History of the excessive use of gasoline

Gasoline is a natural byproduct of the petroleum industry. Kerosene is the key ingredient in gasoline. In the late 19th century coal, gas, camphene, kerosene were used as fuels but a more stable combination was required for automobile engines. Refineries were not effective in converting crude oil to gasoline fast enough to meet the demand. The technological fix for this problem was cracking. Heavy hydrocarbon molecules were broken down into simpler components by using heat, pressure and catalysts.
It is estimated that the world contains 6.4*10^15 of organic carbon out of which only 18% can be used for petroleum production.
Crude oil.
Middle East-89.6 billion tones
USA-4 Billion tones
World Reserve - 136.7 Billion tones. (Estimated to last 43.1 years)
On September 5th 1885 the first gasoline pump was manufactured by Sylvanus Bowser in Indiana with a capacity of one barrel.
On September 6th 1892 the first gasoline powered tractor was manufactured and it lasted two months.
By the early 20th century gasoline companies were using distilleries to produce gasoline as a simple distillate from petroleum.
1st January 1918 gasoline pipelines were first used to transport gasoline. A three inch pipeline was used covering 40miles.
In 1970s unleaded fuel was introduced.
In 1990s the clean air act created major changes on gasoline to eliminate pollution.
Spills, leaks or improper disposal can cause damage to soil, air, ground water and surface water. Leaking storage tanks or underground pipelines cause devastating damage to the environment. Gasoline is released into the air when being transported.
Driving a car is the most common air polluting act every human commits. Emissions from car engines increased despite attempts to reduce air pollution caused by cars. This effect is attributed to two reasons. There was an increase in the ownership of cars and cars are less fuel efficient than their counterparts a few years ago. Fuel efficiency dropped 24.6 miles per gallon and it dropped further as larger vehicles replaced smaller ones.
Gasoline has health, economic and environmental effects. The adverse health effects of cars are severe.
Typical engine combustion reaction:
Fuel + Air => Hydrocarbons + Nitrogen Oxides + Carbon Dioxide + Carbon Monoxide + water
Nitrogen oxide makes up 7.2% of the gases causing global warming. Two thirds of the carbon monoxide emissions come from transportation and the largest contribution comes from cars. In urban areas passenger contribution is as high as 90%. The Environmental protection agency (EPA) first view carbon dioxide as a perfect byproduct of combustion but it changed its views and carbon dioxide is now considered as a pollution concern.
Despite strong evidence a lot of governments all across the world avoided their responsibilities. USA is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases all across the world. US emissions increased to 7 billion in 2007. The accurate number is difficult to achieve due to a high level of variables. The businesses in United States off shored most of their emissions and are a major contribution factor in other countries emissions. The production of automobiles is the least environmentally destructive phase in its life.
Air pollution causes a variety of problems to humans and the list is exhaustive. It ranges all the way from airborne allergies to life threatening lung cancer.