Once upon a land, in a time not so long ago, the people of the world were desperately searching for alternatives to the power of choice that fueled their society. You see they were using a renewable fuel; the problem was that they were depleting it faster than it could be reproduced. Their reserves were in low supply, and the future was looking bleak. The people had hunted their fuel almost to extinction, and something had to be done.
“How could this happen?” the people said to each other. “The oceans are literally swimming with whales, what will we do without their oil? How will we light our homes?” You see, they thought by using a natural resource (anything found in nature), that there would be an endless supply of whales’ blubber and oil to use as power. However growing populations increased demand, and the supply was dwindling.
In steps oil. The savior of civilization. It was considered a nuisance, ruining fields, polluting streams. But it would burn. Problem solved. “All hail oil” the people chanted in the streets. The ultimate natural resource has been discovered. It was easy to extract from the ground, and cheaper to produce than whale oil. A small crew could produce 15 barrels a day. The supply was seemingly endless, “what else could this wonder fuel be used for?” the people proclaimed.
The transportation industry is born. Steam was the power of choice at the time, powering ships, boats, trains, and even horseless carriages. However the problem was the fuel source, wood and coal. They were so bulky. If only there existed a fuel that was more compact, lighter, and easier to use. Ah, a dream. Just think of the massive amounts of cargo and people that could be moved more efficiently if they didn’t have to haul so much wood and coal.
The oil fueled internal combustion engine is born. The horse’s days were numbered. New modes of transportation were being invented rapidly. The diesel locomotive could move massive amounts of people and cargo from coast to coast. Ships could be bigger than ever dreamed of, opening new lines of trade to countries never even heard of before. A true global economy and global civilization could now be a reality. So many other resources were now available to explore all thanks to the cheap affordable natural resource of oil.
The entire civilized world became richer. Now individuals could own their own personal oil powered locomotive devices. The people were happy and life continued to prosper under cheap oil for many years.
History repeats.
While oil is not yet extinct, the cost to the average person is starting to take its toll on their budget. Scientists and individuals now realize that the time of oil must come to an end. So far, the alternative energy that is available is not efficient, expensive to produce, and has as much detrimental impact on the environment as the oil it hopes to replace. Time and money have not been dedicated to these sources in the past. However necessity is knocking, loudly. We can be assured that alternatives will be found and manufacturing processes invented that will make truly free, naturally renewing energy a reality in the coming years.
“What can we do now?” the masses clamor. Well there is something that the average person can do to utilize alternative energy today to decrease the amount of fuel we use, by installing a simple homemade device on their car, to decrease their oil consumption by as much as 50 to 50% on average.