The government documents included in this book are comprised of reports and testimonies from June 2018 to September 2018 on research and development in the United States. The first report examines research and development projects started from 2010 through 2017 on advanced fossil energy. For over 100 years, three fossil fuel sources -- coal, oil and natural gas -- have made up at least 80% of total US energy consumption. While fossil fuels are associated with some negative environmental impacts a such as carbon dioxide emissions, the predominance of coal, oil and natural gas is likely to continue into the future. The second report focuses on considerations for maintaining US competitiveness in Quantum Computing, Synthetic Biology and other potentially transformational research advances. Federal support in such areas can accelerate innovation and drive technological advances and promote US competitiveness in the global economy. The third and final report focuses on additional actions needed to improve licensing of patented laboratory inventions. The GAO was asked to review agency practices for managing inventions developed at federal labs, with a particular focus on patent licensing. This report examines the challenges in licensing patents and steps take to address and report them.

Oil and gas companies are continually upgrading drilling and production facilities in response to safety, regulatory, and technology advances, causing the amount of data that an operator must interpret in order to optimize a facility's production to increase exponentially. Trained employees are at premium demand in the field, and companies are willing to pay for skills. However, there are too many skill-specific positions available and too many untrained applicants, and companies within this industry lack the recruiting, training, and experience necessary to train them. Workforce Education at Oil and Gas Companies in the Permian Basin: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential scholarly resource that examines changing technical, data analysis, and decision-making skills required of operations or maintenance personnel, as well as expectations for future changes. The book contrasts these needs against a typical oilfield worker's education level and skillset in order to target potential solutions for the challenges that face today's workforce. Highlighting topics such as economic development, oilfield technology, and employee training, this book is geared toward oil and gas workers, training facilitators, education practitioners, industry professionals, academicians, and researchers.

Campbell's Atlas of Oil and Gas Depletion, Second Edition, is the product of a half-century of critical analysis and updating of data on the status of oil and gas depletion by country, region and the world as a whole. Separate analyses of conventional and non-conventional oil and gas, which are depleting at different rates and costs, show when these critical energy sources peak and decline. The Atlas also summarizes the history and political circumstances of each country to assess the impact on oil and gas production and reserves. It contrasts the First Half of the Oil Age, which saw the rapid expansion of the world economy, allowing the population to grow six-fold, with the Second Half, which will witness a general contraction as these easy, high-density energy supplies dwindle. The transition threatens to be a time of great economic, financial and political tensions. The Atlas, which has been compiled and updated by prominent geologist, former oil company executive, and oil analyst Colin Campbell since the 1960s, addresses the need for a reliable and comprehensive database on a subject essential to governments, industry, academia, and the population as a whole as we attempt to adapt to these critically changing circumstances.

Written by two of the most prolific and respected chemical engineers in the world, this groundbreaking two-volume set is the "new standard" in the industry, offering engineers and students alike the most up-do-date, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art coverage of processes and best practices in the field today. This first new volume in a two-volume set explores and describes integrating new tools for engineering education and practice for better utilization of the existing knowledge on process design. Useful not only for students, professors, scientists and practitioners, especially process, chemical, mechanical and metallurgical engineers, it is also a valuable reference for other engineers, consultants, technicians and scientists concerned about various aspects of industrial design. The text can be considered as a complementary text to process design for senior and graduate students as well as a hands-on reference work or refresher for engineers at entry level. The contents of the book can also be taught in intensive workshops in the oil, gas, petrochemical, biochemical and process industries. The book provides a detailed description and hands-on experience on process design in chemical engineering, and it is an integrated text that focuses on practical design with new tools, such as Excel spreadsheets and UniSim simulation software. Written by two industry and university's most trustworthy and well-known authors, this book is the new standard in chemical, biochemical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical and petroleum refining. Covering design, analysis, simulation, integration, and, perhaps most importantly, the practical application of Microsoft Excel-UniSim software, this is the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of all of the latest developments in the industry. It is a must-have for any engineer or student's library.

