Resources of fossil fuels

On a uniform calorific value basis, coal constitutes 69% of the total estimated recoverable resources of fossil fuel in the United States. Petroleum and natural gas are about 7% and oil in oil shale, which is not as of this writing used as a fuel, is about 23%. The 1989 total recoverable reserves of coal are about 500 times the 1989 aimual production (2), whereas the reserves of oil and gas are smaller, the production and consumption rate of oil and gas in the United States is three times that of coal. 

The assessment and quantification of the remaining reserves and resources of fossil fuels is a very complex and broad field, characterised by a lack of internationally harmonised definitions and standards, great data uncertainties and discrepancies and, consequently, the potential danger of data abuse for political purposes. Within the scope of this publication, only an overview of the range of the currently available estimates of fossil resources is provided and the focus is rather on the general discussion of potential sources of uncertainty, than on a detailed assessment of the different methodological and statistical approaches and discrepancies at country or even field level. 

The following terms are often used in the context of quantifying reserves and resources of fossil fuels the Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR), also called Ultimate Recoverable Resources (URR), is the sum of past cumulative production, proved reserves at the time of estimation and the possibly recoverable fraction of undiscovered resources. The remaining potential, i.e., the sum of reserves and resources, is the total amount of an energy source that is still to be recovered. The mid-depletion point is the point of time when approximately 50% of the EUR (at field, country or world level) has been produced. 

Table 3.12 summarises the global reserves and resources of fossil fuels. 

The gradual exhaustion of the world resources of fossile fuels and the increase in their prices in the early 1970s prompted world-wide research to develop alternative sources of energy. 

The necessity to satisfy the growth in consumption leads to an increase in the use of natural resources. Between 1960 and 1995 the global use of mineral raw materials increased by a factor of 2.5 metals 2.1, wood 2.3, and synthetic materials 5.6. This increase considerably exceeded the growth in population size, despite its extreme nonuniformity. For instance, the U.S.A. whose population constitutes about 5% of the world s consumes about one-fourth of the global resources of fossil fuel. The U.S.A.,... 

J. D. Parent. A Survey of the United States and Total World Production, Proves Reserves, and Remaining Recoverable Resources of Fossil Fuels and Uranium as of December 31,1977, Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, March (1979). 

Many developing countries in Africa an Asia suffer from deficiency of fresh water and electric energy. The majority of these countries do not have sufficient own resources of fossil fuel, which can meet their demands. In some countries fuel transporting is difficult, there are no powerful electric power transmission lines. The marketing researches conducted recently by IAEA [26] have revealed that in many cases nuclear power sources of 100 MWe small power can be used economically effective for these purposes. 

In the United States there are presently about 100 operable nuclear reactors (over 400 worldwide) producing 21% of the country s electrical power. The number of operable reactors has decreased since it reached its peak in 1990, but there is some interest in reviving the nuclear industry because it is a zero greenhouse emission technology and because it does not consume limited resources of fossil fuels. 

After the invention of a novel membrane electrolyte, the output power density of a PEFC has improved, and fuel cells can be applied to electric vehicles, stationary power sources, and mobile applications such as laptop computers and cellular phones. The high efficiency of the energy conversion of stationary fuel cells would be an important feature considering the limited resources of fossil fuels and their global warming effect. 

Energy Consumption, Reserves and Resources of Fossil Fuels and Renewables... 

It is interesting to examine the regional distribution of the reserves and resources of conventional and non-conventional fossil fuels (Tables 5.1.10 and 5.1.11). More than 40% of current reserves of conventional natural gas and crude oil are located in the Middle East whereas the majority of coal reserves are located in North America, Australia, and Asia. This non-uniform distribution of reserves and resources of fossil fuels will play a strong role in future (struggle for resources etc.) and is a political risk. Most of the reserves and resources of non-conventional fossil fuels are located in North America and in the former USSR. 

Over the last three decades the importance of energy conservation has become an extensive issue. The developed nations have come to realise that environmental considerations are of importance to the future, whilst also identifying that natural resources of fossil fuels are finite with an estimated reserve of decades rather than centuries. This has therefore become a major variable for the automotive industry to encapsulate when considering the design of a new product. Prime examples during the last ten years include the... 

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