The recent prediction by the head of Caltex Australia that the price of oil may very well double the already record highs for crude, have only heightened concerns about the security of Australia’s future fuel supplies. The Federal Government, for instance, has launched a national energy security assessment.
As oil production in Australian fields declines, the Government has also sought and won approval under the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea, to expand its search for oil offshore by an area equivalent to five times the size of France.
But Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson agrees that unless there is soon a “eureka oil strike”, Australia must find a new fuel alternative with sufficient reserves to power a vast and vital national car and transport fleet.
But there are those who say there’s an obvious solution to the fuel crisis right under our collective nose, a solution that could cut fuel bills by up to 60 per cent: natural gas.
ABC – The 7.30 Report: Natural gas: the future of fuel?
Mercedes is offering the new Sprinter transporter with natural-gas drive, with operating costs 30 per cent lower than comparable diesel-engined versions.
Drive.com.au: Mercedes van with natural-gas drive
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
“On burning, natural gas produces nearly half the CO² per unit of energy delivered compared to coal because of a lower ratio of carbon to hydrogen (52.4kg CO²/GJ versus 93.8kg CO²/GJ”
http://www1.premiercoal.com.au/future_greenhouse.asp
“It is estimated that the use of natural gas instead of coal for electricity generation and manufacturing processes has led to the avoidance of about 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions in Australia during 2006. Compared with a coal alternative, the more widespread use of Australian gas at home and abroad could avoid global CO2 emissions of up to 180 million tonnes per annum by 2017.
Gas technology is available now to deliver economically immediate reductions in Australia’s greenhouse gas output, whereas low-emission technologies for most other energy sources will probably only become economically viable beyond 2020. Furthermore, in our water-critical economy, gas-fired power stations use only a fraction of the fresh water required for cooling by their coal-fired equivalents”.
http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=1080
Gas won’t lubricate bearings or piston rings.
“But there are those who say there’s an obvious solution to the fuel crisis right under our collective nose, a solution that could cut fuel bills by up to 60 per cent”
Yes there is – electricity. It is reticulated into almost every home in Australia and is a high quality low emission fuel. Zero emissions if the electricity is sourced from renewables. Even a brown coal electric car has half the emission of a conventional IC car.
Gas will be an important part of future energy as there will always be a requirement for gas turbines in the energy mix. They can be automatically controlled and interact really well with renewables. Esperance is a good example of a wind/gas power plant.
Louis – “Gas won’t lubricate bearings or piston rings.”
Better tell that to the driver of the gas powered Red CAT that I rode on this morning. Also you really need to tell VW as they have a Natural Gas Caddy van – they could be making a big mistake.
http://www.ozvolks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=923
A natural gas plug in hybrid could be the answer for longer range transport with battery electric cars for commuting and short range heavy transport.
But of course Peak Oil is just a looney conspiracy theory isn’t it Louis?
Louis: The same thing is said of LPG. I’ve had LPG powered vehicles ever since and generally no problems. I also have an acquaintence who has a 1999 Ford Falcon,an ex-taxi, on straight LPG since new, with the original block but on it’s second head and..da da with a genuine 1,100,000kms and still does 110kph+ and between oil changes the level drops to the add line.
Isn’t CNG different but similar?
What brand of electric car are you driving, Ender?
They sound great until you try to buy batteries. There is a lot of vapourwear advertised on the net.
Eyrie – “What brand of electric car are you driving, Ender?”
As there are no electric vehicles for sale in Australia I drive the most economical IC car that I can afford.
I tried to buy a Gee-Whiz or Reva however it was not accepted for registration in Australia as we do not have a quadracycle classification like in Britain where they are wildly popular in London.
“They sound great until you try to buy batteries. There is a lot of vapourwear advertised on the net.”
Yes there is a lot of vapourware and charlatans on the net. However some companies like AltairNano and A123 have functioning batteries that you can buy. As I fly model electric helicopters and gliders I can buy a quite economical A123 pack that has very high discharge rates and reasonable cycle life.
http://www.a123racing.com/
AltairNano batteries are more promising with a demonstrated cycle life of 15 000 cycles and very high discharge and charge rates. A 15 KWhr battery can be charged in 10 mins given a large enough charger.
