Social Good Engineering Magazine: GineersNow Social Innovation GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 001 | Page 74
O I O L I L I N A D N U D S T G R A I S E S
Benefits of Cheap Oil
won’t be felt anytime soon
Petroleum In-
vestment are
going down,
the manag-
ing sector is
sinking, and
the stock
market is
dropping.
Photo Source: Eugene-or
Petroleum Investment are going
down, the managing sector is
sinking, and the stock market is
dropping. With all this happen-
ing in their country, Americans
are wondering: Will we ever see
the benefits of cheap oil?
The prices of crude oil
have gone down by 70% since
mid-2014, this year it plummet-
ed below $30 a barrel. This is a
big difference from 18 months
ago, when they were at $110 a
barrel.
Recent technological
breakthroughs of hydraulic
fracturing have transformed the
market for black gold. This made
the United States the world’s
leading petroleum exporter.
If that is the case, then
why do Americans feel so down
about oil prices? It may just be a
question of timing, some econo-
mists say.
“On a net basis, the
decline of oil prices is or will be
positive for the US economy.”
According to Angel Ubide, a
senior fellow at the Peterson
Institute for International Eco-
nomics.
Because the nega-
tive impact is “faster and more
concentrated in time”, people are
already feeling it, said Ubide.
“If we look at it in two
or three years’ time, we’ll be able
to conclude that the decline in
oil process on net was positive.
But we need some time for that.”
He added.
Get Gas From Plastic Waste
A plant situated in Hong
Kong has invented some-
thing very cool. They have
created a way to recycle
waste plastic bottles into
usable fuel. This is part of
the Plastic Waste-to-fuel
System of the Hong Kong
Plant. The workers in the
plant imports some plastic
bottles from Australia. The
recyclable plastic waste will
then be segregated from
non-recyclable plastics.
Then a prototype machine is
used for condensation and
purification.
The Fuel oil is
collected from the plastic
before the process of puri-
fication and sedimentation.
The Director of the company
Ecotech, Mr. Cheung, is the
man who suggested this pro-
cess. When the oil is refined,
it is found that it is suitable
for using it as oil for engines
that runs on diesel.
The company
Ecotech, based in Hong
Kong, is famous for the
recycling of plastic since the
year 2007. They have found
out that more than 5% of
the oil production in a year
is used up in the manufac-
turing process of plastic. The
impact in the environment
of the carbon residue of
plastic is also very danger-
ous. This is the reason they
looked for different ways to
recycle the different types of
plastics materials. This com-
pany has joined hands with
many other organizations to
fulfill this purpose. They also
import plastic from different
countries in order to recycle
them.
Through this process of
producing oil from plastic,
the company is setting an
example for others. This
company is contributing
to the sustenance of the
environment. They use their
power to help purify the
environment. Thus, they are
doing something that will
help mankind in generations
to come.
Ecotech Produces Usable Oil
from Waste Plastic Bottles
Photo Source: WSJ
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