We investigate the economics of coal-to-liquid (CTL) conversion, a polygeneration technology that produces liquid fuels, chemicals, and electricity by coal gasification and Fischer–Tropsch process. CTL is more expensive than extant technologies when producing the same bundle of output. In addition, the significant carbon footprint of CTL may raise environmental concerns. However, as petroleum p...

The world’s supply of petroleum hydrocarbons, which serve as feedstock for the fuel and chemical industries, is rapidly diminishing to satisfy the global demand for energy and consumer goods. In response to this increasing demand and limited supply, the cost of crude oil has risen to over $100 per barrel in 2012, a 10-fold increase compared to prices in the late 1990s [1]. As fossil fuels are n...

The transportation of petroleum represents one of the most strategically important circulations of resources in the global economy. Its role cannot be overstated. Yet, petroleum has become a “strategically invisible” commodity as its flow has been continuous with limited, but eye-opening, disruptions such as the First Energy Crisis is 1973. Petroleum supplies are virtually taken for granted. Si...

Microorganisms with the capability to desulfurize petroleum are in high demand with escalating restrictions currently placed on fuel purity. Thermophilic desulfurizers are particularly valuable in high-temperature industrial applications. We report the whole-genome sequences of Paenibacillus napthalenovorans 32O-Y and Paenibacillus sp. 32O-W, which can and cannot, respectively, metabolize diben...

The life cycle impacts were assessed for an integrated microalgal biodiesel production system that facilitates energy- and nutrient- recovery through anaerobic digestion, and utilizes glycerol generated within the facility for additional heterotrophic biodiesel production. Results show that when external fossil energy inputs are lowered through process integration, the energy demand, global war...

Rising world fuel prices, the growing demand for energy, and concerns about global warming are the key factors driving renewed interest in renewable energy sources and in bioenergy. Nowadays, the world energy demand has increased significantly due to the global industrialization and increase of population. As a result, the current limited reservoirs will soon be depleted at the current rate of ...

Optimal Planning for Transportation of Petroleum Products via Pipe-line According to the Demand Time Window Minimizing Costs

Although CGE models have received heavy usage, they are often criticized as being insufficiently validated. Key parameters are often not econometrically estimated, and the performance of the model as a whole is rarely checked against historical outcomes. As a consequence, questions frequently arise as to how much faith one can put in CGE results. In this paper, we employ a novel approach to the...

Although much has been written about the implications of monopoly power for the rate of extraction of natural resources, the specific case in which the resource can be sold in two markets with different elasticities of demand has escaped notice. We find that a monopolist facing two markets with differing iso-elastic demand schedules extracts more rapidly than the social planner, whether or not ...