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Tight oil reservoirs are complex geological materials composed of solid matrix, pore structure, and mixed multiple phases of fluids, particularly for oil reservoirs suffering from high content of in situ pressurized water found in China. In this regard, a coupled model considering two-phase flow of oil and water, as well as deformation and damage evolution of porous media, is proposed and validated using associated results, including the oil depletion process, analytical solution of stress shadow effect, and physical experiments on multi-fracture interactions and fracture propagation in unsaturated seepage fields. Then, the proposed model is used to study the behavior of multi-fracture interactions in an unsaturated reservoir in presence of water and oil. The results show that conspicuous interactions exist among multiple induced fractures. Interaction behavior varies from extracted geological profiles of the reservoir due to in situ stress anisotropy. The differential pressures of water and that of oil in different regions of reservoir affect interactions and trajectories of multi-fractures to a considerable degree. The absolute value of reservoir average pressure is a dominant factor affecting fracture interactions and in favor of enhancing fracture network complexity. In addition, difference of reservoir average pressures in different regions of reservoir would promote the fracturing effectiveness. Factors affecting fracture interactions and reservoir treatment effectiveness are quantitatively estimated through stimulated reservoir area. This study confirms the significance of incorporating the two-phase flow process in analyses of multi-fracture interactions and fracture trajectory predictions during tight sandstone oil reservoir developments.

El documento explica los desafíos que enfrenta México dado el nuevo contexto de agotamiento del petróleo. Argumentamos que, para el gobierno mexicano, es imperativo pasar a un nuevo modelo que ayude a la economía a enfrentar la gran transición energética de los próximos años. Concluimos que en la nueva administración no hay una evaluación realista de las perspectivas de la economía en el contexto descrito y que el esquema de desarrollo propuesto no tiene en cuenta el papel y las limitaciones que caracterizan la extracción de petróleo en la era actual. Para los gobiernos actuales y futuros no hay otra alternativa que ajustar las perspectivas de desarrollo económico, financiero, social y ambiental a un escenario de petróleo caro y escaso. The paper explains the challenges that Mexico faces given the new context of oil depletion. We argue that, for the Mexican government, it is imperative to move to a new model that will help the economy face the great energy transition of the coming years. We conclude that in the new administration there is no realistic assessment of the prospects for the economy in the described context and that the proposed development scheme fails to weigh the role and limitations that characterize oil extraction in the current era. For the current and future governments there is no alternative other than to adjust the economic, financial, social and environmental perspectives of development to a scenario of expensive and scarce oil. O artigo explica os desafios que o México enfrenta, dado o novo contexto de esgotamento de petróleo. Argumentamos que, para o governo mexicano, é imperativo mudar para um novo modelo que ajude a economia a enfrentar a grande transição energética dos próximos anos. Concluímos que no novo governo não há uma avaliação realista das perspectivas para a economia no contexto descrito e que o esquema de desenvolvimento proposto não pesa o papel e as limitações que caracterizam a extração de petróleo na atualidade. Para os governos presentes e futuros, não há uma alternativa senão ajustar as perspectivas de desenvolvimento econômico, financeiro, social e ambiental a um cenário de petróleo caro e escasso.

A new fully predictive method was developed to calculate the risk of asphaltene precipitation in oil reservoirs based on a modification of the Asphaltene Instability Trend (ASIST) method. For prediction of asphaltene precipitation by oil depletion, this new method simplifies the ASIST method in order to use a minimum number of experimental data. As a novelty, prediction of asphaltene precipitation by CO2 displacement using a modification of the ASIST method is introduced. Both modifications were validated for a large number of oils from the literature. Results show that with both modifications this new method provides better results than previous ones to predict the risk of asphaltene precipitation in oils by depletion and unprecedented good results to evaluate potential asphaltene precipitation in oil reservoirs due to CO2 displacement with requirement of few experimental data. The proposed method may be used in the oil and gas industry to predict the risk of asphaltene precipitation by depletion or by CO2 displacement.

