Hydrocarbon, any of a class of organic chemical compounds composed only of the elements carbon(C)

and hydrogen (H). The carbon atoms join together to form the framework of the compound; the hydrogen
atoms attach to them in many different configurations. Hydrocarbons are the principal constituents
of petroleum and natural gas. They serve as fuels and lubricants as well as raw materials for the
production of plastics, fibres,rubbers, solvents, explosives, and industrial chemicals.
Many hydrocarbons occur in nature. In addition to making up fossil fuels, they are present
in trees and plants, as, for example, in the form of ... (100 of 9,615 words)

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

Hydrocarbon Products and Processing

Fossil fuels — oil, natural gas and coal — make up roughly 85 percent of U.S. energy
consumption, a pattern that is mirrored worldwide and forecasted to continue for at least the
next two decades. Nearly two thirds of all electricity and virtually all transportation fuels
come from hydrocarbons.

Each of these fossil fuels brings its own set of research and policy challenges. The largest
proved reserves of conventional oil and gas are concentrated in regions of the world that are
far from existing and growing demand centers and where political instability figures heavily
into the geopolitical calculus. Industry analysts fear that conventional low-cost oil production
is close to peaking or has peaked. There have been few large oil field discoveries in recent
years and exploration opportunities are increasingly limited to deep offshore. Further, the
balance of world oil reserves is heavier and more sour. This heavy oil poses greater refining as
well as environmental challenges. Conventional natural gas is abundant worldwide but difficult
to transport. Consequently, it is expensive and, like oil, represents a growing geopolitical
challenge.

Coal reserves are similarly concentrated but are located in regions with large and growing
energy demand. As a result, coal does not carry the same geopolitical risks as oil and gas, but
it does present the greatest environmental challenge of the three fossil fuels. Conventional
coal-burning power plants emit about twice as much carbon as comparable natural gas plants.
Coal plants also emit a range of other air pollutants that are particularly problematic in the
megacities of the developing world.

From both security and environmental perspectives, it is critical that we address these fossil
fuel challenges while we transition to cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy. Research
relating to oil and gas should primarily address the issues of conventional resource scarcity
and the associated economic and security implications. Attention should focus on developing
resources in hostile environments such as ultra-deepwater depths of 5,000 feet or more, on
enhanced oil recovery, on unconventional resources such as heavy oil, bitumen and shale and
on natural gas from coal beds, gas shales and tight sands. Advanced sensors, new ways to
generate and interpret seismic data and new drilling technologies are needed to produce oil
and gas economically from deep (25,000 feet or greater) geologic formations.

Research relating to coal must focus on mitigation of its environmental impacts with a
specific focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Research topics include large-scale
carbon capture, geologic sequestration of significant scale--along with enabling legal and
regulatory structures--gasification and more-efficient power generation, for example, using
ultra-supercritical technologies. Supercritical (SC) and ultra-supercritical (USC) power plants
operate at temperatures and pressures above a certain temperature and pressure. This results
in higher efficiencies--up to 46 percent for supercritical and 50 percent for ultra-supercritical--
and lower emissions than traditional coal-fired plants.