M11-P1 Materials from

the Earth

6th International Junior

Science Olympiad (IJSO)
Dr. Yu-San Cheung
yscheung@cuhk.edu.hk
Department of Chemistry
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
1
 Natural Resources(天然資源)
• Naturally occurring substances
• Considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) forms
• Values: depending on the amount available and the demand
• A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the
primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification,
as opposed to creation.
• Examples of natural resources:
Air, water, and soil
Biological resources - plants and animals
Raw materials (like minerals)
Space and land
Energy (like wind, geothermal(地熱的), tidal(潮汐的), and
solar energy)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_resources
2
http://www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk/NaturalResourcesEarth.html
 Renewable Resources(再生資源)
• They can restock (renew) themselves, be used indefinitely if
they are not over-harvested.
• If consumed at a rate that exceeds their natural rate of
replacement, the standing stock will diminish and eventually
run out.
• Examples of living renewable resources:
• trees (forests and woodlands) and crops
• fish and livestock
• Examples of non-living renewable resources:
• fresh water
• fresh air
• Flow renewable resources (or simply “flow resources”):
renewable, but needing no regeneration or re-growth
e.g., wind, tidal, and solar energy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_resources
3
http://www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk/NaturalResourcesEarth.html
 Non-renewable Resources (非再生資

• A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be

re-made, re-grown, or regenerated on a scale comparative to
its consumption.

• Fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas are often
considered non-renewable resources, as they do not naturally
re-form at a rate that makes the way we use them sustainable.

4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_resources
 Natural Resources and Their
Products
• Forests: timber (for building houses, boats, decks, and furniture;
and making paper)

• Mines: metal products, fossil fuels, salts, jewelry, gravel (for

building roads and concrete)

• Aquaculture(水產養殖): fishes, shrimps, crabs, etc.

5
http://www3.iptv.org/exploremore/land/issues/iss_natu/natural_resources.cfm
 Minerals and Their Chemical
Components

Exercise:

Find out the major chemical content in various types of

minerals

6
“Periodic Chart.pdf” in http://www.mii.org/
 Common Minerals and Their Uses

Exercise:

Find out the uses of some common minerals.

7
http://www.mii.org/commonminerals.html
 Cement & Concrete
Cement: 水泥
Concrete:混凝土
Cement:
• made from limestone, calcium, silicon, iron, and aluminum, plus
lesser amounts of other ingredients
• When water is added to cement, a chemical process occurs as it
dries, allowing it to harden.

Concrete:
• cement + aggregates (e.g., sand, stone)
• Important and widely-used construction material
• Strengthened by steel-rod skeleton
• Annual production: about 6 billion tons
(~1 ton each person on the Earth)
• Life: 50,000 years
8
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-concrete-and-cement.htm
 Recycling(循環)

Recycling is the reprocessing of materials into new products.

It can save energy and reduce air pollution.

Exercise:

Find out the environmental effects of recycling.

9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling
 Recycling (循環)
• Aggregates and concrete
Crushed and used as aggregates for new concrete
• Batteries
Difficulty: so many types of batteries
Some old types contain mercury and cadmium
Lead-acid battery (mostly used in automobiles): containing lead
• Biodegradable waste
• Electronics waste (recovering metals)
• Various types of metals (e.g., _________________________________)
• Paper
• Glass
• Plastic
• Rubber
• Textiles
• Timber
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling
 Metals
In chemistry:
• A metal is an element that readily loses electrons to form positive
ions (cations) and the cations are surrounded by a sea of
electrons
• Most metals form ionic bonds with non-metals [but not always,
e.g., in Pb(C2H5)4, there is Pb–CH2CH3 covalent bond]

Physical properties: 
• Electrical conducting +

 +
• Some hard, some soft, some being liquid 
+ +

+

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal
 Alloys(合金)
• Alloy: a homogeneous mixture of two or more elements, at least
one of the elements is a metal, the resulting mixture has metallic
properties.

• An alloy usually has properties (physical and chemical) different

from those of its components.

Example
The major component of steel is iron and steel is stronger than
iron.
If chromium is added, we have stainless steel which can resist
corrosion.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alloy
 Examples of Alloys
• Carbon steel:
iron + carbon (higher carbon content, stronger but more brittle)
- Low carbon steel: ~0.05 – 0.3% carbon content
- Ultra-high carbon steel : ~1 – 2% carbon content
• Stainless steel: steel + chromium (> 10%)
• Brass: copper + zinc (typically ~30 – 35%)

• Bronze: copper + tin (typically 12%)

• Rose gold: gold + copper: for jewelry

24k: 100% gold (18k: 75% gold) (k = “karat”)

