We are facing a crisis that threatens the sustainability of the entire planet. Civilisation has been defined up to now by how efficiently we handle our energy needs. The focus on short-term and tangibles obscures the true vision of technology users. Perpetual justifications of progressively less efficient technologies as panaceas has become a rampant source of the profoundest disinformation. No sector has fallen bigger victim to this disinformation campaign than the petroleum industry. Today, the most efficient naturally processed fuel (fossil fuel) production is synonymous with unsustainability and compatibility with nature and the environment. Accompanying this slogan is the environmentalists' drumbeat about "renewable" energy. Everywhere people are sold on the idea that even genetically altered vegetable oil is sustainable and efficient whereas natural crude oil exploitation is not. With this slogan, it has become fashionable to replace the agricultural industry with "renewable" energy production and try to replace fossil fuel energy with nuclear energy. The industry that single-handedly served mankind a globalisation panacea on a silver platter has now become a villain worthy of being replaced with the makers of nuclear bombs and DDT. Similarly, carbon dioxide -- the essence of life and energy, through photosynthesis -- has become the other villain that must be "sequestered" and possibly replaced by hydrogen and even radioactive nuclear spent fuel.

This book addresses several aspects of the changing context of natural gas in the U.S. electric power sector. Increasingly plentiful and affordable natural gas has catalysed major changes in U.S. power generation and has helped to boost U.S. economic recovery. Increased substitution of natural gas for coal in power generation has also cut U.S. GHG emissions. However, processes to produce natural gas, shale gas in particular, have also elevated environmental and safety concerns in certain regions of the country. The rapid rise of natural gas is also beginning to drive more thought on longer-term energy policy issues such as the appropriate level of generation diversity (given the history of volatile prices for natural gas), and trajectories of natural gas use that will still allow GHG mitigation sufficient to address the climate challenge. This book is intended to help inform these energy policy and investment discussions, and outlines the current dynamics of natural gas in the power sector and the selected challenges and opportunities in the use of natural gas to generate electricity.

On a quiet Tuesday evening in April 2010, experienced leaders aboard Transocean's DEEPWATER HORIZON drilling rig ran pressure tests and declared BP's deep oil-and-gas well to be secure. They were wrong. Hours later the well blew out, followed by explosions and fire that killed 11, sank the rig in the mile-deep Gulf of Mexico, and left behind mourning families, a disastrous environmental oil spill, and questions without answers. Questions like: Who, how, what caused BP's blowout? THE SIMPLE TRUTH is narrative nonfiction, often called a nonfiction novel (fact-based fiction). The story dramatizes the drilling and demise of BP's 3-1/2-mile-deep Macondo exploration well, albeit at the hands of fictional characters, surrogates for survivors and the eleven perfect witnesses who died that terrible night. Readers are invited to join the crew aboard the rig and share their lives as they drill ever deeper and make the costly decisions that define the business. And when just one of several such decisions goes wrong and the clock ticks down, readers, too, will better understand the simple rule: Zero tolerance for failure, because offshore there's nowhere to run. J.A. Turley leans on his decades-long industry career as an offshore-drilling expert to unravel investigative findings about the catastrophe. As a degreed petroleum engineer, ocean engineer, and professor of petroleum engineering, he narrates the story as if he and the reader are on the rig, immersed in the character-rich world of offshore drilling. His detailed and extensively referenced Epilogue documents the simple truth about the CAUSE of BP's Macondo blowout. Readers who are also interested in the EFFECTS of BP's blowout (the oil spill, company culture, energy independence) are encouraged to read published nonfiction titles on the topic by renowned authors and journalists, including: Joel Achenbach; Bob Cavnar; John Conrad & Tom Shroder; William R. Freudenburg & Robert Gramling; Peter Lehner & Bob Deans; Stanley Reed & Alison Fitzgerald; Carl Safina; Loren C. Steffy; and others.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of bioenergy systems and their biological sources and environmental impact. Topics discussed include the assessment of sustainability of bioenergy systems; soil loss as a forgotten aspect of biofuel production; effective biocatalysts for lignocellulosic biofuel by a proteomics study of fungal secretome; enhancing the interface between agricultural production, and tree biomass/bioenergy systems to improve farm-scale productivity in Western Australia; hydrogen and ethanol comparison as fuels for internal combustion engines; and hydrogen production by mixed cultures.

Reduction in refining activity in the Northeast, as reflected in recently announced plans to idle over 50% of the regional refining capacity, is likely to impact supplies of petroleum products. The transition period as supply sources shift could be problematic for Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), gasoline, and jet fuel supplies. Prolonged uncertainty over the coming months with regard to the disposition and operation of important logistical assets such as pipelines, ports and storage would compound adjustment challenges. Reduced short-term product supply flexibility due to longer delivery times and potential transportation bottlenecks for sources outside the region could also increase price volatility. This book explores potential developments of Northeast refinery reductions with a focus on alternative supply options; available pipeline capacity, implications for regional transportation fuels markets, heating oil supply and prices in the Northeast, and fuel security for the military.