In response to the global increase in the use of biofuels as substitute transportation fuels, advanced chemical, biochemical and thermochemical biofuels production routes are fast being developed. Research and development in this field is aimed at improving the quality and environmental impact of biofuels production, as well as the overall efficiency and output of biofuels production plants. The range of biofuels has also increased to supplement bioethanol and biodiesel production, with market developments leading to the increased production and utilisation of such biofuels as biosyngas, biohydrogen and biobutanol, among others. Handbook of biofuels production provides a comprehensive and systematic reference on the range of biomass conversion processes and technology. Part one reviews the key issues in the biofuels production chain, including feedstocks, sustainability assessment and policy development. Part two reviews chemical and biochemical conversion and in turn Part three reviews thermal and thermo-chemical conversion, with both sections detailing the wide range of processes and technologies applicable to the production of first, second and third generation biofuels. Finally, Part four reviews developments in the integration of biofuels production, including biorefineries and by-product valorisation, as well as the utilisation of biofuels in diesel engines. With its distinguished international team of contributors, Handbook of biofuels production is a standard reference for biofuels production engineers, industrial chemists and biochemists, plant scientists, academics and researchers in this area.

Several fiery rail accidents in 2013-2015 in the U.S. and Canada carrying crude oil produced from the Bakken region of North Dakota have raised questions at many levels on the safety of transporting this, and other types of crude oil, by rail. Sandia National Laboratories was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the material properties of crude oils, and in particular the so-called "tight oils" like Bakken that comprise the majority of crude oil rail shipments in the U.S. at the current time. The book provides a literature survey of public sources of information on crude oil properties that have some bearing on the likelihood or severity of combustion events that may occur around spills associated with rail transport. The book also contains background information including a review of the notional "tight oil" field operating environment, as well a basic description of crude oils and potential combustion events in rail transport.

This book is focused on new developments in lignocellulose research. In particular, lignocellulosic biomass has been the focus of considerable attention for the production of a wide range of valuable products in biorefineries which aim to utilize renewable starting material instead of fossil based products. The authors focus on the usage of hemicellulose to produce various bio-based products including platform chemicals that have considerable market potential in the coming years. Other chapters in the book review studies which have explored how the lignocellulose morphological structure affects the enzymatic hydrolysis reaction and the corresponding plant cell wall structural changes. Other chapters describe the state-of-the-art of pretreatment processes, fermentation processes, microbial lipid accumulation pathway and methanolysis of the microbial lipids to increase the yields of biodiesel as well as the challenges associated with the use of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB); the ways in which membrane technology has been gaining widespread recognition to substitute the existing separation and purification technologies, specifically, the applications of ionic liquid based membranes; and the quantitative composition of secretome of potent biomass hydrolyzing fungi along with their post translational modifications and also the role of PTMs.

Fossil fuels propelled industries and nations into the modern age and continue to powerfully influence economies and politics today. As "Energy Capitals" demonstrates, the discovery and exploitation of fossil fuels has proven to be a mixed blessing in many of the cities and regions where it has occurred.
With case studies from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Africa, and Australia, this volume views a range of older and more recent energy capitals, contrasts their evolutions, and explores why some capitals were able to influence global trends in energy production and distribution while others failed to control even their own destinies. Chapters show how local and national politics, social structures, technological advantages, education systems, capital, infrastructure, labor force, supply and demand, and other factors have affected the ability of a region to develop and control its own fossil fuel reserves. The contributors also view the environmental impact of energy industries and demonstrate how, in the depletion of reserves or a shift to new energy sources, regions have or have not been able to recover economically.
The cities of Tampico, Mexico, and Port Gentil, Gabon, have seen their oil deposits exploited by international companies with little or nothing to show in return and at a high cost environmentally. At the opposite extreme, Houston, Texas, has witnessed great economic gain from its oil, natural gas, and petrochemical industries. Its growth, however, has been tempered by the immense strain on infrastructure and the human transformation of the natural environment. In another scenario, Perth, Australia, Calgary, Alberta, and Stavanger, Norway have benefitted as the closest established cities with administrative and financial assets for energy production that was developed hundreds of miles away.
Whether coal, oil, or natural gas, the essays offer important lessons learned over time and future considerations for the best ways to capture the benefits of energy development while limiting the cost to local populations and environments.

The federal government has encouraged the development and use of alternative fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with aviation and to enhance economic development and energy security for the United States. To help achieve these goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the aviation industry is actively supporting alternative jet fuels. This book examines the role of the federal government in the development and use of alternative jet fuels; and key challenges to developing and using alternative jet fuels and actions that the federal government plans to or could take to help address those challenges.