Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods
    Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods
    Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods
    Ebook326 pages3 hours

    Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods

    By Vikram Rao and Rob Knight

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Shale oil and gas have altered the energy landscape, possibly permanently. They burst upon the fossil energy scene with a suddenness that initially defied prediction. Even the political balance of the world has changed. But, with the methods employed, the vast majority of the oil and gas remains in the ground. At the same time, serious environmental impact issues have been raised. A new volume in the Emerging Issues in Analytical Chemistry series, Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods was written on the premise that analytical methods to inform these areas were wanting. While not attempting to be comprehensive, it describes important analytical methods, some still in development. These methods are underpinned primarily by chemistry, but geochemistry and even biochemistry play significant roles. The book has a solutions flavor; problems are posed together with approaches to ameliorate them.

    • Provides a clear understanding of the potential environmental issues as well as a path to solutions
    • Includes background information for understanding potential impacts of shale operations from both an environmental and public health perspective
    • Authored by leaders from diverse disciplines with expertise in a variety of areas: groundwater quality, petroleum-related operations, microbial ecology, and electronic technologies
    • Reviews new sensing and evaluation methods that could be key enablers to sustainable fracking: portable mass spectrometry, microbiome analysis, DNA as tracers, and a microparticulate matter detector
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElsevier Science
    Release dateSep 27, 2016
    ISBN9780128103906
    Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Biochemistry Methods
    Author

    Vikram Rao

    Vikram Rao is the executive director of the Research Triangle Energy Consortium, having assumed this position on September 1, 2008. He spent 9 years with Halliburton and another 25 with predecessor companies. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and chief technology officer responsible for Halliburton’s technology effort as well as intellectual asset management. He joined a predecessor company in 1974 as a senior research engineer. Dr. Rao currently advises the non-profit RTI International and the firms BioLargo Inc., Biota Technology Inc., Alchemy Sciences Inc., Fervo Energy Inc., Sage Geosystems Inc., Clyra Medical Technologies Inc., and Cybele Microbiome Inc. He is a past chairman of the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission. He is the author of more than 30 publications and has been awarded 42 United States patents and foreign analogs. RTI Press released his book Shale Gas: The Promise and the Peril in July 2012 and a revised second edition in 2015. His book Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas in the Emerging Issues in Analytical Chemistry series, with Dr. Rob Knight, was released in 2016. Rao earned a doctorate and a master’s in engineering from Stanford University and holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Chennai, India.

    Related to Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas

    Related ebooks

    Power Resources For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Coming Energy Shock

      Feb 23, 2022

      The Coming Energy Shock
      4 min read

    • Article

      This Plan Could Get The Oil Industry To Cut Carbon Emissions

      Sep 25, 2018

      A new analysis proposes a model for how relatively small government payments could pave the way for oil reservoirs to stash away more CO2 than their burned contents unleash. In February 2018, Donald Trump signed into law new tax credits that reward o

      3 min read

    • Article

      In Climate Fight, Carbon Removal Is Still a Risky Path

      May 24, 2017

      Assuming that the deployment of carbon removal technology will outpace emissions and conquer global climate change is a poor substitute for taking action now, say researchers. With the current pace of renewable energy deployment and emissions reducti

      2 min read

    • Article

      When The Party Ends

      Apr 1, 2021

      When The Party Ends
      6 min read

    • Article

      Africa As A Massive Logistics Opportunity

      Apr 1, 2021

      ANEW GLOBAL CEO SURVEY RELEASED BY PricewaterhouseCoopers in mid-March says that CEOs are voicing record levels of optimism in the global economic recovery. It’s a sentiment Mohammed Akoojee, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Logistics, a

      3 min read

    • Article

      It’s the Fourth of July! What Could be More Patriotic Than Serving on a Science Advisory Board?

      Jun 29, 2017

      Earlier this month, I wrote about my experience serving on various federal science advisory boards and committees. In that post, I encouraged my fellow scientists to consider taking on this challenging but rewarding task. A lot has happened over the

      2 min read

    • Article

      Your Voice Is Needed as EPA Updates its Rule on Risk Management of Chemical Facilities

      Mar 18, 2022

      UCS Research Director Jacob Carter calls on all public health experts and those living near at-risk chemical facilities to weigh in on changes the EPA will make to its Risk Management Plan rule. The public comment period is scheduled to begin Septemb

      2 min read

    • Article

      Climate Action Today: Where We're Going And How We Reach Results – Despite Current Roadblocks

      Nov 28, 2017

      As we approach the end of President Trump’s first year in office, we’re taking stock of what’s changed and ramping up our efforts.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Three Top-quality Companies Cashing In On Long-term Green Growth Trends

      Aug 25, 2023

      The threat to our climate and biodiversity is severe, yet the world has never been in a stronger position to address it. Renewable-energy costs have fallen for solar, wind, and batteries. Funding for climate technology has grown. Engineers are suppor

      2 min read

    • Article

      Is An EIA Worth The Paper It’s Written On?

