(永久冻土)

(永久冻土) Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 Modules: Energy Technology and the Environment Study Unit: Flammable Ice Written: Monica Fong Study Objectives: , Communicate clearly and accurately in a concise, logical, systematic and relevant way (Question 1) , Draw critically upon their own experience and their encounters within the community, and with the environment and technology (Question 2) , Interpret information from different perspectives (Question 3) Hope in Ice In September of 2009, China announced that it successfully extracted the environmentally friendly new energy - “flammable ice” - from the permafrost (永久凍土) in Qilian Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai province. Media institutions rushed to shed light on the meanings and development of flammable ice. At present, there are at least 30 countries and regions, which are researching into and exploring flammable ice. Flammable ice is seen as the most hopeful and strategically important energy resource in stthe 21 century. However, will its development be as smooth as everyone wants? Do human beings have any introspection (反思) concerning the forthcoming depletion of oil? Flammable Ice Q&A Q: What is flammable ice? A: It is also called methane hydrate/gas hydrates or methane ice, which is a new energy that has not been extracted in a large scale. It is formed between natural gas (mostly methane) and water under high pressure and low temperature. It looks like ice, but fuels up fire. For this reason, it is also known as “solid gas”. Flammable ice remains stable only under low temperature (0 to 10 degrees Celsius) and high pressure (> 100 standard atmosphere). It evaporates easily under room temperature. Since flammable ice is easy to use, high in heating value and clean, it is seen as the best replacement for oil. Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 Q: Where can one find flammable ice? A: There are 116 places in the world known to have flammable ice, with 98 under sea and 18 on land. Of these, people have extracted sample from 25 places. Flammable ice is usually stored in colder places. For example, it may be covered by the ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic. At present, Canada, Russia and the United States have all discovered flammable ice, but there has not been any large-scale extraction. Q. How much flammable ice is there? A: Scientists estimate that the total prospective resources of flammable ice in the world are twice those of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. It makes up only half of organic carbon in the world. From an elementary estimate, flammable ice can satisfy human energy demand in the next 1,000 years. Prospective Resources?Reserves “Prospective resources” are human estimation in a scientific means and cannot be taken as a fact. “Reserves” are calculated in engineering projects. The Development of Flammable Ice 1960 The USSR discovered the first flammable gas reserve in Siberia. The extraction started from 1969 and provided 501.7 million cubic metres of gas in 14 years. 1969 America started looking into flammable ice projects. In 1998, it included flammable ice into the long-term national development plan. It targets commercial extraction in 2015. 1992 Japan started paying attention to the development of flammable ice. At present, Japan has finished the investigation and valuation of its nearby waters. It drilled seven wells and successfully obtained flammable ice samples. It targets commercial extraction in 2010. 2007 China first discovered flammable ice in the South China Sea this year. In September 2009, China announced it successfully extracted flammable ice from the permafrost in the Tibetan Plateau. The government plans to inject at least 100 billion yuan to speed up the extraction of this alternative Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 energy. Industrial extraction is expected around 2010. Commercial production can come in 2030 at the earliest. Source: the Internet The Dark Sides Flammable Ice 1. Global Warming Methane hydrates usually appear under seabed sediments or permafrost. It is formed between natural gas and water under high pressure and low temperature. Under a general situation, a unit of gas hydrate can produce 164 unit of methane gas. Methane is one of the stronger methane gases, whose effect on the atmosphere is second only to carbon dioxide. China Geological Survey vice president Zhang Hongtao suggests the amount of methane in gas hydrates in the world is 3,000 times that in the atmosphere at present. The methane produced from the deposition of gas hydrates is definitely going to adversely affect global warming as it enters the atmosphere. 2. Marine Disasters Flammable ice is stable under pressure and low temperature. It also acts as “sediment” on the seabed, to stabilize it. During extraction, however, the flammable ice layer will be under lower pressure and hence its density will decrease. With a change in pressure and density, there can be fractures in the flammable ice layer, increasing the chance of a seabed collapse. Do you know? There have been a number of oil exploration accidents in the last few years, which were likely caused by the decomposition of flammable ice. Marine sediments were moved to release a large amount of gas deep under the sea. From then on, when people extracted oil and gas from the Mexican Bay and the North Atlantic, they shifted from the shallow waters to the deep waters, after taking into consideration of the seabed. The Challenges and Plights of Flammable Ice Scientists started learning of flammable ice dozens years ago, but it was not until Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 recently that they started using flammable ice as an alternative energy. After burning, flammable ice only leaves a trace of carbon dioxide and water. It is not like other fossil fuels. It does not produce other oxide pollutants like ordinary fossil fuels do. Some geologists from the United States Geological Survey suggests that flammable ice will act as an important a transition before people switch to hydrogen energy and solar energy. It provides energy to people and reduces the production of carbon dioxide. As people realize flammable ice can be used as an important new energy, another crucial problem comes – how can people get flammable ice? What are the problems involved in extraction? “Before we solve the environmental problems, we cannot carry out large-scale commercial extraction,’’ said Ministry of Land and Resources chief engineer and China Geological Survey vice president Zhang Hongtao. Apart from considering whether the