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
Energy content
description of the potential energy contained in a given biofuel, measured per unit mass of that fuel
GHG balance
ratio of GHG production in CO2eq emitted when producing biofuel to the amount of CO2 eq when burning same end-use amount of fossil fuels.
RFS/ RFS 2
=renewable fuel standard:
o Establishes min. volumes of renewable fuels that must be included in US transportation fuels. RFS2 requires 36 bn gallons of RE fuel annually by 2022, cap of 15 bn gallons of corn ethanol starting in 2015.
RIN
=renewable identification number
serial number assigned to a batch of biofuel for production, use and trading tracking purposes.
Blend wall
limit of blending biofuel into conventional oil-based products)due to logistical and infrastructural short-comings.
Food vs. Fuel
debate centered upon the premise the global food security, i.e. agriculture land, is in competition with land for biofuel feedstock
Co-products
by-products. Happens a lot in production of biofuels
BEV
=battery electric vehicles. EVs with no ICE
EV
an electric vehicle run entirely off of electricity from the grid
PHEV
has both an ICE and an electric motor
Range Anxiety
idea of running out of electricity when going for a long drive. But 78% commuters travel less than 40 miles each day, which is the expected range with a PHEV battery.
Range-Assisted Vehicle
similar to PHEVs with electric and ICE motor
Regenerative Braking
refers to using an electric motor as an electric generator and storing the energy from braking (bremsen) back in the battery of the vehicle or on a rotating flywheel. EVs can recover around 25% of braking energy.
Level 2 Charger
Chargers with 240 V as opposed to common 120V system in US. Allows faster charging
Excess Demand Hypothesis
Hypothesis that current demand is higher than what would actually
Asset Lock-in
decisions new need to avoid a “lock-in” situation meaning that investments in new oil production will make it more difficult to change to a renewable energy pathway in the future.
