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Sunday, October 29, 2006

Gas Hydrates - A Potentially New Energy Source

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Gas Hydrates - A Potentially New Energy Source

Found an interesting link about gas hydrates @ IfEnergy.

The article says " Gas Hydrates could be this century's next biggest energy find, as reservoirs of the compound have been spotted, found, and studied all over the world."

Thought I'd google a bit and check out more on this interesting and new (at least to me :-() idea.

This is the info from Wikipedia article on gas hydrate:
"
A gas hydrate is a hydrate consisting of a water lattice in which light hydrocarbon molecules are embedded resembling dirty ice. Hydrates normally form when a gas stream is cooled below its hydrate formation temperature in the presence of free water, such as when the gas is colder than its water dew point temperature.

The two major conditions that promotes hydrate formation are thus:

High gas pressure and low gas temperature
The gas at or below its water dew point with "free water" present
"

Well, why shoud this excite us. For two reasons, says the IfEnergy blog article: (1) There is methane trapped within the lattices, and methane is a source of energy, (2) CO2 can be sequestered (captured & isolated) within the lattices, which means these can contribute to the ecology balance.

However, these gas hydrates also form a vital constituent of the ocean beds and hence, according to the Ifenergy blog, more thought is required before these hydrates can be harnessed...

Interesting, will keep an eye out for gas hydrates...

Update on 01 Nov: read another short but interesting post on gas hydrates, this time from WillyRitch.com . In this post, Willy Ritch mentions a recent conference held in Scotland in which scientisrs discussed the concept and future of gas hydrates. The consensus at the meeting apparently was that gas hydrates contain twice the total of all the world's current fossil fuel reserves. Another interesting nugget is mentioned in this post: "Scientists say (gas hydrates extraction) must be done very carefully or much of the gas could be released into the atmoshphere with serious advers consequences. At least one scientist thinks escaping methane from gas hydrates could explain the mythology of the Bermuda triangle." This apparently is because extracting gas hydrates could result in a massive amount of gases bubbling up to the ocean, thus decreasing the density of water and sinking ships which were earlier floating safely. The gas is also highly explosive which could result in explosions around airplanes flying in that area...hmmm...interesting, bermuda triangle's mystery could be, might be because of gas hydrates, what do you think?

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Cuban Oil Exploration

Many hope to strike it rich with Cuba's oil
By Gary Marx. The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 23, 2006 - Cubanet

I got the link to this article from the Energy Crisis Now blog. Thanks!

Excerpts from the article:

1. An offshore basin has non-U.S. companies excited. Cuba has become the latest country drawn into the frenzied hunt for oil.
2. Last year the U.S. Geological Survey estimated Cuba's northern offshore basin contained 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
3. "Cuba is not Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, but it could become a major oil and gas player in the region"
4. Already, oil companies from Canada, Spain, Norway, Malaysia and India have signed agreements with Cuba's state-owned company, Cupet, for explorations.
5. Bringing a deep-water oil well on line would take many more years and cost $1 billion or more.
6. Venezuela's state-run oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela, and Brazilian and Chinese companies also are interested
7. American oil corporations are barred from participating because of U.S. trade sanctions against the island.
8. In February, executives from ExxonMobil Corp. and other U.S. corporations met with Cuban officials; but the meeting was disrupted under pressure from the Treasury Department
9. Energy has long been an Achilles' heel for Cuba...To ease the crisis...Sherritt International Corp. and a second Canadian company have helped the island's oil production
10. Cuba gets about 98,000 barrels of high-quality discounted crude a day from Venezuela.

Personalities mentioned: Jorge Pinon, former president of Amoco Oil; R.S. Butola, a top Indian oil executive; Manuel Marrero, senior petroleum adviser at Cuba's Ministry of Basic Industry; U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.)

Full article here

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Auto Plugins - Manufacture of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, Cars

Plug-In Partners and AutoNation Join Forces to Support Manufacture of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles

Source: PR Newswire
[Oct 12, 2006]

Excerpts:

1. Next-generation batteries are significantly more powerful and can tolerate discharging and charging much more forgivingly than earlier versions.
2. America's largest automotive retailer, has joined the Plug-In Partners campaign calling on automakers to manufacture plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
3. These "hybrids would offer consumers a 50-mile all-electric range, get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, be fully recharged at night and deliver all the performance and comfort of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles without the damaging emissions..."
4. The Plug-In Partners campaign was launched in January 2006 by the City of Austin and Austin Energy. It has attracted nearly 60 cities and counties, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Baltimore and Phoenix
5."Next-generation batteries are significantly more powerful and can tolerate discharging and charging much more forgivingly than earlier versions..."

Full article here

Additional information about the campaign is available at http://www.pluginpartners.org.

Personalities mentioned: AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson; Austin Mayor Will Wynn

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Micro-renewables (Wind, Solar...), Micro-energy not Useful

Micro generation can’t solve climate change, says George Monbiot in this article

By George Monbiot. Published in New Scientist, 3rd October 2006

Excerpts:
1. ...discovery that renewable micro generation has been grossly overhyped. Those who maintain that our own homes can produce all the renewable electricity and heat they need are probably incorrect.
2. Last year, there was a claim that a micro wind turbine could meet half of all a household's electric needs. It was later proved that a much larger wind turbine is required for generating equivalent power.
3. Turbulence makes wind generators even less efficient. To avoid it, you must place them at least 11 metres above any obstacle within 100 metres(4). On most houses, this means constructing a minor hazard to aircraft, and also a hazard to your house.
4. In almost all circumstances, micro wind turbines are a waste of time and money.
5. Similar claims for micro-solar energy are misleading as well.
6. Constraints affect all micro renewables
7. The electricity system cannot be run on wind alone. But surely it’s clear that building giant offshore windmills is a far better use of our time and money than putting mini-turbines.