Because of concerns about global climate change, possible global oil depletion, and because of potential benefits for both urban air pollution and rural employment and industry, many countries both in and out of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are promoting liquid biofuels as a replacement for oil-based transport fuels, and global output is rising steadily. In fact, bioenergy use in general is promoted, and is expected to play a major role in climate change mitigation. But bioenergy use in general faces competition for resources such as land, water and fertiliser from the two other general biomass uses, food production and biomaterials. Ethically, food production should take precedence over the other two uses (and at present all bioliquids are made from foodstuffs), and using biomass for biomaterials will in many situations reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than using the same amount of biomass for energy. Where a given amount of biomass is available for transport energy use, it will usually produce more greenhouse gas reductions per vehicle-km if used to produce electricity rather than liquid biofuels. Finally, there is signs that internal combustion engine vehicles could be phased out in the coming decades. If so, liquid biofuels will be phased out along with existing oil-based transport fuels. In conclusion, except for specialist uses, liquid biofuels do not appear to have a long-term future.

20 years ago, in 1998, Scientific American published a paper by Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrere titled “The End of Cheap Oil” [1], starting a debate on oil depletion continuing to the present day. It was the return of a viewpoint on oil depletion which had been proposed more than 40 years before by Marion King Hubbert [2]⁠ and, in later years, largely forgotten. In their paper, Campbell and Laherrere updated Hubbert’s model with new reserve estimates and proposed that the world’s crude oil production would peak around 2004–2005, and then start an irreversible decline. Shortly afterward, Colin Campbell proposed the term “peak oil” for the highest global oil production level. The term was to become popular over the following decade, generating a true movement of ideas sometimes called the “peak oil movement.” Today, these predictions turn out to have been only partially correct, mainly because the role of “non-conventional” oil was underestimated. The peak oil movement seems to have faded away, while the concept seems to have disappeared from the debate and to be commonly described has having been “wrong.” The present paper reviews the cycle of the peak oil movement, examining how the peak oil concept was understood with the public and the decision makers and what caused its diffusion and its demise, at least up to the present time.

Historic energy transition from fire to wire was driven by light, heat, and electricity. Fossil fuels phase and form transitions from solid (coal) to liquid (oil) occurred in centuries, liquid (oil) to natural gas in several decades and natural gas to shale in a few decades. Energy transition from molecular fossil fuels to atomic energy was driven by nuclear fission, atomic energy to photons by laser fusion, solar cells and artificial photosynthesis. Grand energy transition from wood to the wire was primarily interest and economy driven, unaware of the environmental consequences. Oil depletion, sustainability, climate change and environmental issues force the scientists to inspire the stakeholders for mandatory energy transition from molecular fossil fuels and atomic reactors to renewable energy sources. Oil depletion geared up renewable energy transition, the discovery of shale gases accomplished the solid to gas phase transition partly slowing down fast renewable energy transition policies. Evolution of extreme weather phenomenon in the form of heat waves, hurricanes, smog, famines and floods again forced the stakeholders to resume the renewable energy transition policies. Innovative technologies, smart grid, energy efficiency and conservation ideas have played their role well. Advances in solar, wind and wave energy technologies have rendered renewable, and alternative energy sources cost competitive with fossil fuels. When renewable energy becomes cheaper than coal and oil, the climate change deniers can have no excuse resist the renewable energy transition. Lexus nexus is nuclear fusion and artificial photosynthesis. This paper reviews past, present and possible nature inspired future energy transitions. Keywords: Fossil fuels, Climate change, Renewable energy, Energy cloud and nuclear fusion

Microeconomics assumes that business firms respond to changing costs and prices. Taxes impose costs of businesses, and tax breaks help industries grow. This paper discusses the dynamics of governme...

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB This article presents a relational analysis of the performance of the petroleum sector in the context of climate change mitigation. The oil sector is described as a complex network of transformations carried out by structural and functional elements, exploiting different types of crude oils. Energy carrier requirements and emissions of viable sequential pathways of extraction and refining are assessed and scaled across different levels of organization, using the concept of metabolic processor. Based on the analysis of seventy-one oil fields around the world - about 25% of global production - we provide a diagnostic analysis of the current state and explore possible scenarios simulating the progressive aging of conventional oil sources and an increasing exploitation of unconventional crudes. Results show how future oil exploitation will be more energy intensive, entailing an increase of emissions per barrel in the range of 6-26% over the baseline, depending on the simulation. Under the existing policy frameworks and international pledges, this increase will translate into an amount of extra CO comparable to entire European economic sectors. Implications of our findings for future energy policies are discussed and the need to complement Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) with more robust methodologies is emphasized. It is concluded that the declining performance of the oil sector could potentially undermine the plausibility of global low-carbon aspirations.