• Solder:
Conventional: Sn60/Pb40 (60% tin + 40% lead)
Lead-free: e.g., SnAgCu (tin + silver + copper);
different SnAgCu compositions: different melting points
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_steel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronzes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_gold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder 13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alloys
 Energy Resources
• Solar energy
• Wind energy
• Water-related: hydro power
pumped-storage
tidal power
wave power

• Geothermal energy
• Biomass energy
• Garbage energy
• Nuclear energy
• Fossil fuels

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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
 Generation of Electrical
Energy(電能)
• Electrical energy is easily transported (from power plants to
individual customers)

• Electrical energy is versatile

• Majority of energy available from Nature: in the form of kinetic

energy and heat energy

• Kinetic energy  electrical energy

• Heat energy  kinetic energy of steam  kinetic energy of

magnet/metal  electrical energy

15
 Faraday‘s Law(法拉第定律) of
Induction
• In effect:
Changing magnetic field  electrical current

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu /Hbase/electric/farlaw.html

• That is, kinetic energy  electrical energy

16
 Turbine(渦輪機)

• Flow of fluid (acting on blazes)  rotation of shaft

• Kinetic energy of fluid  kinetic energy of shaft  electrical

energy

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbine
 Solar Energy(太陽能)
• Energy from the Sun
• The Sun is a nuclear reactor, 150 million km away. Only a small
fraction of light energy and heat energy (1 part in 1010) reaches
the Earth, but it is a huge amount to the Earth.
Increasing wavelength
Ultra-violet(UV) Visible Infra-red (IR)

“light” Absorbed and becoming heat energy

• Solar cell: light energy  electrical energy

• Water-heating system:
heat energy  heat energy of water
• Solar furnaces:
heat energy  heat energy of gas  kinetic energy of gas 
electrical energy
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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/solar.htm
Exercise:

How is solar energy used for heating water in Hong Kong?

Example:

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/greencampus/en/communication/sc_sp
ring07.pdf

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 Wind Energy(風能)
• Energy from wind
• Ancient application: sailing
• Used since Middle Ages: windmill

• Electricity generation:
wind  turbine  electricity
(reverse of electric fan operation)

Propeller blades

Wind Gearbox & generator in

housing which can be rotated
to face the wind

Tower
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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
 Hydro Power(水力)
• Energy from the flow of water:
(potential energy of water  kinetic energy of water  …)
• Ancient application: corn grinding, sailing, war
• Used nowadays to generate 20% of the world’s electricity

Dam
Reservoir Turbine

Generator

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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
 Pumped Storage Reservoirs
• They are not facilities or methods to generate electrical power.
They are a way of storing energy so that it can be released
quickly when needed.

• Demand for electrical power changes throughout the day.

When the demand is low, extra power not used is wasted.

• A facility is needed Turbines

which can store & Pumps
excess energy
produced, and can Lower
release the stored Reservoir
energy immediately.
Top
Pumped storage Reservoir
reservoirs can do the
job.
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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
 Tidal Power(潮汐能)
• Tide: water movement, containing kinetic energy
• Twice a day
• 8 sites in Britain, generating
20% of energy needed
• ~20 potential sites in the world
• Largest one: northern France

Tide coming in Tide going out

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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
Off-shore Station

http://www.swanturbines.co.uk/ http://www.marineturbines.com/technical.htm

24
 Wave Power
• Wave: generated by wind on sea surface
• Method: reverse of a swimming pool wave machine

Air flowing in and out

Water level going

up and down

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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/wave.htm
 Geothermal Energy(地熱能)
• The centre of the Earth: ~6000 C
hot enough to melt rock
• A few km down the surface: > 250 C
• Used for thousands of years in some countries for cooking and
heating
Power station
• If hot enough to
produce steam 
electricity
• If not: heating
Cold Hot
water water
down down

Hot region

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http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/geothermal.htm
 Biomass(生物量)
• Energy from organisms (usually plants)
• Example: burning of wood for heat and light
• Extraction of fuel: ethanol by fermentation:
corns / canes  cane sugar  ethanol
• Biodiesel: a fuel made from vegetable oil that runs in any
unmodified diesel engine.
Triglycerides (三酸甘油酯)
(Esters of glycerol with long-chain fatty acids)

27
 Triglycerides  Biodiesel

NaOH
+
CH3OH

Glycerol
Glycerol part Fatty acid portions Methyl
esters of
fatty acid
(Biodiesel)
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 Biodiesel

Recipe: Biodiesel from New Oil

http://www.dancingrabbit.org/biodiesel/newoil.php

Use of Biodiesel in automobiles

Example:
1994 Dodge:
100,000 miles on 100% Rapeseed (芥花籽)

29
 Garbage Energy
• Burning garbage: generating heat energy, but serious
pollution (e.g., dioxin)
• Bacterial action: generating landfill gas (mainly methane,
CH4)

30
Basis of Nuclear Physics
& Nuclear Power

31
 Testing your knowledge on:
molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles

• A molecule consists of two or more _____ of the same or

different elements.
Examples: ____________________________
• Atoms are the smallest particles of an element.
• Sub-atomic particles: particles that constitute atoms.
___________
___________
___________
Which of these sub-atomic particles make up nuclei?

