Fossil proven reserves

Table 1 1981 proven reserves in fossil hydrocarbons (natural gas excepted f... 

The United States contains about one-third of the world s coal reserves, and coal represents over 90 percent of U.S. proven reserves of fossil fuels. Recoverable reserves of U.S. coal are estimated to be 250 billion tons. Bituminous coals (with a heating value of 10,GOO-15,000 BTU/lb) comprise nearly one-half of total U.S. coal reserves. Eastern U.S. coals are generally bituminous. Western and southwestern U.S. coals are mainly sub-bituminous... 

Today, natural gas is the third most important fuel used worldwide, after oil and coal. Like all fossil fuels, the reserves of natural gas are far from being inexhaustible but, fortunately so far, newer fields and reserves have been identified at a faster rate than its consumption so that, overall, the proven reserves have been increasing. If the recovery of deep-ocean natural gas hydrates were to become feasible in the future, much larger reserves would be available. The uses of natural gas today can be summarized as ... 

Table 2 Proven fossil fuel reserves and reserve/production ratio...

Fossil fuels will continue to be economical and widely available through at least the first half of the 21st century because they are plentiful, readily available, and fundamentally cheap. Currently, 75 million barrels of oil are consumed every day. By 2020 it is anticipated that 112 million to 114 million barrels will be consumed daily. The availability of oil will not be a problem outside political issues that may appear. In fact, in the past 20 years the proven reserves of crude oil have increased by over 50 percent from a little over 600 billion barrels to about 1 trillion barrels. 

In the 21st century this pattern of energy usage probably will not change significantly. The main reason is that carbon-based fuels will remain plentiful and low in cost. Examination of the reserve supply of fossil fuels indicates a substantial amount of petroleum still in the ground and accessible. At present consumption rates, and analyzing only proven reserves for fossil fuels, it is anticipated that oil reserves will last for at least another 40 years, supplies of gas another 70 years, and coal supplies 200 years. If likely reserves that have not yet been discovered are included, fossil fuels will be plentiful for decades to come. 

Proven reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal tend to underscore that fossil fuels will remain an abundant inexpensive resource base for the foreseeable future. Proven oil reserves are expected to last at least 40 years, natural gas should last at least 70 years, and coal reserves are adequate for 200 years. By adding reserves that are likely to be found, the oil supply would then last between 50 and 100 years, natural gas 90 to 275 years, and coal at least 2,000 years. 

The exhaustibility of fossil sources at current consumption and production levels, the world s proven reserves of oil, natural gas and coal are expected to be depleted in 42, 64 and 155 years, respectively (lEA, 2006). Although these years left are moving targets, prices will rise substantially when oil fields become more depleted. 

The global reserve/production ratio for the natural gas was sixty-two years in 1999 (compared to forty-one years for crude oil, and 230 years for coal). So far about 180 Gtoe of natural gas have been extracted and found in proven reserves additional natural gas resources are conservatively estimated to total another 200-300 see British Petroleum (74) Odell, P. 1999. Fossil Fuel Resources in the 21st Century. Vienna IAEA. 

Coal is the most abundant and most economical fossil fuel resource in the world. Proven coal reseiwes exceed 1 trillion tons, and indicated reserves are estimated at 24 trillion tons. Coal is found in eveiy continent of the world, including Antarctica, although the largest quantities of coal are in the Northern Hemisphere. Coal is mined in some sixty countries in nineteen coal basins around the world, but more than 57 percent of the world s total recoverable reserves are estimated to be in the United States, and China, which together account for more than two-thirds of the world s coal production. 

Added to this there is clearly a problem of worldwide energy dependence. Since the fossil fuels were created in specific circumstances where the geological conditions were favorable, the largest deposits of oil, gas and coal tend to be concentrated in particular regions of the globe (e.g. two-thirds of the world s proven oU reserves are located in the Middle East and North Africa), often characterized by political instability in their international relationships. Therefore, the price of oil is subjected to important fluctuations due to economic and geopolitical reasons [3]. 

The consumption of fossil fuels is not sustainable. With business as usual, the proven and economically recoverable fossil reserves will be exhausted in little more than 100 years. Substitution of fossil fuels is therefore required anyway on the long term. If CO2 emission from fossil fuel combustion is responsible for adverse climate changes like global wanning, substitution is desirable on the short term. The share of the renewable energy sources like wind, hydropower and biomass may be increased in a relatively short time. Each of these traditionally well known sources can contribute a... 

It should be noted that in other South and East Asia countries with few indigenous fossil fuel and little uranium ore reserves there is the same situation concerning effective nuclear fuel breeding by LMFR. Republic of Korea s LMFR program consists of development, design and construction of a prototype reactor of 150-350 MW(e) power. The first fully-proven reactor is planned to be in operation by 2025. In China, experimental fast reactor CEFR-25 is planned to become critical in 2005. 

Coals are fossilized vegetable products of varying composition. Their empirical compositions vary between that of turf or peat (C75H140O56N2S) and that of anthracite coal (C240H90O4NS). The carbon content increases with age of the coal (Table 24-11). 50% of the proven coal reserves are in North America, 38% in Asia, 10% in Europe, 1% in Africa, and 1% in Australia. 

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