Saturday, September 04, 2004

Expanding on a Patio Conversation

Last weekend, while sipping martinis on a friend’s patio, a far ranging conversation was engaged in.  Homosexuality was discussed, as were Artic trips, the percentage of left handed individuals in the world, and the origins of oil.  Though by no means does this cover the entire evening’s conversational whirlwind.

Availing ourselves of the benefits of a wireless internet connection, we determined that each individuals estimate (they ranged from 5 percent to 35 percent) of the percentage of left handed individuals in the world was correct.  As the study of left handedness, a study that we were informed has been ongoing for at least 160 years, has basically determined that there is no definitive answer, with estimates ranging from 5 to 30 percent of the population.

The question that we did not research, that night, dealt with the origins of oil.  Is oil a fossil fuel, as we so often hear it described, or, are the origins of oil from some other source?  I argued that oil is not the result of dead dinosaurs, as so advertised by the Sinclair dinosaur, and others, though I could not definitively state what the source of oil was, though I reasoned that the source of oil was a byproduct of forces within the earth.

Taking a moment this afternoon, I plugged into Google, “origins of oil.” The results are here. Though I cannot vouch for the veracity of the links supplied by the Google search engine, nevertheless, the links provide some interesting data on the subject.  Such as this link, which provides some data which support my thinking on the subject, though the majority of links that Google supplied, state that oil is the result of decayed plant and animial life.

I find this difficult to accept, and here is why.  Think about this.  A plant or animal dies.  You see it almost everyday, whether it be a road killed skunk, or the leaves decaying in a small pile in your backyard.  These dead plants and animals do not become a small puddle of oil, they become a compost type material which you can work into your soil as nourishment for plants, and animals, in next year’s growing season.

I still do not know, with certainty, that oil does not come from dead plants and animals, but my reasoning guides me to thinking that the origins of oil are simply byproducts of the earths life cycle of which we are, for the most part, still ignorant.

There you go, Pfeif.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/04 at 11:16 AM
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