Oil drilling in Alaska and its aftermath

 

 

Oil drilling in Alaska and its aftermath, by Alaercio Nicoletti Junior

The Willow Project – Approval discusses the dichotomy between energy production to meet demand and the need for socio-environmental preservation of the region and the climate on the planet

The recently approved Willow project authorizes the exploration of three oil drilling sites in Alaska, which involves an area of 93,000 hectares and may mean the exploration of up to 199 wells for the extraction of 180,000 barrels per day, 2,500 direct jobs in its construction and around 300,000 long-term contracts. However, in its 30 years of useful life, it is estimated the consequent generation of 278 million tons of CO2e (CO2 equivalent) in a preservation region in the United States. This number corresponds to the emissions generated by more than 1,500 combustion cars and would require the planting of around 40 million trees to be offset, in an area of around 100,000 hectares.

The Americans allege that investment in the project in the order of USD 8 billion will prevent the exploration of around 60 million hectares offshore, preserving the maritime ecosystem, but environmentalists and the community in general do not agree with the exposure of such a fragile and intact.

The truth is that the war between Russia and Ukraine generated global insecurity regarding the generation and distribution of energy in the world, giving countries the race to search for alternative sources, renewable or not, and for the consolidation of the energy matrix, not depending on only from a partner or source country. Add to this the fact that the demand for energy has been increasing in the world and the supply of renewable energy, although growing at a considerable pace, is still not able to have an expressive percentage representation that threatens the supremacy of fossil sources. Not to mention the costs, which are generally even higher in generation from returnable sources.

In this sense, energy experts say that the transition to a green economy with renewable sources will take decades to materialize in practice. It is also known that Alaska already has more than 80 wells drilled in its territorial area and that the project in question is from the 1990s, prospected and idealized by the company ConocoPhillips, the largest oil producer in the region.

Analyzing the materiality of the Willow project, there is the question of the socio-environmental risk that this operation carries, threatening the native ecosystem of the Arctic, which, in addition to the local population, has animals such as the walrus. In addition, there is concern about the emission of CO2 caused by the extracted fuel, which goes against the grain of the Paris Agreement of 2015, to which the United States became signatories again in 2021, whose main objective is to maintain the increase in the temperature of the planet below 2º C in the century.

The power generation / “health” dichotomy of the planet seems to have many chapters to come. Innovation and technology will help in the consolidation of renewable models and in the consequent overcoming of CO2 emitting sources. However, it remains to be seen whether there will still be enough time for the reversal of the scenario of socio-environmental degradation when the green agenda definitely flourishes.

Alaercio Nicoletti Junior – Professor at the School of Engineering (EE), Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM).

 

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in EcoDebate, ISSN 2446-9394

 

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