Environmental issues associated with fossil fuel resources; an evaluation of research opportunities for the U.S. Geological Survey's Energy Resources Program

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.L. Tuttle ◽  
G.N. Breit ◽  
Richard G. Stanley ◽  
R.B. Finkelman ◽  
E.I. Robbins ◽  
...  
2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (136) ◽  
pp. 455-468
Author(s):  
Hartwig Berger

The article discusses the future of mobility in the light of energy resources. Fossil fuel will not be available for a long time - not to mention its growing environmental and political conflicts. In analysing the potential of biofuel it is argued that the high demands of modern mobility can hardly be fulfilled in the future. Furthermore, the change into using biofuel will probably lead to increasing conflicts between the fuel market and the food market, as well as to conflicts with regional agricultural networks in the third world. Petrol imperialism might be replaced by bio imperialism. Therefore, mobility on a solar base pursues a double strategy of raising efficiency on the one hand and strongly reducing mobility itself on the other.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Mulligan

Energy supplies are central to human ecology and key to the sustainability of human communities, but the decline of fossil fuel resources is largely ignored in global environmental politics. Most political analysis of energy focuses on state-centered “energy security” while largely overlooking discourses of environmental or ecological security. Yet energy and the environment are intimately connected; in the 1970s and 1980s, energy resources were seen as very much a part of the environment to be secured, while today fossil energy is seen as an evident threat to the environment, especially through the medium of climate change. This article surveys the changing relationships among energy, the environment, and security, and suggests a framework for examining the discursive forces that have affected such changes. This framework offers guidance toward developing a more ecologically informed approach to energy and (state, global, and human) security under conditions of scarce and declining global fossil fuel supplies.


Nanoscale ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingbing Cui ◽  
Guo-Dong Fu

The fossil-fuel shortage and severe environmental issues have posed ever-increasing demands on clean and renewable energy sources, for which the exploration of electrocatalysts has been in a big challenge toward...


2012 ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
AKM Iftekharul Islam

A significant geopolitical consequence of the demise of the Soviet Union1 in the international arena is the rise of intense political and commercial competition for control of the vast energy resources of the newly independent and vulnerable states of the Caucasus and Central Asia. These energy resources and, in particular, the oil and natural gas deposits have now become the apple of discord in Central Asia introducing a new chapter in the Great Game of control over Eurasia (Hill 1997: 200). The region has great energy potential and is strategically important. The United States has varied and at times competing interests in Central Asia. In the past few years, real and present dangers to the U.S. national security especially Islamist terrorism and threats to the energy supply, have affected the U.S. policy in Central Asia. The region, which includes the five post-Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan and the Caspian basin, plays an important part in the U.S. global strategy in view of its proximity to Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, and other key regional actors. No less important are its ethno-religious composition and vast deposits of oil, gas, coal, and uranium. Literally, the U.S. interests in Central Asia can be summarized in three simple words: security, energy, and democracy. Moreover, a key U.S. national security concern is the diversification of energy sources and the Caspian region is a significant alternative source of fossil fuels. In this article a critical analysis will be attempted on the U.S. policy and role in central Asia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12931 The Arts Faculty Journal Vol.4 July 2010-June 2011 pp.33-51


Author(s):  
Chen (Sarah) Xu ◽  
Liang-Chieh (Victor) Cheng

Natural gas vehicles (NGV) have attracted more and more attention from policy makers since natural gas is a clean substitute for traditional fossil fuel that is also readily accessible. In some areas such as the state of Texas, vehicles that do not use traditional fossil fuel (e.g., NGVs) are exempt from paying fuel taxes. Government financial incentives have motivated substantial adoption of NGVs. This paper studies NGV adoption behavior in both U.S. and Texas markets to estimate the dynamics of NGV diffusion. This research employs well-known Bass diffusion models applied to NGV adoption, using data from both the U.S. and Texas. Among several interesting results, we find that NGV adoption through an imitation effect appears to be significant for the U.S. NGV market.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Downie

AbstractIn the field of business and politics, research on the role of business actors in individual fossil fuel industries that contribute to climate change has been sparse. At the same time theorising the role of ad hoc coalitions has been limited even though they appear to be an important vehicle for business actors seeking to shape contemporary policy contests. This paper attempts to address these understudied areas by drawing on a rich empirical dataset to examine the role of three ad hoc coalitions in the U.S. energy sector. In doing so, it builds on the existing literature to establish a theoretical basis for identifying the defining elements of ad hoc coalitions and the conditions under which business actors decide to establish them. Further, it sheds light on how business actors use ad hoc coalitions in three key fossil fuel industries—gas, oil, and coal—to shape policy outcomes, and in turn shape the path to a clean energy transition.


