Transitioning to Renewable Energy

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http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/03/transitioning-to-renewable-energy

Most people tend to think of renewable energy as a clear break with our energy history, jettisoning all of the trappings associated with a dirty industry. It thus may come as a surprise to discover that, in fact, certain conventional technologies and infrastructure, including those associated with fossil fuel production, increasingly are being adapted to facilitate renewable energy production.

Landfill gas, for example, must be cleaned before it can be burned and developers, such as the University of New Hampshire, are using the same oil and gas industry method of pressure swing adsorption to remove hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds and CO2 to clean it. "The processes to remove sulfides, etc., are well established in oil and gas and industrial gas refining," says Bob Harrison, vice president for construction at Norwalk, CT-based Emcor Energy Services, which built and operates the UNH plant. "Pressure swing adsorption is essentially a sponge with specific sized holes. You force methane and CO2, which have different-sized molecules, through the sponge, and it separates gases of different molecular weights."

Another place where technology crossovers exist is in geothermal energy. Drilling geothermal wells in both high and low-temperature, water-dominated reservoirs also uses the same drilling equipment for oil and water wells.

Nonetheless, the high costs associated with drilling have made it difficult for geothermal projects to get off the ground, making the use of abandoned or declining oil and gas wells particularly attractive. Estimates say there are more than one million abandoned oil and gas wells around the world, and Emcor's Harrison notes that the number of out-of-service gas wells is on the rise.

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