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Throughout this class one underlying thought has
lingered in the back of my mind concerning the staggering importance of and
dependence on oil on a worldwide scale. Obviously, the overriding power
that oil possesses is its ubiquitous presence in nearly every facet of our
lives, but most importantly, especially as Americans, in the form of
gasoline. Gasoline is the umbilical cord that maintains the oil industry
and, in turn, effectively governs world politics.
With this in mind, it is baffling to me that there
does not exist an aggressive world focus by oil companies and governments to
stem this crippling dependence. The one advancement that would make this
entire simulation game irrelevant would be the development of at least a
prototype hydrogen engine. As I have researched my own company in the
game, BP, who is in large part the most progressive of the oil companies in the
pursuit to develop such alternatives as solar and hydrogen power, the actual
percentage of revenues spent on these enterprises is of course dwarfed by
expenditures in their hydrocarbon divisions.
My question is this; why is this so? It would
seem that the first company to successfully test and manufacture such an engine
would be in position to become the next Standard Oil in terms of domination of
an entirely new market.
Thoughts?
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