2
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
in recovering new unconventional gas resources. The carbon-emitting fossil energy
industry is still facing significant political pressures due to its harmful influence on
the environment.
Over the last several decades (particularly in Europe and South America), much
effort has been made to use renewable bioenergy, which uses biomass (and cellulosic
waste), because this type of energy is carbon neutral in its natural life cycle. Carbon
dioxide emitted by the use of biofuels is captured by plants and vegetables for their
regenerations. Unlike fossil energy industry, bioenergy industry extensively uses
aqueous processes (such as hydrothermal liquefaction, anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis, fermentation, aqueous-phase reforming, and supercritical gasification) along
with the traditional thermochemical processes used in the fossil energy industry.
This book illustrates the extensive use of water as a reactant to generate power and
fuels in the bioenergy industry.
The remaining three types of energy industry that are also gaining an additional
momentum in the recent years are all carbon-free energy industries and include
(1) nuclear energy; (2) solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and hydrokinetic
energies; and (3) hydrogen. These sources of energy do not emit any carbon in the
environment. Nuclear energy has been in existence for a while, but its acceptance
has been politically hindered because of safety issues. It is projected that its use
will moderately grow over the next 30 years. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and hydrokinetic energy sources, which are time and/or location dependent, are
renewable and are dependent on the natural elements. While each of these sources of
energy will be an industry by itself, renewable nature and carbon-free characteristics
unite them.
Hydrogen is the most abundant source of energy on this earth and it is the cleanest and most likely the solution to the energy needs of the world in the long term.
Hydrogen economy may dominate “energy economy” in the long term, and it is
slowly becoming an industry by itself. Unfortunately, hydrogen is found only in the
compound form and its recovery as pure hydrogen requires fossil, biofuel, and water
resources. While the generation of hydrogen from fossil and biofuels may cause
carbon emissions, the use of hydrogen is carbon free. Water is the most abundant
source of hydrogen and the generation of hydrogen from water can be carbon free. In
the recent years, significant efforts have been made to recover hydrogen from water
by innovative water dissociation technologies, most of which are outlined in this
book. The research and development (R&D) in hydrocarbon-based, cellulose-based,
carbohydrate-based, nuclear, and carbon-free energy sources will continuously
change the future landscape of the energy industry.
Because of our quest to accommodate the growing needs of energy by the
developing countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many African
nations as well as to satisfy the need for reduced carbon emission to the environment, the global supply and demand picture will considerably change over the
next several decades. ExxonMobil has carried out supply and demand projections
for energy and fuels up to 2040 [1]. Similar reports (with somewhat different projections) have also been published by other oil companies (such as BP). Here we
briefly summarize some of the important conclusions of the ExxonMobil report
(EMR) [1].
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
in recovering new unconventional gas resources. The carbon-emitting fossil energy
industry is still facing significant political pressures due to its harmful influence on
the environment.
Over the last several decades (particularly in Europe and South America), much
effort has been made to use renewable bioenergy, which uses biomass (and cellulosic
waste), because this type of energy is carbon neutral in its natural life cycle. Carbon
dioxide emitted by the use of biofuels is captured by plants and vegetables for their
regenerations. Unlike fossil energy industry, bioenergy industry extensively uses
aqueous processes (such as hydrothermal liquefaction, anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis, fermentation, aqueous-phase reforming, and supercritical gasification) along
with the traditional thermochemical processes used in the fossil energy industry.
This book illustrates the extensive use of water as a reactant to generate power and
fuels in the bioenergy industry.
The remaining three types of energy industry that are also gaining an additional
momentum in the recent years are all carbon-free energy industries and include
(1) nuclear energy; (2) solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and hydrokinetic
energies; and (3) hydrogen. These sources of energy do not emit any carbon in the
environment. Nuclear energy has been in existence for a while, but its acceptance
has been politically hindered because of safety issues. It is projected that its use
will moderately grow over the next 30 years. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and hydrokinetic energy sources, which are time and/or location dependent, are
renewable and are dependent on the natural elements. While each of these sources of
energy will be an industry by itself, renewable nature and carbon-free characteristics
unite them.
Hydrogen is the most abundant source of energy on this earth and it is the cleanest and most likely the solution to the energy needs of the world in the long term.
Hydrogen economy may dominate “energy economy” in the long term, and it is
slowly becoming an industry by itself. Unfortunately, hydrogen is found only in the
compound form and its recovery as pure hydrogen requires fossil, biofuel, and water
resources. While the generation of hydrogen from fossil and biofuels may cause
carbon emissions, the use of hydrogen is carbon free. Water is the most abundant
source of hydrogen and the generation of hydrogen from water can be carbon free. In
the recent years, significant efforts have been made to recover hydrogen from water
by innovative water dissociation technologies, most of which are outlined in this
book. The research and development (R&D) in hydrocarbon-based, cellulose-based,
carbohydrate-based, nuclear, and carbon-free energy sources will continuously
change the future landscape of the energy industry.
Because of our quest to accommodate the growing needs of energy by the
developing countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many African
nations as well as to satisfy the need for reduced carbon emission to the environment, the global supply and demand picture will considerably change over the
next several decades. ExxonMobil has carried out supply and demand projections
for energy and fuels up to 2040 [1]. Similar reports (with somewhat different projections) have also been published by other oil companies (such as BP). Here we
briefly summarize some of the important conclusions of the ExxonMobil report
(EMR) [1].