The joy of discovering a gas reservoir off the coast of Haifa, the exploitation of which is cleaner than burning oil and certainly coal, is mixed with the fear that this resource will blind the eyes of decision makers and hinder the development of even cleaner energy sources
A few days ago we reported on a discovery Methane on Mars. However, this time we are closer to home - not only to the Earth but to the State of Israel. About 90 kilometers west of Haifa, large quantities of natural gas were discovered in a well known as Tamar-1, which, according to one of the estimates published today in the media (Delek company owner, Yitzhak Tshuva), is gas that will supply Israel's gas consumption for 30-40 years.
What is natural gas - natural gas is a type of fossilized (fossil) fuel in a gaseous state that contains mainly methane, but in addition it includes significant amounts of ethane, propane, butane and pentane - heavy hydrocarbons that are removed from the gas before being transferred to users, along with carbon dioxide, hydrogen , helium and nitrogen. Natural gas is produced in the same fields where oil is produced as well as from gas fields that are not related to oil fields (as in the case of the gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean) as well as in coal deposits (mainly as methane).
Isramco, one of the partners in the project, announced yesterday (January 18, 2009) in an announcement to the stock exchange that the "Tamar 1" well, which was drilled under the "Matan" license, is a natural gas discovery. As stated by the drilling operator, Noble Energy Mediterranean.
"The drilling, which was carried out at a water depth of about 1,680 meters, reached a depth of about 4,900 meters and passed targets of Tertiary age under a thick layer of salt, in the Levantine basin. Logs, carried out during the drilling, identified 3 high quality reservoirs that include layers of sand with a net total thickness of about 140 meters, containing natural gas. "
"It should be noted that the thickness and quality of the aforementioned reservoirs at the drilling site are better than the operator's early estimates. According to the operator, preliminary indications indicate that the natural gas reserves, BCM, identified in the drilling, are extremely significant and are at least at the level of the preliminary estimates before the drilling. The operator estimates that, subject to receiving additional data from the drilling, the above-mentioned natural gas reserve estimate may even increase."
In a press release published by the operator, the CEO of Noble Energy stated that the drilling marks the largest discovery in Noble's history. "In light of the aforementioned results, the partners in the drilling decided, based on the recommendation of the drilling operator, to perform production tests in the drilling intended, among other things, to examine the daily production rate of natural gas from the drilling. The production tests are expected to last about three weeks, and their cost is estimated at about 20 million dollars (100%). "
"Immediately after the drilling, the partners in the drilling may continue to use the drilling rig to perform up to two additional drillings in sequence in the same area. One of the drillings may be a verification drilling for the discovery, which will drill in the Tamar structure, and the second drilling, which the partners are considering to perform, is drilling to examine another prospect for Tertiary age targets in the same Levantine basin. It should be noted that no decision has yet been made on the execution of the additional drillings."
What will they do with the gas?
Eli Ronen, Director General of the Ministry of Infrastructure, claimed in an article I published in the Industries magazine in December 2006, that the potential in the use of gas is enormous, "Once we switch to massive use of natural gas for industry as well, it will be possible to switch to use in transportation as well. It exists in the world, not our invention. This is the real trend. We currently have no deposits of our own with the exception of the Tethys Sea reservoir that the electricity company consumes from. When the Egyptian gas arrives in 2007 there will be another reservoir, then British gas. Turkey and the Russians have shown interest, so I really see natural gas as a replacement product for anything and everything in the fuel economy, especially in the field of transportation."
Regarding the industry, Ronan added: "I believe that the industry needs and must be based on natural gas, and the ministry is doing everything in its power to enable the arrival of natural gas at economic prices. At the same time, the ministry is examining the construction of the transmission system through which natural gas will be supplied to the industrial and demand areas."
A page describing the advantages of natural gas was also prepared on the website of the Ministry of National Infrastructures: "For the establishment of the natural gas economy in Israel and the conversion of energy activities that were previously based on alternative fuels such as coal and oil products, many advantages in a whole range of areas - reduction of direct and indirect economic costs for electricity production, environmental and land benefits, promotion of the sector industrialization and competitiveness in the field of electricity generation, and even improving Israel's image."
Below are some applications where natural gas can be used (in some of them, as mentioned, industry and electricity production are already used in Israel)
electricity generation
Natural gas is an important source of electricity generation through its use in gas turbines and steam turbines. Natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels such as oil and coal, producing far less carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced. To produce the same amount of heat, burning natural gas produces 30% less carbon dioxide than burning oil and about 45% less than burning coal. This technology is widely used when gas is an available resource at a reasonable price. In the future, fuel cell technology will provide a greener option for turning natural gas into electricity (instead of turbines), but it is still not economically viable.
Heating
Natural gas is supplied to homes where it is used for applications such as cooking in natural gas powered ovens, heating and clothes drying systems, central heating and more. Home heating is possible through heating boilers, furnaces and direct heating of water. Natural gas is usually used in rural houses that have no connection to the urban infrastructure system, as well as portable grills.
