Posted on 11/17/2004 10:25:10 AM PST by cogitator
Researchers at Luca Technologies have made a discovery regarding natural gas production in Wyoming's Powder River Basin that could lead to a renewable source of energy for generations to come.
The company today announced that laboratory evidence shows that the Powder River Basin (PRB) coals are generating natural gas in real time through the ongoing activity of anaerobic microbes (bacteria that live in the absence of oxygen) resident in those coal fields.
The company has termed sites where this microbial conversion of hydrocarbon deposits (coals, organic shales, or oil) to methane occurs "Geobioreactors," and believes the careful management of such sites may offer a new long-term solution to U.S. energy needs.
Robert Pfeiffer, LUCA Technologies president and chief executive officer commented, "Our research on native coal, water and microbial samples from the PRB has determined that PRB coals can produce natural gas in real time."
"This finding suggests that the gas in the PRB need not be an ancient remnant of microbial activity, as generally believed, but instead is being actively created today."
"Moreover, we can increase or decrease methane production by PRB microbes by altering their access to water or nutrients, or halt gas production entirely by exposing the organisms to oxygen or heat sterilization."
"This finding holds the potential of turning what is today thought to be a finite energy resource into a renewable source of natural gas that could potentially go on for hundreds of years."
LUCA believes that in order to attempt to maximize the ultimate recovery of methane from this potentially enormous natural energy resource it will be necessary to amend certain current operating practices as well as review current legal and regulatory underpinnings of energy development.
The company is currently discussing its findings with Wyoming and U.S. national agencies, as well as with major energy companies working in the PRB region.
Microbial Methane Production from Coal
It has long been known that certain ancient microorganisms are "methanogens" -- microbes that generate methane by metabolizing other hydrocarbon sources.
While it has also been generally accepted that much of the methane resident in coal fields was produced by such organisms, most of this production was thought to have occurred millions of years ago, when the hydrocarbon deposits were less mature and closer to the surface of the earth.
More recently, however, research has suggested that living methanogenic organisms may be present and actively forming methane within some major coalfields. LUCA scientists, employing the tools of modern biotechnology and genomics, have confirmed the presence of such microbes within anaerobic core samples from the PRB.
In addition to demonstrating that methane production by these microbes can be stimulated by the introduction of additional nutrient compounds, or suppressed by heat sterilization or the introduction of oxygen, LUCA has shown that radio-labeled CO2 (carbon dioxide) introduced to these PWB core samples is converted to radio-labeled methane.
This demonstrates that the methane formation is the result of a biological process occurring today.
"The United States has enormous amounts of buried hydrocarbon reserves, many of which cannot be extracted in an economically or environmentally benign fashion with current technologies and production practices," said Mr. Pfeiffer.
"Any of these settings, given the right set of conditions, has the potential to produce biogenic methane in a long-term, sustainable fashion."
Ping!
If someone can perfect a methane powered car, we will serve beans and rice, cabbage and noodles and broccoli before every trip back home to Cleveland!
35 years ago there was a Scandinavian fellow who asserted that oil and gas were not from dead dinosaurs but were from ongoing biological activity in the lower crust. My college housemate at the time was studying this stuff (later worked in the oil industry and became a state geologist in an oil state). The theory wasn't well received - he was basically looked on as a Chariots-of-the-Gods-type nut. More and more recent evidence seems to be suggesting he was right. For the life of me, though, I can't recall his name.
Can't drill there, we'd be killing those precious coal-eating microbes.
enery alternative ping
ENERGY (sp) alternative ping
Wow, how can I buy shares??
This may sound strange, considering that I was 10 at the time, but I do remember my Dad talking about that theory.
He was a Science nut and read tons. He told me that he felt that in his lifetime he would see cars powered by something other than gasoline. Pitifully he only lived until 1982. He would be geeked out about this find.
Can anyone help me out and explain the difference between methane and propane?
I thought natural gas = propane. The article talks about methane though.
Thanks!
Interesting, and potetially devistating to the Man-made Global Warming Junk Science Industry.
But curious minds want to know what happens to convert CO2 into CH4. Where's the O go and where the H come from?
Any chemists on board?
---maybe Tom Gold?
no prob...
All of the petroleum gases are "Natural gas".
Methane = CH4
Propane = C4H8 (or is it C3H6, cant remember.)
For the record, natural gas in your house is mostly methane, if not all. Other gases have higher heating values and may be added to increase the heat value. Propane that you buy in bottles for your grill is all propane. Also, the gases are odorless. The smell is a leak detector added.
I currently work in the PRB as an engineer and can tell you that there is not a lower impact on the environment natural resource that I can think of. Now if only Montana would let us drill.
Methane is CH4, with the single carbon atom bonded by its 4 covalent bonds to 4 hydrogen atoms.
Ethane is C2H6, with two carbon atoms bonded together and the remain 3 electrons on each carbon bonded to three hyrdogen atoms.
Propane is C3H8, with the three carbon atoms bonded together and the remaining 8 bonds bound to hydrogen atoms.
Butane is C4H10. Since you can hook 4 carbons together in many different ways, there are many different isomers of Butane.
Pentane is C5H12. Isomers here, too.
Etc.
Methane = CH4, propane = C3H8. Here's a detailed discussion:
http://techreports.larc.nasa.gov/ltrs/PDF/NASA-96-tp3572.pdf
Possibly like this:
CO2 + 2H2O = CH4 + 2O2
This would also explain the oil fields that were thought to have been empty suddenly being able to produce again.
This is NOT good at all. We will now have to find some other way to insist that people change their habits and submit to a global socialist command economy.
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