FACTBOX - Oil's Life Cycle - Pollution Each Step of the Way
Date: 01-Feb-07
Country: UK
Drilling for crude oil in the desert or in Nigeria and shipping it across oceans on tankers keeps the world on the move -- but adds to emissions that are harmful for people, wildlife and the planet.
"Oil has many benefits and energy is necessary for all our activities," concluded a 2002 report on oil's health and environmental impacts published by Harvard Medical School.
"But each stage in its life cycle carries hazards for humans, wildlife and the environmental systems on which we and other species depend."
The European Commission, aiming to lead the way in tackling climate change, on Wednesday proposed oil companies cut greenhouse-gas releases from the production, refining, transport and use of fuel.
Its plan would curb emissions by 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, the Commission said -- more than the current annual greenhouse gas emissions of Spain.
Besides drilling and transportation, more pollution comes from processing the crude oil into usable fuels such as gasoline in a refinery and from burning it in car engines.
The proposals from the Commission, the executive of the 27-member European Union, seek to cut emissions from oil's life cycle by 10 percent from 2011-2020 and add to pressure on the oil industry to clean up its act.
Companies such as BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are curbing pollution from their own operations and investing in non-polluting fuels such as wind and solar power.
However, they still spend most of their multibillion-dollar annual capital spending budgets on oil and gas.
