I don’t know anyone who has been in a hot air balloon, but I know a lot of people who would love to give one a shot. Even the biggest hot air balloon haters would be intrigued by these delightful creations. In wacky and wonderful shapes, and out of personal pleasure and love for the craft, or for commercial gain, a variety of hot air balloons have graced balloon festivals around the globe. Here are some of the best of the best:

(Images via roclar, hotairbrand, ecolocalizer, chm.bris.ac.uk)

Animal balloons seem a little dull until you see the tiny box holding the hot air balloonist at the controls. One is quickly awed by the gigantic form of a polar bear as it soars slowly past its smaller, garishly colored peers.

(Images via strangetravel, laughingsquid, work-killer, work-killer, unusual-things)

Interesting hot air balloon shapes are limited only by the creativity of the designer. Enter a hot air mystic that looks suspiciously like Jesus, a wonderful cactus, space shuttle, and… Van Gogh’s head. Oh, don’t forget the bagpiper, at over 150 tall.

(Images via ushotairballoon, gonewengland, work-killer, qwickstep)

Monsters in the skies! Giant dinosaurs and ferocious faces are a bit more terrifying when blown up to colossal proportions. They soar over fields, delighting onlookers and making children cry out in fear.

(Images via murobbs.plaza.fi, meg, toxel)

Some of our favorite characters have been featured in this exciting medium. Darth Vader makes an appearance, along with Sonic the Hedgehog, and Michael Wazowski from Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”

(Images via flypepsi, piculous, flemington.injersey, pzrservices)

Companies love to find creative ways to push their products into the limelight, and hot air ballooning isn’t an exception. From alcohol to batteries, companies will find a way to catch your eye, even if they have to cruise the skies to do it.

(Images via specialshapes, annarbor, specialshapes, batw)

Everyone loves beer! At least, at hot air balloon festivals. Here are some of the coolest beer-shaped hot air balloons. I personally think bottles are the coolest, because they’re so different from the conventional hot air balloon shape.

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New energy sources are being developed and uncovered nearly every year, reducing our reliance on the traditional grid-based electricity. One of the oddest forms of alternative energy is one developed in 2010 by Stanford University and Yonsei University scientists. Their method uses the power of photosynthesis to produce a small electric current. Designer Mike Thompson exploits this new technology in a speculative product he calls the Latro Lamp.

The name Latro, which is Latin for “thief,” alludes to the fact that the lamp “steals” power from the process of photosynthesis to supply light. The glass chamber of the lamp contains green algae, which needs little more than sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to survive. The lamp needs to be stored in a spot where it receives the sunlight it requires. The water is enclosed in the glass chamber along with the algae. The only other element required by the living lamp is carbon dioxide, which we humans conveniently produce through another natural process: breathing.

The lamp’s owner has only to breathe into a small opening in the glass chamber to send a dose of CO2 in to the algae. Another opening allows the user to add water and also provides an escape route for the oxygen generated by the algae. Special sensors in the lamp’s machinery measure when the algae has all of the nourishment it needs, ensuring that the lamp’s light bulb will only draw energy from the plants when the plants are well cared for. In this way, the lamp acts as both an appliance and a pet, only performing its practical function when it has enough attention and care from its owner.

This concept is not yet being produced as an actual commercially-available product, but it does provide some food for thought. How much more careful would we be with our energy usage if we had to produce that energy first? The photosynthesis mini-power plant will probably never be able to power an entire house, but it could be very useful for power outages, natural disasters and camping, or any time when grid electricity just isn’t available.

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Mankind’s quest for energy has successively centered on wood, coal and oil though these fuels are slowly giving way to nuclear, wind and geothermal power sources. Even newer fuels have sparked alternatives, however, and what today seems odd and impractical may someday be commonplace. These 10 unusual alternative energy sources show real hope that goes beyond the usual hype.

Used Adult Diapers

(image via: InventorSpot)

Adult diapers – they’re more common than you think, especially in Japan where the average population is aging rapidly and the national output of used adult diapers has soared past the 5 billion mark. A company called Super Faiths thinks there’s a better use for used adult diapers than simply burying them – why not burn them as fuel?

