16
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
will be capable of generating all kinds of gaseous and liquid synfuels from biomass
that is currently produced from fossil fuel in oil-based refinery.
Besides coal, oil, gas, and biomass, an important raw material for future energy
and fuel industry is waste. The United States generates about 250 million tons of
waste per year. The worldwide waste production will exceed 1 billion tons per year
during this decade. Since it is also connected to the growth in world population,
waste production is one of the fastest growing industries. The landfills around the
world are full, and the new paradigm is that landfills are only temporary storage
places for the waste and waste to energy and products should be more actively pursued. Since most waste contains between 50% and 85% cellulose, its conversion
using water-based processes will become more important.
The future energy industry will also call for refineries that can process multiple
feedstock, if possible. The use of mixed feedstock (such as coal and biomass, coal,
and waste) may be the new reality of the future because of (1) the location- and timedependent availability of various raw materials, (2) the desire to reduce carbon emission in the atmosphere, and (3) the cost reduction of building targeted refinery based
on the feedstock. Some of the technologies such as gasification followed by gas-toliquid conversion and supercritical water processing may handle such mixtures.
The expanded use of water for energy and fuel production leads to another societal issue that will have to be managed. Clean water is essential for human and
animal life. The expanded use of water for energy and fuel production may create
a problem for the available amount of drinkable water for human and animal needs
and useable water for agricultural needs. Just as there are tensions between the use
of food materials such as corn, soybeans, maize, and other carbohydrates for fuels
(such as ethanol), tensions will also be created for the use of water for energy and
fuel production and the need of clean water for human and animal needs as well
as for agricultural purposes. The strategic management of water will be the next
important societal issue. The treatment of water used in energy and fuel industries
will become an independent industry by itself. This industry will have to manage the
overall societal need for the water to maintain the required strategic distribution of
water among its different usages. Along with energy and fuel, a prudent use of water
will be the next societal challenge.
Water, however, will be the centerpiece of future energy and fuel landscape.
reFerenCes
1. ExxonMobil, “The outlook for energy: A view to 2040,” US Edition, ExxonMobil
Report, ExxonMobil, Irving, Tx (2012).
2. Lee, S. and Shah, Y., Biofuels and Bioenergy: Processes and Technologies. Taylor &
Francis, Boca Raton, FL (2012).
3. Funke, A. and Zeigler, F., “Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass: A summary and
discussion of chemical mechanisms for process engineering,” Biofuel, Bioproducts and
Biorefining, 4, 160–177 (2010).
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
will be capable of generating all kinds of gaseous and liquid synfuels from biomass
that is currently produced from fossil fuel in oil-based refinery.
Besides coal, oil, gas, and biomass, an important raw material for future energy
and fuel industry is waste. The United States generates about 250 million tons of
waste per year. The worldwide waste production will exceed 1 billion tons per year
during this decade. Since it is also connected to the growth in world population,
waste production is one of the fastest growing industries. The landfills around the
world are full, and the new paradigm is that landfills are only temporary storage
places for the waste and waste to energy and products should be more actively pursued. Since most waste contains between 50% and 85% cellulose, its conversion
using water-based processes will become more important.
The future energy industry will also call for refineries that can process multiple
feedstock, if possible. The use of mixed feedstock (such as coal and biomass, coal,
and waste) may be the new reality of the future because of (1) the location- and timedependent availability of various raw materials, (2) the desire to reduce carbon emission in the atmosphere, and (3) the cost reduction of building targeted refinery based
on the feedstock. Some of the technologies such as gasification followed by gas-toliquid conversion and supercritical water processing may handle such mixtures.
The expanded use of water for energy and fuel production leads to another societal issue that will have to be managed. Clean water is essential for human and
animal life. The expanded use of water for energy and fuel production may create
a problem for the available amount of drinkable water for human and animal needs
and useable water for agricultural needs. Just as there are tensions between the use
of food materials such as corn, soybeans, maize, and other carbohydrates for fuels
(such as ethanol), tensions will also be created for the use of water for energy and
fuel production and the need of clean water for human and animal needs as well
as for agricultural purposes. The strategic management of water will be the next
important societal issue. The treatment of water used in energy and fuel industries
will become an independent industry by itself. This industry will have to manage the
overall societal need for the water to maintain the required strategic distribution of
water among its different usages. Along with energy and fuel, a prudent use of water
will be the next societal challenge.
Water, however, will be the centerpiece of future energy and fuel landscape.
reFerenCes
1. ExxonMobil, “The outlook for energy: A view to 2040,” US Edition, ExxonMobil
Report, ExxonMobil, Irving, Tx (2012).
2. Lee, S. and Shah, Y., Biofuels and Bioenergy: Processes and Technologies. Taylor &
Francis, Boca Raton, FL (2012).
3. Funke, A. and Zeigler, F., “Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass: A summary and
discussion of chemical mechanisms for process engineering,” Biofuel, Bioproducts and
Biorefining, 4, 160–177 (2010).