Public Opinion on Energy

Posted on August 21, 2014 by mugadonna

Pew Research Center. Feb. 27-March 16, 2014. N=3,335 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 2.

“Do you favor or oppose building the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from Canada’s oil sands region through the Midwest to refineries in Texas?”

		Favor	Oppose	Unsure/ Refused
		%	%	%
	2/27 – 3/16/14	61	27	12
	9/4-8/13	65	30	5
	3/13-17/13	66	23	11

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Feb. 27-March 2, 2014. N=1,002 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.5.

“As you may know, there is a proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to Texas. Do you think the U.S. government should or should not approve the building of this pipeline?”

		Should	Should not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	2/27 – 3/2/14	65	22	13

“Do you think this pipeline would or would not create a significant number of jobs?”

		Would	Would not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	2/27 – 3/2/14	85	10	5

“Do you think this pipeline would or would not pose a significant risk to the environment?”

		Would	Would not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	2/27 – 3/2/14	47	44	9

Pew Research Center. Sept. 4-8, 2013. N=1,506 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 2.9.

“Do you favor or oppose increased use of fracking, a drilling method that uses high-pressure water and chemicals to extract oil and natural gas from underground rock formations?”

		Favor	Oppose	Unsure/ Refused
		%	%	%
	9/4-8/13	44	49	7
	3/13-17/13	48	38	14

“Do you favor or oppose setting stricter emission limits on power plants in order to address climate change?”

		Favor	Oppose	Unsure/ Refused
		%	%	%
	9/4-8/13	65	30	5
	2/13-18/13	62	28	10

United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. July 11-14, 2013. N=1,002 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.6.

“The President is deciding whether to build the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Canada to the United States. Supporters of the pipeline say it will ease America’s dependence on Mideast oil and create jobs. Opponents fear the environmental impact of building a pipeline. What about you? Do you support or oppose building the Keystone XL pipeline?” 2012: “One thing the President did not mention in his speech was his position on the Keystone X-L pipeline to carry oil from Canada to the United States. …”

		Support	Oppose	Unsure/ Refused
		%	%	%
	7/11-14/13	67	24	9
	1/26-29/12	64	22	14

“As you may know, President Obama recently proposed regulations that would reduce emissions from power plants. Supporters say these regulations are necessary to reduce the risk of global climate change. Opponents say these regulations aren’t worthwhile and could increase electricity prices. Do you believe Congress should vote to stop these new regulations, or not?”

		Should vote to stop	Should not vote to stop	Unsure/ Refused
		%	%	%
	7/11-14/13	46	42	12

Gallup Poll. March 7-10, 2013. N=1,022 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 4.

“With which one of these statements about the environment and energy production do you most agree? Protection of the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of limiting the amount of energy supplies — such as oil, gas and coal — which the United States produces. OR, Development of U.S. energy supplies — such as oil, gas and coal — should be given priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent.” Options rotated

Protection
of the
environment

Development
of energy
supplies

Equally/
Both (vol.)

Neither/
Other (vol.)

Unsure

3/7-10/13

3/8-11/12

3/3-6/11

5/24-25/10

3/4-7/10

3/5-8/09

3/6-9/08

3/11-14/07

3/13-16/06

3/7-10/05

3/8-11/04

3/3-5/03

3/4-7/02

3/5-7/01

“Which of the following approaches to solving the nation’s energy problems do you think the U.S. should follow right now: emphasize production of more oil, gas and coal supplies, or emphasize more conservation by consumers of existing energy supplies?” Options rotated. N=493 (Form A), margin of error ± 6.

Production

Conservation

Equally/
Both (vol.)

Neither/
Other (vol.)

Unsure

3/7-10/13

3/8-11/12

–

3/3-6/11

3/4-7/10

3/6-9/08

“Which of the following approaches to solving the nation’s energy problems do you think the U.S. should follow right now: emphasize production of more oil, gas and coal supplies, or emphasize the development of alternative energy such as wind and solar power?” Options rotated. N=529 (Form B), margin of error ± 6.

Oil, gas
and coal

Alternative
energy

Equally/
Both (vol.)

Neither/
Other (vol.)

Unsure

3/7-10/13

3/8-11/12

3/3-6/11

“Do you think that as a country, the United States should put more emphasis, less emphasis, or about the same emphasis as it does now on producing domestic energy from each of the following sources? . . .”

More
emphasis

Less
emphasis

Same
emphasis

Unsure

“Solar power”

3/7-10/13

“Wind”

3/7-10/13

“Natural gas”

3/7-10/13

“Oil”

3/7-10/13

“Nuclear power”

3/7-10/13

“Coal”

3/7-10/13

Green Economy

Posted on August 21, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Environmental economics
Part of a series on
Concepts
Green accounting Green economy Green trading Eco commerce Green job Environmental enterprise Fiscal environmentalism Environmental finance Renewable energy
Policies
Sustainable tourism Ecotax Environmental tariff Net metering Environmental pricing reform Pigovian tax
Dynamics
Renewable energy commercialization Marginal abatement cost Green paradox Green politics Pollution haven hypothesis
Carbon related
Low-carbon economy Carbon neutral fuel Carbon neutrality Carbon pricing Emissions trading Carbon credit Carbon offset Carbon emission trading Personal carbon trading Carbon tax Carbon finance Feed-in tariff Carbon diet Food miles 2000-watt society Carbon footprint

The green economy is defined as an economy that results in reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus.^[1]

A feature distinguishing it from prior economic regimes is the direct valuation of natural capital and ecological services as having economic value (see The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and Bank of Natural Capital) and a full cost accounting regime in which costs externalized onto society via ecosystems are reliably traced back to, and accounted for as liabilities of, the entity that does the harm or neglects an asset.^[2]

Green Sticker and ecolabel practices have emerged as consumer facing measurements of friendliness to the environment and sustainable development. Many industries are starting to adopt these standards as a viable way to promote their greening practices in a globalizing economy. Green economy and the related field of ecological economics share many of their perspectives with feminist economics, including the focus on sustainability, nature, justice and care values.^[3]

“Green” economists and economics

“Green economics” is loosely defined as any theory of economics by which an economy is considered to be component of the ecosystem in which it resides (after Lynn Margulis). A holistic approach to the subject is typical, such that economic ideas are commingled with any number of other subjects, depending on the particular theorist. Proponents of feminism, postmodernism, the ecology movement, peace movement, Green politics, green anarchism and anti-globalization movement have used the term to describe very different ideas, all external to some equally ill-defined “mainstream” economics.^{[citation needed]}

The use of the term is further ambiguated by the political distinction of Green parties which are formally organized and claim the capital-G “Green” term as a unique and distinguishing mark. It is thus preferable to refer to a loose school of “‘green economists”‘ who generally advocate shifts towards a green economy, biomimicry and a fuller accounting for biodiversity. (see The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity especially for current authoritative international work towards these goals and Bank of Natural Capital for a layperson’s presentation of these.)^{[citation needed]}

Some economists view green economics as a branch or subfield of more established schools. For instance, it is regarded as classical economics where the traditional land is generalized to natural capital and has some attributes in common with labor and physical capital (since natural capital assets like rivers directly substitute for man-made ones such as canals). Or, it is viewed as Marxist economics with nature represented as a form of Lumpenproletariat, an exploited base of non-human workers providing surplus value to the human economy, or as a branch of neoclassical economics in which the price of life for developing vs. developed nations is held steady at a ratio reflecting a balance of power and that of non-human life is very low.^{[citation needed]}

An increasing commitment by the UNEP (and national governments such as the UK) to the ideas of natural capital and full cost accounting under the banner ‘green economy’ could blur distinctions between the schools and redefine them all as variations of “green economics”. As of 2010 the Bretton Woods institutions (notably the World Bank^[4] and International Monetary Fund (via its “Green Fund” initiative) responsible for global monetary policy have stated a clear intention to move towards biodiversity valuation and a more official and universal biodiversity finance.^{[citation needed]} Taking these into account targeting not less but radically zero emission and waste is what is promoted by the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives.^{[citation needed]}

Definition

Karl Burkart defines a green economy as based on six main sectors:^[5]

The three pillars of sustainability.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) representing global business defines green economy as “an economy in which economic growth and environmental responsibility work together in a mutually reinforcing fashion while supporting progress on social development”.^[6]^[7]

In 2012, the ICC published the Green Economy Roadmap, containing contributions from experts from around the globe brought together in a two-year consultation process. The Roadmap represents a comprehensive and multidisciplinary effort to clarify and frame the concept of “green economy”. It highlights the essential role of business in bringing solutions to common global challenges. It sets out the following 10 conditions which relate to business/intra-industry and collaborative action for a transition towards a green economy:

Open and competitive markets
Metrics, accounting, and reporting
Finance and investment
Awareness
Life cycle approach
Resource efficiency and decoupling
Employment
Education and skills
Governance and partnership
Integrated policy and decision-making

Measurement

The Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI),^[8] measures selected national economies as judged by expert practitioners and third party indicators and datasets. The 2014 GGEI will measure four primary dimensions defining a national green economy as follows:

Leadership and the extent to which national leaders are champions for green issues and addressing climate change on the local and international stage
Sectors and domestic policies supporting the greening of buildings, transportation, tourism and energy sectors in home market
Markets and investment and the perceived and actual opportunities for cleantech investment and the climate for innovation and commercialization of green products and services in each country
Environment and natural capital and the extent to which countries protect their environmental assets and use natural capital efficiently^{[citation needed]}

Other issues

Green economy includes green energy generation based on renewable energy to substitute for fossil fuels and energy conservation for efficient energy use.^{[citation needed]}

Because the market failure related to environmental and climate protection as a result of external costs, high future commercial rates and associated high initial costs for research, development, and marketing of green energy sources and green products prevents firms from being voluntarily interested in reducing environment-unfriendly activities (Reinhardt, 1999; King and Lenox, 2002; Wagner, 203; Wagner, et al., 2005), the green economy may need government subsidies as market incentives to motivate firms to invest and produce green products and services. The German Renewable Energy Act, legislations of many other member states of the European Union and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, all provide such market incentives.^{[citation needed]} However, other writers, including Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken, authors of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, and Jay Conrad Levinson and Shel Horowitz, authors of Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, argue that green strategies can be highly profitable for corporations that understand the business case for sustainability and can market green products and services beyond the traditional green consumer.

Criticisms

A number of organisations and individuals have criticised aspects of the ‘Green Economy’, particularly the mainstream conceptions of it based on using price mechanisms to protect nature, arguing that this will extend corporate control into new areas from forestry to water. The research organisation ETC Group argues that the corporate emphasis on bio-economy “will spur even greater convergence of corporate power and unleash the most massive resource grab in more than 500 years.”^[9] Venezuelan professor Edgardo Lander says that the UNEP’s report, Towards a Green Economy,^[10] while well-intentioned “ignores the fact that the capacity of existing political systems to establish regulations and restrictions to the free operation of the markets – even when a large majority of the population call for them – is seriously limited by the political and financial power of the corporations.”^[11] Ulrich Hoffmann, in a paper for UNCTAD also says that the focus on Green Economy and “green growth” in particular, “based on an evolutionary (and often reductionist) approach will not be sufficient to cope with the complexities of climate change” and “may rather give much false hope and excuses to do nothing really fundamental that can bring about a U-turn of global greenhouse gas emissions.^[12] Clive Spash, an ecological economist, has criticised the use of economic growth to address environmental losses,^[13] and argued that the Green Economy, as advocated by the UN, is not a new approach at all and is actually a diversion from the real drivers of environmental crisis.^[14] He has also criticised the UN’s project on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB),^[15] and the basis for valuing ecosystems services in monetary terms.^[16]

Renewable Energy Commercialization

Posted on August 21, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The wind, Sun, and biomass are three renewable energy sources.

Global New Investments in Renewable Energy^[1]

The 150 MW Andasol solar power station is a commercial parabolic trough solar thermal power plant, located in Spain. The Andasol plant uses tanks of molten salt to store solar energy so that it can continue generating electricity even when the sun isn’t shining.^[2]

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy.^[3] As of 2014, renewable energy accounts for about half of new nameplate electrical capacity installed and costs are continuing to fall.^[4]

Public policy and political leadership helps to “level the playing field” and drive the wider acceptance of renewable energy technologies.^[5]^[6]^[7] Countries such as Germany, Denmark, and Spain have led the way in implementing innovative policies which has driven most of the growth over the past decade. As of 2014, Germany has a commitment to the “Energiewende” transition to a sustainable energy economy, and Denmark has a commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2050. There are now 144 countries with renewable energy policy targets.

Total investment in renewable energy reached $244 billion in 2012. The top countries for investment in recent years were China, Germany, Spain, the United States, Italy, and Brazil.^[6]^[8] Leading renewable energy companies include BrightSource Energy, First Solar, Gamesa, GE Energy, Goldwind, Sinovel, Suntech, Trina Solar, Vestas and Yingli.^[9]^[10]

Climate change concerns^[11]^[12]^[13] are driving increasing growth in the renewable energy industries.^[14]^[15]^[16] According to a 2011 projection by the (IEA) International Energy Agency, solar power generators may produce most of the world’s electricity within 50 years, dramatically reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.^[17]

Economic analysts expect market gains for renewable energy (and efficient energy use) following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents.^[18]^[19] In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama restated his commitment to renewable energy and mentioned the long-standing Interior Department commitment to permit 10,000 MW of renewable energy projects on public land in 2012.^[20] Globally, there are an estimated 3 million direct jobs in renewable energy industries, with about half of them in the biofuels industry.^[21]

Overview

Rationale for renewables

Global public support for energy sources, based on a survey by Ipsos (2011).^[22]

Climate change, pollution, and energy insecurity are significant problems and addressing them requires major changes to energy infrastructures.^[23] Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to the energy supply portfolio, as they contribute to world energy security, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and provide opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases.^[3] Climate-disrupting fossil fuels are being replaced by clean, climate-stabilizing, non-depletable sources of energy:

…the transition from coal, oil, and gas to wind, solar, and geothermal energy is well under way. In the old economy, energy was produced by burning something — oil, coal, or natural gas — leading to the carbon emissions that have come to define our economy. The new energy economy harnesses the energy in wind, the energy coming from the sun, and heat from within the earth itself.^[24]

In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for a variety of methods for addressing the problem of energy supply. These methods include promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power, requiring utilities to use more renewable energy, and providing tax incentives to encourage the development and use of such technologies. It is expected that renewable energy investments will pay off economically in the long term.^[25]

EU member countries have shown support for ambitious renewable energy goals. In 2010, Eurobarometer polled the twenty-seven EU member states about the target “to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU by 20 percent by 2020”. Most people in all twenty-seven countries either approved of the target or called for it to go further. Across the EU, 57 percent thought the proposed goal was “about right” and 16 percent thought it was “too modest.” Just 19 percent said it was “too ambitious”.^[26]

As of 2011, new evidence has emerged that there are considerable risks associated with traditional energy sources, and that major changes to the mix of energy technologies is needed:

Several mining tragedies globally have underscored the human toll of the coal supply chain. New EPA initiatives targeting air toxics, coal ash, and effluent releases highlight the environmental impacts of coal and the cost of addressing them with control technologies. The use of fracking in natural gas exploration is coming under scrutiny, with evidence of groundwater contamination and greenhouse gas emissions. Concerns are increasing about the vast amounts of water used at coal-fired and nuclear power plants, particularly in regions of the country facing water shortages. Events at the Fukushima nuclear plant have renewed doubts about the ability to operate large numbers of nuclear plants safely over the long term. Further, cost estimates for “next generation” nuclear units continue to climb, and lenders are unwilling to finance these plants without taxpayer guarantees.^[27]

The 2014 REN21 Global Status Report says that renewable energies are no longer just energy sources, but ways to address pressing social, political, economic and environmental problems:

Today, renewables are seen not only as sources of energy, but also as tools to address many other pressing needs, including: improving energy security; reducing the health and environmental impacts associated with fossil and nuclear energy; mitigating greenhouse gas emissions; improving educational opportunities; creating jobs; reducing poverty; and increasing gender equality… Renewables have entered the mainstream.^[28]

Growth of renewables

Renewable energy sources were estimated 16.7% of global final energy consumption in 2010. By the end of 2011, total renewable power capacity worldwide exceeded 1,360 GW, up 8%. Of this total, modern renewable energy accounted for an estimated 8.2%, while the share from traditional biomass has declined slightly to an estimated 8.5%. In the power renewables accounted for almost half of the 208 GW of capacity added globally during 2011. Wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) accounted for almost 40% and 30% .^[29]

During the five-years from the end of 2004 through 2009, worldwide renewable energy capacity grew at rates of 10–60 percent annually for many technologies.^[30] In 2011, UN under-secretary general Achim Steiner said: “The continuing growth in this core segment of the green economy is not happening by chance. The combination of government target-setting, policy support and stimulus funds is underpinning the renewable industry’s rise and bringing the much needed transformation of our global energy system within reach.” He added: “Renewable energies are expanding both in terms of investment, projects and geographical spread. In doing so, they are making an increasing contribution to combating climate change, countering energy poverty and energy insecurity”.^[31]

In 2008 for the first time, more renewable energy than conventional power capacity was added in both the European Union and United States, demonstrating a “fundamental transition” of the world’s energy markets towards renewables, according to a report released by REN21, a global renewable energy policy network based in Paris.^[32] In 2010, renewable power consisted about a third of the newly built power generation capacities.^[33]

According to a 2011 projection by the International Energy Agency, solar power plants may produce most of the world’s electricity within 50 years, significantly reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that harm the environment. The IEA has said: “Photovoltaic and solar-thermal plants may meet most of the world’s demand for electricity by 2060 — and half of all energy needs — with wind, hydropower and biomass plants supplying much of the remaining generation”. “Photovoltaic and concentrated solar power together can become the major source of electricity”.^[17]

Selected renewable energy indicators^[6]^[32]^[34]^[35]^[36]
Selected global indicators	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Investment in new renewable capacity (annual)	30	38	63	104	130	160	211	257	244	214 billion USD
Existing renewables power capacity, including large-scale hydro	895	930	1,020	1,070	1,140	1,230	1,320	1,360	1,470	1,560 GWe
Existing renewables power capacity, excluding large hydro					200	250	312	390	480	560 GWe
Hydropower capacity (existing)						915	945	970	990	1,000 GWe
Wind power capacity (existing)	48	59	74	94	121	159	198	238	283	318 GWe
Solar PV capacity (grid-connected)				7.6	16	23	40	70	100	139 GWe
Solar hot water capacity (existing)	77	88	105	120	130	160	185	232	255	326 GWth
Ethanol production (annual)	30.5	33	39	50	67	76	86	86	83	87 billion liters
Biodiesel production (annual)					12	17	19	21	22	26 billion liters
Countries with policy targets for renewable energy use	45	49		68	79	89	98	118	138	144

[show]Extended content

Economic trends

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory projects that the levelized cost of wind power will decline about 25% from 2012 to 2030.^[39]

Renewable energy technologies are getting cheaper, through technological change and through the benefits of mass production and market competition. A 2011 IEA report said: “A portfolio of renewable energy technologies is becoming cost-competitive in an increasingly broad range of circumstances, in some cases providing investment opportunities without the need for specific economic support,” and added that “cost reductions in critical technologies, such as wind and solar, are set to continue.”^[40] As of 2011, there have been substantial reductions in the cost of solar and wind technologies:

The price of PV modules per MW has fallen by 60 percent since the summer of 2008, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates, putting solar power for the first time on a competitive footing with the retail price of electricity in a number of sunny countries. Wind turbine prices have also fallen – by 18 percent per MW in the last two years – reflecting, as with solar, fierce competition in the supply chain. Further improvements in the levelised cost of energy for solar, wind and other technologies lie ahead, posing a growing threat to the dominance of fossil fuel generation sources in the next few years.^[31]

Hydro-electricity and geothermal electricity produced at favourable sites are now the cheapest way to generate electricity. Renewable energy costs continue to drop, and the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is declining for wind power, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP) and some biomass technologies.^[4]

Renewable energy is also the most economic solution for new grid-connected capacity in areas with good resources. As the cost of renewable power falls, the scope of economically viable applications increases. Renewable technologies are now often the most economic solution for new generating capacity. Where “oil-fired generation is the predominant power generation source (e.g. on islands, off-grid and in some countries) a lower-cost renewable solution almost always exists today”.^[4] As of 2012, renewable power generation technologies accounted for around half of all new power generation capacity additions globally. In 2011, additions included 41 gigawatt (GW) of new wind power capacity, 30 GW of PV, 25 GW of hydro-electricity, 6 GW of biomass, 0.5 GW of CSP, and 0.1 GW of geothermal power.^[4]

Three generations of technologies

Renewable energy includes a number of sources and technologies at different stages of commercialization. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has defined three generations of renewable energy technologies, reaching back over 100 years:

“First-generation technologies emerged from the industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century and include hydropower, biomass combustion, geothermal power and heat. These technologies are quite widely used.^[3]

Second-generation technologies include solar heating and cooling, wind power, modern forms of bioenergy, and solar photovoltaics. These are now entering markets as a result of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) investments since the 1980s. Initial investment was prompted by energy security concerns linked to the oil crises of the 1970s but the enduring appeal of these technologies is due, at least in part, to environmental benefits. Many of the technologies reflect significant advancements in materials.^[3]

Third-generation technologies are still under development and include advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, concentrating solar thermal power, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. Advances in nanotechnology may also play a major role”.^[3] First-generation technologies are well established, second-generation technologies are entering markets, and third-generation technologies heavily depend on long-term research and development commitments, where the public sector has a role to play.^[3]

First-generation technologies

Biomass heating plant in Austria. The total heat power is about 1000 kW.

First-generation technologies are widely used in locations with abundant resources. Their future use depends on the exploration of the remaining resource potential, particularly in developing countries, and on overcoming challenges related to the environment and social acceptance.

Biomass

Biomass for heat and power is a fully mature technology which offers a ready disposal mechanism for municipal, agricultural, and industrial organic wastes. However, the industry has remained relatively stagnant over the decade to 2007, even though demand for biomass (mostly wood) continues to grow in many developing countries. One of the problems of biomass is that material directly combusted in cook stoves produces pollutants, leading to severe health and environmental consequences, although improved cook stove programmes are alleviating some of these effects. First-generation biomass technologies can be economically competitive, but may still require deployment support to overcome public acceptance and small-scale issues.^[3]

Hydroelectricity

The 22,500 MW Three Gorges Dam in the Peoples Republic of China, the largest hydroelectric power station in the world.

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity generation – 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010,^[41] and is expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years. Hydroelectric plants have the advantage of being long-lived and many existing plants have operated for more than 100 years.

Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use. There are now three hydroelectricity plants larger than 10 GW: the Three Gorges Dam in China, Itaipu Dam across the Brazil/Paraguay border, and Guri Dam in Venezuela.^[41] The cost of hydroelectricity is low, making it a competitive source of renewable electricity. The average cost of electricity from a hydro plant larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour.^[41]

Geothermal power and heat

One of many power plants at The Geysers, a geothermal power field in northern California, with a total output of over 750 MW

Geothermal power plants can operate 24 hours per day, providing baseload capacity. Estimates for the world potential capacity for geothermal power generation vary widely, ranging from 40 GW by 2020 to as much as 6,000 GW.^[42]^[43]

Geothermal power capacity grew from around 1 GW in 1975 to almost 10 GW in 2008.^[43] The United States is the world leader in terms of installed capacity, representing 3.1 GW. Other countries with significant installed capacity include the Philippines (1.9 GW), Indonesia (1.2 GW), Mexico (1.0 GW), Italy (0.8 GW), Iceland (0.6 GW), Japan (0.5 GW), and New Zealand (0.5 GW).^[43]^[44] In some countries, geothermal power accounts for a significant share of the total electricity supply, such as in the Philippines, where geothermal represented 17 percent of the total power mix at the end of 2008.^[45]

Geothermal (ground source) heat pumps represented an estimated 30 GWth of installed capacity at the end of 2008, with other direct uses of geothermal heat (i.e., for space heating, agricultural drying and other uses) reaching an estimated 15 GWth. As of 2008, at least 76 countries use direct geothermal energy in some form.^[46]

Second-generation technologies

Markets for second-generation technologies have been strong and growing over the past decade, and these technologies have gone from being a passion for the dedicated few to a major economic sector in countries such as Germany, Spain, the United States, and Japan. Many large industrial companies and financial institutions are involved and the challenge is to broaden the market base for continued growth worldwide.^[3]^[12]

Solar Heating

Solar energy technologies, such as solar water heaters, located on or near the buildings which they supply with energy, are a prime example of a soft energy technology.

Photovoltaics

Nellis Solar Power Plant at Nellis Air Force Base. These panels track the sun in one axis.

Main articles: Photovoltaics and List of photovoltaic power stations

President Barack Obama speaks at the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, also called solar cells, convert light into electricity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most photovoltaic modules were used to provide remote-area power supply, but from around 1995, industry efforts have focused increasingly on developing building integrated photovoltaics and photovoltaic power stations for grid connected applications.

Many solar photovoltaic power stations have been built, mainly in Europe.^[50] As of July 2012, the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are the Agua Caliente Solar Project (USA, 247 MW), Charanka Solar Park (India, 214 MW), Golmud Solar Park (China, 200 MW), Perovo Solar Park (Ukraine 100 MW), Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant (Canada, 97 MW), Brandenburg-Briest Solarpark (Germany 91 MW), Solarpark Finow Tower (Germany 84.7 MW), Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station (Italy, 84.2 MW), Eggebek Solar Park (Germany 83.6 MW), Senftenberg Solarpark (Germany 82 MW), Finsterwalde Solar Park (Germany, 80.7 MW), Okhotnykovo Solar Park (Ukraine, 80 MW), Lopburi Solar Farm (Thailand 73.16 MW), Rovigo Photovoltaic Power Plant (Italy, 72 MW), and the Lieberose Photovoltaic Park (Germany, 71.8 MW).^[50]

There are also many large plants under construction. The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm under construction in Riverside County, California and Topaz Solar Farm being built in San Luis Obispo County, California are both 550 MW solar parks that will use thin-film solar photovoltaic modules made by First Solar.^[51] The Blythe Solar Power Project is a 500 MW photovoltaic station under construction in Riverside County, California. The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant, which is being built by SunPower in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley.^[52] The 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch is a First Solar photovoltaic project which is under construction in the Antelope Valley area of the Western Mojave Desert, and due to be completed in 2013.^[53] The Mesquite Solar project is a photovoltaic solar power plant being built in Arlington, Maricopa County, Arizona, owned by Sempra Generation.^[54] Phase 1 will have a nameplate capacity of 150 megawatts.^[55]

Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and some use innovative tracking systems that follow the sun’s daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. There are no fuel costs or emissions during operation of the power stations.

Wind power

Wind power: worldwide installed capacity^[56]

Landowners in the US typically receive $3,000 to $5,000 per year in rental income from each wind turbine, while farmers continue to grow crops or graze cattle up to the foot of the turbines.^[57]

Some of the second-generation renewables, such as wind power, have high potential and have already realised relatively low production costs.^[58]^[59] Global wind power installations increased by 35,800 MW in 2010, bringing total installed capacity up to 194,400 MW, a 22.5% increase on the 158,700 MW installed at the end of 2009. The increase for 2010 represents investments totalling €47.3 billion (US$65 billion) and for the first time more than half of all new wind power was added outside of the traditional markets of Europe and North America, mainly driven, by the continuing boom in China which accounted for nearly half of all of the installations at 16,500 MW. China now has 42,300 MW of wind power installed.^[60] Wind power accounts for approximately 19% of electricity generated in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland.^[61] These are some of the largest wind farms in the world, as of 2012:

Large onshore wind farms
Wind farm	Current capacity (MW)	Country	Notes
Alta (Oak Creek-Mojave)	1,320	United States	^[62]
Jaisalmer Wind Park	1,064	India	^[63]
Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm	662.5	United States	^[64]^[65]
Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm	600	Romania	^[66]
Fowler Ridge Wind Farm	599.8	United States	^[67]
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center	735.5	United States	^[64]^[65]
Roscoe Wind Farm	781.5	United States	^[68]

As of 2014, the wind industry in the USA is able to produce more power at lower cost by using taller wind turbines with longer blades, capturing the faster winds at higher elevations. This has opened up new opportunities and in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, the price of power from wind turbines built 300 feet to 400 feet above the ground can now compete with conventional fossil fuels like coal. Prices have fallen to about 4 cents per kilowatt-hour in some cases and utilities have been increasing the amount of wind energy in their portfolio, saying it is their cheapest option.^[69]

Solar thermal power stations

View of Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System from Yates Well Road, San Bernardino County, California. The Clark Mountain Range can be seen in the distance.

Solar Towers from left: PS10, PS20.

Solar thermal power stations include the 354 megawatt (MW) Solar Energy Generating Systems power plant in the USA, Solnova Solar Power Station (Spain, 150 MW), Andasol solar power station (Spain, 100 MW), Nevada Solar One (USA, 64 MW), PS20 solar power tower (Spain, 20 MW), and the PS10 solar power tower (Spain, 11 MW). The 370 MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, located in California’s Mojave Desert, is the world’s largest solar-thermal power plant project currently under construction.^[70] Many other plants are under construction or planned, mainly in Spain and the USA.^[71] In developing countries, three World Bank projects for integrated solar thermal/combined-cycle gas-turbine power plants in Egypt, Mexico, and Morocco have been approved.^[71]

Modern forms of Bioenergy

See also: Biofuels and Sustainable biofuel

Neat ethanol on the left (A), gasoline on the right (G) at a filling station in Brazil.

