ADVANCED CONVENTIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

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Advanced technologies that harness conventional energy resources are quietly making revolutionary changes in the ways we harvest and refine energy.

The new technologies are facinating, but, a fascinating technology isn’t necessarily a profitable technology.

The investment warnings we’ve discussed on our other pages also apply here. So, check out the conventional energy links and enjoy. But read our Energy Investing pages before making any kind of investment decision.

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GAS HYDRATES

Gas Hydrates are a vast, untapped form of more conventional natural gas energy resources. Gas hydrates may prove to be renewable. The best way to keep up to date on the rapid technology advancements coming online to harvest this seemingly limitless energy resource is with a free subscription to the Fire in the Ice Newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy.

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OIL SANDS

North American Oil Sands located in Canada are a cousin of conventional energy resources from crude oil. Oil sands were largely untapped until recently but are now a vital component of alternative fuels expansion.

To say that this almost conventional energy resource is vast, is a vast understatement. The oil sands deposits in Canada almost equal the total known proven oil reserves on the whole planet.

Huge increases in conventional oil prices of recent years have driven investments of over $100 Billion into Canadian oil sands projects. The alternative fuels expansion funds are coming from an army of oil field developers and oil companies.

The best and most up-to-date summary of events in Canadian oil sands development is on the Wikipedia Oil Sands page.

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OIL SHALE

Oil Shale development has been a tougher problem than oil sands development. But U.S. oil shale reserves are even larger than the Canadian oil sands reserves. Oil shale reserves total almost 2 trillion barrels of usable oil.

U.S. oil shale reserves can compete directly against conventional oil - - - if we can find a refining method that is economical and environmentally friendly. The following links will take you to oil shale alternative fuels expansion technologies that may have done just that.

Shell Ice Wall Technology can pull oil from shale deposits in a manner that is both environmentally friendly and economical.

The Hom-Tov shale refining process not only harvests usable fuel oil from shale, but it helps clean up conventional oil refining wastes as well.

And be sure to check out the technology discussed in SYNTHETIC FUEL – Part II below.

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SYNTHETIC FUEL – Part I

The Fisher-Tropsch conversion process uses a Gasification process and a catalyst to convert coal, natural gas, and biomass into liquid fuel.

Invented by German scientists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s, improvements and variations of the process are being used today on an array of synthetic fuel projects.

The Karrick Process , originally developed by American scientist Lewis C. Karrick in the 1920s, is being brought back to life as a Cogeneration process that can provide coal fuel to power plants and economically convert part of the coal energy into liquid fuel. China is investing heavily in this process to utilize their coal reserves in a massive alternative fuels expansion program that will be a powerful force against high oil prices.

Changing World Technologies has developed another Fisher-Tropsch variation that converts trash, garbage, and agricultural waste into liquid fuel.

Still other variations of the Fischer-Tropsch process are being brought to life by companies like DKRW Energy , Rentech , and Syntroleum . These companies have a number of synthetic fuel conversion projects that utilize conventional energy from coal and natural gas. Each has it’s own unique approach.

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SYNTHETIC FUEL – Part II

Microwaves can liberate liquid fuel and combustible gasses from solids like coal and oil shale. Microwave refining does the same thing that Fischer-Tropsch technologies do, but it appears to do it at a lower cost.

Global Resource Corporation is a pioneer microwave refining company and holds several related patents on the technology.

The defense giant Raytheon has researched microwave technologies for decades. They recently announced the sale of a refining process that combines radio frequencies with critical fluid solvents to liberate oil from shale.

The Refining Process Sale to the Schlumberger Company , a major oil field services company, moves this technology from the lab into the field for real world trials.

These companies aren’t the only ones involved with this kind of technology. There are dozens of oil harvesting approaches using electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves as shown on this Rex Research Summary page.

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NUCLEAR ENERGY

For all of the bad press received by nuclear power, it has actually proven to be a clean, reliable energy resource for millions in the free, industrialized nations of the world.

Nuclear power, like every other technology, has made huge advancements over the years, and future nuclear power technologies promise economical, clean energy for many generations to come.

Nuclear power use is so widespread and so proven that it has been accepted as a conventional energy resource by most energy professionals.

To get a good overview of nuclear power, start by browsing our Nuclear Power Resources page. It details the many debates about nuclear energy and includes links to advancements like Japanese uranium from seawater technologies that virtually guarantee nuclear fuel supplies that will last for millions of years.

Then check out these Wikipedia links to see where nuclear power is now, and where it is headed in the future:

Pressurized Water Reactor The Integral Fast Reactor can reduce nuclear waste piles by over 90%.

Next Generation Nuclear Power

Generation IV Nuclear Reactors Last but not least, Thorium Alternative Nuclear Fuel may be a safer fuel than uranium.

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