Monitoring environmental hazards, owing to natural and anthropogenic causes, is an important issue, which requires proper data, models, and cross-validation of the results. The geodetic satellite missions, for example, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Sentinel-1, are very useful in this respect. GRACE missions are dedicated to modeling the temporal variations of the Earth’s gravity field and mass transportation in the Earth’s surface, whereas Sentinel-1 collects synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, which enables us to measure the ground movements accurately. Extraction of large volumes of water and oil decreases the reservoir pressure and form compaction and, consequently, land subsidence occurs, which can be analyzed by both GRACE and Sentinel-1 data. In this paper, large-scale groundwater storage (GWS) changes are studied using the GRACE monthly gravity field models together with different hydrological models over the major oil reservoirs in Sudan, that is, Heglig, Bamboo, Neem, Diffra, and Unity-area oil fields. Then, we correlate the results with the available oil wells production data for the period of 2003–2012. In addition, using the only freely available Sentinel-1 data, collected between November 2015 and April 2019, the ground surface deformation associated with this oil and water depletion is studied. Owing to the lack of terrestrial geodetic monitoring data in Sudan, the use of GRACE and Sentinel-1 satellite data is very valuable to monitor water and oil storage changes and their associated land subsidence over our region of interest. Our results show that there is a significant correlation between the GRACE-based GWS anomalies (ΔGWS) and extracted oil and water volumes. The trend of ΔGWS changes due to water and oil depletion ranged from –18.5 ± 6.3 to –6.2 ± 1.3 mm/year using the CSR GRACE monthly solutions and the best tested hydrological model in this study. Moreover, our Sentinel-1 SAR data analysis using the persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) method shows a high rate of subsidence, that is, –24.5 ± 0.85, –23.8 ± 0.96, –14.2 ± 0.85, and –6 ± 0.88 mm/year over Heglig, Neem, Diffra, and Unity-area oil fields, respectively. The results of this study can help us to control the integrity and safety of operations and infrastructure in that region, as well as to study the groundwater/oil storage behavior.

This work presents the results of many years of research on the production of bitumen-polymer materials based on gossypol resin, intended for waterproofing various building structures, isolating underground steel pipelines in order to protect them from aggressive environments, as well as for roofing and asphalt concrete coatings.

Renewable energy, such as hydro power, photovoltaics and wind turbines, has become the most widely applied solutions for addressing issues associated with oil depletion, increasing energy demand and anthropogenic global warming. Solar and wind energy are strongly dependent on weather resources with intermittent and fluctuating features. To filter these variabilities, battery energy storage systems have been broadly accepted as one of the potential solutions, with advantages such as fast response capability, sustained power delivery, and geographical independence. During the implementation of battery energy storage systems, one of the most crucial issues is to optimally determine the size of the battery for balancing the trade-off between the technical improvements brought by the battery and the additional overall cost. Numerous studies have been performed to optimise battery sizing for different renewable energy systems using a range of criteria and methods. This paper provides a comprehensive review of battery sizing criteria, methods and its applications in various renewable energy systems. The applications for storage systems have been categorised based on the specific renewable energy system that the battery storage will be a part. This is in contrast to previous studies where the battery sizing approaches were either arranged as an optimised component in renewable systems or only accounted for one category of renewable system. By taking this approach, it becomes clear that the critical metrics for battery sizing, and by extension the most suitable method for determining battery size, are determined by the type of renewable energy system application, as well as its size. This has important implications for the design process as the renewable energy system application will drive the battery energy storage system sizing methodology chosen.

