Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons^™

Booms And Busts: Russia And Its Oil, 1970 To 2011 And Beyond, Cliff Gaddy

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

For 40 years Russia’s domestic economic and political development and its foreign policy ambitions have been driven by the varying fortunes of its oil and gas wealth. The story continues to play out today, with crucial global consequences. Russia remains the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. It holds the third largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. Understanding the role of Russia’s energy wealth is key to understanding what role the country may play in world energy security and geopolitics in the years ahead.

Exploring The Potential Of Agave As A Biofuel Crop On Arid Land, Rhea Conlu, Diana Ha, Jeffery Shen

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Worldwide awareness of global warming and depleting fossil fuel sources has made research into alternative resources, such as plant fuels imperative. Since groundwater irrigation is unsustainable, especially in desert climates, plants that are drought resistant or can utilize otherwise unusable water are more viable sources of future biofuel production. Agave nevadensis, a species belonging to the family Agavaceae are succulent plants native to Las Vegas. This experiment aims to expose A. nevadensis to both wastewater and drought conditions and observe its response. The results can help define Agave as a water-resourceful biofuel both tolerant of drought and capable of utilizing …

Global Warming: At What Point Does Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Release Become Unethical?, Luke Good, Gladys Lopez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

In recent decades, the concept of global warming has developed increasing concern among the scientific community and general public alike. What was initially dismissed as little more than unlikely has now become a severe warning for global climate crisis threatening not only our way of life but ultimate future existence on this planet? Global warming is defined as the steady mean increase in atmospheric temperature, the primary asserted cause thereof being increased emissions and inherent atmospheric concentrations of “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide in particular. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping radiation (from the sun) in the …

Energy Densification Via Hydrothermal Carbonization, Keri Noack

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

A process called hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), also known as wet torrefaction involves treatment of raw biomass in hot, pressurized water. HTC of woody biomass has been shown to significantly increase the energy density of the feedstock, producing a biochar, similar to coal, having up to 40% higher calorific energy content. Feedstocks investigated include Tahoe chips, Pinion/Juniper chips, Rice hulls, and Corn Stover pellets pre-treated at 215 °C, 255 °C, and 295 °C. Chemical analyses were conducted on the gaseous, aqueous, and solid HTC products. Energy contents of the solid biochar products were measured by calorimetry, and mass balances were determined.

Thin-Film Fabrication For High Pressure Thermoelectric And Electrical Resistivity Studies, Jorge L. Reynaga, Rama Venkat, Ravhi S. Kumar

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Thermoelectric materials are of interest for application such as thermoelectric cooler in microprocessors and power generators in cars. High pressure plays an important role in understanding the changes in the figure of merit of thermoelectric thin films. To study the thermoelectric thin films a direct approach is to fabricate the thin film on the surface of a diamond anvil, so that the pressure dependence of structure and transport properties can be investigated easily. If we could successfully fabricate the electrical probes by depositing thin films, then it reduces the use of electrical wires as probes inside the diamond cell, as …

Oral Presentation: Next Generation Nuclear Fuels, Douglas Hanks

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Zirconium carbide has been proposed as a coating layer for next generation (“TRISO”) nuclear fuel, and is intended as a diffusion barrier to contain fission products (e.g., Pd). To study the chemical interaction between Pd and ZrC, their interface was investigated using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Pd was step-wise deposited onto ZrC in ultra-high vacuum, and the chemical interaction at the interface was monitored, also as a function of temperature (up to 1000 C). In the presentation, details of the chemical interaction and changes in the chemical environment of Pd and their relevance for TRISO fuel will be discussed.

Long Term Outdoor Testing Of Low Concentration Solar Modules, Lewis Fraas, James Avery, Leonid Minkin, H. X. Huang, Tim Hebrink, Robert F. Boehm

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

A 1‐axis carousel tracker equipped with four 3‐sun low‐concentration mirror modules has now been under test outdoors at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) for three years. There are three unique features associated with this unit. First, simple linear mirrors are used to reduce the amount of expensive single crystal silicon in order to potentially lower the module cost while potentially maintaining cell efficiencies over 20% and high module efficiency. Simple linear mirrors also allow the use of a single axis tracker. Second, the azimuth carousel tracker is also unique allowing trackers to be used on commercial building …

Keynote 2: The Alberta Oil Sands — Wrestling Bitumen Out Of The Wild North, David Rudolph

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Athabasca Oil Sand Reserve:

- Oil sands are contained within the Cretaceous McMurray Formation. (149,000 km2)

- 2.5 trillion barrels of extractable oil (~ 25 % of Canada Crude Oil Production)

- Surface mineable deposits cover 2,800 km2

- 450 billion L of process water used annually

- Currently over 130 km2 of tailings ponds (largest man-made structures in the world)

Panel Discussion Presentation: U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Perspectives, Martin J. Pasqualetti

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Principal Question: What are the implications of the energy/ water nexus at the US/Mexico border?