Global ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres, while biodiesel expanded more than tenfold from less than 1 billion to almost 11 billion litres. Biofuels provide 1.8% of the world’s transport fuel and recent estimates indicate a continued high growth. The main producing countries for transport biofuels are the USA, Brazil, and the EU.^[72]

Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country’s automotive fuel. As a result of this and the exploitation of domestic deep water oil sources, Brazil, which for years had to import a large share of the petroleum needed for domestic consumption, recently reached complete self-sufficiency in liquid fuels.^[73]^[74]

Information on pump, California

Nearly all the gasoline sold in the United States today is mixed with 10 percent ethanol, a mix known as E10,^[75] and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM are among the automobile companies that sell flexible-fuel cars, trucks, and minivans that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). The challenge is to expand the market for biofuels beyond the farm states where they have been most popular to date. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for 7.5 billion US gallons (28,000,000 m³) of biofuels to be used annually by 2012, will also help to expand the market.^[76]

The growing ethanol and biodiesel industries are providing jobs in plant construction, operations, and maintenance, mostly in rural communities. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, “the ethanol industry created almost 154,000 U.S. jobs in 2005 alone, boosting household income by $5.7 billion. It also contributed about $3.5 billion in tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels”.^[76]

Third-generation technologies

Third-generation renewable energy technologies are still under development and include advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. Third-generation technologies are not yet widely demonstrated or have limited commercialization. Many are on the horizon and may have potential comparable to other renewable energy technologies, but still depend on attracting sufficient attention and research and development funding.^[3]

New bioenergy technologies

Selected Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Plants
in the U.S.^[77]^[78]
Company	Location	Feedstock
Abengoa Bioenergy	Hugoton, KS	Wheat straw
BlueFire Ethanol	Irvine, CA	Multiple sources
Gulf Coast Energy	Mossy Head, FL	Wood waste
Mascoma	Lansing, MI	Wood
POET LLC	Emmetsburg, IA	Corn cobs
SunOpta	Little Falls, MN	Wood chips
Xethanol	Auburndale, FL	Citrus peels
Note: plants are either operational or under construction

According to the International Energy Agency, cellulosic ethanol biorefineries could allow biofuels to play a much bigger role in the future than organizations such as the IEA previously thought.^[79] Cellulosic ethanol can be made from plant matter composed primarily of inedible cellulose fibers that form the stems and branches of most plants. Crop residues (such as corn stalks, wheat straw and rice straw), wood waste, and municipal solid waste are potential sources of cellulosic biomass. Dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass, are also promising cellulose sources that can be sustainably produced in many regions.^[80]

Ocean energy

Ocean energy is all forms of renewable energy derived from the sea including wave energy, tidal energy, river current, ocean current energy, offshore wind, salinity gradient energy and ocean thermal gradient energy.^[81]

The Rance Tidal Power Station (240 MW) is the world’s first tidal power station. The facility is located on the estuary of the Rance River, in Brittany, France. Opened on the 26th November 1966, it is currently operated by Électricité de France, and is the largest tidal power station in the world, in terms of installed capacity.

First proposed more than thirty years ago, systems to harvest utility-scale electrical power from ocean waves have recently been gaining momentum as a viable technology. The potential for this technology is considered promising, especially on west-facing coasts with latitudes between 40 and 60 degrees:^[82]

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Carbon Trust recently estimated the extent of the economically viable offshore resource at 55 TWh per year, about 14% of current national demand. Across Europe, the technologically achievable resource has been estimated to be at least 280 TWh per year. In 2003, the U.S. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimated the viable resource in the United States at 255 TWh per year (6% of demand).^[82]

There are currently nine projects, completed or in-development, off the coasts of the United Kingdom, United States, Spain and Australia to harness the rise and fall of waves by Ocean Power Technologies. The current maximum power output is 1.5 MW (Reedsport, Oregon), with development underway for 100 MW (Coos Bay, Oregon).^[83]

Enhanced geothermal systems

As of 2008, geothermal power development was under way in more than 40 countries, partially attributable to the development of new technologies, such as Enhanced Geothermal Systems.^[46] The development of binary cycle power plants and improvements in drilling and extraction technology may enable enhanced geothermal systems over a much greater geographical range than “traditional” Geothermal systems. Demonstration EGS projects are operational in the USA, Australia, Germany, France, and The United Kingdom.^[84]

Renewable energy industry

A Vestas wind turbine

Monocrystalline solar cell

Total investment in renewable energy reached $211 billion in 2010, up from $160 billion in 2009. The top countries for investment in 2010 were China, Germany, the United States, Italy, and Brazil.^[8] Continued growth for the renewable energy sector is expected and promotional policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.^[85]

Wind power companies

Photovoltaic companies

The solar PV market has been growing for the past few years. According to solar PV research company, PVinsights, worldwide shipment of solar modules in 2011 was around 25 GW, and the shipment year over year growth was around 40%. The top 5 solar module players in 2011 in turns are Suntech, First Solar, Yingli, Trina, and Canadian. The top 5 solar module companies possessed 51.3% market share of solar modules, according to PVinsights’ market intelligence report.

2011 Ranking	Market- share	Solar Module Company	2010 ranking	Market- share	Country
1	5.8%	Suntech	1	8.1%	China
2	5.7%	First Solar	2	7.9%	USA
3	4.8%	Yingli Solar	4	6.4%	China
4	4.3%	Trina Solar	5	6.1%	China
5	4.0%	Sungen Solar	6	5.3%	China
6	2.8%	Sharp	3	^[87]	Japan
7	2.8%	Sunpower	8	^[87]	Philippines
8	2.7%	Hanwha Solarone	7	^[87]	South Korea
9	2.3%	Jinko	>10	^[87]	China
10	1.9%	REC	10	^[87]	Norway
Sources:^[88]^[89]

The PV industry has seen dramatic drops in module prices since 2008. In late 2011, factory-gate prices for crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules dropped below the $1.00/W mark. The $1.00/W installed cost, is often regarded in the PV industry as marking the achievement of grid parity for PV. These reductions have taken many stakeholders, including industry analysts, by surprise, and perceptions of current solar power economics often lags behind reality. Some stakeholders still have the perspective that solar PV remains too costly on an unsubsidized basis to compete with conventional generation options. Yet technological advancements, manufacturing process improvements, and industry re-structuring, mean that further price reductions are likely in coming years.^[90]

Non-technical barriers to acceptance

Current energy markets, institutions, and policies have been developed to support the production and use of fossil fuels.^[91] Newer and cleaner technologies may offer social and environmental benefits, but utility operators often reject renewable resources because they are trained to think only in terms of big, conventional power plants.^[92] Consumers often ignore renewable power systems because they are not given accurate price signals about electricity consumption. Intentional market distortions (such as subsidies), and unintentional market distortions (such as split incentives) may work against renewables.^[92] Benjamin K. Sovacool has argued that “some of the most surreptitious, yet powerful, impediments facing renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States are more about culture and institutions than engineering and science”.^[93]

The obstacles to the widespread commercialization of renewable energy technologies are primarily political, not technical,^[94] and there have been many studies which have identified a range of “non-technical barriers” to renewable energy use.^[11]^[95]^[96] These barriers are impediments which put renewable energy at a marketing, institutional, or policy disadvantage relative to other forms of energy. Key barriers include:^[95]^[96]

Difficulty overcoming established energy systems, which includes difficulty introducing innovative energy systems, particularly for distributed generation such as photovoltaics, because of technological lock-in, electricity markets designed for centralized power plants, and market control by established operators. As the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change points out:

National grids are usually tailored towards the operation of centralised power plants and thus favour their performance. Technologies that do not easily fit into these networks may struggle to enter the market, even if the technology itself is commercially viable. This applies to distributed generation as most grids are not suited to receive electricity from many small sources. Large-scale renewables may also encounter problems if they are sited in areas far from existing grids.^[97]

Lack of government policy support, which includes the lack of policies and regulations supporting deployment of renewable energy technologies and the presence of policies and regulations hindering renewable energy development and supporting conventional energy development. Examples include subsidies for fossil-fuels, insufficient consumer-based renewable energy incentives, government underwriting for nuclear plant accidents, and complex zoning and permitting processes for renewable energy.
Lack of information dissemination and consumer awareness.
Higher capital cost of renewable energy technologies compared with conventional energy technologies.
Inadequate financing options for renewable energy projects, including insufficient access to affordable financing for project developers, entrepreneurs and consumers.
Imperfect capital markets, which includes failure to internalize all costs of conventional energy (e.g., effects of air pollution, risk of supply disruption)^[98] and failure to internalize all benefits of renewable energy (e.g., cleaner air, energy security).
Inadequate workforce skills and training, which includes lack of adequate scientific, technical, and manufacturing skills required for renewable energy production; lack of reliable installation, maintenance, and inspection services; and failure of the educational system to provide adequate training in new technologies.
Lack of adequate codes, standards, utility interconnection, and net-metering guidelines.
Poor public perception of renewable energy system aesthetics.
Lack of stakeholder/community participation and co-operation in energy choices and renewable energy projects.

With such a wide range of non-technical barriers, there is no “silver bullet” solution to drive the transition to renewable energy. So ideally there is a need for several different types of policy instruments to complement each other and overcome different types of barriers.^[96]^[99]

A policy framework must be created that will level the playing field and redress the imbalance of traditional approaches associated with fossil fuels. The policy landscape must keep pace with broad trends within the energy sector, as well as reflecting specific social, economic and environmental priorities.^[100]

Public policy landscape

Public policy has a role to play in renewable energy commercialization because the free market system has some fundamental limitations. As the Stern Review points out:

In a liberalised energy market, investors, operators and consumers should face the full cost of their decisions. But this is not the case in many economies or energy sectors. Many policies distort the market in favour of existing fossil fuel technologies.^[97]

The International Solar Energy Society has stated that “historical incentives for the conventional energy resources continue even today to bias markets by burying many of the real societal costs of their use”.^[101]

Fossil-fuel energy systems have different production, transmission, and end-use costs and characteristics than do renewable energy systems, and new promotional policies are needed to ensure that renewable systems develop as quickly and broadly as is socially desirable.^[91]

Lester Brown states that the market “does not incorporate the indirect costs of providing goods or services into prices, it does not value nature’s services adequately, and it does not respect the sustainable-yield thresholds of natural systems”.^[102] It also favors the near term over the long term, thereby showing limited concern for future generations.^[102] Tax and subsidy shifting can help overcome these problems.^[103]

Shifting taxes

Tax shifting has been widely discussed and endorsed by economists. It involves lowering income taxes while raising levies on environmentally destructive activities, in order to create a more responsive market. For example, a tax on coal that included the increased health care costs associated with breathing polluted air, the costs of acid rain damage, and the costs of climate disruption would encourage investment in renewable technologies. Several Western European countries are already shifting taxes in a process known there as environmental tax reform.^[102]

In 2001, Sweden launched a new 10-year environmental tax shift designed to convert 30 billion kroner ($3.9 billion) of income taxes to taxes on environmentally destructive activities. Other European countries with significant tax reform efforts are France, Italy, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Asia’s two leading economies, Japan and China, are considering carbon taxes.^[102]

Shifting subsidies

Renewable energy targets

Setting national renewable energy targets can be an important part of a renewable energy policy and these targets are usually defined as a percentage of the primary energy and/or electricity generation mix. For example, the European Union has prescribed an indicative renewable energy target of 12 per cent of the total EU energy mix and 22 per cent of electricity consumption by 2010. National targets for individual EU Member States have also been set to meet the overall target. Other developed countries with defined national or regional targets include Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, and some US States.^[106]

National targets are also an important component of renewable energy strategies in some developing countries. Developing countries with renewable energy targets include China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Egypt, Mali, and South Africa. The targets set by many developing countries are quite modest when compared with those in some industrialized countries.^[106]

Renewable energy targets in most countries are indicative and nonbinding but they have assisted government actions and regulatory frameworks. The United Nations Environment Program has suggested that making renewable energy targets legally binding could be an important policy tool to achieve higher renewable energy market penetration.^[106]

Levelling the playing field

The IEA has identified three actions which will allow renewable energy and other clean energy technologies to “more effectively compete for private sector capital”.

“First, energy prices must appropriately reflect the “true cost” of energy (e.g. through carbon pricing) so that the positive and negative impacts of energy production and consumption are fully taken into account”. Example: New UK nuclear plants cost £92.50/MWh,^[107]^[108] whereas offshore wind farms in the UK are supported with €74.2/MWh^[109] at a price of £150 in 2011 falling to £130 per MWh in 2022.^[110] In Denmark, the price can be €84/MWh.^[111]
“Second, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies must be removed, while ensuring that all citizens have access to affordable energy”.
“Third, governments must develop policy frameworks that encourage private sector investment in lower-carbon energy options”.^[112]

Green stimulus programs

In response to the global financial crisis in the late 2000s, the world’s major governments made “green stimulus” programs one of their main policy instruments for supporting economic recovery. Some US$188 billion in green stimulus funding had been allocated to renewable energy and energy efficiency, to be spent mainly in 2010 and in 2011.^[113]

Energy Sector Regulation

Public policy determines the extent to which renewable energy (RE) is to be incorporated into a developed or developing country’s generation mix. Energy sector regulators implement that policy—thus affecting the pace and pattern of RE investments and connections to the grid. Energy regulators often have authority to carry out a number of functions that have implications for the financial feasibility of renewable energy projects. Such functions include issuing licenses, setting performance standards, monitoring the performance of regulated firms, determining the price level and structure of tariffs, establishing uniform systems of accounts, arbitrating stakeholder disputes (like interconnection cost allocations), performing management audits, developing agency human resources (expertise), reporting sector and commission activities to government authorities, and coordinating decisions with other government agencies. Thus, regulators make a wide range of decisions that affect the financial outcomes associated with RE investments. In addition, the sector regulator is in a position to give advice to the government regarding the full implications of focusing on climate change or energy security. The energy sector regulator is the natural advocate for efficiency and cost-containment throughout the process of designing and implementing RE policies. Since policies are not self-implementing, energy sector regulators become a key facilitator (or blocker) of renewable energy investments.^[114]

Voluntary market mechanisms for renewable electricity

Voluntary markets, also referred to as green power markets, are driven by consumer preference. Voluntary markets allow a consumer to choose to do more than policy decisions require and reduce the environmental impact of their electricity use. Voluntary green power products must offer a significant benefit and value to buyers to be successful. Benefits may include zero or reduced greenhouse gas emissions, other pollution reductions or other environmental improvements on power stations. ^[115]

The driving force behind voluntary green electricity within the EU are the liberalized electricity markets and the RES Directive. According to the directive the EU Member States must ensure that the origin of electricity produced from renewables can be guaranteed and therefore a “guarantee of origin” must be issued (article 15). Environmental organisations are using the voluntary market to create new renewables and improving sustainability of the existing power production. In the US the main tool to track and stimulate voluntary actions is Green-e program managed by Center for Resource Solutions.^[116] In Europe the main voluntary tool used by the NGOs to promote sustainable electricity production is EKOenergy label.^[117]

Recent developments

Projected renewable energy investment growth globally (2007–2017)^[118]

A number of events in 2006 pushed renewable energy up the political agenda, including the US mid-term elections in November, which confirmed clean energy as a mainstream issue. Also in 2006, the Stern Review^[13] made a strong economic case for investing in low carbon technologies now, and argued that economic growth need not be incompatible with cutting energy consumption.^[119] According to a trend analysis from the United Nations Environment Programme, climate change concerns^[12] coupled with recent high oil prices^[120] and increasing government support are driving increasing rates of investment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.^[14]^[16]

