Our Fossil Fuels Civilization

The usage of fossil fuels is growing very rapidly all over the world. At present the USA imports 60% of its crude oil needs. As demand is catching up with supply, they are seeing the prices of gasoline, natural gas, heating oil, and aviation fuel going up. Consequently, we frequently see the US President appealing and putting pressure on OPEC countries to increase crude output and reduce prices. Over the last 30 years, the price of crude oil has been kept low by the powerful rich countries through military might and political maneuvering. During this long spell of unreasonably low crude oil prices, I have read many articles written by famous politicians and scientists proclaiming that crude oil is gradually becoming irrelevant to modern technology. If the OPEC countries increase crude oil prices, they say that the West will develop alternate energy sources that will make their crude oil unnecessary. Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer, is their frequent whipping boy, they warn the rulers of this country to pay attention for their own good. But everyone knows that this is plain bravado, as in reality no new viable methods have been discovered for large scale energy production, and our demand for crude oil and natural gas is going up significantly every year, mostly driven by the ever increasing human population. Technology is always like a double edged sword. It always brings in undesirable pollution and unexpected side effects. One technology that the scientific establishment is striving to develop is controlled thermonuclear fusion and other related nuclear technologies. Unfortunately, there are strong indications that these nuclear technologies, even if they are perfected, are likely to be accompanied by a shadow of very dangerous pollution that may make the planet unsuitable for life. Besides the hope of all these alternate technologies is the reality that our present day civilization is very highly dependent on crude oil and natural gas. Except for a few items like nuclear reactor technology, most of our technologies today need huge quantities of products derived from crude oil and other fossil fuels, to function. That's why our current civilization may be viewed as the fossil fuel civilization, and there are no indications today that it can be sustained for too long at the present huge levels without these resources. I think it is prudent to plan to reduce our energy demands by developing a serious plan to check our population growth. Let me quote a Telugu proverb:

dIpamunnappudE illu chakkabeTTukOvAli.

Its meaning is ``get the house in order while the lantern is on''. The problem is getting bigger with each passing year, and it is high time that we pay attention to it.