Unconventional sources of hydrocarbons. Types and sources of energy are non-traditional. Heavy oil and oil sands

Due to the development of production technologies and the significant deterioration of the environmental situation in many regions of the globe, humanity is faced with the problem of finding new sources of energy. On the one hand, the amount of energy produced should be sufficient for the development of production, science and the public sector; on the other hand, energy production should not have a negative impact on the environment.

This formulation of the question led to the search for so-called alternative energy sources - sources that meet the above requirements. Through the efforts of world science, many such sources have been discovered; at the moment, most of them are already used more or less widely. We present to your attention a brief overview of them:

Solar energy

Solar power plants are actively used in more than 80 countries; they convert solar energy into electrical energy. There are different ways of such conversion and, accordingly, different types of solar power plants. The most common stations are those using photoelectric converters (photocells) combined into solar panels. Most of the world's largest photovoltaic installations are located in the United States.

Wind energy

Wind power plants (wind power plants) are widely used in the USA, China, India, as well as in some Western European countries (for example, in Denmark, where 25% of all electricity is produced in this way). Wind energy is a very promising source of alternative energy; currently, many countries are significantly expanding the use of power plants of this type.

Biofuel

The main advantages of this energy source over other types of fuel are its environmental friendliness and renewability. Not all types of biofuel are considered alternative energy sources: traditional firewood is also biofuel, but is not an alternative source of energy. Alternative biofuels can be solid (peat, wood processing and agricultural waste), liquid (biodiesel and biofuel oil, as well as methanol, ethanol, butanol) and gaseous (hydrogen, methane, biogas).

Energy of tides and waves

Unlike traditional hydropower, which uses the energy of water flow, alternative hydropower has not yet become widespread. The main disadvantages of tidal power plants include the high cost of their construction and daily changes in power, for which it is advisable to use power plants of this type only as part of power systems that also use other energy sources. The main advantages are high environmental friendliness and low cost of energy production.

Thermal energy of the Earth

To develop this energy source, geothermal power plants are used, using the energy of high-temperature groundwater, as well as volcanoes. At the moment, hydrothermal energy, which uses the energy of hot underground springs, is more common. Petrothermal energy, based on the use of “dry” heat from the earth’s interior, is currently poorly developed; The main problem is considered to be the low profitability of this method of energy production.

Atmospheric electricity

(Lightning flashes on the Earth's surface occur almost simultaneously in various places on the planet.)

Thunderstorm energy, based on the capture and accumulation of lightning energy, is still in its infancy. The main problems of thunderstorm energy are the mobility of thunderstorm fronts, as well as the speed of atmospheric electrical discharges (lightning), which makes it difficult to accumulate their energy.

Introduction. 3

Unconventional types and sources of hydrocarbon raw materials. 4

Heavy oils and oil (tar) sands. 4

Low-permeability productive reservoirs. 6

Water-dissolved gases.. 6

Gas hydrates.. 7

Conclusion. 11

List of used literature:. 12

Introduction

The 21st century has long been predicted as the century of depletion of the bulk of hydrocarbon resources, first oil, and then gas. This process is inevitable, since all types of raw materials tend to develop reserves, and with the intensity with which they are mastered and sold. If we consider that modern world energy needs are provided mainly by oil and gas - 60% (oil - 36%, gas - 24%), then all types of forecasts about their exhaustion cannot raise doubts. Only the timing of the end of the hydrocarbon era of humanity is changing. Naturally, the time to reach the final stage of hydrocarbon development is not the same on different continents and in different countries, but for most it will come at current oil production volumes in the range of 2030-2050, subject to a sufficiently noticeable reproduction of their reserves. However, for about 20 years, oil production in the world has outpaced the growth of its reserves.

The concept of traditional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources does not have an unambiguous definition. Most researchers, realizing that natural processes and formations often do not have clear boundaries, propose using such concepts as hard-to-recover reserves and unconventional hydrocarbon resources when defining unconventional reserves and resources. Hard-to-recover reserves, the production potential of which is practically not used, are not much different from traditional oil and gas reserves - except for the deterioration of their geological and production characteristics. Non-traditional hydrocarbon resources include those that are fundamentally different from traditional ones in physical and chemical properties, as well as in the forms and nature of their placement in the host rock (environment).

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources are much more “expensive”. Therefore, when assigning raw materials to one or another group, not only purely geological and geological-technical reasons are often considered, but also, for example, geographical-economic, social, market situation, strategic, etc.

In general, if we talk about the system of unconventional hydrocarbon resources of all types, they are huge. In total, according to rough estimates, they exceed 105 billion toe, but these volumes are not indisputable, because These are dispersed hydrocarbons in an unproductive environment, i.e. Even in the long term, not all of them will be able to be mastered.