This is a car that is on sale soon in the USA, of course, that uses AltairNano batteries.
http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/vehicles/phoenix-sut.php
That is of course not to mention the nexgen Prius that will have plug in capability
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2007/10/2009_toyota_prius_prototype_pl.html
which if it does have reasonable plug in capability will cause me to be able to afford one. At the moment I cannot justify the extra cost however a Prius with plug in I can justify the extra cost.
Ender;
“A 15 KWhr battery can be charged in 10 mins given a large enough charger”
Hmm, that’s an awful lot of PV panels…
bikerider – “Hmm, that’s an awful lot of PV panels…”
Yes it is however I am pretty sure that these sort of BEVs will only fast charge at special outlets that have this sort of charger. As most people do not have this requirement the onboard charger in the car would only have the capacity to charge overnight in say 5 hours or longer. If your car is parked at home during the day then it could charge from your PVs quite handily at the slow rate.
The AC drive controller of a car will be capable of 50 or more Kw of power capacity. As these units double as the battery charger then they would be completely capable of handling the fast charge if connect to 250A 3 phase power using a plug similar to these that are commonly used to connect remotely operated undersea vessels in use in oil rigs.
http://www.offshore-technology.com/contractors/cables/diamould/diamould3.html
“As most people do not have this requirement the onboard charger in the car would only have the capacity to charge overnight in say 5 hours or longer.”
Sorry I realised what I said here. What I mean is that the onboard charger in the car, that is also the drive controller, will only charge at a trickle rate when connected to single phase 240V outlet. Only when connected with a high power 3 phase plug would the charger be able to charge the batteries at the 10 minute rate. It is likely that these high power outlets will only be available at designated filling stations where you will pay a premium for a fast charge.
However it may be that parking stations will offer free charging and parking for electric cars. A large capacity car park is, in essence, a giant battery if all the cars are connected with a 3 phase connecters and are capable of V2G. The parking station could then bid in the power market as spinning reserve or ancillary services that attract a premium rate. You would log into your car over the internet into its configuration page and specify that you need say half capacity at 5:00pm to drive home or today you are going somewhere different today and need the car fully charged. During the day in exchange for free parking you agree that the car park operaters can use your car battery as they so desire.
Alternatively you subscribe to a power company service like a mobile phone service. This would mean that wherever your car is parked and plugged in it can make revenue for the power company that you are subscribed to.
I suppose you could slowly charge an ultracapacitor during the day and use it to fast-charge the vehicle when you get home. When ultracapacitors are available of course.
The ITEEE Spectrum magazine talked about this technology last September or October.
Looks like this stuff is still a way off yet – I’m probably safe with my little eurodiesel for a couple of years.
Just think! If only we had nuclear power!
Ender,
I’ve talked to an engineer at A123 systems and the only way to buy their batteries unless you are GM or other large business is via their R/C model outlet or a demo pack or by replacement packs from DeWalt power tools. That’s only for one type of cell also and I don’t call this economical buying.
I’ll believe they are generally available when suppliers like Digikey and Mouser etc etc stock the cells or packs for anyone to buy, with volume discounts.
I have a real electric drive application for these batteries plus avionics power supply. Looks like it will be a while yet.
Actually, I thought Australia was a BIG exporter of uranium. Just think if they used some of it to produce electricity. What a concept!
Eyrie – “I have a real electric drive application for these batteries plus avionics power supply. Looks like it will be a while yet.”
Try these ones. I am considering them for avionics as well.
http://www.valence.com/products/epoch_overview.html
They have the real advantage of charging with a normal battery charger (set to AGM) and are totally safe. You also can connect a monitor that you could mount in the cockpit that would advise you of the state of charge at all times. If this is for a glider then you could run more instruments for longer flights with less weight.
Yes Russ, when boy scouts in Chicago can make nuclear reactors in tool boxes out of gas mantles and used smoke detectors you’d think Australians could do something with all our thorium and uranium.
Ender,
The gas powered CAT is indeed powered by Gas but like all hyrdocarbon engines, oil is needed to provide the thin film of hydrocarbon to lubricate the bearings.
Ender, I wish I could hand you a shovel to help you dig the hole that you are digging.
wjp,
ok, but what is CNG?
Just realised something about the title of this thread “Natural Gas to replace oil ?”
Natural Gas is Oil.
Sigh
Valence aint it. 50 deg C max temperature in service. Promising but not yet.
Sit a car out in the sun and you’ll get above that in Australia in summer.
