Scientific and Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Scientific and Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of Unconventional Fossil Fuels
December 13, 2013
EES 402: Energy Issues in Geoscience
Term Paper
I. Introduction
“Just as fossil fuels from conventional sources are finite and are becoming depleted, those from difficult sources will also run out. If we put all our energy and resources into continued fossil fuel extraction, we will have lost an opportunity to have invested in renewable energy.” –David Suzuki (Brainy Quote)
Energy consumption in the world is predominantly derived from fossil fuels, and even though the growth of renewable consumption in 2013 is 2.5%, fossil fuels will contribute to the majority of energy demand. Due to the diminishing of conventional fuels across the world, governments and companies are looking to unconventional fuel resources. This means the fuel is extracted via another method then the conventional well strategy. These resources include fracturing of oil and gas source rocks, methane hydrates, tar sands and coal seam gasification.
There are benefits such as energy security and economic growth associated with these resources. However, there are environmental disadvantages which may prove detrimental to sustainability and an uncertainty in the future of energy. Currently, unconventional fossil fuel production is at record highs and so are carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and fresh water supplies are diminishing. The overall purpose of this report is to clearly understand the positive and negative effects that each unconventional fuel will have because of its every day significance.
II. Fracking for Natural Gas
It is believed that the U.S has at least one hundred years’ worth of natural gas available for exploitation. In fact, according to the U.S Department of Energy, the lower 48 states have a wide distribution of highly organic shales, containing vast resources of natural gas. The most active shales to date are the
December 13, 2013
EES 402: Energy Issues in Geoscience
Term Paper
I. Introduction
“Just as fossil fuels from conventional sources are finite and are becoming depleted, those from difficult sources will also run out. If we put all our energy and resources into continued fossil fuel extraction, we will have lost an opportunity to have invested in renewable energy.” –David Suzuki (Brainy Quote)
Energy consumption in the world is predominantly derived from fossil fuels, and even though the growth of renewable consumption in 2013 is 2.5%, fossil fuels will contribute to the majority of energy demand. Due to the diminishing of conventional fuels across the world, governments and companies are looking to unconventional fuel resources. This means the fuel is extracted via another method then the conventional well strategy. These resources include fracturing of oil and gas source rocks, methane hydrates, tar sands and coal seam gasification.
There are benefits such as energy security and economic growth associated with these resources. However, there are environmental disadvantages which may prove detrimental to sustainability and an uncertainty in the future of energy. Currently, unconventional fossil fuel production is at record highs and so are carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and fresh water supplies are diminishing. The overall purpose of this report is to clearly understand the positive and negative effects that each unconventional fuel will have because of its every day significance.
II. Fracking for Natural Gas
It is believed that the U.S has at least one hundred years’ worth of natural gas available for exploitation. In fact, according to the U.S Department of Energy, the lower 48 states have a wide distribution of highly organic shales, containing vast resources of natural gas. The most active shales to date are the
References: Argonne National Laboratory, “About Tar Sands” 2012 Oil Shale & Tar Sands Programmatic EIS. 2012. http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/ Attanasi, Emil D.; Meyer, Richard F Hassett, Kevin A. "American Enterprise Institute." Benefits of Hydraulic Fracking. Oxford Energy, 4 Apr. 2013. Web. Apr.-May 2013. Roald Hoffmann "Old Gas, New Gas". American Scientist, 2006. Today in Energy. “Potential of gas hydrates is great, but practical development is far off” U.S Energy Information Administration. November 7, 2012. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=8690 U.S World Energy Council. “Natural Bitumen and Extra-Heavy Oil”. 2010Survey of Energy Resources. 2010.http://www.worldenergy.org/documents/ser_2010_report_1.pdf