Department of GeologyDepartment of Geology

NEW FRONTIERS IN ENERGY

RESOUCES

BY

Fatai Olabanji BALOGUN

(187822)

OUTLINE• INTRODUCTION

•NEW ADVANCES IN ENERGY RESOURCES

•Gas Hydrates

•Virtual water trade

•Wave energy

• Energy from pollution

• Energy from algae

•Solar Energy (adaption)

•FINAL REMARK

INTRODUCTIONThe Age of “cheap oil” is almost over !

Roughly half of global oil reserves have been depleted in 125 years.

Production in 33 out of 48 top oil producing countries has now peaked.

No significant discovery of oil has been made since 2002.

Based on production trend it is estimated that global production will

peak between now and 2020

Big trouble is brewing!!!

Nigeria

“One of natures biggest forces is exponential

growth”- Albert Einstein

Demand for Energy is dependent

on population growth.

The world’s average consumption

is 30 billion barrels/year.

At a consumption growth rate of

2% per annum, the world will

need 50% more oil by 2025.

We could be looking at the

potential end of our Industrial age .

How do we placate this impending disaster?“The Stone Age didn’t end because of shortage of stones neither will

the Oil Age end because of lack of oil.” Dr King Hubbert

The decline of oil cant be stopped, but the remaining reserve can be

managed for several decades to come.

New frontiers in Science and technology, preferably advances in

renewable resource use, could further improve global energy mix.

This requires a collaborative effort between professionals from

different fields. This includes; Scientists, Engineers and Economist.

WoodHydro

Human/Animal

Wind Solar

Wave/tide Ocean Current

GeothermalOil Shale, Tar Sands

Methane Hydrates

Alternative

CoalOilGas

Nuclear Fission

Conventional

RenewableNon

renewable

ENERGY SOURCE CATEGORIES

NEW ADVANCES IN ENERGY RESOURCES

Gas Hydrates - A Story of ice and fire

what are gas hydrates? Gas Hydrate is a crystalline solid composed of water

and gas. Methane is the most common hydrate-forming gas, but

gas hydrates can form from ethane, CO2, propane,etc.

One volume hydrate typically contains about 160

volumes methane gas + water. (At STP)

Stable at low Temperature and high Pressure. They

usually occur between 100-500m below the sea floor.

Occurs on continental margin sediments and Arctic permafrost.

potential resource estimates of anywhere between 2.8 x 1015 to 8 x

1018m3 of methane is believed to present globally.

The most widespread evidence for accumulation of hydrates offshore

comes from seismic reflection data. In a phenomenon known as

(BSR).

The gas hydrate deposits that hold the most potential for commercial

viability are located in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Alaska North

Slope.

Marine and shore gas hydrate locations in the world

BOTTOM SIMULATING REFLECTION .

How are Gas hydrates produced? Gas Hydrate is a stable solid at low temperatures and high pressures.

The primary methods for producing natural gas from hydrate are:

Depressurization

Heating (Thermal injection)

Chemical Exchange (with CO2)

These methods involve technological and economic challenges.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Denser source of hydrocarbons than conventional sources.

Cleaner fuel source than oil, coal, and oil shale.

Redirect/dispose of greenhouse methane away from the atmosphere.

Accidents during exploration can lead to volumes of CH4 being released.

It is cost intensive

VIRTUAL WATER TRADE Virtual water trade refers to flow of hidden water if food or other

commodities are traded between nations.

Virtual water is measured is measured in (m3/capita/yr) .

In semi-arid and arid regions, knowing the virtual water value of a

good or service can be useful towards determining how best to use the

scarce water available.

In last 80 decades, Agriculture has been the major sector that

consumes water resources the most followed by Municipals and the

Industries

Map showing the virtual water Balance in countries in the year 2000

(Source: IAHS working group Hydrology 2020 seminar presentation)

Advantage and Disadvantages The virtual water value of goods can be useful in determining how best to

use and preserve water available resources.

The concept fail as an indicator of the environment harm nor does it

provide information about water use within sustainable extraction limits.

This short comings make leaves policy makers, who are seeking to

ensure environmental objectives are met with nothing to work with.

WAVE ENERGY

Wave Energy as an Energy resources

About 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, which

represents a vast natural energy resource in the form of wave.

Waves are created by energy transfer from wind which itself is the

direct result of differential heating of Earth by the sun.

Waves gather, store and transmit energy over thousands of

kilometers with little loss.

The World Energy Council estimates that 2000TWh/year of energy

could be harvested from the world’s oceans, where the world’s

electricity production is currently 18000TWh/year.

The available energy in waves depends on the location of the resource to the shoreline.

Based wave energy resource can be classified into Nearshore resources and

Deepwater resource.

On the average, deep water resource generates about 6times the amount of

energy generated by nearshore resource.

Wave Energy Technology. wave energy technology are classified based on location or conversion

mechanism.

The are divided into 3 main groups namely;

Oscillating water column system,

Overtopping systems

Float or buoy systems.

Overtopping systemOscillatory Water column system

Float or Buoy system

Oyster wave converter device (Another example of a buoy device)

Advantages and Disadvantages

Power produced from waves is steady and predictable, both day to day

and season to season.

Wave energy devices are quieter and much less visually obtrusive than

wind devices, which typically run 40-60 metres in height.

Devices as Artificial Habitats: devices could attract and promote

populations of various marine creatures.

Navigational Hazards: adequate radar warning devices can be built into

most devices (for deepwater devices).

ENERGY FROM POLLUTION

Researchers at the centre for biotechnology at the Biodesign institute

at Arizona State University are developing a new technology from

pollution and organic waste products.

The research team is developing microbial fuel cells that can

oxidize organic pollutants and create electricity from pollution.

The microbial fuel cell is powered by bacteria growing on a

conductive solid surface serving as an electrode in a bath of organic

waste.

The micro organisms oxidize the organic pollutant e.g pig manure,

transferring the electrons to the electrode, into an electrical circuit

The current of electrons flown through the circuit are electrical

energy .

In summary, the microbial fuel takes advantage of the microbes

ability to oxidize almost anything that is organic

ENERGY PRODUCTION FROM

ALGAEThis is potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for energy

production – W.H. Ryu

When sunlight is incident on the leaves and gets to the

chloroplasts, electrons are excited and attain higher energy

levels.

Some researchers at Stanford University have been able to

intercept the electrons just after they had been excited by

light.

They put gold electrodes inside the chloroplasts of algae

cells and tapped the electrons to create a tiny electrical

current.

Advantage(s) and disadvantages

An obvious advantage is the fact that this source of energy doesn’t rely on

fossil fuel usage whatsoever.

It’s environment-friendly.

A shortcoming of this method is obviously that so meager amount of

electricity produced.

Another shortcoming is that the cells used died after 1 hour.

How did we go from this to that ?

Photovoltaic panel at Univ. of Ibadan

Solar Impulse 1, solar airplane

CONCLUSIONRenewable energy is not the silver bullet that will solve all our problems

The sad truth is that, global oil reserves and production are in a state of terminal decline and

the world’s energy crisis cannot be solved by renewable and unconventional sources of

Energy.

If the remaining reserve of crude oil is well managed along with a mix of renewable and

unconventional sources of energy, I can see our civilization surviving for several decades,

perhaps a few centuries.

A new source of energy which is abundant and versatile like fossil fuels is needed to sustain

our prolong existence on the planet, but where this new source of energy will emerge from

remains elusive.

THANK YOU

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