GC: n
CT: There is no shortage of information – and misinformation – in the media about energy use, renewables and the need to curtail (or eliminate) the use of hydrocarbons. While it is true that mankind needs to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons, because of their non-renewable nature, there are many economic and practical realities about renewable forms of energy that are often not considered or simply ignored. We believe these realities will cause the transition to renewables to take much longer and cost significantly more than might be realized.
The objective of this report is to identify the realities about renewables, compare these to other forms of energy on an “apples
to apples” basis and forecast how our energy use will change over the coming decades. We take into account the practical
advantages and disadvantages of each type of energy source, the economics of producing the energy and include the cost of CO2 emissions (which we have priced at $50/tonne) in the financial analysis. From this analysis, we believe that unless there are significant breakthroughs in renewable technologies, hydrocarbons will continue to dominate our energy needs well into the next century.
We believe that natural gas, the lowest-cost and cleanest-burning hydrocarbon, will play a central role in meeting global energy
needs and the long-awaited paradigm shift to increased natural gas demand is not that far off.
S: http://www.altacorpcapital.com/upload/media_element/14/01/altacorp-capital-energy-reality-april-2011.pdf (last access: 16 November 2015)
N: 1. “compound of hydrogen and carbon,” 1800, from hydrogen + carbon.
2. Hydrocarbon, any of a class of organic chemical compounds composed only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). The carbon atoms join together to form the framework of the compound; the hydrogen atoms attach to them in many different configurations. Hydrocarbons are the principal constituents of petroleum and natural gas. They serve as fuels and lubricants as well as raw materials for the production of plastics, fibres, rubbers, solvents, explosives, and industrial chemicals.
3. Many hydrocarbons occur in nature. In addition to making up fossil fuels, they are present in trees and plants, as, for example, in the form of pigments called carotenes that occur in carrots and green leaves. More than 98 percent of natural crude rubber is a hydrocarbon polymer, a chainlike molecule consisting of many units linked together. The structures and chemistry of individual hydrocarbons depend in large part on the types of chemical bonds that link together the atoms of their constituent molecules.
4. Nineteenth-century chemists classified hydrocarbons as either aliphatic or aromatic on the basis of their sources and properties. Aliphatic (from Greek aleiphar, “fat”) described hydrocarbons derived by chemical degradation of fats or oils. Aromatic hydrocarbons constituted a group of related substances obtained by chemical degradation of certain pleasant-smelling plant extracts. The terms aliphatic and aromatic are retained in modern terminology, but the compounds they describe are distinguished on the basis of structure rather than origin.
5. Four hydrocarbons are contributing to the global warming: methane (CH4) is a key greenhouse gas; ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8) and acetylene (C2H2 are lesser greenhouse gases).
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=hydrocarbon&searchmode=none (last access: 15 November 2015). 2. EncBrit – http://www.britannica.com/science/hydrocarbon (last access: 15 November 2015). 3 & 4. EB – http://www.britannica.com/science/hydrocarbon (last access: 15 November 2015). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&srchtxt=hydrocarbon&i=1&index=alt (last access: 15 November 2015).
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CR: air pollution, blue hydrogen, carbon , energy source, energy transition, fossil fuel, fracking, green hydrogen, methane, natural gas, petroleum, phosphate, stratosphere, stratospheric ozone, tropospheric ozone.