The study aimed at measuring the economic and environmental revenue for the expansion of the production of non-edible vegetable oils for the purpose of producing biofuels. Research and studies are in Egypt to produce bio-fuel as an alternative to diesel and gasoline but have not yet been produced for commercial purposes. Energy is a key element for economic development, however, the traditional form of energy is fossil fuel energy. There are several reasons to search for alternative sources of traditional energy: (Economic objective); concern about climate change (environmental goal); low cost of renewable energies (economic target), and support for agricultural producers (agricultural and economic objective). As a result of many reasons, the most important of which is the expected oil depletion by the end of the 21st century, the rise in oil prices and the negative effects of toxic emissions from fossil fuels on the environment and climate. Therefore, it was necessary to search for alternative renewable sources such as solar, wind and bioenergy. The production of biofuels is related to the agricultural sector. In order to benefit from the enormous potential that it enjoys in terms of abundance of untapped desert lands and desolate land and water resources for the production of biofuel as a source of renewable energy has been studying the energy crops suitable for the production of biofuel Three plants were selected to be suitable for agriculture in the Egyptian environment and suitable for agriculture in desert and desert lands and sewage water. This is because there is no conflict between food and energy. The environmental impact of energy crops and the effect of biofuel production on energy crops on both land use change, On water, on agricultural soils, on biological diversity, study of the economic impact and production costs of biofuels (biogasoline and biodiesel) in the two ways of cracking and the method of extraction from the cost of growing energy crops until the stage of obtaining biogasoline and biodiesel. The study reached several results: Biofuel production is not a priority for the government and the government must establish a sound legislative framework and strict procedures to support its production in a sustainable manner. Egypt has abundant sources of bio-fuel production represented in land, water, labor and qualified cadres. Lack of accurate data on the assessment of the agricultural, environmental, social and economic impacts of bio-fuels produced from both Jojoba, Jatropha and Al-Kharoua. There are no success stories on the production of bio-fuels from the non edible vegetable oils of Jojoba, Jatropha and castor plants. Therefore, the government should interact with stakeholders and companies to disseminate the right information to make good decisions.

Oil-abundant countries, Iran, Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries try to improve democratic institutions and to manage their chronically big governments, while experiencing decreased world oil prices. These countries pursue open door policies. Most of the foreign revenues of the region stem from oil and gas exports. Thus, how to manage the production and exports of fossil resources is of great importance. This study aims to analyse the effects of quality of democracy, government size, and the degree of openness in explaining depletion of reserves between 1985 and 2015. After testing for panel unit root and co-integration, a panel data model was estimated considering random effects. The results indicate that democratisation and political stability causes higher depletion of oil. In addition, government size affects depletion in a non-linear form, so that oil production is maximised, when government expenditure accounts for nearly 14% of GDP, on average. Furthermore, trade openness positively impacts on the oil depletion. In this case study, higher oil depletion follows strengthening democratic foundations, resizing the public sector, expanding politico-economic ties with trade partners, and applying the modern technology in the upstream oil industries.

We show how a monopolistic owner of oil reserves responds to a carbon-free substitute becoming available at some uncertain point in the future if demand is isoelastic and variable extraction costs are zero but upfront exploration investment costs have to be made. Not the arrival of this substitute matters for efficiency, but the uncertainty about the timing of this substitute coming on stream. Before the carbon-free substitute comes on stream, oil reserves are depleted too rapidly; as soon as the substitute has arrived, the oil depletion rate drops and the oil price jumps up by a discrete amount. Subsidizing green R&D to speed up the introduction of breakthrough renewables leads to more rapid oil extraction before the breakthrough, but more oil is left in situ as exploration investment will be lower. The latter offsets the Green Paradox.

As concerns of oil depletion and security of supply remain as severe as ever, and faced with the consequences of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, Europe is increasingly looking at alternatives to traditional road transport technologies. Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are seen as a promising technology, which could lead to the decarbonisation of the Light Duty Vehicle fleet and to independence from oil. However it still has to overcome some significant barriers to gain social acceptance and obtain appreciable market penetration. This review evaluates the technological readiness of the different elements of BEV technology and highlights those technological areas where important progress is expected. Techno-economic issues linked with the development of BEVs are investigated. Current BEVs in the market need to be more competitive than other low carbon vehicles, a requirement which stimulates the necessity for new business models. Finally, the all-important role of politics in this development is, also, discussed. As the benefit of BEVs can help countries meet their environmental targets, governments have included them in their roadmaps and have developed incentives to help them penetrate the market.

