[Jewelry making - Article 00734] - Re: [Orchid] Fossil fuels

[Judy Willingham]

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Hello R.R.,

    Oh my!  I've turned into an academic lecturer.  My apologies.  Blame
    my passion on the topic. Delete now or read my rant below: 

    You are not alone in your concern.  I maintain that the use of crude
    oil for energy production is a wasteful misuse.  Petroleum is a
    finite resource, basic to production of many plastics,
    pharmaceauticals, chemicals, and who knows what else future research
    will discover. 

    There are other renewable sources for fuel - biomass conversion,
    fermentation, natural decomposition of organics, to name a few. 
    Solar energy is available worldwide, if accompanied by the
    appropriate technology.  Some parts of the planet have other energy
    sources to tap such as geothermal, wave action, and wind currents. 
    Actually, humans have used these planet-based energy sources since
    long before petroleum wells were drilled. 

    If the past is any predictor, research and innovation will develop
    replacements, just as whale oil was replaced by kerosene when whales
    became scarce and petroleum was plentiful.  Economics will drive the
    speed of such conversions.   Right now, it's too easy to just keep
    "drillin' fer oil"... as a well-known Texan is promoting.  Not
    creative or far-thinking, but easy and simple. 

    A water torch is an alternative to flammable gases, as long as
    electricity is available. I learned to draw glass using an alcohol
    lamp and a tube through which I blew air across the flame.  It gets
    plenty hot!  In the absence of electricity, my guess is this
    technique would be the "fall-back position" for jewelers. 

    Pollution?? As long as coal and petroleum products are the primary
    energy sources, refining will pollute in direct proportion to the
    amount of fossil fuel used.  Turning bauxite into aluminum is very
    energy-intensive.  In 1992, it accounted for 2 & 3% of all the
    electricity used in the United States! (website 
    /http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/nu-matrl.html/)  This process is
    therefore very polluting, and the cost of production should reflect
    the increasing cost of energy.  When first produced, aluminum was
    used as a precious metal because it was so expensive to refine, not
    because the element was rare. 

    I could go on, but  hate to bore you folks, 

    Judy in Kansas, where the frost last night bit back some buds! 

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