Political and environmental challenges will determine who wants a “dirty” emissions generating refinery in “their” backyards to help meet the product and fuel demands of society.
Ronald Stein, P.E. is an engineer, columnist on energy literacy at America Out Loud NEWS, and advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.”
Published August 25, 2025, at America Out Loud NEWS
Most folks may not understand that the underground black tar commonly referred to crude oil is useless, unless refined into something usable. Fortunately, in less than a few centuries, mankind’s ingenuity led to 250 groundbreaking hydrocarbon processing and refining techniques being discovered. The impact of that ingenuity continues today, benefiting the 8 billion people living on Earth with more than 6,000 products and transportation fuels that are derived from oil.
Across the world, people are living longer. In 1900, the average life expectancy of a newborn was 32 years. By 2021 this had more than doubled to 71 years. Today, it’s better than 75 years.
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