Asphaltene precipitation is a complex and serious problem in all sectors of the oil industry because it has a severe and detrimental impact on oil production. Thus, it is crucial to investigate under which conditions asphaltenes precipitate in order to prevent or mitigate the effects. Several approaches have been reported in the literature regarding the modeling of asphaltene precipitation during oil production. The simplest one is the single-component solid model in which the precipitated asphaltene is considered a pure solid and the oil and gas phases are described by a cubic equation of state (EOS). These are the basic assumptions of the Nghiem and Coombe’s model. In this paper, based on this model, we make numerous improvements and simplifications such as reducing the number of parameters to be estimated and considering that the number of asphaltene fractions can vary according to the oil characteristics. The characterization method is performed using the exponential distribution and only the binary i...

Hollywood’s greatest stars did not only produce blockbusters, but were savvy businessmen who also produced oil gushers. These stars invested in oil interests in order to shelter a large part of their income from the rapidly rising income tax rates of the 1930s. The unique tax benefit they used was the percentage oil depletion allowance, part of the Revenue Act of 1926, which allowed an oil company to reduce its taxable income by 27 ½ percent. By the 1950s, many Hollywood individuals and corporations extensively invested in the oil business which made the allowance an important component of their financial portfolios. Meanwhile, rich oilmen were also attracted to Hollywood to capitalize on a big hit, or use the losses on a money losing movie to offset their taxable profits from oil. Thus, in the mid-twentieth century, the American oil industry and Hollywood formed a close, mutually reinforcing relationship, and one that academic historians have largely overlooked. After the 1973 oil shock, the percentage depletion allowance came under threat as it was repealed for major integrated oil companies. To protect the allowance for the non-integrated independent producers, Hollywood found their political patron in the famous Hollywood actor and Republican president, Ronald Reagan. As president, Reagan ardently defended the retention of the allowance during his term in the 1980s. Hollywood’s role in the oil industry developed from being a few casual investors using the oil depletion allowance into a substantial oil industry participant and a major political defender of oil-specific tax provisions.

The papers in this special issue focus on advanced approaches and applications for electric vehicle charging. Due to the concern of carbon emission, pollution, and oil depletion, transportation electrification has drawn more and more attention in both industrial and academic sectors. As one type of rapidly increasing power demands, electric vehicle (EV) charging loads have unique characteristics, as they are typically equipped with battery storage and moving capability. With those energy storage equipment, EV charging loads obtain flexibility in the temporal dimension by strategically schedule their charging and discharging states in different time periods. Meanwhile, with the mobility feature of vehicles, EV charging demands get flexibility in the spatial dimension by optimally finding their charging and discharging locations. Considering the unique characteristics of charging behaviors, EV charging demands can be utilized as flexible demand resources to enhance the operation and planning efficiency for both power system and transportation system.

Both the prospect of global oil depletion and the urgent need to address climate change will impact the sustainability of urban passenger transport, particularly in high-mobility Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cities. Possible approaches for improving its sustainability include improving the fuel efficiency of all transport vehicles, shifting to alternative sources of energy, increasing the occupancy rate for all transport modes, shifting to more energy-efficient transport modes, and reducing the level of urban vehicular passenger travel. This study concentrates on the final approach and examines the various policies that could be adopted to achieve travel reductions. It finds that very high urban densities would reduce vehicular travel, but even if politically and economically feasible, would take decades and could conflict with overall urban sustainability. Similarly, raising the costs of car travel to a sufficiently high level would be effective but inequitable. T...