(images via: InventorSpot, Green Launches, Japan Times and Now Public)

The SFD Recycle System pulverizes and sterilizes used adult diapers, then forms them into pellets suitable for fueling large biomass boilers. The machines are rather large and are designed to process large numbers of adult diapers, not a problem because the expected users are large hospitals and retirement homes.

Urine

(image via: Unique Daily)

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are being developed by a number of researchers who seek to employ specialized bacteria to break down waste products of various types and, in the process of doing so, create energy that can be stored for future use. A team of British researchers is working with urine (from either Man or beast) as a medium, explaining that “Urine is chemically very active, rich in nitrogen and has compounds such as urea, chloride, potassium and bilirubin which make it very good for the microbial fuel cells.”

(images via: EbooksX, Next Energy News, Space Fellowship and AOL News)

Organizations such as NASA have taken specific interest in MFCs that use urine and other, er, related wastes to produce energy as such substances would tend to either accumulate on board a spacecraft or would have to be ejected into space. Remember that the next time you wish upon a “star”.

Confiscated Booze

(image via: Autoblog Green)

You’ve heard that drinking and driving doesn’t mix, but don’t tell Svensk Biogas AB. The Swedish biogas company is partnering with the Scandinavian nation’s customs service to process 185,000 gallons of seized smuggled alcohol seized by the customs service last year into enough biogas to power over 1,000 buses and trucks – even a train (above). “We used to just pour it down the drain, but because of the increased volumes we had to look around for new solutions,” said Swedish customs spokeswoman Ingrid Jerlebrink. With the new partnership agreement in place, “We pump it into a big tank that we jokingly call ‘the giant cocktail’ and then a truck just comes and picks it up.”

(images via: Brain Tree Hemp, BUSS Branschen and Daily Echo)

The Svensk Biogas AB plant in Linkoping, located 125 miles southwest of Stockholm, heats the confiscated booze and converts into biogas. One quart of pure alcohol is required to produce about a tenth of a gallon of biogas, and according to Carl Lilliehook, head of Svensk Biogas AB, “It is good business, because the material to make it is free.”

People Power

(images via: Daily Mail)

Power to the people? How about power FROM the people! A number of initiatives currently being pursued look to harness the kinetic energy created – and wasted – by groups of people performing energetic tasks. One project already in place in Tokyo, Japan, uses piezoelectric floor pads positioned where pedestrian commuters are more likely to tread: outside train stations and beneath ticket turnstiles, for instance.

(images via: Inhabitat, Glam and Telegraph UK)

Commuters can be somewhat tired and listless, but there are other places where people expend a lot of energy and have fun doing it – like dancing and working out. The former takes place at Club Watt in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, which calls itself “The World’s First Sustainable Dance Club.” The club’s dance floor features embedded LEDs that are powered by kinetic energy generated by dancers. Bee Gees, met BTUs. The latter occurs at so-called “green gyms” like Green Revolution, where a group cycling class with 20 bikes can generate up to 3.6 megawatts of renewable electrical energy annually – more than enough to pedal, er, peddle elsewhere.

Burning Seawater

(image via: Radiowaves)

How fortunate we would be if it were possible to drink seawater AND use it as fuel. Well surprisingly enough, one of those wishes might soon be answered and grab a beer because it’s not the first. Leukemia patient and researcher John Kanzius has been experimenting with a new cancer-fighting technique that destroys cancer-causing agents through the use of radio waves.

(images via: CBS News, Amazon and How Stuff Works)

Kanzius noted that his radio-frequency generator broke the water molecules in the seawater into their component elements: hydrogen and oxygen, and as anyone familiar with the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster knows, hydrogen will burn fiercely in the presence of oxygen. As long as Kanzius kept his generator on, the seawater “burned” at a temperature of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh, the huge potential!

Poultry Waste

(image via: Ribotto)

There’s a way to turn previously useless agricultural byproducts into clear, clean, fuel oil – if, that is, you’ve got the guts. Turkey guts, in this case. The recipe may sound disgusting but it works: grind poultry heads, feathers and innards fine and mix with water, then heat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit at 600 psi. Cook for about an hour, or until the complex polymers in the offal mix start to break down. A little distillation and what was once garbage is now as good as gold… black gold.

