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Until renewable sources of energy like wind or solar become more reliable and less expensive, people worldwide remain reliant on fossil fuels for transportation and energy. This means that if people want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there need to be better ways of mitigating the effects of extracting and burning oil and gas.
Now, Adam Brandt, assistant professor of energy resources engineering in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences at Stanford, and his colleagues have performed a first global analysis comparing emissions associated with oil production techniques -- a step toward developing policies that could reduce those emissions. They published their work Aug. 30 in Science.
The group found that the burning of unwanted gas associated with oil production -- called flaring -- remains the most carbon-intensive part of producing oil. Brandt spoke with Stanford Report about the group's findings and strategies for reducing flaring.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @10:28AM (5 children)
In the US, yes. But in countries like Venezuela, that are oil rich yet economically poor, they would welcome these engines with open arms to help their desperate need for electricity. I'm certain there are other countries that would take them, too.
Yes, Venezuela's economy is shit because of their government and its policies. Sitting on the world's largest confirmed oil reserves and they have 1,000,000% inflation in 2018 - that's just inept management. But they are looking for any advantages they can gain, and these engines would provide some advantage for them.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 01 2018, @10:31AM (2 children)
With open arms, but not with hard currency. Therein lies the rub of that particular problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @02:46PM (1 child)
While I doubt anyone in the Venezuelan government is that creative, all they would have to do is require "flare gas-->electricity" production as part of granting oil drilling leases. The oil is worth enough that the multinational drilling companies would work it out.
While it's probably too early to do the numbers, the extra cost of running this generation might not be all that much compared to the total cost of a drilling operation(?), so maybe this electricity is put on the grid for free.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 01 2018, @09:29PM
They nationalized the oil industry in Venezuela. There's no multinational drilling companies there to figure this stuff out.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday September 02 2018, @03:19PM (1 child)
Production peak in '04 smooth steady decline since then.
Ironically I know more about their petrochem situation than their politics. Good luck arguing the chicken and the egg ALTHOUGH historically government quality has not had much effect on production in pre-peak years across multiple continents and civilizations, so I'd theorize Venezuela falling apart politically is a result of post-peak declining production, not the other way around.
Economic health as most see it is linked to growth first derivative, so post peak its all downhill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @05:10PM
Yeah. I suspect the Arab Spring was more the cost of "Bread & Circuses" intersecting the oil revenue of the various Arab states.
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2012/03/17/let-them-eat-baklava [economist.com]
Yes while in some places the actual Bread prices might have been kept stable, the cost of subsidizing it meant the money had to come from elsewhere e.g the Circuses...
But see: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2014/04/high-food-prices-arab-spring/ [newsecuritybeat.org]