Unconventional types and sources of hydrocarbon raw materials

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources are that part of them, the preparation and development of which requires the development of new methods and methods of identification, exploration, production, processing and transport. They are concentrated in clusters that are difficult to develop, or are scattered in unproductive environments. They are poorly mobile in the reservoir conditions of the subsoil, and therefore require special methods of extraction from the subsoil, which increases their cost. However, the progress achieved in the world in technologies for the extraction of oil and gas raw materials allows the development of some of them.

At the initial stage of research, it was believed that their reserves were practically inexhaustible, given their scale (Fig. 1) and wide distribution. However, many years of study of various sources of unconventional hydrocarbon resources, carried out in the second half of the last century, left only heavy oils, oil sands and bitumen, oil and gas-saturated low-permeability reservoirs and gases of coal deposits as viable for development. Already at the 14th World Petroleum Congress (1994, Norway), unconventional oils, represented only by heavy oils, bitumen and oil sands, were estimated at 400-700 billion tons, 1.3-2.2 times more than traditional resources - . Water-dissolved gases and gas hydrates turned out to be problematic and controversial as industrial sources of gas, despite their wide distribution.

Rice. 1 Geological hydrocarbon resources.

Heavy oils and oil (tar) sands.

The world's geological resources of this type of raw material are enormous - 500 billion tons. Reserves of heavy oils with a density are more successfully developed. With modern technologies, their recoverable reserves exceed 100 billion tons. Venezuela and Canada are especially rich in heavy oils and tar sands.

In recent years, the volume of heavy oil production has been growing, amounting, according to various estimates, to about 12-15% of the global total. Back in 2000, only 37.5 million tons were produced from heavy oils in the world. in 2005 - 42.5 million tons, and by 2010-2015. according to the forecast, it may already be about 200 million tons, but with world oil prices not lower than $50-60/bbl.

There is a lot of heavy oil in Russia, and their concentration in unique deposits is important. 60% of heavy oil reserves are concentrated in 15 fields, which simplifies their development. These include Russkoe, Van-Eganskoe, Fedorovskoe and others in Western Siberia, Novo-Elokhovskoe and Romashkinskoe in the Urals-Volga region; Usinsk, Yaregskoe, Toraveiskoe and others in the Timan-Pechora region. The main reserves of heavy oils in Russia are concentrated in Western Siberia (46%) and the Ural-Volga region (26%). In 2010, their production volumes amounted to 39.4 million tons, but many of the deposits are still being developed.

In many fields, heavy oils are metalliferous, especially in European oil and gas fields, and contain significant reserves of rare metals. In particular, they are a potential source of vanadium raw materials, the quality of which is significantly superior to ore sources [Sukhanov, Petrova 2008]. According to our estimates, the geological reserves of vanadium pentoxide in heavy oils only in the largest deposits in terms of vanadium reserves amount to 1.3 million tons, extracted along with oil 0.2 million tons (Table 1).

Vanadium is extracted in the world on a large scale, mainly by ash collectors at large thermal power plants operating on fuel oil, as well as in cokes at refineries during deep oil refining. The addition of such cokes to a blast furnace ensures the frost resistance of rolled rails.

Thus, heavy oils are complex hydrocarbon raw materials, which are of interest not only as an additional source of hydrocarbons, but also as a source of valuable metals, as well as chemical raw materials (organosulfur compounds and porphyrins).

Table 1

Assessment of vanadium reserves in heavy metalliferous oils of the Russian Federation

The main obstacles to large-scale development of heavy oils in Russia are:

Insufficient fundamental research aimed at creating effective technologies for their development and complex processing, adapted to the characteristics of specific development objects;

The need to modernize and build new refineries for deep processing of heavy and, especially, high-sulfur heavy oil.

Low-permeability productive reservoirs.

There cannot be clear standard permeability parameters for predicting their oil and gas recovery, since it depends not only on the structure and quality of the reservoir matrix (porosity, fracturing, hydraulic conductivity, clay content, etc.) and on the quality of the raw material (density, viscosity), but also on thermodynamic conditions in the deposit (temperature and pressure). For the bulk of oil reserves located in the depth range of 1.5-3.0 km, a reservoir with less permeability already creates certain difficulties in extracting them from the subsoil, especially significant if the oil in the deposit is characterized by high density () or viscosity (> 30mPa*s). The share of oil reserves in such reservoirs is (according to various estimates) of the global reserves and 37% of their total reserves recorded in Russia. They are especially common in Western Siberia, and their share is large in deposits with unique reserves (Salymskoye, Priobskoye, etc.). In the forecast resources of Western Siberia there are even more than 65% of them (Fig. 2), which is extremely unfavorable, since it is the permeability of reservoirs that mainly determines the flow rates of wells, i.e. scale of production and its cost.

