This is a Tedtalk video by Yossie Hollander, the founder of Fuel Freedom Foundation. I feel that Yossie raises two important points regarding the use of oil in today's world.
1. Oil / petroleum is an expensive resource.
The total value of oil reserves can amount to US$18 trillion which is a much larger when compared to the country's government debt. This suggests that we do not have enough money to consume all of the oil available. It is estimated that there maybe 1000 years worth of supply of oil costing at US$1000 a barrel. This is probably due to technology needed to drill deeper and exploration costs which amount to this large sum of money. In the long run, oil will not be able to support our demands. Hence, it might be necessary to start switching to other sources now to prepare us for the future.
2. There are restrictions to substitute oil for transportation and the market does not signal the use of alternative fuel sources to power cars.
While there are increasing options of hybrid or electric cars, petroleum is still the most popular fuel used for most cars. I feel that this situation is also quite relevant in Singapore where I observe that most cars also run on petroleum. In Singapore, there are only petrol stations available and there are no stations that provide more cost-effective sources of fuel and emit lower carbon emissions. Examples of such fuels are methanol or ethanol. The government probably needs to play an active role to suggest other more cost-efficient fuels to car manufacturing companies and create gas stations to provide these other sources. In addition, in Singapore, one usually gets stuck with the petrol run car for 10 years. An option of converting from petroleum to other fuel sources for cars can be promoted to car users. In the video, it is mentioned that this process of conversion costs only about $2000 which is only a small amount as compared to the costs of cars in Singapore.
In conclusion, I feel that these two points are very relevant to the market on oil and how to reduce the usage of oil by providing alternatives. There are other cost-effective fuel sources that can be used and are known to release lower carbon emissions. In the long run, oil is an non-renewable source that only leads to a rise in oil prices. By substituting oil with other sources, consumers benefit from the lower cost and the environment benefits from the decrease in release of carbon emissions. Hence, I agree with Yossie Hollander that now is the time to end our obsession with oil and substitute with alternatives that are already available.
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