50 astounding things you need to know about oil

Why fifty facts? Oil is essential to us, we use it in transport, industry, plastics and energy. And those uses let us communicate, decorate ourselves and our houses, stay healthy and eat. These 50 facts are a tiny representation of the kind of information you will find when you buy the volatile fickle unpredictable undependable price of oil. The sources are given as links in the captions.

This last update takes the facts to fifty – watch out for the related infographics, which will be posted next week.

	Fifty (the economics of oil) In recent times Brent oil prices have grown much faster than inflation		Forty-nine (just for WordPress) Anyos Jedlik built the world’s first electricity generator but didn’t apply for a patent as he didn’t believe he could be the first. Photo credit:By Szeder László (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
	Forty-five (just for WordPress) You only need between 41 and 55 grams of protein a day. photo credit: Guilty pleasure, snack division via photopin (license)		Forty-six (the economics of oil) Water companies spend up to 5% of their running costs on energy (3% of the UK’s total energy use)		Forty-seven (just for WordPress) In the OECD radioactive waste (inc containers) account for 5% of toxic waste		Forty-eight (the economics of oil) The UK spends £28m a year to clean litter from our beaches and £1bn a year cleaning streets photo credit:Litter on Singapore’s ECP via photopin (license)
	Forty-one (just for WordPress) The gases from rockets DO NOT push against the ground		Forty-two (the economics of oil) 10-30% of supermarket energy powers fridges and freezes yet they stand open		Forty-three (just for WordPress) In 2011 69% of the UK’s packaging plastics went to landfill		Forty-four (the economics of oil) The UK economy could grow by £19bn a year, just by importing less raw material #recycle
	Thirty-seven (just for WordPress) In 1586 moving an obelisk 400-metres used 900 men and 140 horses, who used 44 winches to heave on 40,000 tons of iron bar and hemp rope and took five months. Four hundred years later, moving a light house took two days. And a lot of oil. Picture credit:Tommy Ferraz		Thirty-eight (oil powers our lives) In 2013 six UK customers in ten experienced power cuts. The average length was 61 minutes		Thirty-nine (just for WordPress) Is food too expensive? No, it is too cheap. 20% of humanity work in agriculture but generate only 4% of GDP.		Forty (just for WordPress) The UK has been fracking oil wells since the seventies
	Thirty-three (just for WordPress) Godalming, Surrey had the world’s first electricity market photo credit: Founder’s Court with the statue of Thomas Sutton via photopin (license)		Thirty-four (oil powers our lives) Just changing one halogen lamp for an LED ut my energy consumption by 40W		Thirty-five (just for WordPress) 75% of people believe their clothes are dirty when they can no longer smell the oil-based scents left behind my detergents and fabric conditioners photo credit:Honeymoon_Anna_302 via photopin(license)		Thirty-six (oil powers our lives) The UK loses 8% of its electricity. 97% is lost in transmission and distribution
	Twenty-nine (just for WordPress) Industry has a larger carbon footprint than transport		Thirty (oil powers our lives) In 2014 UK businesses produced 60TWh of energy from CHP – 10% of which was renewable – they sold about 1/2 of it		Thirty-one (just for WordPress) 8.1 million UK households are not on mains gas photo credit:Science Stock Photos		Thirty-two (oil powers our lives) If 15% of UK homes bought a 1kW micro CHP we could close a medium sized power station
	Twenty-five (oil gets us from a to b) In 2012 shipping produced as much CO2 as Germany and Austria combined		Twenty-six (just for WordPress) Crisp makers use nitrogen to make packing easier and crisps crispier.		Twenty-seven (just for WordPress) 7% of the oil used in industry makes plastics and lubricants, the rest is used for energy		Twenty-eight (oil powers our lives) Stoke on Trent rests on an ancient volcano and will be using its heat for a district heating scheme
	Twenty-one (Oil gets us from a to b) George Bush wanted to ban petrol vehicles in cities and replace them with methanol from coal		Twenty-two (just for WordPress) Each calorie of food you buy has consumed 5-10 calories to get to you (not including sunlight)		Twenty-three (Oil gets us from a to b) The first hydrogen powered car hit the streets in 1807, there have been over 200 vehicles since		Twenty-four (just for WordPress) As well as providing the polymers oil is used to colour and improve the properties of plastic
	Seventeen (Oil gets us from a to b) Per tonne of goods moved on kilometre sea is best for carbon and worst for pollution		Eighteen (just for WordPress) Güssing Austria slashed carbon emissions and attracted energy intensive industry with lower costs		Nineteen (Oil gets us from a to b) Individuals travelling by road burn 63% of the oil used in transport		Twenty (just for WordPress) Cats kill 1,000 times as many birds as wind turbines
	Thirteen (just for WordPress) Wind turbines claim 2% of the Golden Eagles killed by humanity		Fourteen (just for WordPress) The wartime government chose to use oil to boost the economy By Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons		Fifteen (Oil gets us from a to b) Transport (therefore oil) employs 5% of the UK population		Sixteen (just for WordPress) Just to make the steel in a shipping container consumes over 3,000 litres of oil
	Nine (just for WordPress) Italy has the world’s largest SMART grid (mainly meters) it saves €500m per year on an investment of €2 .2 billion		Ten (Oil is in the way we connect) Including manufacture the internet and connecting devices use 2% of our energy		Eleven (just for WordPress) To use less oil for plastics we can replace, reduce, reuse, repair or recycle		Twelve (Oil is in the way we connect) Swtiching off all our homebased devices could save £8.6bn per year and see off a large power station
	Five (just for WordPress) Electrocution (the action and the word) was invented to promote electricity with a direct current		Six (Oil is in the way we connect) 89% of UK homes have internet access, single people aged over 65 have fewest connections		Seven (just for WordPress) The plastics industry in the UK is bigger than automotive and pharmaceuticals combined photo credit:Steinar La Engeland via unsplash(license)		Eight (Oil is in the way we connect) In 2014 59% of humanity could not access the internet
	One(just for WordPress) Pumped hydro has stored energy since the 1890s		Two (Oil is in the way we connect) @27.9 Mbps the UK has the highest average mobile internet speeds in Europe		Three (just for WordPress) Oil IS NOT made of decomposed dinosaurs   photo credit: Huesitos via photopin (license)		Four (Oil is in the way we connect) @82mbps Romania has the fastest peak internet speeds in Europe