This book provides comprehensive discussions on current oil issues from authors across the globe, including petroleum oil, biodiesel, and biomass derived bio-oil. Readers will find themes including new green materials for petroleum spill cleanup; state-of-the-art studies on wax precipitation problems during petroleum transportation; vegetable oils in the biodiesel industry; biodiesel production from inedible oils; the production, application, and economy of bio-oil from biomass-based feed stocks; advanced bio-oil production techniques; opportunities for biomass-derived "bio-oil", and related waste treatment, emissions and environmental impacts. Bridging the gap between research and practical applications, this book is written for engineering professionals in the petroleum and biofuels industry, academic researchers working in bioenergy, bioprocessing technology and chemical engineering, as well as anyone interested in understanding this diverse and developing theme.

Here is a state-of-the-art survey of artificial intelligence in modern exploration programs. Focussing on standard exploration procedures, the contributions examine the advantages and pitfalls of using these new techniques, and, in the process, provide new, more accurate and consistent methods for solving old problems. They show how expert systems can provide the integration of information that is essential in the petroleum industry when solving the complicated questions facing the modern petroleum geoscientist.

Joseph Hilyard's timely new book provides a broad perspective on the oil and gas industry, with primary attention to the United States. It takes the reader on a tour of the operations used to find and evaluate resources, and then to produce, store and deliver oil and gas.
The book's main focus is primarily on the equipment and processes used in exploring new resources; evaluating promising formations; drilling wells; managing oil and gas production; converting oil and gas into products; and transporting oil and gas. Separate chapters address the evolution and current structure of the petroleum industry; oil and gas trading; and challenges likely to face the oil and gas industry in coming years.
Three appendices define key industry terminology; suggest further reading on selected topics; and identify organizations that can provide more information.

Is the Arab world an indispensable energy source without which our civilisation will come to a halt? Is this the cause of political and military meddling in the Arab world's affairs, and the reason given by democratic western leaders to defend supporting autocratic and authoritarian Arab governments to stay in power? Is the world really this vulnerable? Assessment of mankind's dependence on fossil fuels, particularly the position of the Arab world, is performed by analysing the three types (oil, natural gas, and coal), which are in essence convertible. Fossil fuels are tackled from two angles: clarifying the terminology used by the media, politicians, scientists, and so-called experts, when discussing fossil fuels; evaluating the hard facts and separate them from fiction by analysing the numbers and scrutinise them impartially to come with a definitive quantitative answer. Finally, a further investigation examines fossil fuels in relation to alternative energy, and from political perspective.

Petroleum Rock Mechanics: Drilling Operations and Well Design covers the fundamentals of solid mechanics and petroleum rock mechanics and their application to oil and gas-related drilling operations and well design. More specifically, it examines the role of formation, strength of rock materials, and wellbore mechanics, along with the impact of in-situ stress changes on wellbore and borehole behavior. Practical examples with solutions and a comprehensive glossary of terminologies are provided. Equations are incorporated into well-known failure criteria to predict stresses and to analyze a range of failure scenarios throughout drilling, well operation, and well completion processes. The book also discusses stress and strain components, principal and deviatoric stresses and strains, materials behavior, the theories of elasticity and inelasticity, probabilistic analysis of stress data, the tensile and shear strength of rocks, wellbore stability, and fracture and collapse behavior for both single and multi-lateral wells. Both inexperienced university students and experienced engineers will find this book extremely useful.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a domestic energy resource with the potential to provide a significant amount of energy to meet U.S. liquid fuel requirements. MSW is defined as household waste, commercial solid waste, non-hazardous sludge, conditionally exempt, small quantity hazardous waste and industrial solid waste. This book examines the potential use of MSW to make synthesis gas (syngas) suitable for production of liquid fuels; the expected process scale required for favorable economics; the availability of MSW in quantities sufficient to meet process scale requirements and state-of-the-art MSW gasification technology.

This book presents and discusses current research in the study of sustainable petroleum operations. Topics discussed include greening of petroleum operations; a novel environmental risk management model for petroleum operations; an approach for conflict resolution in oil and gas operations; technological analysis and quantitative assessment of oil and gas development and air pollution and carbon assessment framework for oil and gas developments.

This book presents and discusses research in the study of natural gas systems. Topics discussed include flammability and individual risk assessment for natural gas pipelines; guidelines for developing gas fields associated with edge-water drive; fuzzy estimation and stabilisation in gas life wells based on a new stability map and human health risks assessment due to natural gas pipelines explosions.

The updated textbook is intended to serve as an advanced and detailed treatment of the evolution of the subject of stratigraphy from its disparate beginnings as separate studies of sedimentology, lithostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, etc., into a modern integrated discipline in which all components are necessary. There is a historical introduction, which now includes information about the timeline of the evolution of the components of modern stratigraphy. The elements of the various components (facies analysis, sequence stratigraphy, mapping methods, chronostratigraphic methods, etc.) are outlined, and a chapter discussing the modern synthesis is included near the end of the book, which closes with a discussion of future research trends in the study of time as preserved in the stratigraphic record.