(images via: Chemistryland and Chosun)

Changing World Technologies is behind the push to turn organic, carbon-based waste from computer parts to turkey guts into fuel oil through thermo-depolymerization. Nature herself has paved the way: the billions of barrels of oil and gas buried deep underground were once living plants and animals “processed” into hydrocarbons by heat and pressure over hundreds of millions of years. CWT just speeds up the process a bit.

Landfill Gas

(image via: Savvy Studios)

So you’ve got a landfill that, like most landfills, burps (for want of a better word) methane from decomposing buried garbage. What to do? Well, one idea is to pipe it to a nearby school. Well, not directly – the EcoLine project uses purified methane gas captured from a nearby landfill to power 85 percent of the University Of New Hampshire’s heat and electricity needs. Rivals may still say UNH stinks but no, it’s just the landfill gas.

(images via: Treehugger and CNBC)

With the EcoLine project, UNH becomes the first school in the nation to source a majority of its power from landfill gas. The power isn’t free – infrastructure must be put in place to trap, store and purify the methane – but it’s significantly cheaper than burning fossil fuel with the added benefit of being non-polluting.

Cow Farts

(image via: Gr33nData)

Research by Argentine scientists has revealed that a single 1,210 lb (550 kg) cow produces 28 to 35 cubic feet (800 to 1,000 liters) of methane emissions each day – and let’s be frank, by “emissions” we don’t mean evaporating sweat. Nope, it’s cow farts. Cow burps too; these multi-stomached ruminants emit copious clouds of methane from both ends. Lucky for them some prankster doesn’t walk up with a lit match.

(images via: China Post and Thomas LaCour)

Methane is a much more reactive greenhouse gas compared to carbon dioxide and unlike CO2, it burns quite nicely. If only there were some practical way to capture the methane emitted by cows, sheep, goats, llamas… basically ANY domestic livestock, we’d be killing two birds with one stone. The cumbersome collection tank mounted on the recalcitrant bovine above is one possible solution but if not that, what?

Coffee Grounds

(image via: Daniel Talsky)

Next to oil, coffee is the most traded commodity on the planet. Unlike oil, coffee production and preparation creates a lot of waste. Now it seems that this so-called waste – coffee grounds in particular – can be put to good use as a fuel. Researchers at the University of Nevada’s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering analyzed coffee grounds and discovered they contain a significant percentage of oil in the form of biodiesel. What’s more, the natural anti-oxidants in the extracted coffee oil help extend its shelf life. The leftover grounds can be compacted and burnt as pelletized fuel.

(images via: Science of Coaching Squash, Marilka and BHIP Global)

While home users won’t be able to do much with their used coffee grounds beyond composting them, major coffee retailers could reap huge rewards by changing the way they treat waste grounds. It’s estimated that Starbucks generates 210 million pounds of coffee grounds annually. Processing these grounds could provide nearly 3 million gallons of biodiesel and about 90,000 tons of fuel pellets.

Bouncing Breasts

(image via: Slate)

What two things do female joggers have in common? If you answered breasts and MP3 players, you’d be right – and you probably need to get out more. The question is relevant, however, because some joggers have posited powering their iPods with energy generated by the repetitive motions of their breasts. Though companies like Triumph Japan have shown off solar-powered bras, there’s real science behind harnessing, if you will, the power of bouncing breasts. Victoria’s Circuit… you’ve gotta love it!

(images via: The Silverbacks and Zimbio)

LaJean Lawson works as a consultant for sportswear companies like Nike and has been researching breast motion since 1985 in an effort to design better sports bras. Lawson discovered that a runner’s breasts move from side to side, from front to back, and up and down with the most motion is generated vertically. That may seem obvious; this more so: “Naturally, the bigger the breast, the more momentum it generates.” Giggity.

