Mean Green

A lot of people who are involved in the bio diesel industry would like us to think that biodiesel is the be all and end all of alternative fuel.

Bio diesel, in its rightful place has a meaningful contribution to make in the alternative fuel arena. Make no mistake, I am an advocate for bio diesel, and I use it everyday in my vehicles.

There are however are a number of issues that bio diesel can cause that people must be aware of before they use it. Not knowing what these pitfalls are can lead to people being permanently disillusioned with biofuels .

Cold weather properties.

Any organic material that is composed of plants and animals including parts of plants, flesh of animals or excretions is called biomass. This is a type of energy that can be utilized as a fuel that is known as biofuel.

When referring to biomass, people usually talk about material coming from living organisms that has recently decayed or died. Fossil fuels are also considered as biomass since it is a decayed matter of ancient plants and animals.

New technology considers biofuel as a source of energy that is useful in the future to ease the problem of energy supply, although the mankind had already been using biofuel since before it is named as biofuel. Biofuel can be manifested in the food that we are eating every day. People during the ancient times have already been using plant material such as wood wax and whale oil as fuel in order to produce heat and light.

Advance technologies had given us the opportunity to utilize biomass in making other biofuels. Biomass can be used to run electric generators or can be converted into methane, alcohol or biodiesel to power or run our cars. However, much energy is needed in these processes of conversion of biomass to new forms of energy. Due to this fact, biofuels cannot be regarded as a practical source to use since it is costly.

One form of biofuel that stands to be effective, efficient and practical is the biofuel that people have been using since earliest times. Direct heating is one of the ways in burning biomass and is still considered as the most efficient way.

We can use biomass in heating our homes or buildings rather than trying to use it to run our cars. Other people may think that firewood is not practical to use, however pellets that came from wood may be practical and burning pellets is the most practical way.

Using biomass as a renewable energy through heating with wood or other pellets is practical and cost-effective and another advantage is that the technology and systems of distribution are readily available.

Did you know that much of the oil in the ground is still present after primary recovery? In the kings english, that means there is still a lot of oil left in a well even after 10 years of pumping. The reason oil production slows is that the natural drive that once pushed oil aggressively towards the wellbore has subsided. Normally, the natural drive is either water or gas in the formation. In this article, we look to explain some of the common enhanced or secondary/tertiary methods of oil recovery.

With oil hitting new highs every day, it is clear the cost benefit of utilizing technology to get at extra production makes sense. When oil was in the $10-20 range, the incremental cost of some enhanced oil recovery methods did not make economic sense.

One of the most common secondary recovery methods is a waterflood. Essentially, a waterflood is a reintroduction of water into the formation to create a drive to push more oil towards the wellbore. To increase the efficiency of a waterflood, new methods utilize Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer floods and some explorers are introducing microbes into the wellbore to increase the sweep efficiency of the flood, both methods have been met with success.

One method I find very interesting and have used with success on one oil well is the radial jet enhancement. The technology utilizes jets of high water pressure to cut laterally into the formation up to almost 300 feet. The technology can be viewed at http://www.wellenhancementservices.com, ask for Steve Bowen if you are interested in utilizing the technology on some of your new or old wells.

With 80% of the oil still in the ground after primary recovery, there is still plenty of meat on the bone for utilizing EOR. New technologies are constantly being tested and will lead to greater gains in the future. One area I am very interested in is new drilling technology. The rotary drilling rig has not changed radically in 100 years, but new advances are coming and we’ll discuss those in future blogs.

Businesses require specific quantities and quality of energy to provide their services, and these requirements form a large part of company expenses. Transportation requirements, which are sometimes described as logistics, also need to be figured into the equation. With crude oil prices rising faster than ever, companies are continuously seeking cost-effective ways to make every drop of fuel count.

Although biodiesel is not a new type of fuel, it is gaining in popularity as an alternative renewable fuel that can be used in various blends in unmodified diesel engines. Biodiesel comes from vegetable oils that undergo transesterification, a chemical process that extracts methyl or ethyl esters from the oils that can then be used as fuel, either in a pure or blended form. Oil sources include coconut, soybean, grape seed, jatropha, or waste vegetable oil.

Biodiesel is now commercially available in many gas stations throughout the United States. Proponents say blends of up to 20% (B20) may be used in most unmodified diesel engines. When blended properly, biodiesel provides the same mileage, torque, and horsepower as petroleum-based oil does.

