Oil not a fossil fuel.

[empip]

Similar work being carried out over recent years - albeit not deep mines.

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/environmentandplanning/majordevelopments/combedownstonemines/

Foaming concrete ...
www.iom3.org/materialsworld/feature-pdfs/nov07/secure heritage.pdf

We have some massive underground stuff in the area.
http://www.monkton-farleigh.co.uk/index.htm

 

[Steve]

They'd need to dig another f***ing great hole to get enough dirt to fill the original f***ing great hole with

MW

Reminds me of the Porrige sketch where barrowclough asks what they did with the soil from the escape tunnel, and Fletch replies "well thats simple aint it? They dug another hole and put the soil down that one."

pmsl

 

[wobs]

Check out world net daily site. Scientists have discovered that oil may not in fact be a fossil fuel, it may come from the mantle of the earth which would mean we could have an endless supply. This has long been suspected.

This has long been disputed.

For starters, the oil that we extract from the ground is based upon a certain type of carbon isotope. There are a number of types of carbon, and organic life prefers a certain type.

The oil that is used is not abiogenic oil (oil derived from the earth's mantle) also because it lacks crystallines that one would expect to find from such deep sources. If abiogenic oil did exist, surely it would occasionally seep out of the ground during earthquakes, coursing oceanic oil slicks. Also, it does contain elements that one would expect to find from organic derived material.

We know of methane elsewhere in the solar system (although this is based upon observation rather than sampling obviously, so that puts it in the realm of theory), and yet the methan we use from the ground is also organically derived.

There are those in Russia that have long held onto this theory of abiogenics, but the evidence does not back it up.

 

[Space cat]

There are a number of types of carbon, and organic life prefers a certain type.

Not quite! There are indeed different isotopes of carbon. About 99% of the stuff in our corner of the universe is carbon 12 which is stable. There is some carbon 13, which is also stable, and then there's the radioactive isotope carbon 14. This has a half-life of about 5000 years and it's made in the upper atmosphere.

Plants take in atmospheric CO2 and with it they get some carbon 14. It's not a preference; it just happens. Organic material that lies underground for an extended period loses its carbon 14. The longer it lies there the more it loses. That's how carbon dating works. Anything that was in the mantle before life evolved will be completely devoid of carbon 14.

We know of methane elsewhere in the solar system

There would have been lots of methane available as the solar system formed. Carbon and hydrogen are two of the commonest elements to be blasted out of dead stars. The others are helium, oxygen, silicon and iron. As the temperature falls and chemistry begins, hydrogen, carbon, silicon and iron all make a grab for the oxygen - but there isn't enough to go round. It's no contest really; the silicon wins hands down leaving the others to scrabble for what's left. With the oxygen all taken up, carbon and hydrogen combine into methane.

The giant gas planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, contain large amounts of methane. The inner planets were too hot and insufficiently massive to hold onto it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate

 

[tim west]

The giant gas planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, contain large amounts of methane.

known that for a long time

 

[joe-90]

You're just taking the pi*s mate, it's pronounced Urine-us.

 

[xerxes]

...Barrowclough asks what they did with the soil from the escape tunnel

It was Mr MacKay, not Mr Barrowclough.

 

[vinty]

What would they fill them in with?

They'd need to dig another f***ing great hole to get enough dirt to fill the original f***ing great hole with

MW

when oil is extracted, i believe that they are considering pumping co2 into the gap left by the oil, it's called sequestration i think.
It would mean co2 produced by burning fossil fuels can be put back where it came from.

 

[tim west]

when oil is extracted, i believe that they are considering pumping co2 into the gap left by the oil, it's called sequestration i think.
It would mean co2 produced by burning fossil fuels can be put back where it came from.

Instead of CO2 they should be pumping oil into them, we might need some reserves in the future when the oil runs out.

 

[Space cat]

Pumping CO2 into holes in the ground is all very well except that it's a gas! A few years ago I heard of a plan to store it on the ocean floor where, supposedly, it would liquify and become denser than sea water. I spotted two flaws immediately. Firstly, it dissolves in water and, secondly, what would this blanket of liquid CO2 do to the detrital ooze?

A relatively new idea is to pump it into the ground. This does work but you have to find exactly the right kind of rock. I don't have any more details but I expect the idea is to lock it in as carbonates - which is how our planet stores most of its carbon. Voids left in oil fields are just that. The CO2 would just sit there waiting for a chance to burst out again.