are available worldwide, which means that even some of the worst dictatorship states of the planet can use this resource to get serious amounts of money from selling the reserve.

The oil money can be then used to fund terrorist and other criminal activities worldwide.

Final conclusion

Petroleum has powered our society since the middle of the 20th century, and because the reserves will last by the middle of the 21st century, we can say that oil and other petroleum products are here to serve mankind for about one century.