Investment capital flowing into renewable energy reached a record US$77 billion in 2007, with the upward trend continuing in 2008.^[15] The OECD still dominates, but there is now increasing activity from companies in China, India and Brazil. Chinese companies were the second largest recipient of venture capital in 2006 after the United States. In the same year, India was the largest net buyer of companies abroad, mainly in the more established European markets.^[16]

New government spending, regulation, and policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.^[85] Most notably, U.S. President Barack Obama‘s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included more than $70 billion in direct spending and tax credits for clean energy and associated transportation programs. This policy-stimulus combination represents the largest federal commitment in U.S. history for renewables, advanced transportation, and energy conservation initiatives. Based on these new rules, many more utilities strengthened their clean-energy programs.^[85] Clean Edge suggests that the commercialization of clean energy will help countries around the world deal with the current economic malaise.^[85] Once-promising solar energy company, Solyndra, became involved in a political controversy involving U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration‘s authorization of a $535 million loan guarantee to the Corporation in 2009 as part of a program to promote alternative energy growth.^[121]^[122]^[123] The company ceased all business activity, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and laid-off nearly all of its employees in early September 2011.^[124]^[125]

In his January 24, 2012, State of the Union address, President Barack Obama restated his commitment to renewable energy. Obama said that he “will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.” Obama called for a commitment by the Defense Department to purchase 1,000 MW of renewable energy. He also mentioned the long-standing Interior Department commitment to permit 10,000 MW of renewable energy projects on public land in 2012.^[20]

As of 2012, renewable energy plays a major role in the energy mix of many countries globally. Renewables are becoming increasingly economic in both developing and developed countries. Prices for renewable energy technologies, primarily wind power and solar power, continued to drop, making renewables competitive with conventional energy sources. Without a level playing field, however, high market penetration of renewables is still dependent on a robust promotional policies. Fossil fuel subsidies, which are far higher than those for renewable energy, remain in place and quickly need to be phased out.^[126]

United Nations‘ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that “renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity”.^[127] In October 2011, he “announced the creation of a high-level group to drum up support for energy access, energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energy. The group is to be co-chaired by Kandeh Yumkella, the chair of UN Energy and director general of the UN Industrial Development Organisation, and Charles Holliday, chairman of Bank of America”.^[128]

Worldwide use of solar power and wind power continued to grow significantly in 2012. Solar electricity consumption increased by 58 percent, to 93 terawatt-hours (TWh). Use of wind power in 2012 increased by 18.1 percent, to 521.3 TWh.^[129] Global solar and wind energy installed capacities continued to expand even though new investments in these technologies declined during 2012. Worldwide investment in solar power in 2012 was $140.4 billion, an 11 percent decline from 2011, and wind power investment was down 10.1 percent, to $80.3 billion. But due to lower production costs for both technologies, total installed capacities grew sharply.^[129] This investment decline, but growth in installed capacity, may again occur in 2013.^[130]^[131] Analysts expect the market to triple by 2030.^[132]

100% renewable energy

Main article: 100% renewable energy

The incentive to use 100% renewable energy, for electricity, transport, or even total primary energy supply globally, has been motivated by global warming and other ecological as well as economic concerns. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that there are few fundamental technological limits to integrating a portfolio of renewable energy technologies to meet most of total global energy demand. In reviewing 164 recent scenarios of future renewable energy growth, the report noted that the majority expected renewable sources to supply more than 17% of total energy by 2030, and 27% by 2050; the highest forecast projected 43% supplied by renewables by 2030 and 77% by 2050.^[133] Renewable energy use has grown much faster than even advocates anticipated.^[134] At the national level, at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of energy supply. Also, Professors S. Pacala and Robert H. Socolow have developed a series of “stabilization wedges” that can allow us to maintain our quality of life while avoiding catastrophic climate change, and “renewable energy sources,” in aggregate, constitute the largest number of their “wedges.” ^[135]

Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of its Atmosphere and Energy Program says producing all new energy with wind power, solar power, and hydropower by 2030 is feasible and existing energy supply arrangements could be replaced by 2050. Barriers to implementing the renewable energy plan are seen to be “primarily social and political, not technological or economic”. Jacobson says that energy costs with a wind, solar, water system should be similar to today’s energy costs.^[136]

Similarly, in the United States, the independent National Research Council has noted that “sufficient domestic renewable resources exist to allow renewable electricity to play a significant role in future electricity generation and thus help confront issues related to climate change, energy security, and the escalation of energy costs … Renewable energy is an attractive option because renewable resources available in the United States, taken collectively, can supply significantly greater amounts of electricity than the total current or projected domestic demand.” .^[137]

The most significant barriers to the widespread implementation of large-scale renewable energy and low carbon energy strategies are primarily political and not technological. According to the 2013 Post Carbon Pathways report, which reviewed many international studies, the key roadblocks are: climate change denial, the fossil fuels lobby, political inaction, unsustainable energy consumption, outdated energy infrastructure, and financial constraints.^[138]

Energy efficiency

Main article: Efficient energy use

Moving towards energy sustainability will require changes not only in the way energy is supplied, but in the way it is used, and reducing the amount of energy required to deliver various goods or services is essential. Opportunities for improvement on the demand side of the energy equation are as rich and diverse as those on the supply side, and often offer significant economic benefits.^[139]

A sustainable energy economy requires commitments to both renewables and efficiency. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are said to be the “twin pillars” of sustainable energy policy. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has explained that both resources must be developed in order to stabilize and reduce carbon dioxide emissions:^[140]

Efficiency is essential to slowing the energy demand growth so that rising clean energy supplies can make deep cuts in fossil fuel use. If energy use grows too fast, renewable energy development will chase a receding target. Likewise, unless clean energy supplies come online rapidly, slowing demand growth will only begin to reduce total emissions; reducing the carbon content of energy sources is also needed.^[140]

The IEA has stated that renewable energy and energy efficiency policies are complementary tools for the development of a sustainable energy future, and should be developed together instead of being developed in isolation.^[141]

Alternative Fuel

Posted on August 21, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Typical Brazilian filling station with four alternative fuels for sale: biodiesel (B3), gasohol (E25), neat ethanol (E100), and compressed natural gas (CNG). Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.

Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Conventional fuels include: fossil fuels (petroleum (oil), coal, and natural gas), as well as nuclear materials such as uranium and thorium, as well as artificial radioisotope fuels that are made in nuclear reactors.

Some well-known alternative fuels include biodiesel, bioalcohol (methanol, ethanol, butanol), chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, propane, and other biomass sources.

Background

The main purpose of fuel is to store energy, which should be in a stable form and can be easily transported to the place of use. Almost all fuels are chemical fuels. The user employs this fuel to generate heat or perform mechanical work, such as powering an engine. It may also be used to generate electricity, which is then used for heating, lighting, or other purposes.

Biofuel

Main article: Biofuel

Alternative fuel dispensers at a regular gasoline station in Arlington, Virginia. B20 biodiesel at the left and E85 ethanol at the right.

Biofuels are also considered a renewable source. Although renewable energy is used mostly to generate electricity, it is often assumed that some form of renewable energy or a percentage is used to create alternative fuels.

Biomass

Main article: Biomass

Biomass in the energy production industry is living and recently dead biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production.

Algae-based fuels

Main article: Algae fuel

Algae-based biofuels have been promoted in the media as a potential panacea to crude oil-based transportation problems. Algae could yield more than 2000 gallons of fuel per acre per year of production.^[1] Algae based fuels are being successfully tested by the U.S. Navy^[2] Algae-based plastics show potential to reduce waste and the cost per pound of algae plastic is expected to be cheaper than traditional plastic prices.^[3]

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is made from animal fats or vegetable oils, renewable resources that come from plants such as,jatropha, soybean, sunflowers, corn, olive, peanut, palm, coconut, safflower, canola, sesame, cottonseed, etc. Once these fats or oils are filtered from their hydrocarbons and then combined with alcohol like methanol, biodiesel is brought to life^{[clarification needed]} from this chemical reaction. These raw materials can either be mixed with pure diesel to make various proportions, or used alone. Despite one’s mixture preference, biodiesel will release smaller number of pollutants (carbon monoxide particulates and hydrocarbons) than conventional diesel, because biodiesel burns both cleanly and more efficiently. Even with regular diesel’s reduced quantity of sulfur from the ULSD (ultra-low sulfur diesel) invention, biodiesel exceeds those levels because it is sulfur-free.^[4]

Alcohol fuels

Main articles: Alcohol fuel, Butanol fuel, Ethanol fuel and Methanol fuel

Methanol and ethanol fuel are primary sources of energy; they are convenient fuels for storing and transporting energy. These alcohols can be used in internal combustion engines as alternative fuels. Butanol has another advantage: it is the only alcohol-based motor fuel that can be transported readily by existing petroleum-product pipeline networks, instead of only by tanker trucks and railroad cars.^{[citation needed]}

Ammonia

Ammonia (chemical formula NH₃) can be used as fuel. A small machine can be set up to create the fuel and it is used where it is made. Benefits of ammonia include no need for oil, zero emissions, low cost,^[5] and distributed production reducing transport and related pollution.

Hydrogen

Main article: Hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen is an emissionless fuel. The byproduct of hydrogen burning is water, although some mono-nitrogen oxides NOx are produced when hydrogen is burned with air.^[6]^[7]

HCNG

Main article: HCNG

HCNG (or H2CNG) is a mixture of compressed natural gas and 4-9 percent hydrogen by energy.^[8]

Liquid nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is another type of emissionless fuel.

Compressed air

The air engine is an emission-free piston engine using compressed air as fuel. Unlike hydrogen, compressed air is about one-tenth as expensive as fossil oil, making it an economically attractive alternative fuel.

Natural Gas Vehicles

Compressed natural gas (CNG) and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) are two a cleaner combusting alternatives to conventional liquid automobile fuels.

CNG Fuel Types

CNG vehicles can use both renewable CNG and non-renewable CNG.^[9]

Conventional CNG is produced from the many underground natural gas reserves are in widespread production worldwide today. New technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to economically access unconventional gas resources, appear to have increased the supply of natural gas in a fundamental way.^[10]

Renewable natural gas or biogas is a methane‐based gas with similar properties to natural gas that can be used as transportation fuel. Present sources of biogas are mainly landfills, sewage, and animal/agri‐waste. Based on the process type, biogas can be divided into the following: Biogas produced by anaerobic digestion, Landfill gas collected from landfills, treated to remove trace contaminants, and Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG).^[9]

Practicality

Around the world, this gas powers more than 5 million vehicles, and just over 150,000 of these are in the U.S.^[11] American usage is growing at a dramatic rate.^[12]

Environmental Analysis

Because natural gas emits little pollutant when combusted, cleaner air quality has been measured in urban localities switching to natural gas vehicles ^[13] Tailpipe CO2 can be reduced by 15‐25% compared to gasoline, diesel.^[14] The greatest reductions occur in medium and heavy duty, light duty and refuse truck segments.^[14]

CO2 reductions of up to 88% are possible by using biogas.^[15]

Similarities to Hydrogen Natural gas, like hydrogen, is another fuel that burns cleanly; cleaner than both gasoline and diesel engines. Also, none of the smog-forming contaminates are emitted. Hydrogen and Natural Gas are both lighter than air and can be mixed together.^[16]

Nuclear power and radiothermal generators

Main articles: Nuclear power and radiothermal generator

Nuclear reactors

Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. The only controlled method now practical uses nuclear fission in a fissile fuel (with a small fraction of the power coming from subsequent radioactive decay). Use of the nuclear reaction nuclear fusion for controlled power generation is not yet practical, but is an active area of research.

Nuclear power is usually used by using a nuclear reactor to heat a working fluid such as water, which is then used to create steam pressure, which is converted into mechanical work for the purpose of generating electricity or propulsion in water. Today, more than 15% of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear power, and over 150 nuclear-powered naval vessels have been built.

In theory, electricity from nuclear reactors could also be used for propulsion in space, but this has yet to be demonstrated in a space flight. Some smaller reactors, such as the TOPAZ nuclear reactor, are built to minimize moving parts, and use methods that convert nuclear energy to electricity more directly, making them useful for space missions, but this electricity has historically been used for other purposes. Power from nuclear fission has been used in a number of spacecraft, all of them unmanned. The Soviets up to 1988 orbited 33 nuclear reactors in RORSAT military radar satellites, where electric power generated was used to power a radar unit that located ships on the Earth’s oceans. The U.S. also orbited one experimental nuclear reactor in 1965, in the SNAP-10A mission. No nuclear reactor has been sent into space since 1988.

Radiothermal generators

In addition, radioisotopes have been used as alternative fuels, on both land and in space. Their use on land is declining due to the danger of theft of isotope and environmental damage if the unit is opened. The decay of radioisotopes generates both heat and electricity in many space probes, particularly probes to outer planets where sunlight is weak, and low temperatures is a problem. Radiothermal generators (RTGs) which use such radioisotopes as fuels do not sustain a nuclear chain reaction, but rather generate electricity from the decay of a radioisotope which has (in turn) been produced on Earth as a concentrated power source (fuel) using energy from an Earth-based nuclear reactor.^[17]

Petroleum is Important

Posted on August 21, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Crude Oil” redirects here. For the 2008 film, see Crude Oil (film). For the petroleum spirit referred to in some locales as “petrol”, see Gasoline. For other uses, see Petroleum (disambiguation).

Proven world oil reserves, 2013

Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas

An oil refinery in Mina-Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait

Natural petroleum spring in Korňa, Slovakia

Petroleum (L. petroleum, from early 15c. “petroleum, rock oil” (mid-14c. in Anglo-French), from Medieval Latin petroleum, from Latin petra rock(see petrous) + Latin: oleum oil (see oil (n.)).^[1]^[2]^[3]) is a naturally occurring, yellow-to-black liquid found in geologic formations beneath the Earth’s surface, which is commonly refined into various types of fuels. It consists of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds.^[4] The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to intense heat and pressure.

Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling (natural petroleum springs are rare). This comes after the studies of structural geology (at the reservoir scale), sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization (mainly in terms of the porosity and permeability of geologic reservoir structures).^[5]^[6] It is refined and separated, most easily by distillation, into a large number of consumer products, from gasoline (petrol) and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals.^[7] Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials,^[8] and it is estimated that the world consumes about 90 million barrels each day.

The use of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, has a negative impact on Earth’s biosphere, releasing pollutants and greenhouse gases into the air and damaging ecosystems through events such as oil spills. Concern over the depletion of the earth’s finite reserves of oil, and the effect this would have on a society dependent on it, is a concept known as peak oil.

Etymology

The word petroleum comes from Greek: πέτρα (petra) for rocks and Greek: ἔλαιον (elaion) for oil. The term was found (in the spelling “petraoleum”) in 10th-century Old English sources.^[9] It was used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by the German mineralogist Georg Bauer, also known as Georgius Agricola.^[10] In the 19th century, the term petroleum was frequently used to refer to mineral oils produced by distillation from mined organic solids such as cannel coal (and later oil shale), and refined oils produced from them; in the United Kingdom, storage (and later transport) of these oils were regulated by a series of Petroleum Acts, from the Petroleum Act 1863 onwards.

History

Main article: History of petroleum

Early history

Oil derrick in Okemah, Oklahoma, 1922.

Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times, and is now important across society, including in economy, politics and technology. The rise in importance was due to the invention of the internal combustion engine, the rise in commercial aviation, and the importance of petroleum to industrial organic chemistry, particularly the synthesis of plastics, fertilizers, solvents, adhesives and pesticides.

More than 4000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon; there were oil pits near Ardericca (near Babylon), and a pitch spring on Zacynthus.^[11] Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus, one of the tributaries of the Euphrates. Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society. By 347 AD, oil was produced from bamboo-drilled wells in China.^[12] Early British explorers to Myanmar documented a flourishing oil extraction industry based in Yenangyaung, that in 1795 had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production.^[13] The mythological origins of the oil fields at Yenangyaung, and its hereditary monopoly control by 24 families, indicate very ancient origins.

Modern history

In 1847, the process to distill kerosene from petroleum was invented by James Young. He noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the Riddings colliery at Alfreton, Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848 Young set up a small business refining the crude oil.

Young eventually succeeded, by distilling cannel coal at a low heat, in creating a fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products. Young found that by slow distillation he could obtain a number of useful liquids from it, one of which he named “paraffine oil” because at low temperatures it congealed into a substance resembling paraffin wax.^[14]

The production of these oils and solid paraffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated 17 October 1850. In 1850 Young & Meldrum and Edward William Binney entered into partnership under the title of E.W. Binney & Co. at Bathgate in West Lothian and E. Meldrum & Co. at Glasgow; their works at Bathgate were completed in 1851 and became the first truly commercial oil-works in the world with the first modern oil refinery, using oil extracted from locally-mined torbanite, shale, and bituminous coal to manufacture naphtha and lubricating oils; paraffin for fuel use and solid paraffin were not sold until 1856.^[15]

Shale bings near Broxburn, 3 of a total of 19 in West Lothian

Another early refinery was built by Ignacy Łukasiewicz, providing a cheaper alternative to whale oil. The demand for petroleum as a fuel for lighting in North America and around the world quickly grew.^[16] Edwin Drake‘s 1859 well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, is popularly considered the first modern well. Drake’s well is probably singled out because it was drilled, not dug; because it used a steam engine; because there was a company associated with it; and because it touched off a major boom.^[17] However, there was considerable activity before Drake in various parts of the world in the mid-19th century. A group directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii Corps of Mining Engineers hand-drilled a well in the Baku region in 1848.^[18] There were engine-drilled wells in West Virginia in the same year as Drake’s well.^[19] An early commercial well was hand dug in Poland in 1853, and another in nearby Romania in 1857. At around the same time the world’s first, small, oil refinery was opened at Jasło in Poland, with a larger one opened at Ploiești in Romania shortly after. Romania is the first country in the world to have had its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics: 275 tonnes for 1857.^[20]^[21]

The first commercial oil well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario (then Canada West).^[22] Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground.^[23] Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene lamp oil.^[22] William’s well became commercially viable a year before Drake’s Pennsylvania operation and could be argued to be the first commercial oil well in North America.^[22] The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Advances in drilling continued into 1862 when local driller Shaw reached a depth of 62 metres using the spring-pole drilling method.^[24] On January 16, 1862, after an explosion of natural gas Canada’s first oil gusher came into production, shooting into the air at a recorded rate of 3,000 barrels per day.^[25] By the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan, had taken the lead in production.^[26]

Access to oil was and still is a major factor in several military conflicts of the twentieth century, including World War II, during which oil facilities were a major strategic asset and were extensively bombed.^[27] The German invasion of the Soviet Union included the goal to capture the Baku oilfields, as it would provide much needed oil-supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades.^[28] Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the US becoming the leading producer by mid-century. As petroleum production in the US peaked during the 1960s, however, the United States was surpassed by Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.

Today, about 90 percent of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40 percent of total energy consumption in the United States, but is responsible for only 1 percent of electricity generation. Petroleum’s worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world’s most important commodities. Viability of the oil commodity is controlled by several key parameters, number of vehicles in the world competing for fuel, quantity of oil exported to the world market (Export Land Model), Net Energy Gain (economically useful energy provided minus energy consumed), political stability of oil exporting nations and ability to defend oil supply lines.

The top three oil producing countries are Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States.^[29] About 80 percent of the world’s readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5 percen

Composition

In its strictest sense, petroleum includes only crude oil, but in common usage it includes all liquid, gaseous, and solid hydrocarbons. Under surface pressure and temperature conditions, lighter hydrocarbons methane, ethane, propane and butane occur as gases, while pentane and heavier ones are in the form of liquids or solids. However, in an underground oil reservoir the proportions of gas, liquid, and solid depend on subsurface conditions and on the phase diagram of the petroleum mixture.^[30]

An oil well produces predominantly crude oil, with some natural gas dissolved in it. Because the pressure is lower at the surface than underground, some of the gas will come out of solution and be recovered (or burned) as associated gas or solution gas. A gas well produces predominantly natural gas. However, because the underground temperature and pressure are higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane, hexane, and heptane in the gaseous state. At surface conditions these will condense out of the gas to form natural gas condensate, often shortened to condensate. Condensate resembles petrol in appearance and is similar in composition to some volatile light crude oils.

The proportion of light hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture varies greatly among different oil fields, ranging from as much as 97 percent by weight in the lighter oils to as little as 50 percent in the heavier oils and bitumens.

The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocarbons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium. The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation to formation but the proportion of chemical elements vary over fairly narrow limits as follows:^[31]

Most of the world’s oils are non-conventional.^[32]

Composition by weight
Element	Percent range
Carbon	83 to 85%
Hydrogen	10 to 14%
Nitrogen	0.1 to 2%
Oxygen	0.05 to 1.5%
Sulfur	0.05 to 6.0%
Metals	< 0.1%

Four different types of hydrocarbon molecules appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, determining the properties of each oil.^[30]

Composition by weight
Hydrocarbon	Average	Range
Alkanes (paraffins)	30%	15 to 60%
Naphthenes	49%	30 to 60%
Aromatics	15%	3 to 30%
Asphaltics	6%	remainder

Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish). In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a gas cap over the petroleum, and saline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it. Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crude bitumen. In Canada, bitumen is considered a sticky, black, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow.^[33] Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in the Orinoco oil sands, although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy oil. These oil sands resources are called unconventional oil to distinguish them from oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods. Between them, Canada and Venezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570×10⁹ m³) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice the volume of the world’s reserves of conventional oil.^[34]

Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and petrol, both important “primary energy“ sources.^[35] 84 percent by volume of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-based fuels), including petrol, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas.^[36] The lighter grades of crude oil produce the best yields of these products, but as the world’s reserves of light and medium oil are depleted, oil refineries are increasingly having to process heavy oil and bitumen, and use more complex and expensive methods to produce the products required. Because heavier crude oils have too much carbon and not enough hydrogen, these processes generally involve removing carbon from or adding hydrogen to the molecules, and using fluid catalytic cracking to convert the longer, more complex molecules in the oil to the shorter, simpler ones in the fuels.

Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, oil has become the world’s most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics; the 16 percent not used for energy production is converted into these other materials. Petroleum is found in porous rock formations in the upper strata of some areas of the Earth‘s crust. There is also petroleum in oil sands (tar sands). Known oil reserves are typically estimated at around 190 km³ (1.2 trillion (short scale) barrels) without oil sands,^[37] or 595 km³ (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands.^[38] Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels (13.4×10⁶ m³) per day, or 4.9 km³ per year. Which in turn yields a remaining oil supply of only about 120 years, if current demand remain static.

Reservoirs

Crude oil reservoirs

Hydrocarbon trap.

Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: a source rock rich in hydrocarbon material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil, a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in, and a cap rock (seal) or other mechanism that prevents it from escaping to the surface. Within these reservoirs, fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it, although the different layers vary in size between reservoirs. Because most hydrocarbons are less dense than rock or water, they often migrate upward through adjacent rock layers until either reaching the surface or becoming trapped within porous rocks (known as reservoirs) by impermeable rocks above. However, the process is influenced by underground water flows, causing oil to migrate hundreds of kilometres horizontally or even short distances downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. When hydrocarbons are concentrated in a trap, an oil field forms, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping.

The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where hydrocarbons are broken down to oil and natural gas by a set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The latter set is regularly used in petrochemical plants and oil refineries.

Wells are drilled into oil reservoirs to extract the crude oil. “Natural lift” production methods that rely on the natural reservoir pressure to force the oil to the surface are usually sufficient for a while after reservoirs are first tapped. In some reservoirs, such as in the Middle East, the natural pressure is sufficient over a long time. The natural pressure in most reservoirs, however, eventually dissipates. Then the oil must be extracted using “artificial lift” means. Over time, these “primary” methods become less effective and “secondary” production methods may be used. A common secondary method is “waterflood” or injection of water into the reservoir to increase pressure and force the oil to the drilled shaft or “wellbore.” Eventually “tertiary” or “enhanced” oil recovery methods may be used to increase the oil’s flow characteristics by injecting steam, carbon dioxide and other gases or chemicals into the reservoir. In the United States, primary production methods account for less than 40 percent of the oil produced on a daily basis, secondary methods account for about half, and tertiary recovery the remaining 10 percent. Extracting oil (or “bitumen”) from oil/tar sand and oil shale deposits requires mining the sand or shale and heating it in a vessel or retort, or using “in-situ” methods of injecting heated liquids into the deposit and then pumping out the oil-saturated liquid.

Unconventional oil reservoirs

Oil-eating bacteria biodegrade oil that has escaped to the surface. Oil sands are reservoirs of partially biodegraded oil still in the process of escaping and being biodegraded, but they contain so much migrating oil that, although most of it has escaped, vast amounts are still present—more than can be found in conventional oil reservoirs. The lighter fractions of the crude oil are destroyed first, resulting in reservoirs containing an extremely heavy form of crude oil, called crude bitumen in Canada, or extra-heavy crude oil in Venezuela. These two countries have the world’s largest deposits of oil sands.

On the other hand, oil shales are source rocks that have not been exposed to heat or pressure long enough to convert their trapped hydrocarbons into crude oil. Technically speaking, oil shales are not always shales and do not contain oil, but are fined-grain sedimentary rocks containing an insoluble organic solid called kerogen. The kerogen in the rock can be converted into crude oil using heat and pressure to simulate natural processes. The method has been known for centuries and was patented in 1694 under British Crown Patent No. 330 covering, “A way to extract and make great quantities of pitch, tar, and oil out of a sort of stone.” Although oil shales are found in many countries, the United States has the world’s largest deposits.^[50]

Petroleum industry

Crude Oil Export Treemap (2012) from Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity.

New York Mercantile Exchange prices for West Texas Intermediate since 2000

Main article: Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry is involved in the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting (often with oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and petrol. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category.

Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself, and thus is a critical concern to many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world’s energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32 percent for Europe and Asia, up to a high of 53 percent for the Middle East, South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8 km³) of oil per year, and the top oil consumers largely consist of developed nations. In fact, 24 percent of the oil consumed in 2004 went to the United States alone,^[53] though by 2007 this had dropped to 21 percent of world oil consumed.^[54]

In the US, in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) represents companies responsible for producing, distributing, refining, transporting and marketing petroleum. This non-profit trade association was founded in 1907, and is the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States.^[55]

Shipping

In the 1950s, shipping costs made up 33 percent of the price of oil transported from the Persian Gulf to USA,^[56] but due to the development of supertankers in the 1970s, the cost of shipping dropped to only 5 percent of the price of Persian oil in USA.^[56] Due to the increase of the value of the crude oil during the last 30 years, the share of the shipping cost on the final cost of the delivered commodity was less than 3% in 2010. For example, in 2010 the shipping cost from the Persian Gulf to the USA was in the range of 20 $/t and the cost of the delivered crude oil around 800 $/t.^{[citation needed]}

Price

Main article: Price of petroleum

After the collapse of the OPEC-administered pricing system in 1985, and a short lived experiment with netback pricing, oil-exporting countries adopted a market-linked pricing mechanism.^[57] First adopted by PEMEX in 1986, market-linked pricing was widely accepted, and by 1988 became and still is the main method for pricing crude oil in international trade.^[57] The current reference, or pricing markers, are Brent, WTI, and Dubai/Oman.^[57]

Uses

Further information: Petroleum products

The chemical structure of petroleum is heterogeneous, composed of hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. Because of this, petroleum may be taken to oil refineries and the hydrocarbon chemicals separated by distillation and treated by other chemical processes, to be used for a variety of purposes. See Petroleum products.

Fuels

A poster used to promote carpooling as a way to ration gasoline during World War II.

The most common distillation fractions of petroleum are fuels. Fuels include (by increasing boiling temperature range):^[58]

Common fractions of petroleum as fuels
Fraction	Boiling range ^oC
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)	−40
Butane	−12 to −1
Petrol	−1 to 110
Jet fuel	150 to 205
Kerosene	205 to 260
Fuel oil	205 to 290
Diesel fuel	260 to 315

Other derivatives

Certain types of resultant hydrocarbons may be mixed with other non-hydrocarbons, to create other end products:

Alkenes (olefins), which can be manufactured into plastics or other compounds
Lubricants (produces light machine oils, motor oils, and greases, adding viscosity stabilizers as required)
Wax, used in the packaging of frozen foods, among others
Sulfur or Sulfuric acid. These are useful industrial materials. Sulfuric acid is usually prepared as the acid precursor oleum, a byproduct of sulfur removal from fuels.
Bulk tar
Asphalt
Petroleum coke, used in speciality carbon products or as solid fuel
Paraffin wax
Aromatic petrochemicals to be used as precursors in other chemical production

Agriculture

Since the 1940s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides.

Petroleum by country

Consumption statistics

Global fossil carbon emissions, an indicator of consumption, for 1800–2007. Total is black, Oil is in blue.
Rate of world energy usage per day, from 1970 to 2010. 1000TWh=1PWh.^[59]
daily oil consumption from 1980 to 2006
oil consumption by percentage of total per region from 1980 to 2006: red=USA, blue=Europe, yellow=Asia+Oceania
Oil consumption 1980 to 2007 by region.

Consumption

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate for 2011, the world consumes 87.421 million barrels of oil each day.

Oil consumption per capita (darker colors represent more consumption, gray represents no data).

Production

For oil reserves by country, see List of countries by proven oil reserves.

Oil producing countries

Graph of Top Oil Producing Countries 1960–2006, including Soviet Union^[64]

In petroleum industry parlance, production refers to the quantity of crude extracted from reserves, not the literal creation of the product.

t coming from the Arab 5: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. A large portion of the world’s total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Canada and oil shale in Venezuela. While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada’s oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future.

Export

Oil exports by country.

In order of net exports in 2011, 2009 and 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

Import

Oil imports by country.

In order of net imports in 2011, 2009 and 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

Environmental effects

Diesel fuel spill on a road

Main article: Environmental issues with petroleum

Because petroleum is a naturally occurring substance, its presence in the environment need not be the result of human causes such as accidents and routine activities (seismic exploration, drilling, extraction, refining and combustion). Phenomena such as seeps^[68] and tar pits are examples of areas that petroleum affects without man’s involvement. Regardless of source, petroleum’s effects when released into the environment are similar.