1. Water Supply and Demand

2. Water Costs of Electricity

3. Virtual Water Transfers

4. Renewable Energy Resources

5. Solar/Water nexus at the US/Mexico Border

Panel Discussion Presentation: Regional Politics, International Dreams, Kathryn Furlong

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspective

The Main Idea:

What are the drivers of hydro-electric development? What are the influences of domestic politics? In what ways are they international?

Panel Discussion Presentation: Columbia River Treaty, Kelvin Ketchum

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Slide titles:

- Columbia River Treaty – the setting

- What does the Treaty Do?

- Social & Environmental Costs of the Treaty in Canada

- Treaty benefits and term

- Treaty priorities for water usage

- Example of Flood Control Curves

- Actual Treaty operations

- Supplemental operating agreements

- Treaty Implementation

- Reasons for Treaty Success

Panel Discussion Presentation: Thoughts On Energy/Water Nexus – Energy Technologies, California Case, Terry Surles

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Energy/Security/Water Problem Confluence:

There remains a critical need to make the best use possible of indigenous
national resources
- Water in the Southwest
- Energy resources in the region and nation

International energy resource competition will require effective development and use of national resources
- Geothermal, solar, wind, coal, uranium

Changing climate can produce "winners" as well as "losers" — requires an
understanding of past climate events and the impact on cultures
- Northern countries may benefit: Canada, Russia
- Temperate countries may suffer due to loss of cropland and increase of
tropical diseases and …

Panel Discussion Presentation: Canada-U.S. Transboundary Perspectives, David Rudolph

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Longest international border in the world: 8,890km, over 3,000km are water!

- Major transboundary river systems (Columbia, Red River)

- 1997 Red River Flood

- Strategies for future power and water needs

- Canadian resource-based economy

Keynote 1: Energy And Water In The Western And Texas Interconnects, Vincent Tidwell

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

- Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals by Sector: 349 BGD

- U.S. Freshwater Consumption: 100 BGD

- Water for Energy, Energy for Water: Energy and power production requires water; Water production, processing, distribution, and end-use requires energy

Event Program, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

The North American Energy-Water Nexus roundtable was held April 1, 2011, to promote the discussion of how energy and water issues converge in addressing international relations. The roundtable focused on water issues specific to the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders, including stakeholder-driven solutions for water policies and water technologies. The event was co-sponsored by the UNLV Urban Sustainability Initiative; Desert Research Institute; the Canadian Consulate of Los Angeles; and the government of Ontario, Canada.

Embodied Emissions Abatement: A Policy Assessment Using Stochastic Analysis, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Articles

Policymakers traditionally focus on regulating operational energy use in buildings, ignoring other life cycle components such as embodied energy even though this may account for a significant portion of life cycle emissions. Data relating to embodied energy and emissions in buildings is limited. However, stochastic techniques can be used to estimate the distribution of such emissions from buildings. This helps policymakers identify which instruments are appropriate for achieving emissions reductions. A primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate this approach using a sample of apartment buildings in Ireland. A Monte-Carlo simulation suggests that the average probability distribution of embodied …

Biogas Technology On Uzi Island, Zanzibar: A Feasibility Study, Peter J. Mcinerney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With realization of the finite quantity of fossil fuels and improved study on the effects of global climate change there has been an increasing demand for energy production from renewable, sustainable sources in developed and developing nations alike. The population of Tanzania relies overwhelmingly on biomass as a source of primary energy, with such impacts as deforestation and negative health effects. Biogas generation is a renewable energy technology that utilizes organic waste sources to produce a methane-rich gas suitable for cooking and lighting with the potential to replace current unsustainable energy sources and provide several environmental and socioeconomic benefits. A …

Bell Creek Integrated Co2 Eor And Storage Project, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about the Bell Creek Intergrated CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) storage project. Outlines the benefits of the project, modeling and monitoring systems used for the operation, and how the storage process works. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Geologic Storage Of Sour Co2 From A Natural Gas-Processing Plant – A Proposed Commercial Demonstration, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about a proposed commercial demonstration project that would pipe sour CO₂ stream from Spectra Energy's Fort Nelson gas processing facility to a nearby permanent storage site. The project is led by Spectra Energy and the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

What Is The Pcor Partnership?, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet describing the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership. Outlines the phases of U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership program. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]