New Clean Energy Sources for the 21st Century

Lecturer: Mahajan, Devinder, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Venue: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, January 8, 2008 (http://www.bnl.gov/education/programs/cminisem.asp [external site]).

Abstract: The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report in November 2007. The report paints a grim picture for the planet due to rising atmospheric CO2 levels. However, world energy demand in the 21st century is on the rise, fueled mostly by economic expansion in the two most populated countries—China and India. Thus a challenge is posed for the selection of feedstocks in the global energy portfolio. In the last few years, the energy demand focus has shifted to energy crops—especially corn—and materials such as wood, biomass, and animal waste for biofuels production. Biofuels that are considered CO2-net-neutral appear to be a good choice as a replacement for traditional fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas. But the energy output-to-input ratio analysis for the crop-to-fuel cascade remains controversial, and a few scenarios project the ratio to be <1, i.e., there may minimal or even a negative energy output. Among available fossil fuels, natural gas, with a hydrogen/carbon ratio of 4/1, is the cleanest of all fossil fuels. New power plants are mostly fueled with natural gas, and this fuel is likely to play a crucial role in meeting energy demand in the next few decades. However, ample natural gas supplies must be made available to the customer to maintain its utility. Methane hydrates, which owe their existence to the ability of water molecules to cage methane molecules under naturally low temperatures and high pressures, are now confirmed in permafrost and marine settings. The potential reserves of methane hydrate are vast, and methane, if recovered economically, could fuel the world for several decades. This lecture will discuss the role methane from hydrates could play in the coming decades, in the transition from fossil fuels to a hydrogen economy.

Related NETL Project
The lecturer is the principal investigator on the NETL project EST-380-NEDA, “Characterization and Decomposition Kinetic Studies of Methane Hydrate in Host Sediments under Subsurface-Mimic Conditions.” This NETL project’s goal is to establish lithology of fine-grained sediments from the Gulf of Mexico and other known sites of methane hydrate occurrences and measure changes induced by hydrate-forming events under subsurface-mimic conditions. The collected formation/decomposition data will be modeled to better understand hydrate occurrences in marine-based natural systems.

NETL Project Contacts
NETL – Traci Rodosta (Traci.Rodosta@netl.doe.gov or 412-285-1345)
Brookhaven National Laboratory – Devinder Mahanjan (dmahajan@bnl.gov or 631-344-4985)