Louis – “oil is needed to provide the thin film of hydrocarbon to lubricate the bearings.”
No really????? What the hell is your point? Do you imagine that the 83 million barrels per day we currently use is for lubricating oil?
Natural gas is overcooked oil and yes it will run out one day however it is an ideal transition fuel. Used sparingly in a renewable mix it will also last a lot longer than the primary fuel. We should be treating this ancient sunlight as the precious resource that it is and preserving it for as long as possible. Oil is such a wonderful mix of different hydrocarbons it is a real shame that we just burn it.
CNG versus LPG ?
Engineer calls for more use of LPG
AAP, April 23, 2008
“More Australian motorists should be encouraged to convert their cars to run on LPG ahead of a looming fuel supply crunch, a leading automotive engineer says.
More Australian motorists should be encouraged to convert their cars to run on LPG ahead of a looming fuel supply crunch, leading automotive engineer Laurie Sparke says.
Dr Sparke, now retired but formerly Holden’s director of innovation, said the potential for significant savings in greenhouse gas emissions also made LPG the best alternative fuel for Australia in the immediate future”.
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleId=51749
CNG versus LNG
http://www.cngi.com.au/bulk_cng_road_transportation.htm
http://www.nexgenfueling.com/p_fs_lngvscng.html
Darwin workshop in July
http://www.seaaoc.com/masterclass08.html
Eyrie – “Sit a car out in the sun and you’ll get above that in Australia in summer.”
But not if you design the battery box properly.
Interesting read abstract on LPG
“Accession number;05A0651566
Title;LPG Supply Outlook
Author;KANEKO HIROSHI(Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.)
Journal Title;Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy
Journal Code:F0217A
ISSN:0916-8753
VOL.84;NO.7;PAGE.516-531(2005)
Figure&Table&Reference;FIG.22, TBL.10, REF.25
Pub. Country;Japan
Language;Japanese
Abstract;Global demand for LPG has grown at about 2.9%/year in the past 10 years, or roughly two times faster than demand for petroleum. Total global LPG demand in 2003 was 207 million tones. Demand for LPG in Japan has been slightly smaller to 18.05 million tones. LPG production from NGL in natural gas field and oil field accounted for about 60% of the total supplies and refineries typically produced about 40% consistently. As LNG trade is expanding, removing the LPG from the LNG stream is going to be important source. Beside gas producing countries as Saudi Arabia have expanded demand rapidly for LPG as petroleum chemical feedstock. According to the statistics of USGS (United States Geological Survey) and the United Nations, the world resources of LPG are estimated 22.1 billion tones and the reserves of LPG are estimated 5.9 billion tones. The resources of LPG are 11% of oil and same percentages of natural gas. The reserves of LPG are 7.7% of oil and 8.5% of natural gas. It is very difficult that DME would be a substitute fuel of LPG as domestic use in Japan because it has lower calorific value. LPG synthesis research from natural gas is progressing in Japan. The research would be completed at least 4 years. The world LPG supply would be tight till 2010 as rapid growing demand and slower supply capability growth. (author abst.)”
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200516/000020051605A0651566.php
So if we really start using LPG and its use grows by 7% instead of 2.9% then the amount we use will double every 10 years.
2018 – 414 million tons
2028 – 828 million tons
2038 – 1656 million tons
How much do we have? By 2038 we could be using 1.6 billion tons per year – how long would the 22 billion tons that it is estimated we have last at this rate of consumption. Instead of Peak Oil we have Peak LPG.
(BTW I picked 7% because it is easy to work with)
Some of the current LPG supply is a byproduct of producing petrol so when the oil goes so does this supply of LPG.
Everything you wanted to know about LPG is here:
http://www.aip.com.au/industry/fact_liquid_gas.htm
We need to update this thread with the latest ABC 7.30 Report on CSG in QLD. Note CSG to “LNG” conversion is proposed development for gas export.
“What is coal seam gas (CSG)?”
http://www.qgc.com.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=56
UCG – way of the future. But for a warmer world it will make. UCG will be used increasingly for nitrogen fertilizer manufacture as well to beef up global food security (if you could say that is what we currently have).
Invest in fertilizer, UCG and uranium … and prepare for more expensive everything … the cheap energy is gone, which means cheap everything is gone, including money …
See Incitec Pivots announcement today re: Metex Resources. Its already started …