World Oil Resources and Reserves:-

The question of oil resources and reserves is clouded by a certain degree of technical terminology,  as well as controversy and confusion.The main problems can be summarized as follows:

• Oil resources generally refers to the total oil thought to exist in the ground regardless of recoverability.It is therefore not a good guide to future energy supplies.
• Initial reserves is the estimate of recoverable oil after drilling, given the use of a specific level of
technology and at a certain price.
• Proven reserves is the amount for which there is a 90 percent probability of extraction being achieved at that level of technology and at a certain price
• Proven + probable reserves is the amount for which there is a 50 percent probability of extraction being achieved at that level of technology and at a certain price
• Proven + probable + possible reserves is the amount for which there is a 10 percent probability of extraction being achieved at that level of technology and at a certain price
• Further, natural gas liquids or non-conventional  oil are sometimes reported as reserves, although the definition of conventional oil has now evolved to exclude tar sands, heavy oil,deepwater and polar oil.

From the above, it can be seen that oil reserves may grow or shrink with time, as technology, economic circumstances, or definitions change. Summing the reserves of the oil-producing countries will almost certainly result in an unjustifiably high total.

 The main reasons for this are:

• Different countries have different reporting systems for reserves. The data necessary for detailed analysis and statistical processing are held by the oil companies, or by Petroconsultants of Geneva.
• These data are not generally available to economists, or even to those who participate in the  United States Geological Survey  Delphi estimations.
• Countries and oil companies sometimes overestimate or underestimate reserves for a variety of economic and political reasons. To a certain extent these adjustments cancel out, but are unpredictable.   

As a consequence of smaller and smaller fields being discovered in increasingly inconvenient locations:

• Extraction  and transport costs will rise. The huge oilfields of the Middle East are economic at less  than US$5/b, whereas many of the world's newer fields  are economic in the range US$15-US$20/b price range.
• The energy profit ratio will fall. EPRs for the extraction of oil and gas in the Unites States fell from about 27 in 1920 to around 7 in the early 1980s. Once EPRs approach one, almost no oil will be extracted, no matter how much remains in the ground.

Fossil Fuel Resource of Japan:-

At the end of the 20th century, most of the world lives in what can be termed the fossil fuel era. We, especially those of us who live in the advanced industrialized nations, depend upon fossil fuels

for almost every facet of our daily existence; for transport, for space heating and cooling, to produce electricity, to run our factories, and in agriculture to produce our food. Further, in addition to being a primary energy source, there are over 500,000 known uses of fossil resources as raw material in the chemical industry to make such products as plastics, paints, harmaceuticals, fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals, and so on.

It is clear that a large proportion of our energy needs are met by oil. Calculating from the table, we can see that the world's dependence on oil for its primary energy consumption is 39.5 percent, and that Japan's dependence on oil is 52.8 percent. It should also be noted that Japan's dependence on Middle East oil-producing countries for imports of oil was 85.2 percent in 1999, up from 71.5 percent in 1990. Japan was the world's second largest oil consumer in 1997 after the United States at 855 MTOE, the next largest consumer being China, just ahead of the Former Soviet Union  at 191
MTOE.

We can see how important oil is when we compare it with the fuel it has largely replaced, coal:

• Oil has a higher energy content per unit weight and burns at a higher temperature than coal.

• Oil  generates from 1.3 to 2.45 times the amount of economic value per joule than coal does.
 

• Liquid fuels  are easier and cheaper to store and transport.
 

• Liquid fuels can be used with precision and flexibility, are easier to use on both large and small scales
when compared with coal, generally require less attention, and are cleaner than solid-fuel systems.

• Liquid fuels are used in internal combustion engines. For example, diesel locomotive uses only one-fifth of the energy  that a coal-powered steam engine needs to pull the same train.

Since much of the world's powered transport systems use oil, any industry that requires large amounts of material to be transported or that requires outdoor motive power  will have a systemic dependence on oil. Japan has a large and efficient electrified train system, and yet only about 2 percent of the final energy consumption used for all transportation in Japan is supplied by electricity.

Japan's ability to maintain economic activity and feed her population is thus dependent upon regular supplies of oil from overseas, especially the Middle East. Since fossil resources are limited, oil supplies will eventually cease. Based on current trends, it should be possible to estimate how far into the future Japan can be assured of uninterrupted oil supplies.

A Simple Biodiesel Processor:-

The simplest way to make a biodiesel processor is to use a 55 gallon (208 l) steel drum and some sort of mixer. The mixer can be a circulating pump, such as a sump pump, or it can be an electric mixer for chemicals, specially made for drum stirring.

