The Future of Petroleum Operations

This state-of-the-art text analyzes some of the most contentious
issues in the energy industry, covering new and greener processes
for engineers and scientists and urging them to move petroleum
operations closer to sustainability. Although petroleum is still
the world's most diverse, efficient, and abundant energy source,
there is a growing initiative from global political and industry
leaders to "go green," because of climate concerns and high
gasoline prices. This book investigates and details how to do
that.

This groundbreaking new volume:

* Explains why current petroleum industry practices are
inherently unsustainable and offers unique new solutions for
"greening" the petroleum industry

* Discusses hot-button issues, such as global warming, carbon
sequestration, zero-waste management, and sustainability

* Shows engineers and scientists how to implement the processes
necessary to be more environmentally conscious

* Offers, for the first time, a new theory that certain carbons
do not contribute to global warming, but their origin and the
processes involved do

Praise for The Greening of Petroleum
Operations

"The book proposes a paradigm shift in energy management. It
correctly identifies root causes of environmental impact of current
petroleum production operations. With proper science, the book
shows that fossil fuel production and utilization are inherently
sustainable as long as natural materials and energy sources are
used.... This book has the potential of revolutionizing energy
management practices."

--Farouq Ali, Honorary Professor of Oil and Gas
Engineering, University of Calgary

M. R. Islam is Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the
Civil and Resource Engineering Department of Dalhousie University,
Canada. He has over 700 publications to his credit, including 6
books. He is on the boards of several scholarly journals, and, in
addition to his teaching duties, he is also the director of Emertec
Research and Development Ltd. and has been on the boards of a
number of companies in North America and overseas.

M. M. Khan has recently been a lecturer in chemical
engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology before recently moving to Canada. He has written a dozen
papers and co-authored a book on zero-waste engineering and
sustainable technology.

A. B. Chhetri is a Carbon and Energy Analyst with Golder
Associates Ltd. in Victoria, B.C. Canada where he delivers
consulting services in carbon and energy management. He has over 12
years of experience in energy development and management.

This state-of-the-art text analyzes some of the most contentious issues in the energy industry, covering new and greener processes for engineers and scientists and urging them to move petroleum operations closer to sustainability. Although petroleum is still the world's most diverse, efficient, and abundant energy source, there is a growing initiative from global political and industry leaders to "go green," because of climate concerns and high gasoline prices. This book investigates and details how to do that.

This groundbreaking new volume:

• Explains why current petroleum industry practices are inherently unsustainable and offers unique new solutions for "greening" the petroleum industry
• Discusses hot-button issues, such as global warming, carbon sequestration, zero-waste management, and sustainability
• Shows engineers and scientists how to implement the processes necessary to be more environmentally conscious
• Offers, for the first time, a new theory that certain carbons do not contribute to global warming, but their origin and the processes involved do

Praise for The Greening of Petroleum Operations

"The book proposes a paradigm shift in energy management. It correctly identifies root causes of environmental impact of current petroleum production operations. With proper science, the book shows that fossil fuel production and utilization are inherently sustainable as long as natural materials and energy sources are used.... This book has the potential of revolutionizing energy management practices."
Farouq Ali, Honorary Professor of Oil and Gas Engineering, University of Calgary

1 Introduction.

1.1 The Science of Change: How Will Our Epoch Be Remembered?

1.2 Are Natural Resources Finite and Human Needs Infinite?

1.3 The Standard of Sustainable Engineering.

1.4 Can Nature Be Treated as If It Were Static?

1.5 Can Human Intervention Affect Long-term Sustainability of Nature?

1.6 Can an Energy Source Be Isolated from Matter?

1.7 Is It Possible That Air, Water, and Earth Became Our Enemy?

1.8 The Difference Between Sustainable and Unsustainable Products.

1.9 Can We Compare Diamonds with Enriched Uranium?

1.10 Is Zero-waste an Absurd Concept?

1.11 How Can We Determine Whether Natural Energy Sources Last Forever?

1.12 Can Doing Good Be Bad Business?

1.13 Greening of Petroleum Operations: A Fiction?

2 A Delinearized History of Civilization and the Science of Matter and Energy.

2.1 Introduction.

2.2 Fundamental Misconceptions of the Modern Age.

2.3 The Science of Intangibles.

2.4 The Science of Matter and Energy.

2.5 Paradigm Shift in Scientific and bEngineering Calculations.

2.6 Summary and Conclusions.

3 Fundamentals of Mass and Energy Balance.

3.1 Introduction.

3.2 The Difference Between a Natural Process and an Engineered Process.

3.3 The Measurement Conundrum of the Phenomenon and its Observer.

3.4 Implications of Einstein's Theory of Relativity on Newtonian Mechanics.

3.5 Newton's First Assumption.

3.6 First Level of Rectification of Newton's First Assumption.

3.7 Second Level of Rectification of Newton's First Assumption.

3.8 Fundamental Assumptions of Electromagnetic Theory.

3.9 Aims of Modeling Natural Phenomena.

3.10 Challenges of Modeling Sustainable Petroleum Operations.

3.11 Implications of a Knowledge-based Sustainability Analysis.

3.12 Concluding remarks.

4 A True Sustainability Criterion and Its Implications.

4.1 Introduction.

4.2 Importance of the Sustainability Criterion.

4.3 The Criterion: The Switch that Determines the Direction at a Bifurcation Point.

4.4 Current Practices in Petroleum Engineering.

4.5 Development of a Sustainable Model.

4.6 Violation of Characteristic Time.

4.7 Observation of Nature: Importance of Intangibles.

4.8 Analogy of Physical Phenomena.

4.9 Intangible Cause to Tangible Consequence.

4.10 Removable Discontinuities: Phases and Renewability of Materials.

4.11 Rebalancing Mass and Energy.

4.12 Energy: The Current Model.

4.13 Tools Needed for Sustainable Petroleum Operations.

4.14 Conditions of Sustainability.

4.15 Sustainability Indicators.

4.16 Assessing the Overall Performance of a Process.

4.17 Inherent Features of a Comprehensive Criterion.

5 Scientific Characterization of Global Energy Sources.

5.1 Introduction.

5.2 Global Energy Scenario.

5.3 Solar Energy.

5.4 Hydropower.

5.5 Ocean Thermal, Wave, and Tidal Energy.

5.6 Wind Energy.

5.7 Bio-energy.

5.8 Fuelwood.

5.9 Bioethanol.

5.10 Biodiesel.

5.11 Nuclear Power.

5.12 Geothermal Energy.

5.13 Hydroge…