32
 Testing your knowledge on:
molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles

Compare the sizes of:

molecules, atoms, and nuclei.

Exercise (fill-in-the-blank):
Isotopes are atoms of the same _______ but having different
numbers of ________ in their ________.

33
 Nuclides(核素)

A nuclear species characterized by specific values of the

atomic number (no. of protons) and the mass number (no. of
protons and neutrons)

1
1H
13
2 12 6C
1H 6C

34
 Radioactive(放射性)Substances

Nuclei of some atoms, e.g., 40K, are unstable. They undergo

spontaneous transformation into more stable atoms. The
substance is called radioactive.

Such a transformation process is called radioactive decay. It is

usually accompanied by emitting particles and energy collectively
called radiation.

35
 Radioactivity(放射現象)
The phenomena of radioactivity was discovered in 1896. This
radiation was later shown to be separable by electric (or
magnetic) fields into three types: alpha (a), beta (b) and
gamma (g) rays.

Electric plate (positive) b ray

Radioactive material
+
g ray

–
a ray
Lead block
Electric plate (negative) Luminescent screen

36
 Stability of Nuclides(核穩定性)

• Unstable nuclei are radioactive

• Nuclei consist of proton(s) & neutron(s)

(except __________)

• Forces inside the nuclei:

(1) Repulsive Coulomb force: between protons
(2) Attractive nuclear force: between proton & proton,
neutron & neutron, proton & neutron

• Stability depends on the balance of the two forces

37
 Radioactive Decay Products

• Alpha particle (helium-4 nucleus, 4He2+)

• Beta particle (electron)

• Gamma ray / X-ray (electromagnetic radiation)

• Neutron

38
 Interaction of Radiation with Cells

• Ionization and atomic excitation causing molecular

rearrangement or formation of free radicals

• Alteration of molecules leads to malfunction of

physiological processes which depend on the
chemical structure

Examples:
inhibition of cell division, denature of enzymes, mutation of
genetic materials

39
 Rate of Radioactive Decay
• Half-life (t1/2): the time it takes for half of its original amount
to decay
1
1  ½  ¼  1/8 0.9
 1/16 …. 0.8

0.7

After n half-lives, 1/(2n)

is 0.6

left. 0.5

For example, after 10 half- 0.4

lives, 0.3

1/(210) = 1/1024 (about 0.2

0.1%) is left. 0.1

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

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Half-lives of Some Radionuclides
Each radionuclide has a characteristic t1/2

Radionuclide Half-life
81Kr 13 seconds
38K 7.6 min
73Se 7.2 hr
131I 8 days
60Co 5.3 yr
137Cs 30 yr
14C 5730 yr
129I 17 million yr
235U 703 million yr
40K 1260 million yr

41
 Sources of Radiation

Natural Radiation
• cosmic rays
• terrestrial radiation (including radon)
• food & drinks (40K within body)

Artificial Radiation
• medical instruments
• leakage/disposal
• radioactive fallout (weapon testing)
• consumer products, e.g., smoke detectors, “glow in
the dark” watches

42
 Nuclear Fuel(核燃料)
Ba
235U +n 139Ba + 94Kr + 3n n
U
n
Characteristics: 235
n
• Bombarded by neutron Kr

• Chain reaction: Ba
n
Ba
n
1 neutron in, n
U
n
U
n
235 235
3 neutrons out. This neutron
n n
starts the chain Kr Kr
reaction
Ba
But not every neutron can hit n
U
an 235U nucleus. 235
n
n
The reaction may eventually stop. Kr

http://home.att.net/~cat4a/nuclear_III.htm 43
 Enriched Nuclear Fuel(核燃料)
To make the chain reaction self-sustaining,
we need to use:
(1) uranium enriched in 235U

(2) super critical mass of the fuel

Natural uranium: 238U (99.3%) & 235U (0.7%)

Enriched: 2-3% in 235U (>85% for bomb)
Methods: centrifugation, diffusion,
and electromagnetic isotopic separation.

44
 Critical Mass(臨界質量)
Critical mass: sphere of 600 kg for 15% 235U (~40 cm diameter)
Higher 235U percentage: larger/smaller critical mass
Neutron reflector: larger/smaller critical mass

45
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Critical_mass.svg
 Nuclear Power Plant(核能發電廠)
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power2.htm

Containment Structure
Steam Generator
Steam Line
Reactor
Turbine
Control
Rods Generator

Cooling Tower

Cooling Water
Pumps Condensor

Neutron absorber
(e.g., boron, cadmium)
46
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/control.html
Other Nuclear Fuels

Plutonium-239 & Uranium-233

47
 Nuclear Fusion(核聚變)

Heavy nuclei favor fission.

