Seems there are microbes in the shale formations that process shale organics into natural gas. That means as we withdraw nat gas the microbes could produce more giving a nearly never-ending supply. Even more amazing, the shale can convert CO2 into nat gas so that means we can use carbon capture, pump the CO2 into the shale formations, and produce nat gas from it.
So fracking/nat gas, which is the main reason the US is the only country to have reduced CO2 emissions enough to have come close to achieving the Kyoto Protocols, may be the key to solving the CO2/AGW crisis.
NETL researchers’ new discovery has important implications for natural gas production because biogenic methane has a much more rapid generation rate than methane generated by inorganic thermogenic processes, which take place over millions of years. A biogenic source of methane would mean faster regeneration of natural gas in these shales and offers the potential for secondary gas recovery, FEO said.
Putting the methanogens in shale to work offers another benefit, it added. Most methanogens can consume gas carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that can be stored underground to prevent negative environmental impacts. In this sense, CO2 acts as a feedstock for methane production, it explained.
“We’re really encouraged by our results,” said Dr. Yael Tucker, an NETL researcher. “If not all of the gas is thermogenic, then it gives hope that there may be a faster recovery time than expected for the renewal of gas reserves in these reservoirs.
“If an economical way to increase the rate of methane production is found, then recoverable quantities could be produced in only a few years and therefore could make natural gas, which is currently considered to be one of the cleanest fossil energy sources(emphasis added), much more abundant,” she suggested.
So fracking/nat gas, which is the main reason the US is the only country to have reduced CO2 emissions enough to have come close to achieving the Kyoto Protocols, may be the key to solving the CO2/AGW crisis.
NETL researchers’ new discovery has important implications for natural gas production because biogenic methane has a much more rapid generation rate than methane generated by inorganic thermogenic processes, which take place over millions of years. A biogenic source of methane would mean faster regeneration of natural gas in these shales and offers the potential for secondary gas recovery, FEO said.
Putting the methanogens in shale to work offers another benefit, it added. Most methanogens can consume gas carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that can be stored underground to prevent negative environmental impacts. In this sense, CO2 acts as a feedstock for methane production, it explained.
“We’re really encouraged by our results,” said Dr. Yael Tucker, an NETL researcher. “If not all of the gas is thermogenic, then it gives hope that there may be a faster recovery time than expected for the renewal of gas reserves in these reservoirs.
“If an economical way to increase the rate of methane production is found, then recoverable quantities could be produced in only a few years and therefore could make natural gas, which is currently considered to be one of the cleanest fossil energy sources(emphasis added), much more abundant,” she suggested.
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