Meeting U.S. Energy Resource Needs The Energy Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (1999) / Chapter Skim
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3 Program Balance
3 Program Balance
Pages 23-34
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From page 23... ...
The domestic oil and gas program also provides basic research in support of its resource assessments, and it provides the expertise and information needed to assess environmental impacts of the production of oil and gas. National Coal Resource Investigations and Assessments.
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From page 24... ...
With only 5 percent of the world's identified oil reserves and 7 percent of the identified natural gas reserves in this country, there is substantial national benefit from ERP world oil and natural gas assessments. The ERP's world oil and gas assessment products include assessments by region, by continent, by country, and by basin; regional summaries (e.g., Africa CD-ROM)
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From page 25... ...
Resource assessments should be available for very heavy oil, oil shale and carbonaceous shales, geothermal resources, and uranium as well as conventional oil and gas, coal, coalbed methane, and methane hydrates, although the depth of the assessment will vary by energy source, given variable probabilities of economic use on equally variable time scales. Many of these energy resources exist on federal lands, another reason to make
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From page 26... ...
Although the ERP now deals with hydrocarbons and coal, an opportunity exists to play a significant role in other energy resources as the federal government reevaluates its energy policies. Major challenges to the United States include how to maintain energy security in a global energy economy directed by market forces; how to respond to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change; how to successfully harness competition in domestic electricity markets; and how to take advantage of significant advances in alternate fuels technologies.
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From page 27... ...
Coalbed methane resource assessment requires the close cooperation of the oil and gas and the coal subprograms, and careful consideration of the impacts of coalbed methane extraction on the future development of coal resources. · Seismic surveys and scientific drilling offshore indicate that large quantities of methane may be stored in ocean sediments in icelike structures known as hydrates.
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From page 28... ...
Accordingly, the panel recommends that the ERP portfolio be broadened to include geologically based energy resources beyond oil, gas, and coal, and that the ERP develop priorities for long-term balance among the various energy resources as part of the implementation of its strategic plan called for in Chapter 2. It is clear that this planning effort will require substantive communication with other programs within the USGS and beyond its borders as well.
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From page 29... ...
Moreover, these studies contribute significantly to knowledge that is useful in resource assessment activities within the ERP. The panel agrees that basic research on energy resources is one of three essential functions of an energy resource program appropriate for the ERP.
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From page 30... ...
Stratigraphic and basin studies develop information about overburden that is useful in planning mined land reclamation. The produced water project within the oil and gas subprogram gathers data about produced water quantity and chemistry, information that can be useful in the assessment of environmental impacts of water disposal.
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From page 31... ...
, MMS, and BIA; Congress; other federal agencies, principally DOE, USES, and EPA; local and state government agencies, particularly state geological surveys, as well as state oil and gas boards; . tribal organizations, such as the Council of Energy Resource Tribes; · the education community, including faculty and students at universities, colleges, and K-12 schools; · professional societies, such as the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, and Society of Exploration Geophysicists; · the private sector, including corporations and other businesses that explore for, produce, and consume energy resources; · nonprofit organizations, such as the World Resources Institute and Resources for the Future;
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From page 32... ...
Because the balance of domestic and international energy will continue to shift in the decades to come, and because the prices of energy sources will affect crucially what other energy sources are viable, the panel encourages the ERP to evaluate whether the effort on world energy resource assessment and supporting research
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From page 33... ...
SOLITARY The panel recommends that the FOP adopt ~ portfolio approach in its work on gealogicaRy related energy sources. This ~proacb wig help the [RP develop as s~c~ic plan to phod~zc as Dog Hong cncrgy sources and to
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From page 34... ...
It also will help the ERP to identify the areas that require continuing effort in basic geological research and to identify its needs for professional expertise across the portfolio range. Successful ERP portfolio development will have a significant and positive impact on the energy future of the United States.
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