Hydrocarbons in the deep earth - (Renewable? Maybe..National Academy of Science weights in)

National Academy of Science ^ | April 11, 2011 | Leonardo Spanua, Davide Donadioa, Detlef Hohlc, Eric Schweglerd, and Giulia Gallia

[dila813]

A new computational study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how hydrocarbons may be formed from methane in deep Earth at extreme pressures and temperatures.

The thermodynamic and kinetic properties of hydrocarbons at high pressures and temperatures are important for understanding carbon reservoirs and fluxes in Earth.

The work provides a basis for understanding experiments that demonstrated polymerization of methane to form high hydrocarbons and earlier methane forming reactions under pressure.

Hydrocarbons (molecules composed of the elements hydrogen and carbon) are the main building block of crude oil and natural gas. Hydrocarbons contribute to the global carbon cycle (one of the most important cycles of the Earth that allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms).

[dila813]

The Study: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/04/1014804108.full.pdf+html?sid=98416857-96a4-4487-847a-4617eca0a016

Determining the thermochemical properties of hydrocarbons (HCs) at high pressure and temperature is a key step toward understanding carbon reservoirs and fluxes in the deep Earth. The stability of carbon-hydrogen systems at depths greater than a few thousand meters is poorly understood and the extent of abiogenic HCs in the Earth mantle remains controversial. We report ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations aimed at investigating the formation of higher HCs from dissociation of pure methane, and in the presence of carbon surfaces and transition metals, for pressures of 2 to 30 GPa and temperatures of 800 to 4,000 K. We show that for T ≥ 2,000 K and P ≥ 4 GPa HCs higher than methane are energetically favored. Our results indicate that higher HCs become more stable between 1,000 and 2,000 K and P ≥ 4 GPa. The interaction of methane with a transition metal facilitates the formation of these HCs in a range of temperature where otherwise pure methane would be metastable. Our results provide a unified interpretation of several recent experiments and a detailed microscopic model of methane dissociation and polymerization at high pressure and temperature.

Refreshing that we are finally applying some of these science resources to understanding the source of energy of modern industry.

That would be a shocking discovery.....OIL IS RENEWABLE!

[Red Badger]

Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....

If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL ”KnOcK” LIST just FReepmail me.....

This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....

[Red Badger]

OIL has always been renewable..........it never wears out...............

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[DallasDeb]

Swedish scientists have also stated that oil supplies do not deplete permanently (about a year ago, I think)—that they are renewable.

[dila813]

But now it is the scientists that Obama refers to often......lets see who is anti-science now!

;LOL

[vanilla swirl]

shocking!

[redgolum]

Mass balances have hinted at this for a long time. In short, either there was A LOT more plant life that got wiped out in a cataclysmic event, or something else is going on.

We know you can make oil from dead plants, and that you can make hydrocarbons from methane. We are even fairly sure that a lot of the oils came from (in part) dead things. But it hints at a lot of it came from somewhere else. The Russians have suspected so for a long time.

[Noumenon]

Deep Hot Biosphere ping. Dr. Gold was right. Too bad that conflicts with wooden-headed Luddites and eco-nutjob types view of the world.

[from occupied ga]

I've always wondered aobut oil being a "fossil" fuel as defined by being the residue of earlier biological activity. There isn't any doubt about coal, but hydrocarbons were part of the solar nebula and doubtless condensed into the planets in varying degrees. Oil may be the result of geological activity on primal hydrocarbons that condensed when the planet did.

I believe some geologist sold one of the scandanavian countries on the theory that there were a lot of deep hydrocarbons, and they ran a really deep well. Found some methane, but not enough to make it worth drilling the hole.

[tbpiper]

OIL IS RENEWABLE!

For a long time I have had the opinion that petroleum was not a 'fossil' fuel. Look at the world oil consumption and try to figure out how many dinosaurs would have to die to supply that much oil.

At one time, I had taken the amount of oil rendered from the largest baleen whale on record and had come up with a 'baleen equivalent' number for the world oil consumption. Seem like it was in the neighborhood of 275,000 large baleen whales would have to die every day to supply the worlds oil consumption.

[crusty old prospector]

Unfortunately, there is no porosity or permeability for it to be stored or to flow through, except fractures. Think granite or concrete with a hairline crack in it.

[fso301]

Geologists and geochemists believe that nearly all (more than 99 percent) of the hydrocarbons in commercially produced crude oil and natural gas are formed by the decomposition of the remains of living organisms, which were buried under layers of sediments in the Earth's crust, a region approximately 5-10 miles below the Earth's surface.

[crusty old prospector]

It is a fossil fuel in that it is formed under the right pressure and temperature from primarily dead algae preserved in the bowels of the oceans. Most plant and animal life that die in the ocean are consumed by bottom feeders but under anoxic (no oxygen) conditions, it is accumulated, buried, and thermally cracked with the earth being the refinery. Voila, oil and gas. It takes a long time for significant amounts to form but it subsequently needs to be concentrated in a trap to be of commercial use to us. There are droplets of oil all beneath the surface just as there are a few grains of gold in your backyard. The oil eventually makes it to the surface if it is not trapped.

[GreyFriar]

H’mmmm, oil as a renewable resource. Naw, greenies will get a consensus that it isn’t.

[zeugma]

Oil is not a “fossil” fuel. Evidence for its abiotic generation has been known of for quite some time now.

[dblshot]

I can see tar pits and near surface oil coming from decaying plants and animals but it never made any sense that this theory would explain oil reservoirs under miles of rock.

[MrB]

Oh, they have the “scientist” angle covered.
Anyone that doesn’t agree with them “isn’t a real scientist”.

[MrB]

“Renewable” is a red herring.

The left wants energy to be unaffordable for the masses.

[treetopsandroofs]

About 10 years ago I started doing research and found people analyzing old tapped-out wells to surprisingly find more oil. My “smart” liberal friends told me I was an idiot when I told them. Then I started reading how the latest theory was that dead plankton/algae were supplying all that oil. Do you have any calculations regarding plankton and algae or how much would have to produce all the oil?