Author(s):  
K. G. Burra ◽  
A. K. Gupta

Abstract Rising atmospheric CO2 levels from significant imbalance between carbon emissions from fossil fuel utilization, especially for energy and chemicals, and natural carbon sequestration rates is known to drive-up the global temperatures and associated catastrophic climate changes, such as rising mean sea level, glacial melting, and extinction of ecosystems. Carbon capture and utilization techniques are necessary for transition from fossil fuel infrastructure to renewable energy resources to help delay the dangers of reaching to the point of positive feedback between carbon emissions and climate change which can drive terrestrial conditions to uninhabitable levels. CO2 captured from the atmosphere directly or from flue gases of a power plant can be recycled and transformed to CO and syngas for use as energy and value-added chemicals. Utilizing renewable energy resources to drive CO2 conversion to CO via thermochemical redox looping can provide a carbon negative renewable energy conversion pathway for sustainable energy production as well as value-added products. Substituted ferrites such as Co-ferrite, Mnferrite were found to be promising materials to aid the conversion of CO2 to CO at lower reduction temperatures. Furthermore, the conversion of these materials in the presence of Al2O3 provided hercynite cycling, which further lowered the reduction temperature. In this paper, Co-ferrite and Co-ferrite-alumina prepared via co-precipitation were investigated to understand their potential as oxygen carriers for CO2 conversion under isothermal redox looping. Isothermal reduction looping provided improved feasibility in redox conversion since it avoids the need for temperature swinging which improves thermal efficiency. These efforts alleviates the energy losses in heat recovery while also reducing thermal stresses on both the materials and the reactor. Lab-scale testing was carried out at 1673 K on these materials for extended periods and multiple cycles to gain insights into cyclic performance and the feasibility of sintering, which is a common issue in iron-oxide-based oxygen carriers. Cobalt doping provided with lowering of reduction temperature requirement at the cost of oxidation thermodynamic spontaneity that required increased oxidation temperature. At the concentrations examined, these opposing phenomenon made isothermal redox operation feasible by providing high CO yields comparable to oxygen carriers in the literature, which were operated at different temperatures for reduction and oxidation. Significantly high CO yields (∼ 750 μmol/g) were obtained from Co-ferrite isothermal redox looping. Co-ferrite-alumina provided lower CO yields compared to Co-ferrite. The oxygen storage was similar to those reported in the literature on isothermal H2O splitting, but with improved morphological stability at high temperature, especially compared to ferrite. This pathway of oxygen carrier development is considered suitable with further requirement in optimization for scaling of renewable CO2 conversion into valuable products.


2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 742-747
Author(s):  
Abdur Rashid Sangi ◽  
Abdul Qayoom ◽  
Abdul Qadir ◽  
Ahmed N Abdalla ◽  
Rehan Ali

Solar energy exploitation through photovoltaic technology has demonstrated a sustainable way for curbing energy needs and cutting environmental issues happening due to emissions of carbon dioxide, CO2 from the usage of non-renewable energy resources. The purpose of this study was to reduce metallization by choosing optimal metallization on silicon photovoltaic wafer. Using numerical study, the effects of the number of busbars, fingers, and soldering/probe points were analyzed and also the study of the size of busbar and finger was carried out to find the optimal value for each which assures better performance. It is revealed that increasing the number and size of busbars, fingers, and probe points result in increasing fill factor, however, the efficiency of the device is limited to a number which provides the best optimal performance in terms of efficiency, whereas increasing the size (width) of the parameter result in a decrease in efficiency increasing shading factor. The optimal value of prescribed parameters was recorded as 4, 82, and 20 numbers of busbars, fingers, and probe points, respectively, while an optimal value of the width of busbar and finger is found as 0.5 mm and 60 µm, respectively. These values attained efficiency and fill factor above 20% and 80%, respectively. This study finds a realistic method to further diminish the metallization, improve the performance, and reduce the cost of often used industrial silicon photovoltaic cells.


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