Water-dissolved gases

Water-dissolved gases have predominantly methane, methane-nitrogen or methane-carbon dioxide composition. The industrial development of water-dissolved hydrocarbon gases has a theoretical basis and positive practical examples. The resources of gases dissolved in water and, according to various estimates, range from to. Typically, the volumes of water-dissolved gas in formation waters at moderate depths, up to 1.0-1.5 km, average 1-2 gases per cubic meter of water, at 1.5-3.0 km 3-5, but in deep troughs of geosynclinal areas reach 20-25, especially under conditions of low salinity of formation waters [Kaplan, 1990]. Highly gas-saturated reservoir

waters lie at depths of more than 3.5-4.0 km, are accompanied by high pressure pressure with an anomaly coefficient of up to 2 atm., often gush out, but quickly spontaneously degass when the pressure drops.

In addition, if gas-saturated formation waters have increased mineralization and there are no conditions for their discharge, surface or deep, then environmental problems also arise, in particular soil salinization and surface subsidence. Prices for water-dissolved gas vary from $75-140 per 1000, but if water is used as a hydrothermal raw material or for heating, it drops to $50.

Rice. 2. Share distribution (%) of oil in low-permeability reservoirs () in the reserves and resources of the federal districts.

Their industrial value lies in the fact that they do not contain harmful components and can be sent directly to the consumer without purification.

Gas hydrates

The discovery of large accumulations of gas hydrates in permafrost regions in the Arctic, as well as under the seabed along the outer continental margins of the World Ocean, is causing increased interest in them around the world.

Gas hydrates are solid structures formed by water and gas that resemble compressed snow in appearance. They are a crystal lattice of ice with gas molecules inside it. For their formation, gas, water and certain thermodynamic conditions are required, which are not the same for different gas compositions. Gas molecules (parts) fill the cavities in the framework of the water molecule (host). Moreover, 1 water can contain up to 150-160. To date, three types of gas hydrates have been identified (I, II and III). -Type I gas hydrates are the most common: they are represented mainly by molecules of biogenic methane. Types II and III gas hydrates may contain larger molecules that make up thermogenic gas.

Research conducted by scientists around the world suggested that huge reserves lie in the bottom sediments of the shelf and ocean. But research has shown that this is not the case. In vast areas of the deep ocean platform, in its thin bottom sediments, there is practically no methane, and in the rift zones, where it is possible, the temperature is too high, so there are no conditions for gas hydrate formation. Bottom sediments saturated with gas hydrates are widespread, mainly on shelves and especially in zones of active underwater mud volcanoes or dislocations.

However, even if the presence of enormous volumes of gas in gas hydrates is confirmed, significant technical and economic problems will need to be overcome in order to consider gas hydrates as a viable source. Although large areas of the world's continental margins are underlain by gas hydrates, their concentrations in most marine accumulations are very low, posing challenges to the technology for extracting gas from widely scattered accumulations. In addition, in most cases, marine gas hydrates are identified in unconsolidated sedimentary sections enriched in clay, which causes little or no permeability of the sediments. Most gas production models require reliable pathways to move gas to the well and inject fluids into sediments containing gas hydrates. However, it is unlikely that most marine sediments have the mechanical strength to support the formation of the necessary migration routes. Research by American scientists has shown that the use of inhibitors in gas production from gas hydrates is technically possible, but the use of large volumes of chemicals is expensive, both from a technical point of view and from an environmental point of view.

As can be seen from the above, unconventional hydrocarbon resources are an important part of their balance, especially those that can be developed at the present time. They are distributed throughout the Russian Federation, however, the proportion of their species for different regions is unequal, which predetermines the priorities in their development for each region (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. The predominance of hydrocarbon resources in unconventional facilities in the regions of Russia

The need to study various types of unconventional hydrocarbon resources and the feasibility of improving technologies for the development of certain types of them is dictated by the following fundamental provisions, especially relevant in connection with the shortage of investments, which excludes a wide turn of highly capital-intensive geological exploration work in undeveloped, inaccessible, but promising regions:

The obvious exhaustibility of active hydrocarbon reserves within the territories available for economically efficient development. The degree of depletion of oil reserves in Russia is already 53% or more in a number of regions, which entails an inevitable drop in production;

The steady increase in the cost of traditional hydrocarbon reserves prepared for development, due to the extreme geographical, climatic and economic conditions of work on the shelf (mainly Arctic) and at great depths on land; in undeveloped territories significantly removed from consumers, lacking transport infrastructure;

The presence of significant volumes, including explored industrial reserves of oil and gas in unconventional sources in regions with developed field and transport infrastructure, the development of which is hampered not so much because of technological difficulties, which are quite surmountable, but because of the absence of tax legislation RF real market mechanisms for their cost-effective preparation and development.

