skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Microbial hydrocarbons: back to the future

Abstract

The defining challenge of energy research in the 21st century is the development and deployment of technologies for large-scale reconfiguration of global energy infrastructure. Modern society is built upon a concentrated yet finite reservoir of diverse hydrocarbons formed through the photosynthetic transformation of several hundred million years of solar energy. In human history, the fossil energy era will be short lived and never repeated. Although the timing of peak oil is extensively debated, it is an eventuality. It is, therefore, imperative that projections for both when it will occur and the degree to which supply will fall short of demand be taken into serious consideration, especially in the sectors of energy technology development, political and economic decision making, and societal energy usage. The requirement for renewable energy systems is no longer a point for discussion, and swift advances on many fronts are vital to counteract current and impending crises in both energy and the environment.

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1047402
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-86542
Journal ID: ISSN 1759-7269; KP1601010; TRN: US201216%%261
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Biofuels
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1759-7269
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; AVAILABILITY; DECISION MAKING; DEMAND; ECONOMICS; ENERGY; ENERGY SYSTEMS; ENVIRONMENT; FOSSILS; HUMAN POPULATIONS; HYDROCARBONS; OILS; PEAKS; SOLAR ENERGY; TRANSFORMATIONS; algae; cyanobacteria; hydrocarbon; isoprene; isoprenoid; mevalonate; non-mevalonate; photosynthesis

Citation Formats

Work, Victoria H, Beliaev, Alex S, Konopka, Allan, and Posewitz, Matthew C. Microbial hydrocarbons: back to the future. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.4155/bfs.12.3.
Work, Victoria H, Beliaev, Alex S, Konopka, Allan, & Posewitz, Matthew C. Microbial hydrocarbons: back to the future. United States. https://doi.org/10.4155/bfs.12.3
Work, Victoria H, Beliaev, Alex S, Konopka, Allan, and Posewitz, Matthew C. 2012. "Microbial hydrocarbons: back to the future". United States. https://doi.org/10.4155/bfs.12.3.
@article{osti_1047402,
title = {Microbial hydrocarbons: back to the future},
author = {Work, Victoria H and Beliaev, Alex S and Konopka, Allan and Posewitz, Matthew C},
abstractNote = {The defining challenge of energy research in the 21st century is the development and deployment of technologies for large-scale reconfiguration of global energy infrastructure. Modern society is built upon a concentrated yet finite reservoir of diverse hydrocarbons formed through the photosynthetic transformation of several hundred million years of solar energy. In human history, the fossil energy era will be short lived and never repeated. Although the timing of peak oil is extensively debated, it is an eventuality. It is, therefore, imperative that projections for both when it will occur and the degree to which supply will fall short of demand be taken into serious consideration, especially in the sectors of energy technology development, political and economic decision making, and societal energy usage. The requirement for renewable energy systems is no longer a point for discussion, and swift advances on many fronts are vital to counteract current and impending crises in both energy and the environment.},
doi = {10.4155/bfs.12.3},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1047402}, journal = {Biofuels},
issn = {1759-7269},
number = 2,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2012},
month = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2012}
}