Making Biodiesel Flow Chart:-

A pump or stirrer will cost about US$200 if you buy it new, but you can build your own instead. With a bit of ingenuity, you can build a biodiesel processor that is inexpensive and effective. Tim Garrits of Kelseyville, california built such a processor from mostly recycled parts for under US$50. A simple biodiesel processor can be built from the following parts:

•  A 55 gallon (208 l) metal drum.
• A 1/2 hp electric motor.
• Two pulleys that give about 250 to 400 rpm at the mixer blade.
• A belt that goes around both pulleys.
• A rolled 2 inch (5 cm) rod for the mixer shaft.
• A propeller made from two shelf brackets, welded to either side of the rolled 2 inch rod. The shelf brackets look like two opposed “L”s and form a propeller about 14 inches (36 cm) in diameter. Basically any propeller-shaped metal would do, if it is made from about 12 or 14 gauge steel.
• A 3/4 inch (19 mm) brass ball valve for draining the glycerin.
• A hinge and piece of wood acting as a belt tensioner.
• A 2,000 watt electric water heater element.
• A water heater thermostat.
• Wood, screws, bolts, and other assorted mounting hardware.

A Note of Caution:-
You are dealing with dangerous chemicals when you make biodiesel. Both methanol and lye are strong bases. They can deaden nerve endings and cause permanent damage. For this reason, chemical resistant gloves, aprons, and eye wear should be worn when dealing with methanol and lye. Shoes, long sleeve shirts, and long pants are a must. Keep both methanol and lye in clearly marked containers. We recommend putting a skull and crossbones on them and writing something to the tune of “Danger! Toxic! Do Not Eat!” in addition to the contents.

How to Make Biodiesel:-

The following steps illustrates how to make this biodiesel:-

1. Purchase or collect new or used vegetable oil.

2. If the oil is used cooking oil, use a restaurant fryer filter to remove burned food bits, etc.

3. Purchase some methanol alcohol from a local racetrack or chemical supply store. Ethanol alcohol can also be used, but the process is different.

4. Purchase some granulated lye  or caustic soda sold as a drain cleaner from the hardware or grocery store. It must be pure sodium hydroxide (NaOH).

5. Measure the amount of vegetable oil you want to use in liters. We will call this number V. Pour the vegetable oil into the mixing container.

6. When the temperature is below 70°F (21°C), or when the vegetable oil is solid or lumpy, it will be necessary to heat the reactants before, during, and possibly after the mixing. The ideal temperature to attain is 120°F (49°C). A fish tank heater will heat 10 to 30 gallons (40–120 l) of reactants. For larger batches of biodiesel, a water heater element can be mounted in a steel biodiesel mixing tank. 

7. Multiply V x 0.2. The result will be the amount of methanol you will need in liters.

8. To determine how much lye you will need to use for new vegetable oil, multiply V times 3.5 

grams. For used vegetable oil, use the number of grams of lye you got in the small test batch. For example, if you used 0.55 grams of lye in the test batch, you will multiply V times 5.5 grams of lye. Call this number L.

9. Carefully pour L grams of lye into M liters of methanol. Stir until the lye is dissolved in the
methanol. Be careful, this creates a toxic substance called sodium methoxide.

10. Pour the sodium methoxide into the vegetable oil right away. Stir vigorously for one hour.

11. Let the mixture settle for eight hours.

12. Pump the biodiesel from the top, or siphon it off with a hand siphon. Or if you are lucky 

enough to have a container with a spigot, open the spigot and drain the bottom layer of glycerin. The glycerin will be much thicker and darker than the top layer of biodiesel.

13. Allow the glycerin to sit in the sun for a week. After that, the trace methanol will be evaporated. You have made a nice glycerin soap. You can scent it with the fragrance of your choice, add other soap agents as desired, or just use it as it is.

14. Make sure your biodiesel goes through a 5 micron filter before entering your diesel engine.

Vegetable Oil as Fuel

The Three Ways to Use Vegetable Oil as a Fuel Diesel engines that are found in cars, trucks,
generators, boats, buses, trains, planes, pumping stations, tractors, and agricultural equipment can all run on fuel from vegetable oil. Pure vegetable oil, lard, and used cooking oil work just as well as diesel fuel.

 

 Biodiesel:-

The most conventional method of running a diesel engine on vegetable oil fuel is to produce a fuel called biodiesel. Biodiesel is made by combining 10 to 20 percent alcohol with 0.35 to 0.75 percent lye and 80 to 90 percent vegetable oil. A very reliable reaction can be made with 80 parts new vegetable oil, 20 parts methanol, and 0.35 parts lye. These ingredients are mixed together for an hour and left to settle for eight hours.After the chemical reaction is complete and the new products settle out, you have biodiesel fuel and glycerin soap. The fuel is yellow to amber in color and flows like water. The soap is brown in color and has the consistency of gelatin. The soap settles to the bottom, allowing you to pump, siphon, or pour off the biodiesel

Veggie/Kero Mix:-

• The second method for using vegetable oil in a diesel engine is to simply “cut” the oil with kerosene. This method is best suited for emergencies, heavy duty engines, and warm temperatures. Although it is possible to mix other petroleum products with vegetable oil, kerosene is most suited for the diesel engine. Depending on ambient temperature, the blend of kerosene to vegetable oil will be anywhere from 10 percent kerosene and 90 percent vegetable oil to 40 percent kerosene and 60 percent vegetable oil. 
  
