OIL – BUILD OR BURN CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES Oil is one of three fossil fuels made up of a mixture of hydrocarbons. Oil is used as an important source of energy around the world. About 90% of the oil extracted is used for energy. Oil also plays an important role in the production of synthetic compounds such as plastics. Oil is not a renewable energy source like all fossil fuels and therefore should not be used carelessly. So should we build it or burn it. To form a valid opinion as to whether we should build or burn, a few chemical concepts must be understood, which are discussed below. FRACTIONATED DISTILLATION: Oil comes from marine life that has been buried in ocean sediments. This then undergoes a series of changes due to heat, pressure and the action of bacteria which transform it into oil. When oil is extracted from the ground, it is a mixture and must therefore be separated into fractions. These different petroleum fractions are obtained by fractional distillations “oil refining”. This process separated fractions based on their boiling points seen in Figure 1. Figure 1: Fractional Distillation (Hagley Elsie 2007) HYDROCARBON CRACKING: The larger the hydrocarbon molecule, the higher its boiling point , less volatile, less viscous and less flammable. These fractions which contain higher molecular weight compounds can be “cracked”. Oil contains many long-chain hydrocarbons. This process is known as hydrocarbon cracking, which is a process in which hydrocarbons are broken down and rearranged by a catalyst into smaller, more useful molecules. These smaller molecules produce more useful short-chain components such as gasoline and...... middle of paper...... from what occurs naturally around us. Wind power is produced by large, slow-moving wind turbines that rotate with the wind. This is another way for us to avoid using fossil fuels and use a more renewable source that does not have an impact on the earth like that of oil. Hydroelectric power is yet another source of energy. It is produced in a similar way to wind power, consisting of very large turbines. These turbines are rotated by the pressure which is very intense at the exit of the blocked part of the river. The latest alternative energy source is biofuels. Biofuels are an excellent alternative energy source because they eliminate waste and can convert it into energy. Biofuels are produced from primarily living organisms and metabolic byproducts. For a fuel to be considered organic if it must be composed of more than 80% renewable energy sources.