Most people agree, there are also potential environmental and health benefits to be enjoyed by producers, suppliers, and users. Thus the conversion to more biofuels is probably inevitable. Some people are very concerned with how that conversion is executed, since the timing and costs of the changes are not clear. Particularly the total of those direct and indirect costs and what groups benefit and which groups suffer are major concerns

What the biofuels discussion points to is the urgency for business to begin planning NOW for the inevitability of a green energy world. Businesses must defend their competitive position by preparing for a changing, greener business environment. Will you be a winner or loser?

1-Hi Sonny, thanks for your time today! Could you tell our readers what your company does?

Pumpjac properties list oil and gas leases for sale and finds buyers for these properties. We are the exclusive sales agent for Majestic Management Corporation in Glasgow Kentucky.

2-How did you get into the business?

I am the owner of Entrivac Corp in Louisville Kentucky. We rebuild industrial vacuum pumps for refineries and gasoline terminals nationwide. A group of oil men in Texas, which I have known for years, ask me to perform due diligence for a oil property in Kentucky. I visited the oil field, made my report, and a few weeks later, they told me they were not interested, however; I was contacted by the selling agents of the Kentucky property. They liked my style and background and wanted me to consider selling oil and gas properties for them. That was one property and a year ago, and now we have listed nine properties nation wide totaling well over $1,000,000,000.

3-Are there any trends you are seeing that might not be apparent to our readers?

Well, producing properties with large reserves with good documentation are the best sellers now, however the best deals for the money are often the non-producing properties.

4-Where are the hottest markets for new oil and gas leases or production?

Actually everywhere. But of course the oil boom areas such west Kansas are especially so.

5-What are the valuation metrics to consider when evaluating an oil and gas lease?

Production, reserves, good documentation by the owner, and a clean operation with no open wells, spills, etc.

6-For level production, what are you seeing sellers get per barrel? $20K? $30K or more?

I do not get involved with that end of a sellers business. What they get for their oil does not interest me as far as selling the oil field.

7-Is this recent oil boom here to stay or just a speculative bubble?

Because the demand is here to stay and getting larger , because the world oil reserves are on a downward trend, (by most counts) the crude oil prices will be affected likewise.

8-How is your company different from others in the market?
We do not auction oil and gas properties, we do not operate regionally, and we do not specialize in any oil and gas field size ranges

9-Where are there still values in terms of buying production or leases? KY, IL etc?

I think everywhere when there is a good return on the buyers investment, say 2-3-4 years.

10-Is the market fairly efficient and liquid?

I think because of new technology in this industry, the market is more efficient than if ever has been

Thanks for your time today!

Oil prices have always been a concern. Recent events, along with increased awareness of the environment, have shown us the need for the creation of alternative means of energy.

Many different options have been proposed. Nuclear power is possible but comes with obvious safety concerns. Solar and wind look like viable options, but don’t seem to be getting large amounts of support. Another option is biofuel, which involves using the energy of organic materials to replace the function of fossil fuels. Ethanol is perhaps the most widely used of these, especially in Brazil and the United States, and is used most commonly as a blend with regular fuel.

Another kind of biofuel is biodiesel, which is made from either vegetable oils or animal oils. It’s actually possible with today’s technology to take the fat that comes from the grills at McDonalds and recycle this into usable fuel! As with ethanol, it can be used purely on its own but is commonly just a supplement to be added with other fuel. It’s currently the most common biofuel in Europe. The process of turning animal and vegetable oils into usable fuel is known as transesterification.

1.8% of the world’s transport fuel was biofuel in 2008. This figure seems small, but investment in these technologies is continually increasing, and will inevitably create new technological breakthroughs and a rise in popularity. Biofuels come in many different forms, and are commonly categorized into first, second and third generation.

First generation fuels are made from food crops such as sugar, starch and animal or oil fats. Grains can be made into bioethanol, and sunflower seeds into vegetable oil and then biodiesel. These are the most common first generation biofuels: Biodiesel, bioalcohols, vegetable oil, bioethers, solid biofuels, Syngas and biogas.

From non-food crops like waste, stalks of wheat and corn we get the second generation of biofuels. Since first generation biofuels are made from edible sources, the hunt is on to create more second-generation technology that can avoid a food shortage that may occur. They include biohydrogen, biomethanol, mixed alcohols and wood diesel.

Third-generation biofuels are the most complex, and come usually from algae, which produces a large amount of energy. While the advantages of third generation fuels would be great, since it’s virtually impossible for them to cause environmental damage, the technology has so far not been sufficiently developed to allow these biofuels to be produced commercially. It’s been put forth that 15,000 square miles of algae could supply all the petroleum fuel required by the United States.

These new technological developments show just how exciting the field of biofuel is, and the great benefits it can provide to the environment. The current environmental problems and massive fuel prices could perhaps be fixed forever with the further development of second and third generation fuels. Who knows what will be powering us fifty years from now?