As we all know,
oil is a very important energy resource the world needs for its everyday life.
It is known that not only do most of the countries on the planet use it, but
also it is a scarce resource, which means that in the near future, there will
no longer be enough available oil that could be drilled and processed for
future endeavors. The demand for oil has increased significantly throughout the
past few years and other ways of obtaining this resource must be used more
often. A form of oil drilling has emerged which is dangerous and is known as
offshore drilling. Sounds like a good plan at first, going to the ocean where
more oil can be found and at a faster rate, but is it really worth it? There
should be an alternate to offshore drilling because of the many horrific and
unfair problems that it brings to Americans, animals, and the overall
environment.
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Offshore
drilling is based on a couple of things. First, it is usually hundreds of miles
away from land, and the object used to collect the oil is the oil rig. These
big structures pierce a hole into the ocean’s floor, creating an opening where
the oil is found. The oil slowly goes into the pipe that has penetrated the
ocean floor, which is usually about 200 to 500 meters away from the water’s
surface. This method has been used since the 19th century, and the
inventors name was T.F. Rowland (naturalgas.org).
Although it seems like a better alternative than onshore drilling, offshore
drilling is a lot more challenging than it appears. This is so because of the
fact that the water is not a steady surface, it moves a lot because of various
tides and waves. It is much harder to go through the ocean floor when the structure
above it could be moving back and forth, making onshore drilling many times
easier and even more efficient than doing the same job in the middle of the
ocean.
The first big
upset of offshore drilling that would come to mind would be British Petroleum’s
accident in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, where an oil leak spilled
more than 200 million gallons of oil in the Gulf which caused a tremendous toll
on the environment and the quality of water, along with many more consequences
that perhaps can never be undone.
Read more at Wakefield High School.
Offshore
drilling image via Shutterstock.
This
story is part of the Collegiate Corner, a section of ENN dedicated to student
work. Student contributions are welcome. All work in this column is the product
of the student in its entirely. If you have questions about the Collegiate
Corner or would like to submit please contact: rblackstone@enn.com.