Overview

Stephen O. Norris, SPE, Senior Staff Reservoir Engineer, Cohort Energy Company

In the year 1419, Filippo Brunelleschi entered a competition to solve the most daunting architectural and engineering challenge of his time: designing and building the Dome of the Cathedral of Florence. The problem was that when the building was designed in the previous century, no one had any idea about how such a dome would be built (imagine that). To further complicate matters, buttresses were forbidden by the city fathers, internal scaffolding was undesirable, and the use of concrete had long been forgotten, which meant the dome had to be built out of bricks. Worse, his rival, Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was appointed coadjutator for the project, publicly mocked his plans and called them unfeasible.* (Think about that the next time you have a bad day at the office!) Fortunately for Florence and for Renaissance architecture, Brunelleschi endured the hardships and technical challenges to design and create one of the world’s most famous and admired structures.

Today, we are faced with a daunting challenge: How can we supply the world with the energy our economies demand and, at the same time, reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, burn cleaner fuels, and improve air quality in our cities?

In this section, we will look at new technologies that hold at least a promise for meeting this challenge: simultaneous coalbed-methane production and CO2 sequestration, gas production from hydrates, and the use of hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles.

Certainly, we do not have all of the answers yet, and we will need to rely on innovators, like Brunellschi in the 15th century, to provide ingenious and unprecedented solutions. But with dogged determination, a little patience (it took 16 years to build the dome), and plenty of public education and support, I think we can make a difference that will improve the lives of many generations to come. Imagine that.

*Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Brunelleschi and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral. Accessed 18 June 2007.

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Stephen O. Norris, SPE, is a senior staff reservoir engineer for Cohort Energy Company, a subsidiary of J-W Operating Company and is responsible for all reservoir-engineering activities for the Rocky Mountain district. He has been involved in reservoir characterization, reservoir engineering, and economic analysis of unconventional gas resources for 10 years. Previously, he held positions with EnCana Oil & Gas (USA), Schlumberger HRT, SSI, Texaco EPTD, and Halliburton. He was also an assistant professor in petroleum engineering at Louisiana State University. Norris serves on the JPT Editorial Committee and holds BS and MS degrees from Louisiana Tech University and a PhD degree from Texas A&M University, all in petroleum engineering.

Overview

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