Junk Science in a Green Wrapper

Book Review: Green Petroleum: How Oil and Gas Can Be Environmentally Sustainable by M. R. Islam, A. B. Chhetri, M. M. Khan

I took up this book with high hopes - as a student of the environment from the 1970's, I have long had concerns about the role of fossil fuels in our overall energy portfolio. I was hoping for an in-depth analysis of our present energy policies and the status of petroleum recovery and processing in that context.

Green Petroleum has depth, but it's the kind that requires a shovel, if you catch my drift. Very little of the book actually discusses petroleum processes - however we are treated to lengthy discussions on good CO2 and bad CO2, good light and bad light, good water and bad water. Analogies are stretched to their limit, with side trips into the relative merits of different religious beliefs. This pertains to petroleum how?

The authors posit that anything natural is inherently better than anything synthetic, therefore a chemical derived from natural sources is inherently better than the same chemical that is derived from synthetic sources. That is because anything that is synthetically produced is automatically toxic. Apparently if you take a large dose of naturally derived arsenic it will have only beneficial results. Since petroleum is the result of natural processes, burning fossil fuels is a good thing.

Besides the fact that the authors commit nearly every logical fallacy that I can think of, the complete lack of cohesion or continuity in the text makes it a painful read. Most of the references are to their own works which coincidentally support their viewpoint.

A word to the wise: just because a book has 'green' in the title and has a green-colored cover, does not make their argument sustainable. I will do my part by making sure this lengthy piece of drivel is recycled appropriately.