Energy from Fossil Fuels

Fulkerson, W.; Judkins, R.R.; Sanghvi, Manoj K.

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0990-128

Cited by 71 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Most energy-resources specialists agree that coal reserves as a source of fuel will outlast oil and gas by a few centuries (Fulkerson, 1990). Even if coal is currently rarely used as a transportation or domestic-heating fuel in the U.S.A. and in Western Europe, it still provides a large share of the fuel for power generation.…”

Section: 1) Coal and Coal Gasificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural studies in limestone sulfidation

Fenouil¹

1993

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Section: 1) Coal and Coal Gasificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural studies in limestone sulfidation

Fenouil¹

1993

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“…There are several reasons why fossil fuels remain so popular (Fulkerson et al 1990). First, they are accessible in one form or another in almost all regions of the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning carbon dioxide into fuel

Jiang

Xiao

Кузнецов

et al. 2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

414

289

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Our present dependence on fossil fuels means that, as our demand for energy inevitably increases, so do emissions of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). To avoid the obvious consequences on climate change, the concentration of such greenhouse gases in the atmosphere must be stabilized. But, as populations grow and economies develop, future demands now ensure that energy will be one of the defining issues of this century. This unique set of (coupled) challenges also means that science and engineering have a unique opportunity-and a burgeoning challenge-to apply their understanding to provide sustainable energy solutions. Integrated carbon capture and subsequent sequestration is generally advanced as the most promising option to tackle greenhouse gases in the short to medium term. Here, we provide a brief overview of an alternative mid-to long-term option, namely, the capture and conversion of CO 2 , to produce sustainable, synthetic hydrocarbon or carbonaceous fuels, most notably for transportation purposes.Basically, the approach centres on the concept of the large-scale re-use of CO 2 released by human activity to produce synthetic fuels, and how this challenging approach could assume an important role in tackling the issue of global CO 2 emissions. We highlight three possible strategies involving CO 2 conversion by physico-chemical approaches: sustainable (or renewable) synthetic methanol, syngas production derived from flue gases from coal-, gas-or oil-fired electric power stations, and photochemical production of synthetic fuels. The use of CO 2 to synthesize commodity chemicals is covered elsewhere (Arakawa et al. 2001 Chem. Rev. 101, 953-996); this review is focused on the possibilities for the conversion of CO 2 to fuels. Although these three prototypical areas differ in their ultimate applications, the underpinning thermodynamic considerations centre on the conversionand hence the utilization-of CO 2 . Here, we hope to illustrate that advances in the science and engineering of materials are critical for these new energy technologies, and specific examples are given for all three examples.With sufficient advances, and institutional and political support, such scientific and technological innovations could help to regulate/stabilize the CO 2 levels in the atmosphere and thereby extend the use of fossil-fuel-derived feedstocks.

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“…Climate change has destabilized human societies in the past, often because the life-support properties of biodiversity had been impoverished prior to climate change (Ponting 1992). Prudence dictates that we reduce the annual emission rate to about 1 billion tons so that the CO 2 concentration will be stabilized at under 400 parts per million (Fulkerson et al 1990). This can be accomplished in a matter of several decades if we aggressively shift to using renewable energy (Gibbons et al 1989, Flavin and Lenssen 1994, Energy Innovations 1997, Clemmer et al 2001, Dunn 2001.…”

Section: Renewable Energy Sources and Conservation Can Preserve Biodimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Human activities (primarily burning fossil fuels, cutting and burning forests) are releasing over 6 billion tons of CO 2 into the atmosphere annually (Fulkerson et al 1990). This rate of CO 2 emissions-or increasing rates, as is now the case-are effecting climate change (Watson et al 2001).…”

Section: Renewable Energy Sources and Conservation Can Preserve Biodimentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Human Energy Use Causes Biological Diversity Loss and Undermines Prospects for Sustainability

McDaniel¹,

Borton²

2002

BioScience

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Forum Earth has entered or soon will enter the sixth mass extinction of multicellular life (Wilson 1992(Wilson , 2002. Human activities are the primary reason. Many lines of evidence point toward this involvement, but here we consider a direct one. Our harnessing of energy sources other than our own has provided us with the means not only for creating modern civilization but also for taking a huge fraction of life's annual energy budget provided by plant photosynthesis. Vitousek and colleagues (1986) made the first detailed estimates of how much humans use, directly and indirectly, of the planetary energy budget: 27 percent of global net primary production (NPP) and 39 percent of terrestrial net primary production (tNPP). The flow of commercial energy, and the related confiscation of NPP, has an unavoidable negative effect on biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity in turn raises serious questions about the possibility of creating a durable global civilization.Perspective on the importance of energy flow is gained by comparing current energy flow with the prehistoric flow of energy through hunter-gatherer societies. When this is done, the current mass extinction appears as a predictable, expected result. Such a consequence provides sufficient justification for revising energy policies to reduce the amount and change the type of energy flow.

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Energy from Fossil Fuels

Cited by 71 publications

References 0 publications

Structural studies in limestone sulfidation

Structural studies in limestone sulfidation

Turning carbon dioxide into fuel

Increased Human Energy Use Causes Biological Diversity Loss and Undermines Prospects for Sustainability

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