Ocean acidification

Seawater Acidification

Ocean acidification is the increase in the acidity of the Earth’s oceans caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO
2) from the atmosphere. This increase in acidity inhibits life such as scallops.^[69]

Global warming

When burned, petroleum releases carbon dioxide; a greenhouse gas. Along with the burning of coal, petroleum combustion is the largest contributor to the increase in atmospheric CO₂. Atmospheric CO₂ has risen steadily since the industrial revolution to current levels of over 390 ppmv, from the 180 – 300 ppmv of the prior 800 thousand years, driving global warming.^[70]^[71]^[72] The unbridled use of petroleum could potentially cause a runaway greenhouse effect on Earth.^{[citation needed]} Use of oil as an energy source has caused Earth’s temperature to increase by nearly one degree Celsius. This raise in temperature has reduced the Arctic ice cap to 1,100,000 sq mi (2,800,000 km²), smaller than ever recorded.^[73] Because of this melt, more oil reserves have been revealed. It is estimated by the International Energy Agency that about 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil resides in the Arctic.^[74]

Extraction

Oil extraction is simply the removal of oil from the reservoir (oil pool). Oil is often recovered as a water-in-oil emulsion, and specialty chemicals called demulsifiers are used to separate the oil from water. Oil extraction is costly and sometimes environmentally damaging, although Dr. John Hunt of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution pointed out in a 1981 paper that over 70 percent of the reserves in the world are associated with visible macroseepages, and many oil fields are found due to natural seeps. Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine environment.^[75]

Oil spills

Further information: Oil spill and List of oil spills

Kelp after an oil spill

Oil Sick from the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea, September, 2009

Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged natural ecosystems in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, France and many other places.

The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (e.g., Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz). Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. This can kill sea birds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms it coats. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.

Control of oil spills is difficult, requires ad hoc methods, and often a large amount of manpower. The dropping of bombs and incendiary devices from aircraft on SS Torrey Canyon wreck produced poor results;^[76] modern techniques would include pumping the oil from the wreck, like in the Prestige oil spill or the Erika oil spill.^[77]

Though crude oil is predominantly composed of various hydrocarbons, certain nitrogen heterocylic compounds, such as pyridine, picoline, and quinoline are reported as contaminants associated with crude oil, as well as facilities processing oil shale or coal, and have also been found at legacy wood treatment sites. These compounds have a very high water solubility, and thus tend to dissolve and move with water. Certain naturally occurring bacteria, such as Micrococcus, Arthrobacter, and Rhodococcus have been shown to degrade these contaminants.^[78]

Tarballs

A tarball is a blob of crude oil (not to be confused with tar, which is typically derived from pine trees rather than petroleum) which has been weathered after floating in the ocean. Tarballs are an aquatic pollutant in most environments, although they can occur naturally, for example, in the Santa Barbara Channel of California.^[79]^[80] Their concentration and features have been used to assess the extent of oil spills. Their composition can be used to identify their sources of origin,^[81]^[82] and tarballs themselves may be dispersed over long distances by deep sea currents.^[80] They are slowly decomposed by bacteria, including Chromobacterium violaceum, Cladosporium resinae, Bacillus submarinus, Micrococcus varians, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida marina and Saccharomyces estuari.^[79]

Whales

James S. Robbins has argued that the advent of petroleum-refined kerosene saved some species of great whales from extinction by providing an inexpensive substitute for whale oil, thus eliminating the economic imperative for open-boat whaling.^[83]

Future of petroleum production

US oil production and imports, 1910-2012.

Consumption in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has been abundantly pushed by automobile growth; the 1985–2003 oil glut even fueled the sales of low economy vehicles in OECD countries. The 2008 economic crisis seems to have had some impact on the sales of such vehicles; still, the 2008 oil consumption shows a small increase. The BRIC countries might also kick in, as China briefly was the first automobile market in December 2009.^[87] The immediate outlook still hints upwards. In the long term, uncertainties linger; the OPEC believes that the OECD countries will push low consumption policies at some point in the future; when that happens, it will definitely curb oil sales, and both OPEC and EIA kept lowering their 2020 consumption estimates during the past 5 years.^[88] Oil products are more and more in competition with alternative sources, mainly coal and natural gas, both cheaper sources. Production will also face an increasingly complex situation; while OPEC countries still have large reserves at low production prices, newly found reservoirs often lead to higher prices; offshore giants such as Tupi, Guara and Tiber demand high investments and ever-increasing technological abilities. Subsalt reservoirs such as Tupi were unknown in the twentieth century, mainly because the industry was unable to probe them. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques (example: DaQing, China^[89] ) will continue to play a major role in increasing the world’s recoverable oil.

Peak oil

Main article: Peak oil

Global Peak Oil forecast

Peak oil is the projection that future petroleum production (whether for individual oil wells, entire oil fields, whole countries, or worldwide production) will eventually peak and then decline at a similar rate to the rate of increase before the peak as these reserves are exhausted. The peak of oil discoveries was in 1965, and oil production per year has surpassed oil discoveries every year since 1980.^[90]

Hubbert applied his theory to accurately predict the peak of U.S. conventional oil production at a date between 1966 and 1970. This prediction was based on data available at the time of his publication in 1956. In the same paper, Hubbert predicts world peak oil in “half a century” after his publication, which would be 2006.^[91]

It is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region, due to the lack of knowledge and/or transparency in accounting of global oil reserves.^[92] Based on available production data, proponents have previously predicted the peak for the world to be in years 1989, 1995, or 1995–2000. Some of these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s, and the consequent reduction in global consumption, the effect of which was to delay the date of any peak by several years. Just as the 1971 U.S. peak in oil production was only clearly recognized after the fact, a peak in world production will be difficult to discern until production clearly drops off.^[93] The peak is also a moving target as it is now measured as “liquids”, which includes synthetic fuels, instead of just conventional oil.^[94]

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in 2010 that production of conventional crude oil had peaked in 2006 at 70 MBBL/d, then flattened at 68 or 69 thereafter.^[95]^[96] Since virtually all economic sectors rely heavily on petroleum, peak oil, if it were to occur, could lead to a “partial or complete failure of markets”.^[97]

Unconventional Production

The calculus for peak oil has changed with the introduction of unconventional production methods. In particular, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has resulted in a significant increase in production from previously uneconomic plays.^[98] Certain rock strata contain hydrocarbons but have low permeability and are not thick from a vertical perspective. Conventional vertical wells would be unable to economically retrieve these hydrocarbons. Horizontal drilling, extending horizontally through the strata, permits the well to access a much greater volume of the strata. Hydraulic fracturing creates greater permeability and increases hydrocarbon flow to the wellbore.

Properties of the Classical Elements — Fire, Earth, Air and Water

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mugadonna

None of the four classical elements can be categorized as chemical elements since they are made from more than one chemical element. They are made from a group of elements and compounds. They are necessary for the vitality of human life and are ubiquitous, that is, present, appearing, or found everywhere. All these characteristics can be applied to oil, Thus, I feel I can safely say, that I consider oil a candidate for the category of Fifth Element.

I know Plato wrote of Aether as a Fifth Element and he was later considered wrong. So, I have just as much of a chance to give it a go and try proving oil has the qualities of a classical element. That would mess up the Astrological Wheel but then, Pluto has been proved a much smaller planet than originally believed, and Chiron is not treated as a major planet but has an important influence in any chart.

In addition, there is a “fifth element” in astrology called the “quinta essentia”, the spiritual being of a person, and refers to the freedom of man and the great eternal mysteries.

I don’t pretend to misplace any philosophical traditions. Really, I only intend for you to ask the question to yourself, “What if…?” Hence, in the final analysis, read the topics of this blog and make your own decision, but give me a chance.

~~~~~~~~

The four Elements and the Signs

A Brief Introduction to Astrology from Astro.com

The fact that the astrological signs are associated with certain astronomical constellations has led to much confusion amongst astrologers and non-astrologers. Basically, our zodiac and the signs are no more than a circular measure, a 360-degree scale. Each of the twelve sections of this circular measure has certain characteristics, based on qualities associated with the elements.

Tradition sees the entire universe as consisting of the elements fire, air, water and earth. When we apply this system to personalities, the elements represent certain basic traits and give a certain “temperament”. This varies according to the emphasis of the elements in the horoscope. Any placement of planets or personal points in a sign constitutes an emphasis. (see also “The House System”)

The four elements can be regarded as four basic principles of life. These can be applied to all sorts of things through the principles of similarity and analogy. C.G. Jung has opened the door to a modern understanding of these categories by developing a system of types, in which the elements correspond to four basic functions of the psyche. The emphasis or non-emphasis of the elements in the individual horoscope reveals fundamental aspects of the personality.

	Fire People with a strong emphasis of the fire element are spontaneous and impulsive, they apply their energies wholeheartedly. Their emotional response is quick and they have a lively imagination. Fire signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius
	Air Airy people are quick and animated. They apply their energies in very diverse ways. They tend to intellectualize their feelings and expectations. Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
	Water People with a strongly emphasized water element are feeling types and are very sensitive. Their imaginative and emotional lives are deep and rich. Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
	Earth Earthy people react quietly and slowly. They apply themselves with endurance. Emotionally they are deeply rooted and slow to change. Earth signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo

Western traditional sources also take into account a fifth element, the ‘quinta essentia’. This very simply describes the soul or the spiritual being of a person. It stands apart from the other four elements and is not depicted in the horoscope. This is why it is frequently overlooked. It takes us beyond the doctrine of the four elements and their application in the field of astrology. It hints at the freedom of man and reminds us of the great mystery of the eternal.

Elementary states or Qualities

Each of the four elements occurs in three states or qualities, respectively named the cardinal, fixed and mutable or common states. We can consider the physical properties of water as an analogy: Here too, chemical elements can occur in various states. Water, for example, is liquid in its usual, real state. Seen astrologically this would be the cardinal state. When frozen it takes on a solid form, astrologically this would correspond with the fixed state. When heated, it becomes vaporous steam – comparable to the mutable state in astrology. In the individual horoscope, the placement of planets in cardinal, fixed or mutable signs also reveals basic traits of the personality.

Cardinal

People with an emphasis on cardinal signs have an urge to take the lead and to shape things. They are initiators and act according to their aims and goals.

Cardinal signs: Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn

Fixed

People with an emphasis on the fixed signs have a desire to build on what is already there and to organize it more efficiently. They tend to preserve a “status quo” and act in response to given circumstances.

Fixed signs: Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, Taurus

Mutable

People with an emphasis on the mutable or common signs tend to seek change and renewal. They can easily replace one thing with another and align their actions with unfolding processes.

Mutable signs: Sagitarius, Gemini, Pisces, Virgo

~~~~~~~~

Elements – Mythology Wiki

Most mythologies order the structure of the world according to a set of elements. While the number of elements varies, most mythologies identify four or five.

Element Sets

Babylonian mythology
- Earth, Sea, Sky, Wind
Buddhist mythology: Catudhatu, “four elements”
- Air, Earth, Fire, Water
Greek mythology
- Aether, Air, Earth, Fire, Water
Hindu mythology: Pancha Mahabhuta, “five great elements”
- Aether/Void, Air/Wind, Earth, Fire, Water
Japanese mythology: 五大 (go dai, “five great”)
- Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Atmos
Tibetan mythology
- Air, Earth, Fire, Space, Water

The Elements

Aether/Akasha/Space

In the West, sometimes perceived as the mysterious “fifth element” that relates to the soul.
The substance that fills the heavens (Greek).
The source of everything in the universe, including the other elements; related to sound (Hindu).

Air/Sky

Associated with spring and the northern compass direction (Greek) or the northwestern compass direction (Hindu).
Representative of things that move.
According to Aristotle, primarily hot and secondarily wet.

Earth

Associated with communication, business, practical matters, fall, and the southern compass direction (Greek) or the southwestern compass direction (Hindu).
Representative of things that are solid or things that grow.
According to Aristotle, primarily dry and secondarily cold.

Fire

Associated with energy, passion, summer, the eastern compass point (Greek), or the southeastern compass direction (Hindu).
Representative of things that are hot or things that destroy.
According to Aristotle, primarily hot and secondarily dry.

Metal

Associated with inward motion, persistence, determination, ambition, the west, autumn, and Venus.

Void

Representative of things that are not normally encountered in everyday life.

Water/Sea

Associated with emotion, intuition, imagination, wisdom, winter, the planet Mercury, the western compass direction (Greek) or the northeastern compass direction (Hindu).
Representative of liquid things or cold things.
According to Aristotle, primarily cold and secondarily wet.

Wood

Associated with anger, patience, spring, the east, Jupiter, green, and wind.

Other “Elements”

The Four Humours

Four “elements” of the body; excess or absence of a humour was considered the cause of disease.
Yellow bile (fire)

Black bile (earth)

Blood (air)

Phlegm (water)

The Seven Chakras

Seven “energy centers” or “wheels” located on the spiritual body.
Sahasrara (Crown): Thought/Space
Ajña (Third Eye): Light/Dark
Vishuddhi (Throat): Ether/Sound
Anahata (Heart): Air
Manipura (Navel): Fire
Svadhisthana (Sacral): Water
Muladhara (Root): Earth

Rose oil

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rose oil, meaning either rose otto (attar of rose, attar of roses) or rose absolute, is the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose. Rose ottos are extracted through steam distillation, while rose absolutes are obtained through solvent extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, with the absolute being used more commonly in perfumery. Even with their high price and the advent of organic synthesis, rose oils are still perhaps the most widely used essential oil in perfumery.

Rose (Rosa damascena) essential oil in clear glass vial

Components

Two major species of rose are cultivated for the production of rose oil:

Rosa damascena, the damask rose, which is widely grown in Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Iran and China
Rosa centifolia, the cabbage rose, which is more commonly grown in Morocco, France and Egypt

Bulgaria produces about 70% of all rose oil in the world.^[1] Other significant producers are Morocco, Iran and Turkey.

The most common chemical compounds present in rose oil are:

citronellol, geraniol, nerol, linalool, phenyl ethyl alcohol, farnesol, stearoptene, α-pinene, β-pinene, α-terpinene, limonene, p-cymene, camphene, β-caryophyllene, neral, citronellyl acetate, geranyl acetate, neryl acetate, eugenol, methyl eugenol, rose oxide, α-damascenone, β-damascenone, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, rhodinyl acetate and phenyl ethyl formate.^[2]^{[unreliable source?]}

The key flavor compounds that contribute to the distinctive scent of rose oil, however, are beta-damascenone, beta-damascone, beta-ionone, and rose oxide. Beta-damascenone presence and quantity is considered as the marker for the quality of rose oil. Even though these compounds exist in less than 1% quantity of rose oil, they make up for slightly more than 90% of the odor content due to their low odor detection thresholds.^[3]

Production

Main article: Extraction (fragrance)

Rose-picking in the Rose Valley near the town of Kazanlak in Bulgaria, 1870s, engraving by Austro-Hungarian traveller Felix Philipp Kanitz

Due to the labor-intensive production process and the low content of oil in the rose blooms, rose oil commands a very high price. Harvesting of flowers is done by hand in the morning before sunrise and material is distilled the same day.