extraction technology reaches the standard, people have to take into consideration if large-scale extraction will damage the environment. In addition, many countries may have flammable ice, but the high research and extraction costs have deterred them. As Zhang said, China faces high marine working costs in the special project on flammable ice. Suppose a marine surveying ship just parks at a harbour, it costs 120,000 yuan a day; if it goes out into the sea, it costs 360,000. The lofty (極高的) research costs are the reason why so many countries have given up investing. Introspection: What if there is no flammable ice? International Energy Agency chief economist Faith Birol warned in August 2009 that most oil producing regions had passed their peaks and that a disastrous energy crisis was approaching the world. He expected that people would face an energy crisis within 5 years, which would threaten the global economic development. He said counties have growing demand for oil to drive its prices up, but the supply of oil stagnated or even fell. It would further worsen the weakened global economy. Scientists estimate that the existing reserves of oil can sustain for 40 years, natural gas for 70 years and coal for 190 years. Flammable ice comes as a “clean energy” in a Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 high profile. At the first glance, it seems to be able to save people from the forthcoming plights. Some people go so far as to suggest that flammable ice is the most hopeful stenergy for humankind in the 21 century. However, people should never neglect its dark sides and other extraction considerations while we feel happy for its appearance. Will it be worthwhile for people to damage marine eco-systems and threaten people’s life for this new strategic energy? Flammable ice may be just a passing visitor in human’s energy development history. As the energy question becomes more pressing, people have to think twice what we should do once oil and flammable ice run out. Will there be any other energy to replace them? These seem to be questions that people have to think very carefully. Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 Extended Reference Area To “grow” some energy As fossil fuels are about to be used up, people start looking into other alternative energy (see “key concepts”). The research into energy plants is a way out. “Energy plants” are also “oil plants” or “biofuel plants”. These refer to plants that can produce products, which are similar to petroleum or can be used as an oil replacement. They can be broadly divided into the following categories: , Sugar- or starch-rich energy plants e.g. tapioca (木薯), sugar cane (甘蔗), corn, sorghum (高粱), sweet potato (甘薯), etc Characteristics: using these plants will produce ethanol (乙醇) , Fat-rich energy plants: e.g. rape (油菜), sunflower, palm, peanut, etc Characteristics: oily plants are an important part of human diet and are widely used industrially. They are not costly and highly utilizable. , Energy plants with ingredients similar to petroleum e.g. physic nut (痲瘋樹), sindora glabra (油楠), caper (續隨子), milk-bush (綠玉樹), guggul (香膠樹), etc Characteristics: They can be used to produce oil-like products Source: State Forestry Administration American Nobel laureate Carl discovered in 1984 in Brazil that drilling a hole in a copaiba (苦配巴樹) will see oil come out of it. There will be 10 to 20 litres of oil from a hole in three hours. This oil can be used directly in diesel engines. It is estimated that a hectare of copaibas can produce 50 barrels of oil per day. Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 Oil from the Seabed? People not only can grow plants on land, they can also do so in the sea. Scientists find that seaweed can be refined into a liquid fuel similar to petrol and diesel for producing electricity. The Department of Energy in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US used the huge seaweed from the West coast to successful produce quality diesel. Some Canadian scientists also put some special bacteria on certain fast-growing seaweed to produce oil with scientific methods. Besides the States and Canada, scientists in Britain and Japan are all using biological engineering technique to cultivate seaweed, so that it can grow on a large scale and satisfy the energy need. Japan built a 50,000 square metre petrol plant testing farm. There are 150,000 oil plants, which produce 100-odd barrels of oil. Questions to Ponder: 1. Explain how flammable ice becomes a “strategic resource” in national leaders’ eyes? (Hint: Analyse the positive effects flammable ice bring to people and the current energy condition) 2. How do you feel about the development of flammable ice to satisfy future human needs? (Hint: Summarize the expected positive and negative effects of flammable ice) 3. What state of mind people have in handling energy questions does the appearance of “alternative energy” reflect? Books Game Over (石油玩完了) Author: Stephen Leeb Translator: Lin Jinhui, Dan Hanmin Publisher: The China Times Publishing Company Introduction: Leeb said the longer the energy problem stays unattended, the larger the pain and the more difficult the situation will be. The chance of success will fall accordingly. From an Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010 Chapter 206: Flammable Ice Published Date: 2010/1/4 energy and raw material perspective, the world can reach the so-called “absolute peak oil’’. At that time, all production activities will cease as people run out of energy. If we reach the stage of life or death without any available alternative energy, we will have very limited choices. By that time, we will be in a bestial (野蠻) world where people fight for resources by fair means or foul (不擇手段). With the day of oil depletion so close, what preparation will humankind have? Relevant Concepts Key Concept Alternative Energy可替代能源 Alternative energy可替代能源 It broadly refers to energy sources, which do not Energy sources能源 consume natural resources or damage the Energy technology能源科技 environment when they burn. Unlike ordinary Sustainability可持續性 fossil fuels, they can be renewable sources. Renewable energy可再生能源 Examples are geothermal energy (地熱), wind energy, solar energy and tidal energy. As fossil fuels are about to be used up, people keep exploring new energy sources in hopes of replacing the existing energy sources. By the world “alternative”, it also implies that people have come to realize the effects their energy use has on the environment. The future course of energy development will, therefore, reduce pollution as much as possible. Liberal Studies, Hong Kong Economic Times ?2010