      Oct 3, 2020

      YOU DON’T have to be a rocket scientist to understand the purpose of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study. But for the benefit of the layperson, especially those who will be affected by Total’s (Tepsa) application to drill an additional 10

      3 min read

    • Article

      Even In Trump Era, Green Energy Innovation Is Sparking, Not Sputtering

      Apr 27, 2018

      Congress has kept in place federal funds that support the key period when inventors have to build prototypes to show potential investors. Some corporations and states also help maintain momentum on clean energy.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas - Vikram Rao

      design.

      Chapter 1

      Background

      Abstract

      This chapter sets out the objective of the book and the general way in which that objective will be met. Shale oil and gas may have permanently altered the energy landscape. These resources are different from conventionally produced petroleum, so the analytical methods for production and protection of the environment, although building on those of the past, must be innovative in kind and in application. This chapter provides a brief overview of shale oil and natural gas, and then it presents the environmental considerations that must be addressed. Indeed, the ability to overcome environmental hurdles may be the most important factor for a given energy form because one, such as cheap gas, might drive out another by virtue of generating lower pollution during production or use.

      Keywords

      Shale oil; shale gas; coal; petroleum market; multiwell pad; oil price; gas price; petroleum analytical methods; freshwater contamination; environmental protection

      That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.

      (Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker).

      —Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

      Shale oil and gas may have permanently altered the energy landscape. They burst upon the fossil energy scene with a suddenness that initially defied prediction. Much of the uncertainty was due to the fact that the type of reservoir being exploited was dramatically different from the conventional one. The term unconventional reservoir was ascribed to this rock. The relatively new techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were essential. Both of these techniques, but especially the latter, had some environmental baggage, especially in states such as Pennsylvania that were unprepared with adequate regulations. Production methods were inefficient largely because the reservoir was not adequately understood. This book addresses the analytical methods and associated science necessary to permit efficient exploitation while simultaneously protecting the environment. Had methods such as these existed in the early 2010s, and regulations emboldened by them put in place, much of the uncertainty engendered to date could have been avoided.

      Oil

      A scant 6 years ago, not even the most aggressive crystal ball gazers could have predicted the events of 2014, when shale oil production ramped up rapidly enough to be the determining factor of world oil price. By late 2014, the price of oil halved. Prices in early 2016 plumbed new recent depths down to US$25 per barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s response was to maintain production and not prop up the price with production cuts. A widely reported motivation of at least Saudi Arabia, a member of OPEC, was to drive out higher cost shale oil producers. Shale oil production certainly had dropped by early 2016, but resiliency crept in. Production costs were slashed in part with cost reduction by the service companies but mostly through efficiency innovation. An important component of this game of chicken is a realistic appraisal of how low the profitable breakeven cost of shale oil can go. The time frame is a factor as well, as described later.

      What, then, are the prospects for shale oil producers surviving the Saudi gambit? We treat the natural gas issue separately. The markets are different, and the only material effect of oil price is on liquefied natural gas (LNG) pricing; this is discussed later. The survival of US shale oil is dependent on three factors. The main factor is the ability to produce it profitably at depressed oil prices. The second is the ability to overcome environmental hurdles, because doing so may represent the price to play. Lastly, shale oil production, unlike conventional oil recovery, literally occurs in the backyards of citizens who are not used to this activity. These three factors add up to the standard definition of sustainability: Without profit, there is no enterprise, but it cannot be at the expense of either the environment or the wellbeing of the citizens in the locality of the industry.

      As a consequence of the foregoing, this book squarely addresses all three elements of sustainable production. This hydrocarbon source is new and, consequently, nowhere close to optimized with regard to economics of production. For example, only approximately 5% of the oil in place in the average play is being produced. The percentage for conventional oil, by contrast, is in the mid-thirties. Modest gains in the 5% figure will have a significant impact on profitability. However, these gains require capabilities not currently in the toolbox of practitioners. During the period 2013 to 2015, the industry focused on improving efficiency in logistics and drilling practices. It is now common for multiple wells to be placed on pads. The following box describes this phenomenon, which has benefits to the environment in addition to the economics of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1