Electric vehicles (EV) are becoming more common mobility in the transportation sector in recent times. The dependence on oil as the source of energy for passenger vehicles has economic and political implications, and the crisis will take over as the oil reserves of the world diminish. As concerns of oil depletion and security of the oil supply remain as severe as ever, and faced with the consequences of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions from the tail pipes of vehicles, the world today is increasingly looking at alternatives to traditional road transport technologies. EVs are seen as a promising green technology which could lead to the decarbonization of the passenger vehicle fleet and to independence from oil. There are possibilities of immense environmental benefits as well, as EVs have zero tail pipe emission and therefore are capable of curbing the pollution problems created by vehicle emission in an efficient way so they can extensively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector as pure electric vehicles are the only vehicles with zero-emission potential. However, there are some major barriers for EVs to overcome before totally replacing ICE vehicles in the transportation sector and obtain appreciable market penetration. This review evaluates the technological aspects of the different power train systems of BEV technology and highlights those technological areas where important progress is expected by focusing on reviewing all the useful information and data available on EV architecture, electrical machines, optimization techniques, and its possibilities of future developments as green mobility. The challenges of different electric drive trains’ commercialization are discussed. The major objective is to provide an overall view of the current pure electric vehicle powertrain technology and possibilities of future green vehicle development to assist in future research in this sector.

In the late 50s a debate on the Oil depletion has been started which is continuing to the present day. Campbell largely updated Hubert's model with new reserve resources forecast and estimated that the world's oil production would peak around the 2004–2006 and then would decline over the years. Then was Campbell who proposed the term which was later widely used as the “The peak Oil” to define the global maximum of the Oil production Time series. In this paper a scenario planning based on the expert-choices (participated by the OPEC experts and policy makers) combined with the Hubert's forecast method (based on the Monte-Carlo non-linear forecast Regression) is done for the peak-oil forecasting and three high score scenarios have been derived. The “True me”, the “feigned sleep” and the death of the unity in which these scenarios are highly affected by the political environments of each. However, in one of the scenarios because of the tensions in the political environment the peak oil will not occur by 2040 but the other scenarios show that peak oil maybe is sooner than the world expects (the mid-2020s) and energy supply and demand markets must be ready for this phenomena.

The use of multi-fractured horizontal wells has helped to develop tight oil reservoirs, but, if oil depletion occurs, the estimated ultimate recovery is low. Water flooding can be regarded as an easily applied method for improving oil recovery. This study aimed to optimize the scale of the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) by conducting an experiment to verify the water injection capacity of the Chang 7 Formation, which is situated within in a typical tight oilfield. A one-dimensional long core displacement experiment was designed based on injecting formation water into a tight matrix core and fractured cores with different fracture lengths. Results were then verified and analyzed using core flood simulation and targeted field tests, and they clarified the feasibility of injecting water into a tight oil formation when the injection well is fractured, or when fractures exist near the injection well. It was also verified that although fractures increase the equivalent permeability in the fractured core and promote pressure propagation, they can also lead to rapid water breakthrough if they communicate with the producer well. It is thus considered that optimization of the SRV extent would enhance the recovery of oil and decrease the risk of water breakthrough.

Energy management strategies based on instantaneous optimization have been widely used in hybrid/plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV/PHEV) in order to improve fuel economy while guaranteeing vehicle performance. In this study, an adaptive-equivalent consumption minimum strategy (A-ECMS) based on target driving cycle (TDC) generation was proposed for an extended-range electric bus (E-REB) operating on fixed routes. Firstly, a Hamilton function and a co-state equation for E-REB were determined according to the Pontryagin Minimum Principle (PMP). Then a series of TDCs were generated using Markov chain, and the optimal solutions under different initial state of charges (SOCs) were obtained using the PMP algorithm, forming the optimal initial co-state map. Thirdly, an adaptive co-state function consisting of fixed and dynamic terms was designed. The co-state map was interpolated using the initial SOC data and the vehicle driving data obtained by an Intelligent Transport System, and thereby the initial co-state values were solved and used as the fixed term. A segmented SOC reference curve was put forward according to the optimal SOC changing curves under different initial SOCs solved by using PMP. The dynamic term was determined using a PI controlling method and by real-time adjusting the co-states to follow the reference curve. Finally with the generated TDCs, the control effect of A-ECMS was compared with PMP and Constant-ECMS, which was showed A-ECMS provided the final SOC closer to the pre-set value and fully used the power of the batteries. The oil consumption solutions were close to the PMP optimized results and thereby the oil depletion was reduced.

