Week 9-11 Flashcards
Reserves
are those quantities commercially recoverable by developing known accumulations under defined conditions. Reserves must be:
o discovered through one or more exploratory wells
o recoverable using existing technology
o commercially viable
o remaining in the ground.
Resource
all the energy that is ”out there” in nature
Production
volume of crude oil produced from oil reservoirs during given period of time.
Depletion
diminishment of productive capacity
Supply elasticity
degree of responsiveness of the quantity supplied to a change in price. It is calculated as Es = % change in quantity / % change in price
Unconventional oil
petroleum produced or extracted using techniques other than the conventional (oil well) method.
o Oil sands, extra heavy oil, gas to liquids…
Shale oil
subset of tight oil. Produced form shale formations with low permeability, that must be harnessed by hydraulic fracturing
Tar sands oil
an unconventional type of oil, which is part of a natural mix of sand or clay, water and oil. The process of extracting it is expensive.
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum is reached, after which the rate of production is expected to enter terminal decline.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)
are naturally occurring elements found in natural gas. They are used as petrochemical feedstocks (ethane), in residential, commercial and autogas applications (propane), and for gasoline blending (butane). NGLs are sourced from gas wells or associated with crude oil.
Refining
Process of transforming the crude into the end product, removing impurities
Passenger-Kilometers (pkm)
unit of measurement presenting the transport of 1 passenger by a defined mode of transport (road, rail, air..) over 1 km.
Tonne-kilometer (tkm)
unit of measure of freight transport, which represents the transport of 1 tonne of goods by a given transport mode (road, rail..) over 1 km.
CAFE Standards
= Corporate Average Fuel Economy
o Regulation that aims to improve average fuel economy of cars and light trucks produced for sale. In 2012, they raised the average fuel economy to up tp 54.5 mpg for model year 2025.
Fleet efficiency
using fleet owners as the testing grounds for new innovative vehicle technologies as they can amortize the costs over many vehicles
Asset Lock-in
switching fuel types require behavioral or operational changes that customers are unable or unwilling to make (i.e. reduced access to fuel charging station)
Issues with Biodiesel and Ethanol
- Infrastructure issues: limited cropland
- Biofuels (ethanol) have less energy per gallon- lower energy density than #2 diesel, gasoline, etc. by as much as 1/3
- Carbon emissions saved by using biofuels is variable
- Capital constraints: RPS standards support biofuels financially
- Alternative effects: sugar is competing with food
- Impact on other commodities: ethanol drives corn prices
Ethanol
alternative fuel fermented from corn, grains, wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar cane. It is primarily used as a supplement to gasoline. Pure ethanol is not sold, it’s always mixed with gasoline.
Biodiesel
fuel made by chemically reacting lipids esters (e.g. veggies) with an alcohol. Replaces Diesel.
Cellulosic biofuel
2nd generation biofuels. Derived from a wide variety of sources of cellulose plant fiber. Usually results in cellulosic ethanol (from wood , waste etc)
Algae-based fuels
3rd generation biofuels. Substitutes oil (Jetfuel and diesel) and in the production process accrue many co-products. Requires CO2 injection – no feedstock, hence no competition with 1st & 2nd generation.
Feedstock
any renewable, biological material that can be used directly or converted as/to a fuel or energy product.
Rapeseed
oilseed crops, which is cultivated for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, biodiesel.
Jatropha
Biofuel feedstock which comes from tropical plant whose sees contain a type of oil that can be converted into a substitute for refined petroleum products