The preparation and development of unconventional sources of hydrocarbon raw materials will partially cover the emerging deficit in its reserves in the Russian Federation. This requires very moderate appropriations that make it possible to maintain hydrocarbon production volumes in the first years of the post-crisis period, aimed mainly at research and development, namely:

Conduct a regional audit of the resources, reserves and quality of all types of unconventional hydrocarbon raw materials at a new information level, taking into account the progress achieved in their production technologies, as well as the economic, social and environmental consequences of their development. Their condition must be clearly reflected in government balance sheets;

Carry out fundamental research to create effective technologies for the development and complex processing of unconventional types of hydrocarbon raw materials, adapted to specific domestic objects of their priority development;

To improve the taxation system for the production of unconventional types of hydrocarbon raw materials through their differentiation in accordance with the quality and specifics of the development of individual types.

Conclusion

The state of knowledge of non-traditional types of raw materials and their development in the world is still low, but along with the depletion of traditional reserves, countries with a deficit of hydrocarbons are increasingly turning to their non-traditional sources.

Most of the activities, as well as proposals to stimulate production, are aimed exclusively at a group of hard-to-recover oils and gases. Actually, unconventional hydrocarbon resources are beyond the attention of both oil and gas companies and government subsoil management authorities.

Thus, in relation to the modern situation, the main types of non-traditional hydrocarbon resources can be divided into a group prepared for industrial (or pilot-industrial) development, a group that requires study, evaluation and accounting on the balance sheet, and also for which it is necessary to develop technologies involving the development of long term, and a group of problematic and hypothetical objects.

If it is possible to involve non-traditional hydrocarbon resources in development, they can be divided into three unequal groups. Hard-to-recover (heavy, highly viscous) oils, bitumen and oil sands, as well as oil and gases in low-permeability reservoirs, are already of practical importance as hydrocarbon raw materials among unconventional hydrocarbon sources. In the medium term, this group in Russia will also include gases in shale and gases in coal-bearing deposits (sorbed and free). Water-dissolved gases and gas hydrates are unlikely to become the subject of targeted assessment and development in the next 20-30 years.

In general, unconventional hydrocarbon resources are a significant reserve for replenishing the raw material base of oil in the Russian Federation, not only in the “old” developed oil and gas reservoirs, but also in Western and Eastern Siberia, where they account for more than half of the predicted hydrocarbon resources.

List of used literature:

1 Kaplan E.M. Resources of unconventional gas raw materials and problems of its development - L.: VNIGRI, 1990, pp. 138-144.

2 Anfilatova E.A. Article // Analytical review of modern foreign data on the problem of the spread of gas hydrates in the world's waters. (VNIGRI) 2009

3 Ushivtseva L.F. article // Unconventional sources of hydrocarbon and hydrothermal raw materials.

4 Unconventional sources of hydrocarbon raw materials / ed. Yakutseni V.P. 1989

5 Unconventional hydrocarbon resources - a reserve for replenishing the raw material base of oil and gas of the Russian Federation./Yakutseni V.P., Petrova Yu.E., Sukhanov A.A. (VNIGRI).2009

6 O.M. Prishchepa article/ Resource potential and directions for studying unconventional sources of hydrocarbon raw materials in the Russian Federation (FSUE VNIGRI) 2012

There are known sources of alternative energy caused by wind, solar, biofuels, hydroelectric power plants, tidal and wave stations, but Mother Nature provides endless sources of non-traditional energy beyond the ones we use today.

There are many clean and green resources available around us in the natural world and scientists have just begun to answer the question of how to use it.

Here are some unconventional energy sources you've probably never heard of:

Osmotic or salt water energy

Osmotic or salt water energy is one of the most promising new sources of renewable energy that has not yet been fully exploited. Just as a huge amount of power is needed to desalinate water, the interaction is created when the reverse happens and salt water is added to fresh water. Through a process called reverse electrodialysis, power plants can capture this interaction force in estuaries around the world.

An experimental power plant has been built in Norway that uses the difference in salt concentration in fresh and salt water.

Due to the phenomenon of osmosis, water rushes to the part where the salt concentration is higher.

Biotechnology like photosynthesis

This unconventional energy source is a revolutionary process that generates hydrocarbon-based fuels by combining brackish water, nutrients, photosynthetic organisms, carbon dioxide and sunlight. This biotechnology involves photosynthesis which produces fuel directly in the form of ethanol or hydrocarbons. Essentially, the method is used to produce ready-to-use fuel.

The phenomenon of piezoelectricity for obtaining resources

The world's human population has surpassed a whopping 7 billion. The kinetic component of human movement can be a source of real power. Piezoelectricity represents the ability of some materials to produce an electric field in response to an applied mechanical force. By placing tiles of piezoelectric material along walking trails or even on the soles of shoes, electricity can be generated with every step. By forcing people to walk, you will get a micro-power plant that produces certain resources.

