05-29-2004, 12:02 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
|
Banned
Location: Massachusetts, USA
|
Renewable Oil?
Link
Quote:
Extract follows:
An intriguing theory now permeating oil company research staffs suggests that crude oil may actually be a natural inorganic product, not a stepchild of unfathomable time and organic degradation. The theory suggests there may be huge, yet-to-be-discovered reserves of oil at depths that dwarf current world estimates.
The theory is simple: Crude oil forms as a natural inorganic process which occurs between the mantle and the crust, somewhere between 5 and 20 miles deep. The proposed mechanism is as follows:- Methane (CH4) is a common molecule found in quantity throughout our solar system – huge concentrations exist at great depth in the Earth.
- At the mantle-crust interface, roughly 20,000 feet beneath the surface, rapidly rising streams of compressed methane-based gasses hit pockets of high temperature causing the condensation of heavier hydrocarbons. The product of this condensation is commonly known as crude oil.
- Some compressed methane-based gasses migrate into pockets and reservoirs we extract as "natural gas."
- In the geologically "cooler," more tectonically stable regions around the globe, the crude oil pools into reservoirs.
- In the "hotter," more volcanic and tectonically active areas, the oil and natural gas continue to condense and eventually to oxidize, producing carbon dioxide and steam, which exits from active volcanoes.
- Periodically, depending on variations of geology and Earth movement, oil seeps to the surface in quantity, creating the vast oil-sand deposits of Canada and Venezuela, or the continual seeps found beneath the Gulf of Mexico and Uzbekistan.
- Periodically, depending on variations of geology, the vast, deep pools of oil break free and replenish existing known reserves of oil.
|
If this is true, and I personally find it more believable than the previous theory, the only remaining problem with "fossil" fuels will be the CO and CO2 output!
|
|
|