Oil industry boom-and-bust visualised

With the world’s energy demands that are needed to power transportation, it is reported that we are exhausting the earth’s supply of oil. In fact, recent findings from the International Energy Agency (IEA) unveiled the world will face oil shortages far sooner than anticipated. Therefore understanding the volume and speed of consumption is critical.

This interactive animation allows people to get a better sense of how much oil is left in the top 10 countries with the most oil reserves, and how quickly it will disappear. The fact that oil reserves are disappearing has quite a few consequences, relating to increased fracking, reliance on imports from other countries, the potential damage of increased coal consumption, and the need for innovation in clean energy.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook, the amount of oil left is based on the current technological and economic viability of extraction. This obviously implies that technologies and economies change. The reduction of these oil reserves will put further weight on a number of issues – both positive and negative.

One negative impact is fracking, which poses risk to air quality, contamination of groundwater, exposure to toxic chemicals and fracking-induced earthquakes. However on the plus side, oil shortages should also see the development of more clean energy sources, new innovations like Tesla’s solar-panelled roof, the adoption of electric vehicles and the distribution of electric vehicle charging stations (making owning one and driving one more feasible across the country).

The impact of oil shortages can be lessened by decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels. Alternative energy sources and renewable biofuels play a crucial role in these outlooks. There are so many advantages of biofuels over fossil fuels that make the alternative fuel source an attractive option now and in the future.

The graphic allows people to literally see the oil situation in a new light and our hope is that it can help in some small way bring a sense of urgency to the important issues above.

Author bio:

RS Components is the UK and European trading brand of Electrocomponents plc. The company supplies electrical and electronic components, tools, testing equipment and related items through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters.

Reference infographic: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=i/how-much-oil-is-left