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Assessing geobiosphere work of generating global reserves of coal, crude oil, and natural gas

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  • Brown, Mark T.
  • Protano, Gaetano
  • Ulgiati, Sergio

Abstract

A teacher of ours used to say, “Like ice in a fire, something for nothing you will never acquire”, which is a poetic equivalent of “there is no such a thing as a free lunch”. Human economies are dependent on high quality fossil fuels and will likely continue depending on them for some time to come. Value of a resource is not only what one pays for it, or what can be extracted from it, but also value can be attributed to the “effort” required in its production. In this analysis we apply the emergy synthesis method to evaluate the work invested by the geobiosphere to generate the global storages of fossil energy resources. The upgrading of raw resources to secondary fuels is also evaluated. The analysis relies on published estimates of historic, global net primary production (NPP) on land and oceans, published preservation and conversion factors of organic matter, and assessments of the present total global storages of coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Results show that the production of coal resources over geologic time required between 6.63E4 (±0.51E4)seJ/J and 9.71E4(±0.79E4)seJ/J, while, oil and natural gas resources required about 1.48E5 (±0.07 E5)seJ/J and 1.70E5 (±0.06E5) seJ/J, respectively. These values are between 1.5 and 2.5 times larger than previous estimates and acknowledge a far greater power of fossil fuels in driving and shaping modern society.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Mark T. & Protano, Gaetano & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2011. "Assessing geobiosphere work of generating global reserves of coal, crude oil, and natural gas," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(3), pages 879-887.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:222:y:2011:i:3:p:879-887
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.11.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Federici, M. & Ulgiati, S. & Basosi, R., 2008. "A thermodynamic, environmental and material flow analysis of the Italian highway and railway transport systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 760-775.
    2. David Beerling, 2002. "CO2 and the end-Triassic mass extinction," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6870), pages 386-387, January.
    3. Brown, Mark T. & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2010. "Updated evaluation of exergy and emergy driving the geobiosphere: A review and refinement of the emergy baseline," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(20), pages 2501-2508.
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