There are three main methods of extracting the oil from the plant material:

Steam distillation, which produces an oil called rose otto or attar of roses.
Solvent extraction, which results in an oil called rose absolute.
Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, yielding an essential oil that may be marketed as either an absolute or as a CO₂ extract.

Distillation

In the process of distillation, large stills, traditionally of copper, are filled with roses and water. The still is fired for 60–105 minutes. The vaporized water and rose oil exit the still and enter a condensing apparatus and are then collected in a flask. This distillation yields a very concentrated oil, direct oil, which makes up about 20% of the final product. The water which condenses along with the oil is drained off and redistilled, cohobation, in order to obtain the water-soluble fractions of the rose oil such as phenethyl alcohol which are a vital component of the aroma and which make up the large bulk, 80%, of the oil. The two oils are combined and make the final rose otto.

Rose otto is usually dark olive-green in color and will form white crystals at normal room temperature which disappear when the oil is gently warmed. It will tend to become more viscous at lower temperatures due to this crystallization of some of its components.

The essence has a very strong odor, but is pleasant when diluted and used for perfume. Attar of roses was once made in India, Persia, Syria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Rose Valley in Bulgaria, near the town of Kazanlak, is among the major producers of attar of roses in the world.^[4] In India, Kannauj is an important city of fabrication of Rose Attar, Kannauj is nicknamed “The Grasse of East” or “The Grasse of Orient”. Grasse (in France) is an important city of fabrication of rose fragance. Due to the heat required for distillation, some of the compounds extracted from the rose undergo denaturing or chemical breakdown. As such, rose otto does not smell very similar to “fresh” roses.

The hydrosol portion of the distillate is known as rosewater. This inexpensive by-product is used widely as a food flavoring as well as in skin care.

Solvent extraction

In the solvent extraction method, the flowers are agitated in a vat with a solvent such as hexane, which draws out the aromatic compounds as well as other soluble substances such as wax and pigments. The extract is subjected to vacuum processing which removes the solvent for re-use. The remaining waxy mass is known as a concrete. The concrete is then mixed with alcohol which dissolves the aromatic constituents, leaving behind the wax and other substances. The alcohol is low-pressure evaporated, leaving behind the finished absolute. The absolute may be further processed to remove any impurities that are still present from the solvent extraction.

Rose absolute is a deep reddish brown with no crystals. Due to the low temperatures in this process, the absolute may be more faithful to the scent of the fresh rose than the ottor.

Carbon dioxide extraction

A third process, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, combines the best aspects of the other two methods. When carbon dioxide is put under at least 72.9 atm (73,900 mb) of pressure and at a temperature of at least 31.1 °C (88.0 °F) (the critical point), it becomes a supercritical fluid with the permeation properties of a gas and the solvation properties of a liquid. (Under normal pressure CO₂ changes directly from a solid to a gas in a process known as sublimation.) The supercritical fluid CO₂ extracts the aromatics from the plant material.

Like solvent extraction, the CO₂ extraction takes place at a low temperature, extracts a wide range of compounds rendering an essence more faithful to the original, and leaves the aromatics unaltered by heat. Because CO₂ is gas at normal atmospheric pressure, it leaves no trace of itself in the final product. The equipment for CO₂ extraction is expensive, which is reflected in the price of the essential oils obtained from the process.

Adulteration

It takes many pounds of rose petals to distill one ounce of essential oil. Depending on extraction method and plant species, the average yield can range from 1:1500 to 1:10,000.^[5] To mitigate the cost, some dishonest dealers will dilute rose oil with geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) or palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii) essential oils, both of which are rich in geraniol, the main constituent of rose oil. Some of these “rose oils” are up to 90% geranium or palmarosa to 10% rose. This is referred to as extending the rose fragrance. This may be done to compensate for chemotype, e.g. Bulgarian distilled rose oil is naturally low in phenylethanol, and Ukrainian or Russian rose oil is naturally high in phenylethanol. Pure rose oil should not be used directly on the skin, as it can cause allergic reactions such as red skin and spots.^{[medical citation needed]}

Does Your Body Need an Oil Change?

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mugadonna

Organic Connections
Guest Post by Mark Hyman, MD

It’s time to change the way you think about fat. For 30 years well-meaning diet gurus have preached that eating fat makes you fat.

I’m here to tell you that fat, in and of itself, is not what is making you fat. Instead, it’s eating too much of the wrong kinds of fat. After all, all fats are not created equal. But, if you are like 90 percent of Americans, you are eating the wrong kind of fat most of the time. Time for an oil change!

What is Fat?

Fat is one of the body’s most basic building blocks. The average person is between 15 and 30 percent fat! Of all of the types of fats in our diets, the body only REALLY needs two—omega-3 and omega-6.

What is an omega fat? The omega numbers (in this case 3 and 6) refer to where the hydrogen atom joins the fat molecule. Remember, the name is just basic chemistry lingo. What is important is to understand the impact of different fats on the body.

The higher-quality the fat, the better your body will function. That’s because the body uses the fat you eat to build cell walls. You have more than 100 trillion cells in your body, and every single one of them needs high-quality fat.

How do you know if your cells are getting the fats they need? Your body sends signals when it’s not getting enough good fats. It’s up to you to recognize the warning signs:

Dry, itchy, scaling, or flaking skin
Soft, cracked, or brittle nails
Hard earwax
Tiny bumps on the backs of your arms or torso
Achy, stiff joints

Why does the type of fat matter? Building your body from the inside out is just like building a house. You can frame the house with the cheapest stuff you can find or you can invest in quality materials that are going to be energy-efficient and last a long time.

Which Fats to Eat and Which to Avoid

If you want to settle for cheap and easy, stick with a diet of processed foods. Most processed foods are made with poor-quality omega-6 fats because they are abundant and cheap. Plus, fat makes food taste good and improves its texture.

Take a look at the ingredients of your favorite packaged food. If the list includes oils made from corn, soy, or safflower you are getting a sub-par fat. When the body puts these cheap fats to work, the cell walls are also sub-par. That means instead of flexible and responsive, cell walls are stiff and rigid. The more rigid the wall, the slower the cell functions and the more vulnerable it is to inflammation.

To ensure your body has the fats it needs to construct high-quality cell walls, you need to eat more omega-3 fats. For starters, cell walls made from omega-3 fats are flexible, allowing cells to respond more quickly to messages. Secondly, these “good” fats help the body churn out prostaglandins, hormones that put the kibosh on inflammation. The best places to find omega-3 fats include cold-water fish, organic canola oil, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and sea vegetables.

Your body is designed to run on high-quality fats. Scientists suspect that early humans ate almost equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fats (back then most people got their omega-6 fats from seeds and nuts). But, as people began to refine oils from plants, the ratio became skewed more toward omega-6.

As a result of fats being out of balance in the modern diet, our bodies are more vulnerable to diseases such as cancer and heart disease. After all, when the human diet contained a balanced number of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, heart disease was almost nonexistent. Now cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the developed world.

Body Boon

The more omega-3 fats you eat, the easier your body cools itself. A cool body is a less inflamed body. And inflammation is at the root of nearly every chronic disease, especially those impacting the brain and the heart.⁽¹⁾

Of all the body parts dependent on high-quality fat, the brain is uniquely vulnerable. That’s because the brain is made up of 60 percent fat, the biggest portion of which is an omega-3 fat called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA for short).⁽²⁾ Your brain needs DHA to spark communication between cells. Easy access to high-quality fat boosts cognition, happiness, learning, and memory. In contrast, studies link a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.⁽³⁾

After the brain, it’s the heart that will thank you for eating more omega-3s .⁽⁴⁾

The heart is a direct beneficiary of omega-3 fats. They tamp down cholesterol by reducing levels of bad fats (triglycerides). Meanwhile, they raise levels of good fats (HDL) in the blood. Part of their magic is that omega-3 fats make blood more slippery, which reduces the likelihood of artery disease. ⁽⁵⁾

Beyond the heart and brain, eating the right fat also helps you shed fat. Healthy cell walls made from high-quality fats are better able to metabolize insulin, which keeps blood sugar better regulated. Without proper blood sugar control, the body socks away fat for a rainy day. Ironically, it’s not eating fat that makes you gain weight it’s eating the WRONG types of fat.

3 Ways to Change Your Oil

The process of rebuilding all the walls of your cells can take up to a year, so there’s no time to lose. Here are three ways to change your body’s oil:

Eat more wild or sustainably raised cold-water fish. Aim for two servings a week. The best sources of omega-3s are wild salmon, sardines, herring, or small halibut. Of course, everyone is concerned about the sustainability and safety of fish. It’s important to know where your catch comes from.
Buy omega-3 rich eggs. These are one of the few animal products that are low in toxins and high in quality fats that balance blood sugar. These eggs supply the body with DHA and don’t raise your cholesterol; just the opposite. Enjoy up to eight of these eggs a week.
For good measure, take an omega-3 supplement twice a day with breakfast and dinner. Look for a reputable supplement maker that certifies its products are free of mercury and other contaminants (for more information, see The Healthy Living Store). Choose a supplement with 500 to 1,000 milligrams of omega-3 fats (a ratio of roughly 300 EPA and 200 DHA is ideal).

Of course, it is understandable that people who try to lose weight do so by eliminating fat from their diets. But remember there is no such thing as a healthy fat-free diet. Fat is essential for good health. The key is knowing how to maximize good fats and reduce bad fats to keep your body protected and to rebuild itself every day from the inside out!
To learn more please see The Blood Sugar Solution. Get one book or get two and give one to someone you love—you might be saving their life. When you purchase the book from this link you will automatically receive access to the following special bonuses:

Special Report—Diabetes and Alzheimer’s: The Truth About “Type 3 Diabetes” and How You Can Avoid It.
More Delicious Recipes: 15 Additional Ways to Make The Blood Sugar Solution as Tasty as It’s Healthy!
Dr. Hyman’s UltraWellness Nutrition Coaching—FREE for 30 days!
Hour 1 of The Blood Sugar Solution Workshop DVD

Now I’d like to hear from you…

Do you eat a lot of processed foods?

Are you consuming the right kinds of fats?

Do you suffer from memory or cognition problems?

Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below—but remember, we can’t offer personal medical advice online, so be sure to limit your comments to those about taking back our health!

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

Everyday Things That Started Life As Oil

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mugadonna

Listverse

Jason Sullivan December 23, 2012

In 2011, global production of crude oil and natural gas reached a whopping 83.6 million barrels per day. As the world’s population increases, the need for such a commodity will increase along with it. Since petroleum is such a widely used substance, its unstable price affects us more than we can imagine. The list of petroleum based products is scarily endless – but here are 10 of the most common things made from oil.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics1
Think of the new cream you just purchased – which you’re about to rub all over your face – as the decayed mass of millions of dead organisms. Since petroleum-based products can make up to 80% of a cosmetic’s ingredients, that’s essentially what you’re paying for. The most common components are oils, waxes, perfumes, dyes, and other petrochemicals (chemical products derived from petroleum). Petroleum byproducts are also found in your shampoos, conditioners, and hair dyes.

Synthetic Rubber

10203272-The-Lanxess-Portfolio-Comprises-More-Than-100-Grades-Of-Synthetic-Rubber

Due to its thermal stability and strength, synthetic rubber is sometimes preferred over latex as the chosen material in the world of manufacturing. The substance is commonly found in sporting goods, shoes, and tires. The average tire is made using around 8 gallons of oil. Synthetic rubber is also commonly used in wire and cable insulation. The main factor inhibiting its use is the high cost compared to natural rubber.

Medicines

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Treatment

 Many of today’s medications are derived from benzene, and benzene in turn is derived from petroleum. Almost all over-the-counter pain medications, such as aspirin, are based on this petrochemical. Although it seems counterintuitive, petroleum based products are used extensively in homeopathy. Some have related the rise in petroleum engineering to the rise of modern medicine.Cleaning Products

If you look at the list of ingredients on a cleaning product, you’ll find a list of things you’ve never heard of and probably can’t pronounce. With components that can kill you or just make your table shine, the average cleaning solution is a mixture of some seriously synthetic chemical substances (their labels contain poison warnings for a reason). Many of these substances are petrochemicals – like glycerin, for example, which is commonly found in laundry and dish detergents.

Asfalt

Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a semi-solid form of petroleum and can be either natural or refined. Its main purpose is to act as the glue between various minerals, creating a material known as asphalt concrete. There over 11 million miles of paved road in the world, which equates to a fair amount of oil. The sticky substance is sometimes confused with tar, which is a similar black material produced during the distillation of coal.

Synthetic Fabrics

Petroleum based fibers are durable, readily available, and easy to maintain. Combined with the fact that they are generally cheaper than natural fabrics, synthetic fibers are becoming increasingly popular in the world of fashion and home goods. Although cotton may be the most common fiber in your underwear drawer, your sock drawer might tell a different story.

In addition to most of the clothes that don’t come in direct contact with your “region,” there are plenty of other fabrics that use synthetic fibers (think curtains, couches, carpet, etc.). Some of the most common types are rayon, nylon, spandex, acrylic, and polyester. So the next time you put on a piece of clothing, bear in mind that you’re practically wearing the black stuff.

Food

No matter how organic you like your food, it’s hard to find food that hasn’t been touched by the oil industry to some degree. Petroleum byproducts are used in many synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The use of petrochemicals is also widespread in food preservatives, flavorings, and colorings. Oil helps the agriculture industry produce more food, cultivate it faster, and keep it fresh for longer. It also helps to pollute the atmosphere. Petroleum-based polymers are incidentally also found in your chewing gum – a difficult truth to swallow if I’ve ever tasted one.

Plastic

Nearly all plastics are made from petrochemicals – and plastic, needless to say, is absolutely everywhere. If you look around, you’ll find that a great deal of your things are made, at least partially, with plastic. From your iPod to that bottle of Mountain Dew you’re drinking, plastics form a bigger part of our daily lives than our own mother: annually, roughly 4-5% of the total U.S. petroleum consumption is dedicated to the manufacture of plastic products.

Fuel Oil

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mugadonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Classes

Although the following trends generally hold true, different organizations may have different numerical specifications for the six fuel grades. The boiling point and carbon chain length of the fuel increases with fuel oil number. Viscosity also increases with number, and the heaviest oil has to be heated to get it to flow. Price usually decreases as the fuel number increases.^[2]

Number 1 fuel oil is a volatile distillate oil intended for vaporizing pot-type burners.^[3] It is the kerosene refinery cut that boils off right after the heavy naphtha cut used for gasoline. Older names include coal oil, stove oil and range oil.^[2]

Number 2 fuel oil is a distillate home heating oil.^[3] Trucks and some cars use similar diesel fuel with a cetane number limit describing the ignition quality of the fuel. Both are typically obtained from the light gas oil cut. Gas oil refers to the original use of this fraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – the gas oil cut was used as an enriching agent for carburetted water gas manufacture.^[2]

Number 3 fuel oil was a distillate oil for burners requiring low-viscosity fuel. ASTM merged this grade into the number 2 specification, and the term has been rarely used since the mid-20th century.^[3]

Number 4 fuel oil is a commercial heating oil for burner installations not equipped with preheaters.^[3] It may be obtained from the heavy gas oil cut.^[2]

Number 5 fuel oil is a residual-type industrial heating oil requiring preheating to 170 – 220 °F (77 – 104 °C) for proper atomization at the burners.^[3] This fuel is sometimes known as Bunker B. It may be obtained from the heavy gas oil cut,^[2] or it may be a blend of residual oil with enough number 2 oil to adjust viscosity until it can be pumped without preheating.^[3]

Number 6 fuel oil is a high-viscosity residual oil requiring preheating to 220 – 260 °F (104 – 127 °C). Residual means the material remaining after the more valuable cuts of crude oil have boiled off. The residue may contain various undesirable impurities including 2 percent water and one-half percent mineral soil. This fuel may be known as residual fuel oil (RFO), by the Navy specification of Bunker C, or by the Pacific Specification of PS-400.^[3]

Mazut is a residual fuel oil often derived from Russian petroleum sources and is either blended with lighter petroleum fractions or burned directly in specialized boilers and furnaces. It is also used as a petrochemical feedstock.