Personalities mentioned: environmental architect Bill Dunster; Half Gone, Jeremy Leggett, the chief executive of Solar Century

Link found at the Watt blog

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Impact of Global Growth on Carbon Emissions - PwC Report

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The world in 2050 - Impact of global growth on carbon emissions

This report was produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers in advance of the Stern Review report published in the UK on 30 October 2006

Excerpts

1. The rapid economic growth of emerging countries such as China and India could have serious long-term consequences for global energy consumption and carbon emissions.

2. A scenario such as the "Green Growth Plus" strategy outlined in the report could allow for continued healthy growth whilst controlling carbon emissions.

3. The report considers six possible scenarios but focuses most attention on two key possibilities: (a) A baseline scenario in which energy efficiency improves in line with trends of the past 25 years, with no change in fuel mix by country; (b) A scenario called Green Growth + CCS, which incorporates possible emission reductions due to a greener fuel mix, annual energy efficiency gains over and above the historic trend, and widespread use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.

4. Of the scenarios considered in the report, only this ‘Green Growth Plus’ strategy stabilises atmospheric CO2 concentrations by 2050 at what the current scientific consensus suggests would be broadly acceptable levels.

5. The author of is John Hawksworth, head of macroeconomics at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ UK firm. He says: "...the emerging ‘E7’ economies ...could account for almost half of global carbon emissions by 2050 according to our model...Can the world sustain such rapid growth without serious adverse effects on its climate? Our new report provides one possible answer to how this might be achieved".

6. According to a plausible scenario detailed in the report the G7 economies will need to reduce their current level of emissions by around half by 2050 to achieve this scenario, whereas the E7 economies would still be able to increase their emissions by around 30% from current levels.

7. China is set to overtake the US as the leading carbon emitter by 2010, while total E7 emissions would be more than double total G7 emissions by 2050.

8. John Hawksworth concludes: "Our analysis suggests that there are technologically feasible and relatively low-cost options for controlling carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Estimates suggest that the level of GDP might be reduced by no more than around 2-3% in 2050 if this strategy was followed, equivalent to sacrificing only around a year of economic growth for the sake of reducing carbon emissions in 2050 by around 60% compared to our baseline scenario".

Full report here

Link suggested by an article at the Bioconversion Blog

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Terra Preta - CO2 sequestration with Amazonian Dark Earth

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Terra Preta: Black is the New Green - David Zaks and Chad Monfreda @ this World Chaging article

Excerpts:

1. Technical geosequestration methods for CO2 could pump large amounts of CO2 deep underground but are still under development. On the other hand, natural methods that store carbon in living ecosystems may be possible in the short term but require huge swathes of land
2. An ideal solution, however, would combine the quick fix of biological methods with the absolute potential of technical ones. Terra preta may do just that.
3. Amazonian Dark Earth, or terra preta do indio is three times richer in nitrogen and phosphorous, and twenty times the carbon of normal soils, terra preta is the legacy of ancient Amazonians who predate Western civilization...
4. The difference between terra preta and ordinary soils is immense. A hectare of meter-deep terra preta can contain 250 tonnes of carbon, as opposed to 100 tonnes in unimproved soils from similar parent material...
5. There are some who believe that that a strategy combining biochar with biofuels could ultimately offset 9.5 billion tons of carbon per year-an amount equal to the total current fossil fuel emissions!
6. Danny Day, the founder of a company called Eprida is experimenting with systems that turn farm waste into hydrogen, biofuel, and biochar. He says, "We don't maximize for hydrogen; we don't maximize for biodisel; we don't maximize for char...By being a little bit inefficient in each, we approximate nature and get a completely efficient cycle."
7. Terra preta's full beauty appears in this closed loop. Unlike traditional sequestration rates that follow diminishing marginal returns-aquifers fill up, forests mature-practices based on terra preta see increasing returns.

Full article here

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Cyanobacteria Sequencing Project for Biofuel, Ethanol

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Department of Energy Funds cyanobacteria sequencing project

Making green mats of ethanol

By Tony Fitzpatrick

Excerpts:

1. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has devoted $1.6 million to sequencing the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria that Washington University in St. Louis biologists will examine for their potential as one of the next great sources of biofuel
2. Microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) capture sunlight and then do a variety of biochemical processes. One potential process, the clean production of ethanol, is a high priority for DOE.
3. Himadri Pakrasi, Ph.D., Washington University Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, and Professor of Energy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will head a team of biologists at Washington University and elsewhere in the analysis of the genomes of six related strains of Cyanothece bacteria.
4. One additional Cyanothece strain, 51142, already has been sequenced by the Washington University Genome Squencing Center, the other six will be sequenced at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Calif.
5. The strains, two isolated from rice paddies in Taiwan, one in a rice paddy in India, and three others from the deep ocean, are related, but each one comes from different environmental backgrounds and might metabolize differently. Thus, combining traits of the different strains could provide the most efficient form of bioenergy.
6. Cyanobacteria have a distinct advantage over biomass, such as corn or other grasses, in producing ethanol, because they use carbon dioxide as their primary cellular carbon source and emit no carbons and they naturally do fermentation.
7. One possible way to produce ethanol using Cyanothece strains is a hybrid combination of the microbe and plant matter where the cyanobacteria coexist with plants and enable fermentation.

Full report here

Link suggested by the Bioconversion Blog

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