(image via: HubPages)

Alternative energy sources are only unusual in the sense that they are unused, impractical, unprofitable or all of the above. That may just mean the times aren’t right for their implementation. Petroleum was known to the ancients but it wasn’t until late in the Industrial Revolution that oil was effectively sourced and processed into usable forms. It’s unknown what the future will hold for energy, but at least it’s certain there ARE alternatives.

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LEDs consume less energy and maintain a longer lifetime. Combining LEDs with art can have visually stunningly results. These large-scale LED sculptures were on an open-air stage of installations, exhibitions, works of art and design. Here are 16 aesthetically pleasing LED art sculptures that respect the environment while providing modern designs of energy-saving lighting solutions.

Fabulous Artworks of Italian Light Sculpture Festival

Light-based art lit up Xuanwu Lake Park in Nanjing, China, during the Italian Light Sculpture Festival. The “Light Tunnel,” on the left, was 450 meters or 1,476 feet, long. The three-dimensional murals were built into 75 light groupings which blend to make 13 Italian Baroque-style outdoor landscapes.

Reflecting off the mountain lake was a planned part of the LED sculptures, meant to enhance the differences of light and shadows.

Romance and reality merged in a brilliant illumination, yet managed to use one-tenth of incandescent light power consumption.

(image credits: chinagate)

These complex LED sculptures comprised the largest light sculpture festival ever held in China. The lighted Baroque art incorporated traditional elements of architectural aesthetics to create a celebration with a “classic, beautiful, magnificent, green” theme.

Italian LED Light Sculpture Artwork

Each LED sculpture, like the above “St. Mark’s Cathedral,” constantly changed by flashing 10 different colors.  It was 90 meters, 295 feet wide, and stood 7-stories-high.

(image credits: nanjing)

Most of the energy efficient and light-based art stood at least four-stories-high.  Music played in sync with the phenomenal light show. The Lightscribe art was on display for 45 days.

LED Kiss

(image credits: led festival)

The City of Milan ran a contest to decorate the metropolis with LED lights.”Objectives: enhance the talent of young Italian and International designers, promote creativity and innovation and encourage the sharing of public spaces in full respect of the environment.” Of the many designs submitted for consideration, 30 projects were selected and developed for an international festival of light. The LED (light exhibition design) image above is called, “Kiss.” It was located at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Each kiss under the enormous mistletoe, illuminated by blue light, cost 1 euro and was donated to help save children from famine in Uganda.

LED Canal

(image credits: led festival)

Located at the Grand Canal, the Bridge of Duty, this LED light installation was called, “Switch.” People who passed by could slide a handle, “turn on your canal,” and decide the color of the bridge and the intensity of glare on the water below.

LED Braille

(image credits: led festival)

Entitled, “Feel the Light” this LED sculpture was installed on a route from the Institute of the Blind. It was described as, “A path of light and words designed for the blind. The panels are composed of Microluci LED writing sentences in Braille.”

LED Volcano

(image credits: led festival)

This volcano of light was called, “Fiesta de Luz” and was installed at the Piazza Duca d’Aosta. “A volcano of light flows from the Metro in the center of the square opposite the Central Station location.”

LED Man & Fashion

(image credits: technology webblog,led festival)

First in Milan there was life-sized LED light sculpture of a man. LED man was called, “The Man With No Shadow.” Then they dressed a monument in an LED coat.

More Awesome LED Art

(image credits: neublack,arqshow,led festival)

At the top left is “Volume,” an LED sculpture of light and sound that responds to human movement to create a series of audio-visual experiences. On the right is “Sitooterie,” a glass and metal sculpture and also a building with seating inside. The bright green illumination is an LED light sculpture called, “The Tree of Ladybugs.”

[youtube=T3aJu3pTL-s]

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Exxon Valdez: 35,000 tons

(images via: Valdezlink, Seaway Blog and Sarah Caldwell)

The worst oil spill in U.S. history began the night of March 23, 1989, when Captain Joseph Hazelwood allegedly decided to chase away both boredom and bitterly cold temperatures with a bottle of booze. As his ship, the 1,000 ft long supertanker Exxon Valdez, was traversing Alaska’s Prince William Sound outside designated shipping lanes, its hull was split open by an underwater reef. Over 10 million gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into the sound’s cool, clear water; quickly covering miles of pristine shoreline in black goop rendered tar-like by the frigid climate.