Ocean thermal energy conversion

Ocean thermal energy conversion is a hydropower conversion system that uses temperature differences in water at different depths to power a heat engine. These resources can be exploited by creating platforms or on a barge, taking advantage of the thermal layers found between the ocean depths.

Human wastewater

Even wastewater can be used to create electricity or fuel. Pilot plans are underway to power public buses in Oslo, Norway, with wastewater fuel. Electricity can also be created from wastewater using bio-electrochemical systems and exploiting bacterial interactions found in nature. Of course, wastewater can also be used as fertilizer.

Heating water

A new type of geothermal energy that is created by the flow of cold, salty water into rock that is heated by the Earth's mantle and the decay of radioactive elements in the Earth's crust. When water is heated, the heat created can be converted into electricity by a steam turbine. The advantage of this type of resource is that hot water can be easily controlled and can provide resources around the clock.

Evaporative energy

By studying plant growth, scientists have invented a synthetic “leaf” that can harvest electricity from water evaporation. Air bubbles can be pumped into the "leaves", the production of electrical power creates a difference in electrical properties between water and air. This research may open up more ambitious non-traditional energy sources, such as those created from evaporation.

Vortex induced vibration is a form of renewable energy that draws power through slow currents. This principle is inspired by the movement of fish. Movement can be used when water flows past a network of rods. Vortexes or vortices, alternating in an inexplicable pattern, push and pull objects up or down from side to side to create mechanical force. The principle is that something slides between the vortex sensors creating an induced vibration.

Helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope that has enormous potential for generating relatively net power through nuclear fusion.

1 ton of helium 3 (helion - two protons and one neutron) contains resources like 20 million tons of oil.

The only thing is that it is a rare radioisotope on earth, but abundant on the moon, Helium-3. For example, the Russian Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) has announced that it views lunar helium-3 as a potential economic resource of the future.

Based on the use of space solar energy

Since the sun's energy is available in space on a 24-hour cycle of day and night, proposals for placing solar panels in orbit and beaming the power down for use on earth are being considered in all seasons. The technological breakthrough here involves wireless power transmission, which can be done at microwave frequencies.

There are enough problems in the modern world. Despite the predictions of science fiction writers, people have not been able to overcome hunger, and infectious diseases to this day pose a mortal threat to the life and health of those living on Earth. But the main problem is the depletion of resources that give our civilization energy. The solution may be a new, unconventional source of energy. What is meant by this concept?

What it is?

Simply put, an unconventional source of energy is a method of obtaining it that is not used on an industrial scale, is experimental and is only being prepared for wider use throughout the world. But the main distinguishing feature of such methods of generating energy is their complete environmental safety and renewability.

These may include solar panels and power plants powered by tidal energy. In addition, biogas plants, as well as promising projects of thermonuclear plants (albeit with great stretch), can be included in the same class.

Solar energy

This non-traditional source of energy can only be called “non-traditional” only relatively. The only reason is that at present the technology is not very developed: atmospheric pollution has an effect, and photocells are still very expensive. Space is a different matter. Solar panels are available on all spacecraft and regularly provide their equipment with free energy.

There is no need to assume that this “unconventional” source of energy has attracted the attention of people only in our time. The sun has been a free source of heat since ancient times. Even the Sumerian civilization used containers on the roofs of houses in which water was heated on hot summer days.

In principle, since then the situation has not changed much: this area of ​​energy is effectively developed only in those countries where there are desert and hot areas. Thus, most of Israel and California in the United States receive energy generated through solar panels. This method has enough advantages: modern photovoltaic cells are characterized by increased efficiency, so that every year the world will be able to generate an increasing amount of completely clean and safe energy.

Unfortunately, the price of the technology (as we have already discussed) is still high, and the production of batteries uses such toxic elements that it becomes pointless to talk about any kind of ecology at all. The Japanese act somewhat differently, widely using non-traditional and renewable energy sources in practice.

Japanese experience

Of course, solar panels are used more or less intensively in Japan. But in recent years, they have returned to a practice with a thousand-year history: black tanks and pipes are installed on the roofs of houses, the water in which is heated by the sun's rays. Given the dire energy situation in this island nation, the cost savings are significant.

At the moment, analysts believe that by 2025 solar energy will take a socially significant position in most countries of the world. In short, the use of non-traditional energy sources should become widespread in the next 50-70 years.

Biogas

All large human settlements since time immemorial have faced one common problem - waste. Whole rivers of sewage became even larger when man domesticated cattle and pigs and began to raise them en masse.

When there was not so much waste, it could be used to fertilize fields. But at that moment, when the number of those same pigs began to number in the millions, it was necessary to somehow resolve the issue. The fact is that the feces of this type of animal in fresh form are simply toxic to plants. To make them useful, you need to keep the slurry, aerate it and partially use drugs to stabilize the pH level. It is very expensive.