Fossil fuels are intensively extracted from around the world faster than they are renewed. Regardless of direct and indirect effects of such extractions on climate change and biosphere, another issue relating to Earth's internal structure and Earth mass should receive at least some interest. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), about 34 billion barrels of oil (~4.7 trillion metric tons) and 9 billion tons of coal have been extracted in 2014 worldwide. Converting the amounts of oil and coal extracted over the last 3 decades and their respective reserves, intended to be extracted in the future, into mass values suggests that about 355 trillion tons, or ~5.86∗10(-9) (~0.0000000058)% of the Earth mass, would be 'lost'. Although this is a tiny percentage, modeling the potential loss of Earth mass may help figuring out a critical threshold of mass loss that should not be exceeded. Here, I briefly discuss whether such loss would have any potential consequences on the Earth's internal structure and on its gravitational force based on the Newton's law of gravitation that links the attraction force between planets to their respective masses and the distance that separate them.

В статье сделан сравнительный анализ точек зрения на истощение и неисчерпаемость нефти и газа, рассмотрены теория «Пик Нефти», отношения спроса и предложения в нефтегазовой отрасли, гипотезы происхождения этих природных ресурсов, взаимозависимости между экономической ситуацией и добычей нефти, возможные препятствия и условия конкуренции в развитии нефтегазовой отрасли. На основе проведенного анализа сделаны выводы о низкой вероятности истощения нефтегазовых ресурсов в ближайшие десятилетия и о новых приоритетных факторах, которые будут влиять на объем их добычи и технологии использования. По аналогии с историей развития угольной отрасли сделан прогноз о длительности стабильного периода развития нефтегазовой отрасли в течение ближайших 35-40 лет., The paper presents the comparative analysis of the points of view on the exhaustion and inexhaustibility of oil and gas, the theory of "Peak of Oil", the supply and demand relations in the oil and gas industry, the hypotheses of the origin of these natural resources, the interdependence between the economic situation and oil production, possible obstacles and conditions of competition in development of oil and gas industry. Based on the analysis, conclusions were drawn regarding the low probability of depletion of oil and gas resources in the coming decades and about new priority factors that will affect the volume of their extraction and technology of use. By analogy with the history of the development of the coal industry, a forecast is made about the duration of a stable period of development of the oil and gas industry over the next 35-40 years., №01(67) (2018)

The authors are describing their work on the “POST OIL UTOPIA” project devoted to the global oil depletion. Some countries, such as Kuwait which is one of the most striking examples of a mono-economy state, could suffer from this crisis heavily in the future. For their artistic project, the authors teamed up with French scientists who work on the revolutionary replacement of petrol-based products with the more environmentally friendly bioderived products. As a result in collaboration with them as well as with Interactive Performance Laboratory, the performance, presented at the Garage Contemporary Art Museum in Moscow, had been created.

Selection of effective slow release and low-cost fertilizers for bioremediation purpose was carried out by testing four different fertilizers and control. A slow-release fertilizer imports (Osm, a product of USA) and three others were produced locally in Indonesia (Gr, TMM and MLT). The three of locally produced fertilizers were never tested before for this purpose. Microcosm approach was performed in triplicates for 28 days with 6 different sampling times, using 50 mL Falcon tube as a reactor. The reactor contains a mixture of 10 g contaminated sediment (100 mg crude oil g-1 sediment), 15 mL sea water and fertilizer, but no fertilizer in control. All fertilizers were applied as a stimulant in the same concentration which was 1500 µg N g-1 sediment. Parameters measured were oil concentration, bacterial density and environmental condition. The result showed that addition of slow release fertilizer has increased oil reduction rate. The enhancement of oil depletion in treated reactors have significantly different (p

