Do artificial fossil fuels have a future?

The processes that create fossil fuels are complex, and take place over extremely long periods of time.

The oil and gas we use today began as plants and animals living millions of years ago. When the living things died, layers of sediment buried their bodies over millions of years, pushing large quantities of the organic material deeper into the Earth. At deeper depths, over thousands and thousands of more years, greater levels of heat and pressure transformed the organic materials into fossil fuels. That's how fossil fuels which account for 85 percent of the world's energy use were formed. If we use up the total quantity of extractable fossil fuels that are still in the ground something that could happen in the next 100 years, we would have to wait millions of years for new deposits to form.
Enter synthetic fossil fuels, which many scientists are working to develop.

But are synthetic fossil fuels really a good choice for future energy capacity? We know that in the last 100 years carbon dioxide levels have risen from around 280 ppm to over 399 ppm, while global temperatures have risen by 0.8°C. There is a scientific consensus that human activity is responsible for most or all of this rise.

Current estimates suggest that climate change is very likely to become dangerous to human civilization above 550 ppm but less likely below 450 ppm. Continuing to burn synthetic fossil fuels will continue to raise the level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, potentially triggering dangerous or catastrophic climate change. Unless we can find a way to otherwise reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, synthetic fossil fuels would seem to be a dangerous choice.

One option is to create fuels that work similarly to fossil fuels but that when burned don't emit any carbon dioxide.

Scientists are working on a cheap hydrogen-based synthetic gasoline that costs $1.50 a gallon to manufacture, doesn't emit carbon dioxide, and can be used in existing vehicles without engines modifications.

But even if zero-carbon fuels don't reach the marketplace, the very production of synthetic fossil fuels may itself be a way to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Although stripping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere cannot address other climate problems like ocean acidification or methane emissions, and although the cost remains high, the technology already exists to regulate the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

This suggests that artificial fossil fuels may have a strong future, especially if their production reduces, rather than increases, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Innovations in Oil Drilling

Horizontal Drilling:

A horizontal well is drilled deep down vertically at first, but then changes direction (at what is called the kick-off point) before it encounters the reservoir (at the entry point) and extends horizontally through it. But the advantages of horizontal drilling go beyond increasing well productivity. It also allows wells to be dug safely under environmentally sensitive and protected land.

Although the first horizontal well was drilled in 1929, they were expensive, and the development of hydraulic fracturing soon improved the productivity of vertical wells.

Measurement-while-drilling Systems:

MWD allows operators to receive real-time information on the status of drilling, as well as the ability to steer the well in other directions. It relates information such as gamma rays, temperature, and pressure, as well as the density and magnetic resonance of the rock formations. This serves a myriad of functions. It helps operators drill more efficiently while preventing blowouts and tool failures. It also helps operators show that they’re not drilling into unauthorized areas.

Seismic Imaging:

One of the most important innovations in oil exploration was 3-D seismic imaging. This relies on the idea that sound bounces off and travels through different materials in slightly different ways. In this process, an energy source such as a vibrator truck sends sound waves deep into the earth. Special devices called geophones are positioned on the surface, which receives the sounds that bounce back up and send the information to recorder trucks.

Hydraulic Fracturing:

To help stimulate the well and drive out the trapped oil, drillers employ hydraulic fracturing. In this process, they inject water combined with chemicals into the well with enough pressure to create fractures in the rock formations — fractures that can extend hundreds of feet long. To keep the fractures from closing again, drillers send down a proppant, which is a mixture of fluids, sand and pellets. These fractures allow oil to flow more freely from the rock.

Offshore Drilling and ROV’s:

One of the technologies that spurred the development of offshore drilling was remotely operated vehicles, or ROV’s, which the military was already using to retrieve lost equipment underwater. Because diving in deep water is dangerous, the oil industry adapted ROV’s for drilling in the 1970s.

Controlled from the rig above the water’s surface, an ROV is a robotic device that allows operators to see underwater. Some types allow the operator to make an ROV’s robotic arms perform different functions, such as subsea tie-ins and deep water installations, as deep as 10,000 feet (3,048 meters).