(images via: Nature’s Crusaders and Sustainability Ninja)

Though it ranks only 53rd on the all-time list of largest oil spills by quantity, the Exxon Valdez spill had a huge impact on American politics, pop culture and the environmental movement – not to mention the fragile ecosystem of Alaska’s southern coastline. Images of dead and dying wildlife, along with efforts to rescue survivors, were widely publicized in the media. Surprisingly, the former Exxon Valdez is still a working ship today – converted to an ore carrier, it’s owned by a Hong Kong shipping line and goes under the name Dong Fang Ocean.

Torrey Canyon: 123,000 tons

(images via: BBC, MCGA, NatGeo TV and 3QuarksDaily)

One could mark the beginning of the modern era of monstrously large oil spills with the March 18, 1967, wreck of the Torrey Canyon. After running aground in rough seas off the Scilly Islands near Cornwall, England, the tanker spilled 38 million gallons (about 123,000 tons) of crude oil before breaking up and sinking. Reports given to investigators after the accident claimed the captain diverted from normal sea lanes in order to arrive in port faster.

(images via: Look and Learn, Corbis and LIFE)

The British government was ill prepared for the world’s first major oil tanker disaster. After deciding to set the huge surface slick ablaze, Prime Minister Harold Wilson ordered repeated sorties by RAF jets who dropped flaming napalm and 42 1,000-lb bombs. Over 10,000 tons of harsh, toxic solvents and detergents were poured onto the seaborne slick and oil-mired beaches in England and France, causing additional long-term damage to land and sea wildlife.

The Odyssey: 132,000 tons

(images via: SynthStuff)

The North Atlantic ocean off Canada’s eastern province of Nova Scotia is hardly a peaceful place, especially in late autumn, but that’s where the American-owned oil tanker Odyssey found itself in November of 1988. The tanker was approximately 700 miles off the Nova Scotia coast when it suddenly exploded and broke apart. The flames set the ship’s cargo – 132,000 tons of crude oil – ablaze, which in retrospect might have been a blessing: no oil washed up on the Nova Scotia coast in the weeks that followed.

(image via: Odfjell)

Hazardous weather conditions in the Atlantic prevented the Canadian Coast Guard from reaching the vicinity of The Odyssey’s last reported position, and by the time units finally arrived most of the oil had burned up.

M/T Haven: 145,000 tons

(images via: Wikipedia, Easy Mobiles and Diver Net)

The M/T Haven was formerly known as the Amoco Milford Haven, sister ship to the Amoco Cadiz (more on that later). Classified as a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), the 233,690 ton tanker was loaded with one million barrels of oil when an explosion ripped it apart, killing 6 crew members and spilling 145,000 tons of heavy crude into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Genoa, Italy. The blast set the massive oil slick ablaze and about 70 percent was consumed in the ensuing fire.

(image via: Wikimedia)

It took 3 days for the M/T Haven to sink and a dozen years for the sun-drenched Italian and French coasts to recover from horrific pollution. Investigators later discovered that some of the oil had sunk to the ocean floor over 1,600 feet deep, where it may remain for decades or even centuries.

Amoco Cadiz: 223,000 tons

(images via: Wrecksite, Greec.Free and Pomorstvo)

The M/T Haven’s sister ship, the Amoco Cadiz, is infamous for the extreme environmental damage caused when it struck the Portsall Rocks off the coast of Brittany, France, on March 16 of 1978. Handling sluggishly with a cargo of 1,604,500 barrels of oil, the ship may have been struck by a giant rogue wave that damaged its rudder and left it unresponsive to commands from the helm. collision with the 90-ft deep rocks broke the tanker’s back, splitting it in two and quickly sending it to the depths – but by that time, the ship’s entire cargo had spilled into the sea.

(image via: Wrecksite)

Prevailing winds and tidal action drove the oil onto almost 200 miles of French coastline. Wildlife losses were widespread and extensive, amounting to 20,000 seabirds, 9,000 tons of oysters and millions of bottom-dwelling creatures like starfish and sea urchins.