Biogas is the oldest trend!

Scientists quickly drew attention to the experience of Ancient China and India, where even before our era people began to use methane obtained by rotting household waste. Back then it was most often used for cooking.

Gas losses were very large, but there was enough of it to simplify household work. By the way, in these countries such solutions are still actively used to this day. Thus, biogas as an unconventional source of energy has great prospects if we approach the issue using modern technologies.

A technology was proposed for processing wastewater from livestock enterprises, which resulted in the output of pure methane. The problem with its development is that such enterprises can only be created in regions with developed livestock farming. In addition, the prospects for increasing biogas production are lower the more antibiotics and detergents are used at agricultural enterprises: even a small amount of them inhibits fermentation, as a result of which all the manure becomes covered with mold.

Wind generators

Remember Don Quixote with his “giants”? The idea of ​​using it has long excited the minds of scientists, and therefore very soon they found a way out: they began to regularly provide the rapidly growing urban population with first-class flour.

Of course, when the first electric current generators appeared, the minds of scientists were again captured by the same idea. How could you not want to use the limitless power of the wind to generate free current?

This idea appeared quite quickly, and therefore in Japan, Denmark, Ireland and the USA there are now many areas where 80 percent or more of electricity is supplied by the use of wind turbines. In the USA and Israel today there are already more than a dozen companies that develop and install wind generators - this is a very promising non-traditional source of energy. The term “unconventional” is not very appropriate here, since wind energy has a long history.

There are also plenty of problems in their case. Of course, electricity is free, but to install a wind turbine, you again need a desert area where the wind blows most of the year. In addition, the cost of manufacturing and installing a powerful generator (with a mast height of several tens of meters) amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, not all countries can afford “free” electricity, where the very possibility of generating current by wind power is quite real.

Fusion energy

This is the ultimate dream of many modern physicists. Work to curb the thermonuclear reaction began back in the 50s of the last century, but until now a functioning reactor has not been obtained. However, the news from these fronts is quite optimistic: scientists assume that in the next 20-30 years they will still be able to create a working prototype.

By the way, why is this area of ​​science so important? The fact is that the fusion of two hydrogen or helium atoms produces hundreds of thousands of times more energy than if several thousand uranium nuclei decayed! The reserves of transuranium elements are large, but they are gradually being depleted. If hydrogen is used to generate energy, its reserves on our planet alone will last for hundreds of thousands of years.

Imagine a compact reactor that can operate for several decades without refueling, fully providing electricity to a huge alien base! A thermonuclear unconventional source of energy is a practical chance for all of humanity, giving the opportunity to begin widespread exploration of space.

Unfortunately, the technology has many disadvantages. Firstly, there is still not a single more or less working prototype, and breakthroughs in this direction took place a very, very long time ago. Since then, little has been heard about any real successes.

Secondly, the fusion of light nuclei produces a huge number of light neutrons. Even rough calculations show that in just five years the reactor elements will become so radioactive that their materials will begin to break down, completely degenerating. In short, this technology is extremely imperfect, and its prospects are still vague. However, even if at least rough calculations are correct, then this unconventional alternative source of energy can certainly become a real salvation for our entire civilization.

Tide stations

In the myths and traditions of the peoples of the world you can find a lot of references to those divine forces that control the ebb and flow of the tides. Man was awestruck by the gigantic power that could set such masses of water in motion.

Of course, with the development of industry, people again turned their attention to tidal energy, which made it possible to create power plants that largely repeated the ideas of hydroelectric power plants that had long been tested and proven themselves. Advantages - cheap energy, complete absence of hazardous waste and the need to flood land, as is the case with hydroelectric power plants. The disadvantage is the high cost of construction.

conclusions

As a result, we can say that non-traditional renewable energy sources can provide approximately 70% of humanity with inexpensive and clean electricity, but for their mass use it is necessary to reduce the cost of technology.

Currently, oil consumption is such that no alternative energy source can replace the need for oil. At the same time, reserves of traditional, easily accessible oil are steadily declining. There have been no new discoveries of large oil fields since the 70s of the last century, despite all the efforts of oil companies.

Renewable energy sources such as solar energy or wind energy do not live up to the expectations of their followers. Their implementation is too expensive, and the effectiveness of their use raises many questions. As practice shows, the capabilities of these resources (technologies) to generate energy are quite limited. Despite some fairly successful examples of the introduction of alternative (renewable) energy, its large-scale use is unpromising.

The nuclear industry itself also cannot cover the necessary needs. The maximum that uranium reserves can last with current technologies is 10 years. In addition, after the recent events in Fukushima, a negative attitude towards this type of energy has strengthened in society. Nobody wants to have such a potentially dangerous object as a nuclear power plant in their garden.

