A Dream for a Better World

Natural gas which can be obtained more easily has become the more environmental-friendly and cheaper petroleum alternative. In India, a barrel of petroleum is about 60$ but the same quantity of natural gas just costs about 20$. Experts have estimated that natural gas will be the most important fossil fuel in the world in future. In the past, people considered it as negligible by-product when they exploited petroleum. However, situation has completely changed nowadays and many countries are struggle for natural gas, especially for those countries which can consume a large quantity of energy and resource every year.
America, India, Japan and countries belonging to European Union are far from those countries which can produce abundant natural gas. In addition, those countries are not stable and natural gas sometimes has to be transported via some unstable and dangerous regions. China and India always establish close relationship with those countries which are rich in natural gas such as Iran, Qatar, Russia and some countries located in Middle Asia to meet the demand in future. America tries to realize the balance of demand for natural gas between Asian countries and itself so USA strongly opposes the construction of gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan. After long-time and difficult negotiation, India and Iran have signed the gas contract with the value up to 220 billion dollars. However, the competition for natural gas will become fiercer. As those countries which are major energy consumers need much more natural gas than what they have and import from other countries, the global energy crisis is likely to occur. It is predicted that by the year 2025, the demand for petroleum every day on the earth will be up to 1210 billion barrels to 1300 billion barrels. At present, people’s demand for petroleum every day all over the world is 840 billion barrels. America is the largest energy consumer in the world. China and India also have to import much petroleum to meet the need for increasing cars and 70% raw petroleum in India has to be imported from other countries. New Delhi also tries to establish another pipeline from Burma through Bangladesh and the agreement has passed.
As for competition for natural gas, India does not want to infuriate America so, like other countries, India always develops its nuclear energy. In the past, American president Bush said that they would help India and China improve the utilization of petroleum. However, such friendly diplomatic words rarely appear again when all countries start to struggle for natural gas. In addition, European Union has to face up to intense competition from China on the natural gas in Middle Asian countries. Economic crisis in Europe also has reduced European countries’ demand for natural gas. Therefore, two projects for natural gas pipeline establishment called Nabucco and South Stream are hampered. At the end of last year, China and Middle Asian countries have opened up the first cross-border gas pipeline which can transport 400 billion cubic meters gas to China every year from 2013. However, Nabucco pipeline for European countries has delayed. Russia is the largest gas supplier for European countries but they are also political rivals so it is not an easy job to establish pipeline between Russia and European countries. Therefore, European countries can have more challenges for gas competition.
In recent days, natural gas competition is becoming fiercer and there will be intense disputes on the earth.

As technology develops rapidly and the environment is terribly polluted, people have put forward 10 technologies for environmental protection.
First, change organic waste into petroleum. Organic rubbish can be found all over the world. People can produce a large number of organic rubbish from daily life and industrial and agricultural production. That organic rubbish is land filled and also has polluted the environment. Actually, the best way to deal with the organic waste is to explore new energy. The traditional way is to burn them and generate electricity. At present, people change them into petroleum though pressure and catalyst. Second, desalinate the sea water. Fighting for freshwater has become another hot topic in the world. Most parts on the earth are ocean but the water in the sea is not edible. If people can remove the salt contained in the sea water, human will never worry about water shortage. That sounds very easy. Seawater desalination requires high-tech to reduce cost and improve efficiency. Actually, nanotechnology has also been applied in sea water desalination. Third, use hydrogen fuel cells which can be seen by most people. This technology is considered as the tech which can cleanse the world in the future. More importantly, hydrogen can be obtained from water and after it burns, it becomes water again. Therefore, it is inexhaustible. But we should know that hydrogen is not the original energy and it comes into being by electrolysis of water though solar energy. Fourth, make use of solar energy which is the most important green energy in future. At present, people have used some solar energy but it still has some disadvantages due to people’s limit knowledge and ability. Fifth, make use of ocean temperature difference to generate electricity. According to statistics from US Department of Energy, the ocean on the earth can obtain much energy which is equal to 2500 billion barrels petroleum from the solar radiation every day but the whole USA just consumes 75 billion barrels petroleum every year. How to make full use of the burnt sea water is still a problem because of technology shortage for solar energy. Sixth, make use of tidal energy to generate electricity. Tide contains huge energy which can produce electricity but how to use it is a difficulty. Seventh, build green roof. In fact, green wall, yards and balcony also can be built. The technology is not a difficulty for human beings any more but it plays an important role to save energy and reduce pollutants. At present, many countries have adopted the technology. Eighth, use plants to reduce pollution. Some plants can absorb pollutants and toxic substances. For example, cannas planted on the river can make dirty water clean. Scientists need to find those plants as many as they can. Ninth, landfill carbon dioxide. As we all know, carbon dioxide is the source for the global warming, if people can extract it from the air and change it into liquid then pour it into the abandoned well underground, that is really cool. But maybe it will come out after being land filled. So the technology is still under research. Tenth, promote paperless technology which can prevent forest degradation. But it cost much and it is also not convenient.
When can these problems be solved? We are waiting.

The spilling of either refined or crude petroleum into the environment is one ecological disaster that unfortunately often happens these days. Almost every passing day we come across reports stating accidental spills from ships which lead to destruction of precious underwater plant and animal life in the vicinity. Not only do fish inside such murky waters get affected, very often birds which depend on the area for their food, also get affected. There have also been instances when the coral reef has been badly damaged due to oil pollution. Fortunately marine toxicologists are working overtime nowadays to tackle the problem and come out with solutions.