Castillo de Bellver: 252,000 tons

(image via: Atlatech)

The August 1983 saga of the Castillo de Bellver reads much like that of The Odyssey, in that wind and weather conditions in the area of the disaster kept oil off beaches and coastlines. Like The Odyssey, the Castillo de Bellver exploded following a fire that raged out of control. Unlike The Odyssey however, the Castillo de Bellver was a mere 24 miles off the popular bathing beaches of Cape Town, South Africa, when the incident occurred.

(images via: Atlatech)

The Castillo de Bellver disaster is the largest oil spill to occur in South African waters. While isolated environmental damage was noted at several points around Cape Town, the bulk of the escaped oil dissipated quickly due to offshore winds, choppy wave action and fast currents in the historically treacherous seas around the Cape of Good Hope. Helping matters was the fact that the bow section of the capsized tanker was towed into deep ocean water and scuttled using explosives.

Ekofisk Oil Field: 263,000 tons

(images via: Migas, Amazon.UK and Geo365)

An eerie prelude to the The Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred 33 years ago in the North Sea between Norway and the UK. The blowout of well Phillips Petroleum’s B-14 well in the Norwegian Ekofisk field saw 81 million gallons of oil leak into the sea over an 8-day period, until the well was finally capped on April 30. The oil & gas blowout did not destroy the drilling platform but a hot mixture of oil, mud and water shot 180 feet into the air. According to the Norwegian State Pollution Control Board, “no major ecological damage resulted from the spill.”

(images via: MSNBC)

Famed American oil well “hellfighter” Red Adair (1915-2004) assisted in capping the runaway well after being contracted by Phillips. It was later determined that the accident was wholly preventable: the mechanical device that should have prevented a blowout (called a “blowout preventer”)had been installed on the wellhead upside down at a previous maintenance procedure.

ABT Summer: 260,000 tons

(image via: ITOPF)

One of the largest oil spills at sea is also one of the least known: the ABT Summer, a tanker which sank in the South Atlantic ocean approximately 900 miles west of the coast of Angola. The ABT Summer had taken on a load of 260,000 tons of Iranian heavy crude oil at that country’s Kharg Island facility in early May of 1991. Its final destination was Rotterdam, The Netherlands, by way of the Cape of Good Hope.

(image via: Chemgapedia)

At some point after the ABT Summer rounded the southern tip of Africa and began the run up Africa’s Atlantic seaboard, her hold sprung a leak and the leak soon caught fire. On the 28th of May, the fire triggered a massive explosion that destroyed the ship and killed 5 of her 32-man crew. By June 1, most of the surface oil had burned and remnants of the ship had sunk to the ocean floor. Subsequent efforts to locate the wreckage have so far proved fruitless.

Nowruz Oil Field: 260,000 tons

(image via: Bloodbankers)

Iran’s Nowruz oil field was caught in the crossfire of the Iran-Iraq war several times, resulting not only in loss of life but the spilling of huge amounts of oil. 1983 was an especially bad year to be working at the field. On February 10, an oil tanker collided with a loading platform causing a spill of 1,500 barrels per day. The next month, the platform was attacked by Iraqi helicopters whose munitions set the slick aflame. As the area was then a war zone, it took 6 months to cap the burning, still spouting well.

(images via: Earthvista and Relclick)

Another Iraqi helicopter attack on a nearby oil platform caused a separate spill that wasn’t capped until May of 1985 – over two years later! The latter incident alone caused the loss of 733,000 barrels (100,000 tons) of oil. In total, 80 million gallons (about 260,000 tons) of oil were spilled at the Nowruz oil field and 20 workers were killed trying to cap the wells.

Fergana Valley: 285,000 tons

(images via: Politics, Peaks & Valleys, BBC and Fretur)

Oil spills don’t always occur when oil tankers capsize or drilling platforms malfunction. Sometimes the spills occur inland, far from any ocean or coastline… though the environmental effect is just as ghastly, if not more. Such is the case of the Fergana Valley oil spill, where in 1992 one of the largest inland oil spills in recorded history took place.