To meet society's ever-growing energy needs, the oil industry is increasingly turning its attention to expensive, unconventional and hard-to-find sources of hydrocarbons.

Such sources include:

• Canadian Oil Sands;
• Heavy/high-viscosity/bitumen oil from other regions of the world;
• Shale oil;
• Technologies based on the Fischer-Tropsch process:
• gas-to-liquids (GTL);
• coal-to-liquids (CTL);
• biomass to liquids (BTL);
• Oil production on the deep-sea shelf and the shelf of the Arctic seas

A common characteristic feature of all these sources of hydrocarbons is the high cost of the final product. But this is a relatively small price to pay to obtain a form of energy that is familiar and suitable for modern infrastructure (liquid hydrocarbons).

Brief overview of unconventional hydrocarbon sources

Oil Sands have been successfully developed in Canada since the 60s of the last century. Today, approximately half of the oil produced in this country comes from oil sands. Oil sand actually refers to a mixture of sand, water, clay, heavy oil and natural bitumen. There are three oil regions in Canada with significant reserves of heavy oil and natural bitumen. This is Athabasca, which many have probably heard of, Peace River and Cold Lake. All of them are in the province of Alberta.

Two fundamentally different methods are used to extract oil from oil sands:

1) Open pit method and 2) Directly from the reservoir.

The quarry mining method is suitable for shallow deposits (up to 75 m deep) and deposits that go to the surface. It is noteworthy that in Canada all deposits suitable for open-pit mining are located in the Athabasca region.

The quarry method of extraction means that the oil sand, simply put, is loaded onto dump trucks and transported to a processing plant, where it is washed with hot water and thus separates the oil from all other material. It takes approximately 2 tons of oil sand to produce 1 barrel of oil. If this seems like a rather labor-intensive way to get 1 barrel of oil, then you are right. But the oil recovery factor with this production method is very high and amounts to 75%-95%.

Rice. 1 Quarry method of extracting oil sand

To extract heavy oil directly from the reservoir, thermal extraction methods, such as, are usually used. There are also “cold” extraction methods that involve injecting solvents into the formation (for example, the VAPEX or method). Methods for extracting heavy oil directly from the reservoir are less effective in terms of oil recovery compared to the open-pit method. At the same time, these methods have some potential for reducing the cost of oil produced by improving its production technologies.

Heavy/high viscosity/bitumen oil is attracting increasing attention from the oil industry. Since the cream of the crop in global oil production has already been skimmed off, oil companies are simply forced to switch to less attractive heavy oil deposits.

It is in heavy oil that the world's main hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated. Following Canada, which added heavy/bitumen oil reserves to its balance sheet, Venezuela, which has huge reserves of this oil in the Orinoco River belt, did the same. This “maneuver” brought Venezuela to first place in the world in terms of oil reserves. Significant, as well as in many other oil-producing countries.

Huge reserves of heavy oil and natural bitumen require the development of innovative technologies for production, transportation and processing of raw materials. Currently, operating costs for the production of heavy oil and natural bitumen can be 3-4 times higher than the costs for the production of light oil. Refining heavy, high-viscosity oil is also more energy-intensive and, as a result, in many cases it is low-profit and even unprofitable.

In Russia, various methods for extracting heavy oil were tested at the well-known Yaregskoye high-viscosity oil field located in the Komi Republic. The productive formation of this field, located at a depth of ~200 m, contains oil with a density of 933 kg/m3 and a viscosity of 12000-16000 mPa s. Currently, the field is using a thermal mining method of extraction, which has proven itself to be quite effective and economically justified.

At the Ashalchinskoye super-viscous oil field, located in Tatarstan, a project is being implemented for pilot testing of steam-gravity technology. This technology, although without much success, was also tested at the Mordovo-Karmalskoye field.

The results of developing heavy, highly viscous oil fields in Russia do not yet inspire much optimism. Further improvement of technologies and equipment is required to increase production efficiency. At the same time, there is potential to reduce the cost of heavy oil production, and many companies are ready to take an active part in its production.

shale oil- a “fashionable” topic lately. Today, a number of countries are showing increased interest in shale oil production. In the United States, where shale oil production is already underway, significant hopes are associated with it to reduce dependence on imports of this type of energy resource. In recent years, the bulk of the increase in American crude oil production has come primarily from the Bakken shale fields in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford shale in Texas.

The development of shale oil production is a direct consequence of the “revolution” that occurred in the United States in shale gas production. As gas prices collapsed as gas production soared, companies began switching from gas production to shale oil production. Moreover, the technologies for their extraction are no different. To do this, as is known, horizontal wells are drilled followed by multiple hydraulic fracturing of oil-containing rocks. Since the production rate of such wells drops very quickly, in order to maintain production volumes it is necessary to drill a significant number of wells along a very dense grid. Therefore, the costs of producing shale oil are inevitably higher than the costs of extracting oil from traditional fields.

