Future of Aviation Fuels
WORLD 55 NEWS
At this time (2007) the supply of normal easily obtainable crude oil is estimated to last another 40 years with current yearly demand at some 1000 barrels per second. At some point in time, increasing demand together
with higher oil prices, will make alternative resources possibly economically attractive. Recent shale oil discoveries and production methods changed this picture and extended the time we can use ordinairy oil.
Even current assumed depleted oil wells still contain enough oil, some 40 % of the oil could still be in the well requiring new techniques to extract it. Other theories claim that oil is being replenished by processes deep in the earth (abiogenic petroleum), making it virtually renewable and of almost unlimited supply.
It is important that a stable price of oil should be set by the oil producing and consuming countries for a certain period of time in stead of being set by daily fluctuating and wildly speculating markets, which introduce too much economic uncertainties and with a negative result for the world economy as a whole.
The current oil futures trading seems flawed and legislation should be created to control it and create a more transparent and stable system.
As an indication of how much oil reserves there are available, we have a comparison of worldwide distribution of normal conventional crude oil and thick heavy oil reserves
.
GTL uses a process developed by two German scientists in the 1920s,
Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, and thus called the Fischer-Tropsch
process. This process converts natural gas into synthesized gas and this
syn-gas is then converted into hydrocarbon products like diesel fuel,
wax and other products. This process produces very pure synthetic
hydrocarbons free of sulfur, aromatics and more usually found in
'normal' hydrocarbon fuels.
This process is commercially in operation since 1992 in South Africa and 1993 in Malaysia. Both plants produce somewhere around 60000 bpd total. Recent projects are being started by different companies (Chevron, Shell and Exxon-Mobil) to increase production with another 400000 bpd the next few years.
The proven natural gas world reserve is enough for another 60 years with current demand. Speculative reserve indicates enough gas for some 200 years to come. Shale (fine sedimentary rocks) is being investigated as possible source and worldwide reserves are more than abundant.
Coal to liquids process is not as clean as for natural gas. There are more issues to it than with GTL, more investments, more solid byproducts and higher CO2. CTL will be limited the next 10 - 15 years but as oil and gas resources deplete it is likely to become an important source for energy.
Coal reserves on this planet should be enough, with current demand, for another 80 years. Speculative reserves indicate coal reserves for another 500 years.
Biomass has been used in the last century when it was replaced by oil
and natural gas. At this time the only visible use of biomass energy
source is in biodiesel and gasoline. Its either being used at 100%
(B100) of mixed in any ratio with petroleum diesel, usually 20 % (B20).
Gasoline is also mixed with fuel derived from biomass in the form of
alcohol or ethanol.
There are a number of benefits from using biomass as a energy source:
At this time (2007) the supply of normal easily obtainable crude oil is estimated to last another 40 years with current yearly demand at some 1000 barrels per second. At some point in time, increasing demand together
with higher oil prices, will make alternative resources possibly economically attractive. Recent shale oil discoveries and production methods changed this picture and extended the time we can use ordinairy oil.
Even current assumed depleted oil wells still contain enough oil, some 40 % of the oil could still be in the well requiring new techniques to extract it. Other theories claim that oil is being replenished by processes deep in the earth (abiogenic petroleum), making it virtually renewable and of almost unlimited supply.
It is important that a stable price of oil should be set by the oil producing and consuming countries for a certain period of time in stead of being set by daily fluctuating and wildly speculating markets, which introduce too much economic uncertainties and with a negative result for the world economy as a whole.
The current oil futures trading seems flawed and legislation should be created to control it and create a more transparent and stable system.
As an indication of how much oil reserves there are available, we have a comparison of worldwide distribution of normal conventional crude oil and thick heavy oil reserves
.GTL, CTL or BTL
Currently there are three processes: gas to liquids, coal to liquids and biomass to liquids. We will scratch the surface of these three processes and the effects of aviation on the environment.Gas to Liquids
GTL uses a process developed by two German scientists in the 1920s,
Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, and thus called the Fischer-Tropsch
process. This process converts natural gas into synthesized gas and this
syn-gas is then converted into hydrocarbon products like diesel fuel,
wax and other products. This process produces very pure synthetic
hydrocarbons free of sulfur, aromatics and more usually found in
'normal' hydrocarbon fuels.This process is commercially in operation since 1992 in South Africa and 1993 in Malaysia. Both plants produce somewhere around 60000 bpd total. Recent projects are being started by different companies (Chevron, Shell and Exxon-Mobil) to increase production with another 400000 bpd the next few years.
The proven natural gas world reserve is enough for another 60 years with current demand. Speculative reserve indicates enough gas for some 200 years to come. Shale (fine sedimentary rocks) is being investigated as possible source and worldwide reserves are more than abundant.
Coal to Liquids
Coal reserves are far bigger than natural gas or oil together. Coal is mainly (80%) used to generate electricity, but efficiency is low and emissions are at a high level. Not a very clean solution. Gasification of coal via this process is the cleanest solution to use coal. It uses the same process as GTL.Coal to liquids process is not as clean as for natural gas. There are more issues to it than with GTL, more investments, more solid byproducts and higher CO2. CTL will be limited the next 10 - 15 years but as oil and gas resources deplete it is likely to become an important source for energy.
Coal reserves on this planet should be enough, with current demand, for another 80 years. Speculative reserves indicate coal reserves for another 500 years.
Biomass to Liquids
Biomass has been used in the last century when it was replaced by oil
and natural gas. At this time the only visible use of biomass energy
source is in biodiesel and gasoline. Its either being used at 100%
(B100) of mixed in any ratio with petroleum diesel, usually 20 % (B20).
Gasoline is also mixed with fuel derived from biomass in the form of
alcohol or ethanol.There are a number of benefits from using biomass as a energy source:
- It lowers NOx, SOx, CO2 and other gases
- Biomass is renewable and low in carbon
- Degradable, non toxic, easy to store and use
- Resource diversity: Jatropha or Camelina plants, Algae, animal/human waste, forest residue
- Creates economic growth in agricultural areas
- And growing fields, forests and plants live on CO2!
0 comments:
Post a Comment