Car refueling
Compressed natural gas (methane) is a clean alternative to other car fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The countries where the use of gas for cars is common are Argentina, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Italy, Iran and the USA. The energy efficiency of gas engines is equal to that of gasoline engines, but lower than modern diesel engines. Cars that ran on gasoline or diesel that are converted to run on gas suffer due to the low compression ratio of their engines. On the other hand, cars powered by natural gas engines do so with a higher compression ratio due to the high octane of the gas - 120-130.
elk
Natural gas is an important feedstock for the production of ammonia for use in fertilizer products.
aviation
Russian aircraft manufacturer Tupolev plans to develop a program to produce aircraft powered by liquid methane and hydrogen that can be produced from natural gas.
hydrogen
Natural gas can be used to produce hydrogen and thereby drive the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen itself has several applications, most of them industrial as well as for transportation.
The green organizations: the joy and the fear
The green organizations welcomed the discovery, because the burning of natural gas is cleaner and emits fewer pollutants and fewer greenhouse gases (and vice versa, here a worse greenhouse gas - methane turns into a less bad greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide - in terms of the effect on the atmosphere).
The discovery of the large source of natural gas off the coast of Haifa, in huge quantities exceeding ninety billion cubic meters, is the largest ever found in the State of Israel. However, according to the Minister of Infrastructure, despite the discovery of this important source, the construction of the additional coal-fired power plant in Ashkelon must continue to be promoted.
Green Trend's response to the discovery of the natural gas reservoirs in Haifa: "The Minister of Infrastructure insists even now on solving the current energy crisis with the help of the most polluting technology known to us - a coal-fired power plant, in the heart of the city of Ashkelon."
"The technology for producing electricity by burning coal pollutes up to 11 times more than a power plant operated with natural gas, and emits double the amount of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming."
"Green Trend" calls for utilizing the same source of natural gas, so that it will save the construction of the coal station, and give the residents of Israel and the electricity sector a breathing space. In this way, the State of Israel will be able to fully implement the efficiency plans for the energy economy, which alone save the construction of another coal station. We call on the Minister of Infrastructure to realize his announcements that he is "the greenest Minister of Infrastructure ever" - and to really act against the construction of another coal station.
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Gamani doesn't understand like you Jonathan 🙂 :] What's up? Haha and Mars?
What is the distance between us and Mars?
Maybe we'll import some methane... 🙂
Ahla wrote
Well done
I wonder if they will lift the glove in the academy and take samples of this gas to test isotope ratios and its origin is clear.
to the cool commenter,
I'm not sure, but as far as I understand the problem with storing hydrogen is the size. Methane is much larger and much heavier - which certainly makes it easier to store it in tanks.
I hope they will find a lot of natural gas here - which will provide many sources of work and cheaper energy for Israel. At the same time, this will allow us, as was said, to prepare the infrastructure for the future when the reserves will be depleted. We have the sea and in the sea there is wind, waves (tides and low tides) and a large area of sun - the technologies to convert this energy already exist today, although with relatively low utilization compared to the cost. I hope this will lead to an economic and scientific boom in the matter of harvesting green energy from the sea.
Greetings friends,
Ami Bachar
Peace to my father
I would appreciate it if you could, after clear with geological experts, make a supplementary article about the additional potential that exists in the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Israel for finding additional gas reserves, because I have heard from several sources that there are several other similar geological structures in the area of Tamar 1, some of which are much larger than Tamar 1, and after the discovery in Tamar 1 there is an increase There is a very high chance of finding gas in them on a much larger scale, and if this is true, this could be very happy news for Israel
Thanks in advance
To AP - you are right 200 nautical miles. Too bad…
But the Lebanese can try
Also according to what is detailed in the article and published in the newspapers, it is about energy reserves for a medium period of about 40 years, i.e. until 2050. And what next?
We received an extension, a welcome one, for planning the energy sources
The future of our sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and descendants.
I don't have the references right now. But this is about the rules of international law, regarding the right of each country to declare an "exclusive economic zone", as distinguished from the territorial waters (12 miles) and a contiguous zone which is 24 miles, where sovereign and other powers can be exercised.
to A.P. - Can you refer to the sources of the international rules that you rely on?
Regarding the use of cars, should there not be a problem to store the natural gas?
This should be basically the same problem as the one that exists with hydrogen gas to drive cars, right?
It is not true that the open sea "doesn't belong to anyone". There are international rules of economic exploitation up to a distance of 200 miles from the coast, taking into account of course the areas that are close to the shores of another country. Think about it - no international company would work to get a concession from Israel in that area, if it was "nobody's" territory or another country's.
According to the same principle, the Norwegians produce huge quantities in the North Sea. And the British too. Like the USA in the Gulf of Mexico.
How does the gas not escape up and disperse in the air?
Yonatan, the concession that each drilling company receives includes a large area which is dependent on geological findings that are made earlier, in Tamar drilling, Shiramko has an exclusive concession for the entire above-mentioned basin, the approximate size of which is the size of the Ramon Crater.
Someone please explain to me, what is the problem with going and drilling 100 meters away?
After all, the open sea does not belong to anyone and it is outside the territorial waters of the country.
Or am I wrong?