Since the 1950s the growth of the human population and per capita consumption has accelerated, raising concerns about the limits to growth due to resource constraints. The oil supply has been of particular concern, with production predicted to peak in the first decades of the 21st century. This is a problem because modern society is highly dependent on the supply of petrochemicals for its energy, including modern industrialised agriculture. One of the key inputs to agriculture that is dependent on petrochemicals is mineral nitrogen (N), which has increased agricultural yields since 1960s. Constraints to the supply of petrochemicals increase the risk that agriculture will become less productive, requiring more land to maintain food production and threatening biodiversity.This thesis investigates the relationship between the oil supply, food security, global deforestation and biodiversity loss, assessing the worst- and best-case scenarios for agriculture’s footprint without petrochemicals. It also examines the spatial footprint of alternatives to mineral N globally.I used a constraint to the oil supply during the 2007-8 global financial crisis to investigate the dynamics between the oil supply, agriculture’s spatial footprint and the impact on biodiversity. I found that the rate of forest loss increased 29% during this period, and that as a result an additional area of forest the size of Italy was lost. This loss tended to occur in areas of remnant forest with higher biodiversity. I investigated the likely drivers of forest conversion and found that agricultural extensification and the production of renewable energy were probable contributors, but land grabbing by foreign countries to secure food supplies was not. I also found examples of successful policy implementation in Amazonian Brazil and in Australia which had resisted these changes.To investigate the potential threat from agricultural expansion associated with constraints to petrochemical supply, I looked at worst- and best-case scenarios. For the worst-case, I estimated the area that would be required for crop production without petrochemical-based nitrogen fertiliser using N-use efficiency data and current yields. I then spatially modelled cropland expansion globally and the impact this would have on biodiversity and food security. Without mineral N there was insufficient cropland to meet global food needs with many regions experiencing food insecurity. Cropland would expand onto the remaining fertile land leaving largely poor quality habitat for biodiversity.In the best-case scenario, I identified the N source with the smallest footprint by comparing the most land-efficient renewable energy sources to power the Haber-Bosch process and organic sources of N. Solar power was significantly more land efficient than the alternatives. The worst-case option of using no mineral N fertiliser would require about 2000 times the land area and would have about 81,000 times the impact on biodiversity. Although solar energy is the most land-efficient way of powering renewable N, there are constraints on its use. I prioritised alternative N sources globally taking into account impacts and resources available. Some regions would have access to a range of renewable sources of N without major impacts, but Europe has limited options.In conclusion, the global energy supply has the potential to influence the land area required for agriculture through land-fertiliser substitution, and this process impacts on biodiversity. Currently, N-use decisions are made by landholders for largely economic reasons. Conservation science needs to take an interest in the N supply in order to mitigate these impacts, particularly in regions of high biodiversity.

Scientific knowledge is essential to understand problems confronting society, and the mass media have become the main source of this knowledge for most people. However, the mass media filter scientific information, leading sometimes to what has been termed “the construction of ignorance.” This article offers a case study of this process. It explains how Canada’s leading newspaper, the Globe and Mail, has depicted oil depletion theory (or “peak oil” theory). By contrasting the history of oil depletion theory with its representation in the Globe and Mail since the turn of the millennium, the article reveals the contours of this constructed ignorance. Comparison with coverage of meteorological and climate change science further refines the analysis. Finally, the article investigates the underlying causes for the Globe and Mail’s treatment of peak oil theory and how it relates to the Canadian context., Les connaissances scientifiques sont essentielles pour comprendre des problèmes qui affectent la société, et les médias sont devenus, pour la plupart des gens, la source principale de ces connaissances. Cependant, les médias filtrent les informations scientifiques, menant parfois à ce qu’on appelle « la construction de l’ignorance ». Cet article offre une étude de cas de ce processus. Il explique comment le principal quotidien du Canada, le Globe and Mail, a dépeint la théorie de l’épuisement du pétrole (dite théorie du pic pétrolier). En comparant l’histoire de la théorie de l’épuisement du pétrole avec sa représentation dans le Globe and Mail depuis le tournant du millénaire, l’article révèle les contours de cette ignorance fabriquée. Une comparaison avec les représentations des sciences de la météorologie et du changement climatique affine l’analyse. Finalement, l’article explore les causes sous-jacentes du traitement de la théorie du pic pétrolier par le Globe and Mail et leurs rapports avec le contexte canadien.