While shale oil production projects remain attractive despite high costs. Outside the United States, the most promising shale oil deposits are the Vaca Muerta in Argentina and the Bazhenov Formation in Russia.

Fischer-Tropsch process was developed in the 20s of the last century by German scientists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch. It consists in the artificial combination of hydrogen with carbon at a certain temperature and pressure in the presence of catalysts. The resulting mixture of hydrocarbons closely resembles petroleum and is usually called synthesis oil.

Rice. 2 Production of synthetic fuels based on the Fischer-Tropsch process

CTL (Coal-to-liquids)- the essence of the technology is that coal, without access to air and at high temperatures, decomposes into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Next, in the presence of a catalyst, a mixture of various hydrocarbons is synthesized from these two gases. Then this synthesized oil, just like regular oil, undergoes separation into fractions and further processing. Iron or cobalt are used as catalysts.

During World War II, German industry actively used Coal-to-liquids technology to produce synthetic fuels. But since this process is economically unprofitable and also environmentally harmful, after the end of the war the production of synthetic fuel came to naught. The German experience was subsequently used only twice - one plant was built in South Africa and another in Trinidad.

GTL (Gas-to-liquids)- the process of producing liquid synthetic hydrocarbons from gas (natural gas, associated petroleum gas). Synthesis oil obtained as a result of the GTL process is not inferior to, and in some characteristics superior to, high-quality light oil. Many global producers use synthetic oils to improve the characteristics of heavy oils by blending them.

Despite the fact that interest in technologies for converting first coal, then gas into synthetic petroleum products has not waned since the beginning of the 20th century, currently there are only four large-scale GTL plants operating in the world - Mossel Bay (South Africa), Bintulu (Malaysia), Oryx (Qatar ) and Pearl (Qatar).

BTL (Biomass-to-liquids)- the essence of the technology is the same as coal-to-liquid. The only significant difference is that the starting material is not coal, but plant material. Large-scale use of this technology is difficult due to the lack of a significant amount of starting material.

The disadvantages of projects for the production of synthetic hydrocarbons based on the Fischer-Tropsch process are: high capital intensity of projects, significant carbon dioxide emissions, high water consumption. As a result, projects either do not pay off at all or are on the verge of profitability. Interest in such projects increases during periods of high oil prices and quickly fades when prices fall.

Oil production on the deep-sea shelf requires high capital costs from companies, ownership of relevant technologies and carries with it increased risks for the operating company. Just remember the latest accident at the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. BP managed to avoid bankruptcy only by a miracle. To cover all costs and related payments, the company had to sell almost half of its assets. The liquidation of the accident and its consequences, as well as compensation payments, cost BP a tidy sum of about $30 billion.

Not every company is ready to take on such problems. Therefore, oil production projects on the deep-sea shelf are usually carried out by a consortium of companies.

Offshore projects are successfully implemented in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, on the shelf of Norway, Brazil and other countries. In Russia, the main hopes are pinned on the shelf of the Arctic and Far Eastern seas.

Arctic sea shelf although little studied, it has significant potential. Existing geological data predict significant hydrocarbon reserves in the area. But the risks are also great. Oil production practitioners are well aware that the final verdict on the presence (or absence) of commercial oil reserves can only be made based on the results of well drilling. But there are practically none of them in the Arctic yet. The method of analogies, which is used in such cases to estimate the reserves of a region, may give an incorrect idea of ​​the actual reserves. Not every promising geological structure contains oil. However, the chances of discovering large oil deposits are assessed by experts as high.

The search for and development of oil deposits in the Arctic is subject to extremely high environmental protection requirements. Additional obstacles are the harsh climate, distance from existing infrastructure and the need to take into account ice conditions.

And finally, a few more thoughts

All of the listed sources of hydrocarbons and methods for their production are not new; they have been known for quite a long time. All of them are already used by the oil industry to one degree or another. Their development is hampered by the already mentioned high cost of the final product and such an interesting indicator as EROI.

EROI (energy return on investment) is the ratio of the amount of energy contained in an energy carrier to the energy expended to obtain this energy carrier. In other words, this is the ratio of the energy contained in the resulting oil to the energy spent on drilling, production, transportation, processing, storage and delivery of this oil to the consumer.

While conventional light oil currently has an EROI of about 15:1, oil sands oil has an EROI of about 5:1 and shale oil has an EROI of about 2:1.

The process of gradual replacement of light oil with more expensive sources of hydrocarbons is already underway, and the average EROI indicator is steadily moving towards a parity value of 1:1. And it is likely that in the future this indicator will not be in our favor. If so far we have received energy, we can say for free, then in the not too distant future we will probably have to to pay for getting energy in a familiar and convenient liquid form suitable for our technologies and existing infrastructure.