• A fairly reliable blend is 20 percent kerosene to 80 percent vegetable oil. The effectiveness and reliability of the veggie/kero method is increased by starting and cooling down the diesel engine on diesel fuel or biodiesel fuel. This can be accomplished by installing an extra fuel tank and switching to the veggie/kero mix when the engine is warmed up.

Straight Vegetable Oil:-

• The third method for running a diesel engine on vegetable oil is to use straight vegetable oil. As with the other methods, you can use either pure vegetable oil or used cooking oil. To ensure the reliability and longevity of your diesel engine, the engine must be started and cooled down on diesel or  biodiesel fuel. This also requires the use of an extra fuel tank and a valve to switch between the tank of diesel or biodiesel fuel and the tank of vegetable oil. Think of it as a startup tank  and a running tank. The key to running a diesel on straight vegetable oil is to heat the vegetable oil at every  tage—in the fuel tank, fuel hose, and fuel filter. The vegetable oil must be heated to at least 70°C .
• Most diesel engines have hoses that carry hot coolant. This coolant can be channeled to heat the vegetable oil hoses, tank, and filter. You can make simple modifications to the coolant hoses. These modifications combined with some extra fuel and oil hoses, an extra fuel tank, and an electrically operated switch will allow you to run your diesel engine on straight vegetable oil.

Fossil fuels

As we know that coal, oil and natural gas are the components of fossil fuels. We will see about the formation of them and the process involved in them in this . The formation of fossil fuels involves three process. They are

1. Combustion,
2. Drilling and
3. Refining

Formation:-

• Going back to the earlier days of Earth, the plants and animals that lived then eventually died and decomposed. The majority of these life forms were phytoplankton and zooplankton. When these ancient ocean dwellers died, they accumulated on the bottom of a seabed; this is how a good portion of our fossil fuel reserves began.
• The actual transformation process of these prehistoric creatures is not known, but scientists do know that the pressure, heat, and a great deal of time go into the making of fossil fuels. These fields always contain some gas, but this natural gas, methane, does not take nearly as long to form.
• Natural gas is also found in independent deposits within the ground as well as from others sources too. Methane is a common gas found in swamps and is also the byproduct of animals' digestive system. Incidentally, Methane is also a greenhouse gas.

Combustion:-
Combustion is the process of breaking atomic bonds to release energy in the form of light and heat. Fossil fuels have many hydrocarbons, each with numerous bonds. When they undergo combustion, they release a great deal of heat. This is the main reason why natural gas and heating oils are used extensively in the world today. However, energy in the form of heat is by nature very chaotic and disorganized.

Drilling:-
The term used to describe the process of penetrating the earth’s crust and involving the removal of material during the creation of a well. The phase in oil production where the hydrocarbon origins are discovered. Usually involves reading seismic data and drilling exploratory wells to verify initial predictions.The initial phase in petroleum operations that includes generation of a prospect or play or both, and drilling of an exploration well. Appraisal, development and production phases follow successful exploration.

Refining:-
The primary refining technique used to separate hydrocarbons and provide the ingredients for modern fuels is called fractional distillation. Hydrocarbons of different size and configuration usually have differences in boiling points that are large enough to use as a method of separation. By vaporizing them, they tend to float upwards until the hydrocarbons condense, which is where they are collected.

Bio - Mass Energy

Bio-Mass Energy:-

Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis.Burning biomass is not the only way to release its energy. Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas or transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Methane gas is the main ingredient of natural gas. Smelly stuff, like rotting garbage, and agricultural and human waste, release methane gas - also called "landfill gas" or "biogas." Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce the transportation fuel, ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products like vegetable oils and animal fats.


Bio-Mass Project Barriers:-
Despite their technical feasibility and multiple benefits, bioenergy technologies have not spread in India, apart from a few isolated demonstration projects. Bioenergy technologies have so far failed to make an impact on the rural energy scene due to a number of technical, market, information, financial and institutional barriers.

Technical Barriers: As a result of the limited success and scale of previous bioenergy demonstration initiatives, the operational feasibility and financial viability of an integrated bioenergy package has yet to be proven. This is a key barrier resulting in high-perceived risks attributed to the technology by the manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and end-users. In addition, the lack of standardization has led to poor reliability of these bioenergy packages. Limited availability of sustainable biomass is yet another barrier to the use of gasifiers.

Institutional Barriers: The insufficient capacity of the village-level institutions for implementation of bioenergy services package in rural areas also serves as a significant barrier. There are also institutionalrelated financing barriers (e.g., the absence or lack of micro-credit facilities at the target users' level).

Information Barriers: The lack of awareness and information on viable technological configurations act as a barrier to promotion of these technologies.
Financial Barriers: The high perceived technical and institutional risks act as major barriers to investments in bioenergy. Furthermore, the lack of capital for investments and the risk involved has acted as a de-motivating factor for private enterprises.

Market barriers: Bioenergy technologies, in general, have to compete with the conventional sources of energy either with subsidized electricity and fossil fuels (kerosene) options or freely accessible fuelwood and biomass residues. In such a situation, absence of a level playing field acts as a key barrier to market penetration.