(images via: Arabian Oil and Gas and Wonderful Russia)

The Fergana Valley, which straddles the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, is a densely populated, exceptionally fertile agricultural region inhabited since prehistory. In more recent times it was found to sit atop a group of oil deposits which have since been profitably exploited – but not always properly. On March 2, 1992, an oil well in the Fergana Valley suffered a mechanical breakdown and blowout; what eventually amounted to 88 million gallons or approximately 285,000 tons of oil flowed out of the well and into the valley.

Atlantic Empress/Aegean Captain: 287,000 tons

(images via: Odin, Maritime-Connector, Rights Action Group and Tom Soter)

On July 19, 1979, the Caribbean Sea off the Venezuelan coast near the island of Tobago was the site of a severe tropical storm. Caught in that storm were two ships: the Atlantic Empress and the Aegean Captain. A collision between the Atlantic Empress – a fully-loaded supertanker – and the Aegean Captain resulted in a huge explosion and the world’s largest ship-based oil spill to date. About 2.2 million barrels of crude oil spilled into Tobago’s brilliant blue waters after the collision, much of which was consumed in an exceptionally smokey blaze.

(image via: Aukevisser)

The 1970s were the worst decade in human history when it comes to marine oil spills; if the damage has been mitigated in subsequent decades we can put it down to improved tanker designs – double hulls, for example – that would have prevented accidents like those suffered by the Exxon Valdez and the Amoco Cadiz. They won’t prevent human error, unfortunately.

Ixtoc I Oil Well: 454,000 tons

(images via: Oilism and Academic.ru)

The world’s worst single-source oil spill began on June 3, 1979 when the Ixtoc I oil well exploded, spewing the first of over 140 million gallons of oil into the Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico. The scope of the disaster was assured when, just after the initial blowout, the oil drilling platform caught fire and collapsed. Oil continued to spill from the well into the Gulf of Mexico until March of 1980, when the well was finally capped.

(image via: R.Pitt)

Prevailing westerly winds and a series of favorable storms kept much of the oil spill off the beaches of eastern Mexico and southeastern Texas, though oil did foul beaches on Texas’ South Padre Island in the fall of 1979. The scope of the environmental impact during and following the Ixtoc 1 spill, especially when the immense volume of oil spilled is considered, gives one hope for the future of America’s gulf coast in 2010 and for the years to come.

Gulf War Oil Spill: 1,360,000 -1,500,000 tons

(images via: Tolstiy, Wikimedia and MSN Environment)

The world’s worst oil spill – by far – took place in southern Kuwait during the First Gulf War. In late January of 1991, Iraqi forces directed by Saddam Hussein and the Baathist leadership set about opening valves on oil pipelines, oil wells and even on moored oil tankers as a last-gasp effort to forestall military defeat. It’s estimated that between January 23 and 27, at least 240 million gallons (and possibly as much as 460 million gallons) of crude oil flowed onto dry land and into the Persian Gulf.

(image via: Environmentalists Against War)

U.S. warplanes bombed pipelines and pipe systems on January to stop the flow of oil.
The worst oil spill in history, the Gulf War oil spill spewed an estimated 8 million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf after Iraqi forces opened valves of oil wells and pipelines as they retreated from Kuwait in 1991. The oil slick reached a maximum size of 101 miles by 42 miles and was five inches thick.

(images via: Times Online and Telegraph UK)

And… we’re not done yet, folks! On April 20, 2010, the semi-submersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, then sank into the Gulf of Mexico 2 days later with the loss of 11 lives. The force of the explosion and sinking tore lose the 5,000-ft long riser pipe that connects the rig to the wellhead, and the wellhead itself began leaking oil. It was quickly determined that up to 5,000 barrels (200,000 gallons, or 10,000 tons) of oil per day were leaking into the Gulf, setting the stage for an environmental disaster that could rival that of the Exxon Valdez 30 years ago. As for the quantity of oil that will eventually be spilled, we’ll remind you that it took 9 months for Ixtoc 1 to be capped… you do the math.

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