Bunker fuel

“Bunker oil” redirects here. For the Norwegian company, see Bunker Oil (company).

A sample of residual fuel oil

Small molecules like those in propane, naphtha, gasoline for cars, and jet fuel have relatively low boiling points, and they are removed at the start of the fractional distillation process. Heavier petroleum products like diesel and lubricating oil are much less volatile and distill out more slowly, while bunker oil is literally the bottom of the barrel; in oil distilling, the only things more dense than bunker fuel are carbon black feedstock and bituminous residue which is used for paving roads (asphalt) and sealing roofs.

Bunker fuel or bunker crude is technically any type of fuel oil used aboard ships. It gets its name from the containers on ships and in ports that it is stored in; in the early days of steam they were coal bunkers but now they are bunker fuel tanks. The Australian Customs and the Australian Tax Office define a bunker fuel as the fuel that powers the engine of a ship or aircraft. Bunker A is No. 2 fuel oil, bunker B is No. 4 or No. 5 and bunker C is No. 6. Since No. 6 is the most common, “bunker fuel” is often used as a synonym for No. 6. No. 5 fuel oil is also called Navy Special Fuel Oil (NSFO) or just navy special; No. 5 or 6 are also commonly called heavy fuel oil (HFO) or furnace fuel oil (FFO); the high viscosity requires heating, usually by a recirculated low pressure steam system, before the oil can be pumped from a bunker tank. Bunkers are rarely labeled this way in modern maritime practice.

Since the 1980s the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been the accepted standard for marine fuels (bunkers). The standard is listed under number 8217, with recent updates in 2005 and 2010. They have broken it down to Residual and Distillate fuels. The most common residual fuels in the shipping industry are RMG and RMK.^[4] The differences between the two are mainly the density and viscosity, with RMG generally being delivered at 380 centistokes or less, and RMK at 700 centistokes or less. Ships with more advanced engines can process heavier, more viscous, and thus cheaper, fuel. Governing bodies (i.e., California, European Union) around the world have established Emission Control Areas (ECA) which limit the maximum sulfur of fuels burned in their ports to limit pollution, reducing the percentage of sulfur and other particulates from 4.5% m/m to as little as .10% as of 2015 inside an ECA. As of 2013 3.5% continued to be permitted outside an ECA.^[5] This is where Marine Distillate Fuels and other alternatives^[6] to use of heavy bunker fuel come into play. They have similar properties to Diesel #2 which is used as road Diesel around the world. The most common grades used in shipping are DMA and DMB.^[7] Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of international bunker fuels are currently included in national inventories ^[8] ^[9]

Table of fuel oils
Name	Alias	Alias	Type	Chain Length
No. 1 fuel oil	No. 1 distillate	No. 1 diesel fuel	Distillate	9-16
No. 2 fuel oil	No. 2 distillate	No. 2 diesel fuel	Distillate	10-20
No. 3 fuel oil	No. 3 distillate	No. 3 diesel fuel	Distillate
No. 4 fuel oil	No. 4 distillate	No. 4 residual fuel oil	Distillate/Residual	12-70
No. 5 fuel oil	No. 5 residual fuel oil	Heavy fuel oil	Residual	12-70
No. 6 fuel oil	No. 6 residual fuel oil	Heavy fuel oil	Residual	20-70

Uses

A fuel station in Zigui County on the Yangtze River

Oil has many uses; it heats homes and businesses and fuels trucks, ships and some cars. A small amount of electricity is produced by diesel, but it is more polluting and more expensive than natural gas. It is often used as a backup fuel for peaking power plants in case the supply of natural gas is interrupted or as the main fuel for small electrical generators. In Europe, the use of diesel is generally restricted to cars (about 40%), SUVs (about 90%), and trucks and buses (virtually all). The market for home heating using fuel oil, called heating oil, has decreased due to the widespread penetration of natural gas. However, it is very common in some areas, such as the Northeastern United States.

Fuel oil truck making a delivery in North Carolina, 1945.

Residual fuel oil is less useful because it is so viscous that it has to be heated with a special heating system before use and it contains relatively high amounts of pollutants, particularly sulfur, which forms sulfur dioxide upon combustion. However, its undesirable properties make it very cheap. In fact, it is the cheapest liquid fuel available. Since it requires heating before use, residual fuel oil cannot be used in road vehicles, boats or small ships, as the heating equipment takes up valuable space and makes the vehicle heavier. Heating the oil is also a delicate procedure, which is inappropriate to do on small, fast moving vehicles. However, power plants and large ships are able to use residual fuel oil.

Use of residual fuel oil was more common in the past. It powered boilers, railroad steam locomotives and steamships. Locomotives now use diesel; steamships are not as common as they were previously due to their higher operating costs (most LNG carriers use steam plants, as “boil-off” gas emitted from the cargo can be used as a fuel source); and most boilers now use heating oil or natural gas. Some industrial boilers still use it and so do some old buildings, including in New York City. The City estimates that the 1% of its buildings that burn fuel oils No. 4 and No. 6 are responsible for 86% of the soot pollution generated by all buildings in the city. New York has made the phase out of these fuel grades part of its environmental plan, PlaNYC, because of concerns for the health effects caused by fine particulates.^[10]

Residual fuel’s use in electrical generation has also decreased. In 1973, residual fuel oil produced 16.8% of the electricity in the US. By 1983, it had fallen to 6.2%, and as of 2005, electricity production from all forms of petroleum, including diesel and residual fuel, is only 3% of total production. The decline is the result of price competition with natural gas and environmental restrictions on emissions. For power plants, the costs of heating the oil, extra pollution control and additional maintenance required after burning it often outweigh the low cost of the fuel. Burning fuel oil, particularly residual fuel oil, produces uniformly higher carbon dioxide emissions than natural gas.^[11]

Heavy fuel oils continue to be used in the boiler “lighting up” facility in many coal-fired power plants. This use is approximately analogous to using kindling to start a fire. Without performing this act it is difficult to begin the large-scale combustion process.

The chief drawback to residual fuel oil is its high initial viscosity, particularly in the case of No. 6 oil, which requires a correctly engineered system for storage, pumping, and burning. Though it is still usually lighter than water (with a specific gravity usually ranging from 0.95 to 1.03) it is much heavier and more viscous than No. 2 oil, kerosene, or gasoline. No. 6 oil must, in fact, be stored at around 100 °F (38 °C) heated to 150–250 °F (66–121 °C) before it can be easily pumped, and in cooler temperatures it can congeal into a tarry semisolid. The flash point of most blends of No. 6 oil is, incidentally, about 150 °F (66 °C). Attempting to pump high-viscosity oil at low temperatures was a frequent cause of damage to fuel lines, furnaces, and related equipment which were often designed for lighter fuels.

For comparison, BS2869 Class G Heavy Fuel Oil behaves in similar fashion, requiring storage at 104 °F (40 °C), pumping at around 122 °F (50 °C) and finalising for burning at around 194–248 °F (90–120 °C).

Most of the facilities which historically burned No. 6 or other residual oils were industrial plants and similar facilities constructed in the early or mid 20th century, or which had switched from coal to oil fuel during the same time period. In either case, residual oil was seen as a good prospect because it was cheap and readily available. Most of these facilities have subsequently been closed and demolished, or have replaced their fuel supplies with a simpler one such as gas or No. 2 oil. The high sulfur content of No. 6 oil—up to 3% by weight in some extreme cases—had a corrosive effect on many heating systems (which were usually designed without adequate corrosion protection in mind), shortening their lifespans and increasing the polluting effects. This was particularly the case in furnaces that were regularly shut down and allowed to go cold, since the internal condensation produced sulfuric acid.

Environmental cleanups at such facilities are frequently complicated by the use of asbestos insulation on the fuel feed lines. No. 6 oil is very persistent, and does not degrade rapidly. Its viscosity and stickiness also make remediation of underground contamination very difficult, since these properties reduce the effectiveness of methods such as air stripping.

When released into water, such as a river or ocean, residual oil tends to break up into patches or tarballs—mixtures of oil and particulate matter such as silt and floating organic matter- rather than form a single slick. An average of about 5-10% of the material will evaporate within hours of the release, primarily the lighter hydrocarbon fractions. The remainder will then often sink to the bottom of the water column.

Maritime

In the maritime field another type of classification is used for fuel oils:

MGO (Marine gas oil) – roughly equivalent to No. 2 fuel oil, made from distillate only
MDO (Marine diesel oil) – A blend of heavy gasoil that may contain very small amounts of black refinery feed stocks, but has a low viscosity up to 12 cSt so it need not be heated for use in internal combustion engines
IFO (Intermediate fuel oil) A blend of gasoil and heavy fuel oil, with less gasoil than marine diesel oil
MFO (Marine fuel oil) – same as HDO (just another “naming”)
HFO (Heavy fuel oil) – Pure or nearly pure residual oil, roughly equivalent to No. 6 fuel oil

Marine diesel oil contains some heavy fuel oil, unlike regular diesels. Also, marine fuel oils sometimes contain waste products such as used motor oil.

Standards and classification

CCAI and CII are two indexes which describe the ignition quality of residual fuel oil, and CCAI is especially often calculated for marine fuels. Despite this, marine fuels are still quoted on the international bunker markets with their maximum viscosity (which is set by the ISO 8217 standard – see below) due to the fact that marine engines are designed to use different viscosities of fuel.^[12] The unit of viscosity used is the Centistoke and the fuels most frequently quoted are listed below in order of cost, the least expensive first-

IFO 380 – Intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 380 Centistokes (<3.5% sulphur)
IFO 180 – Intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 180 Centistokes (<3.5% sulphur)
LS 380 – Low-sulphur (<1.0%) intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 380 Centistokes
LS 180 – Low-sulphur (<1.0%) intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 180 Centistokes
MDO – Marine diesel oil.
MGO – Marine gasoil.
LSMGO – Low-sulphur (<0.1%) Marine Gas Oil – The fuel is to be used in EU community Ports and Anchorages. EU Sulphur directive 2005/33/EC
ULSMGO – Ultra Low Sulphur Marine Gas Oil – referred to as Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (sulphur 0.0015% max) in the US and Auto Gas Oil (sulphur 0.001% max) in the EU. Maximum sulphur allowable in US territories and territorial waters (inland, marine and automotive) and in the EU for inland use.

The density is also an important parameter for fuel oils since marine fuels are purified before use to remove water and dirt from the oil. Since the purifiers use centrifugal force, the oil must have a density which is sufficiently different from water. Older purifiers had a maximum of 991 kg/m3; with modern purifiers it is also possible to purify oil with a density of 1010 kg/m3.

The first British standard for fuel oil came in 1982. The latest standard is ISO 8217 from 2005. The ISO standard describe four qualities of distillate fuels and 10 qualities of residual fuels. Over the years the standards have become stricter on environmentally important parameters such as sulfur content. The latest standard also banned the adding of used lubricating oil (ULO).

Some parameters of marine fuel oils according to ISO 8217 (3. ed 2005):

Marine Distillate Fuels
Parameter	Unit	Limit	DMX	DMA	DMB	DMC
Density at 15°C	kg/m³	Max	–	890.0	900.0	920.0
Viscosity at 40°C	mm²/s	Max	5.5	6.0	11.0	14.0
	mm²/s	Min	1.4	1.5	–	–
Water	% V/V	Max	–	–	0.3	0.3
Sulfur¹	% (m/m)	Max	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.0
Aluminium + Silicon²	mg/kg	Max	–	–	–	25
Flash point³	°C	Min	43	60	60	60
Pour point, Summer	°C	Max	–	0	6	6
Pour point, Winter	°C	Max	–	-6	0	0
Cloud point	°C	Max	-16	–	–	–
Calculated Cetane Index		Min	45	40	35	–

Maximum sulfur content in the open ocean is 3.5% since January 2012. Max sulfur content is 1.00% in designated areas, and will be 0.1% after January 1, 2015.
The aluminium+silicon value is used to check for remains of the catalyst after catalytic cracking. Most catalysts contains aluminium or silicon and remains of catalyst can cause damage to the engine.
The flash point of all fuels used in the engine room should be at least 60°C (DMX is used for things like emergency generators and not normally used in the engine room).

Marine Residual Fuels
Parameter	Unit	Limit	RMA 30	RMB 30	RMD 80	RME 180	RMF 180	RMG 380	RMH 380	RMK 380	RMH 700	RMK 700
Density at 15°C	kg/m³	Max	960.0	975.0	980.0	991.0	991.0	991.0	991.0	1010.0	991.0	1010.0
Viscosity at 50°C	mm²/s	Max	30.0	30.0	80.0	180.0	180.0	380.0	380.0	380.0	700.0	700.0
Water	% V/V	Max	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Sulfur¹	% (m/m)	Max	3.5	3.5	4.0	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Aluminium + Silicon²	mg/kg	Max	80	80	80	80	80	80	80	80	80	80
Flash point³	°C	Min	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60
Pour point, Summer	°C	Max	6	24	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Pour point, Winter	°C	Max	0	24	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30

Maximum sulfur content in the open ocean is 3.5% since January 2012. Max sulfur content is 1.00% in designated areas, and will be 0.1% after January 1, 2015.
The aluminium+silicon value is used to check for remains of the catalyst after catalytic cracking. Most catalysts contains aluminium or silicon and remains of catalyst can cause damage to the engine.
The flash point of all fuels used in the engine room should be at least 60°C.(apart from those gaseous fuels such as LPG/LNG which have special class rules applied to the fuel systems)

Transportation

Fuel oil is transported worldwide by fleets of oil tankers making deliveries to suitably sized strategic ports such as Houston, Singapore, Fujairah, Balboa, Cristobal, Algeciras and Rotterdam. Where a convenient seaport does not exist, inland transport may be achieved with the use of barges. The lighter fuel oils can also be transported through pipelines. The major physical supply chains of Europe are along the Rhine.

Environmental issues

Emissions from bunker fuel burning in ships contribute to air pollution levels in many port cities, especially where the emissions from industry and road traffic have been controlled. The switch of auxiliary engines from heavy fuel oil to diesel oil at berth can result in large emission reductions, especially for SO₂ and PM. CO₂ emissions from bunker fuels sold are not added to national GHG emissions. For small countries with large international ports, there is an important difference between the emissions in territorial waters and the total emissions of the fuel sold.^[9]

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