Light nuclei favor fusion.

Examples of nuclear fusions:

2H + 3H  4He + n
2H + 2H  3He + n
2H + 2H  3H + p

48
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion
 Human-made Nuclear Fusion

In order for a nuclear fusion to occur, two nuclei must be brought

close enough.
But the repulsion between nuclei is huge.
Nuclei must contain high enough energy.

Human-made nuclear fusion:

through nuclear fission in nuclear bomb

49
 Nuclear Fusion(核聚變)
in Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear fusion: more energy released than fission

But …
once started, nuclear fusion is out of controlled and cannot be
stopped.
Nuclear fusion for power generation: to be developed.

Other advantages of fusions over fissions:

• less hazardous products
• source more available (natural abundance of 2H: 0.015%)

50
 Accidents of Nuclear Power Plants

• Three Mile Island, USA (1979)

• Chernobyl, Ukraine, in former USSR (1986)

Leakage of highly radioactive materials

On the whole, non-nuclear large-scale industrial accidents result in

higher tolls.

51
 Nuclear Weapons &
Nuclear Power Plants

A nuclear power plant does not aim to make nuclear weapons.

But the materials can be used for nuclear weapons.

Concerns:
• 235U: needs extra work to enrich its percentage
• 329Pu: created in a uranium reactor, the percentage of which is
high enough for nuclear weapons

In addition to making a nuclear bomb (which can really explode),

the waste can also used for “dirty bomb”.

More about nuclear proliferation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_proliferation
52
 Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages
• No CO2 is emitted
• No air is needed

Disadvantages
• In case of accident, the damage is serious
• Using and producing materials, which are the source for
nuclear weapons
• Disposal of nuclear waste: waste cannot be “destroyed”

53
 Fossil Fuels(化石燃料)

Industrial Revolution:
increases in the use of fossil fuels

Steam engines (late 1700s): needed fuels

chemical energy (stored in _______) 

heat energy (of _______) 
kinetic energy (of _______) 
kinetic energy (of _______)
to run machines, cars, etc.

54
 What are fossil fuels?

Plants, animals, and microorganisms (living millions of years ago)

 death
Remains buried and subjected to high temperatures and
pressures in Earth’s crust

Primarily hydrocarbons, CxHy

“Fossil fuel” sometimes also includes non-biological source such

as tar sand, which is known as mineral fuel.

55
 Types of Fossil Fuels(化石燃料)

• Coal
• Petroleum (oil)
• Natural gas
• Tar sands and oil shale
• Methane hydrate

56
 Carbon Cycle
Exercise:
Find out the carbon distribution in the Nature from internet.

Atmosphere ( )

Vegetation ( )
Fossil Fuels & Cement
Production ( )
Soils ( )

Surface Ocean ( )
Marine Biota ( )
Deep Ocean ( )

Dissolved Organic Carbon Sediments ( )

( )
57
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carbon_cycle_diagram.jpg
 Heat Energy Units

• BTU (British Thermal Units) = 1054 – 1060 J

• Quad: quadrillion BTU = 1015 BTU

• Total U.S. energy use: ~100 Quad in 2005

• A barrel of oil (bbl): ~6 million BTU

• 100 Quads: 17 billion barrels of oil

(1 bbl = 42 gallons)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit 58
http://www.opm.state.ct.us/pdpd2/energy/flows94.htm
 Coals(煤)

• Plant remains covered by water and mud

• Readily combustible
• Black or brownish black in color
• Mainly composing of carbon, with an assortment of other
elements (e.g., sulfur)

Most abundant of all fossil fuels, the largest single source of fuel
for the generation of electricity world-wide

One of the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions

59
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal
 Worldwide Coal Production

Exercise:

Find out the worldwide coal production, coal reserves, and major
coal exporters.

60
 Processing of Coal

Other than being burnt directly, coal can be further processed to

obtain higher-quality fuel.

• Liquefaction: coal  liquid fuels

e.g., gasoline or diesel

• Gasification: C + steam + O2  synthesis gas (CO + H2)

• Coking (~ 1000 oC): driving off volatile substances to form coke

61
 Petroleum(石油)(Oil, Crude Oil)

• Compression and heating of ancient organisms

• Buried at the ocean bottom, where O2 was insufficient

to oxidize all the organic materials

62
 Oil Producing and Consuming
Countries

Exercise:

Find out the major oil producing and consuming countries

around the world.

63
 Petroleum(石油)
• Hydrocarbon, mostly alkane (saturated CxHy): C5H12 to C18H38

Shorter hydrocarbon: natural gas

Longer hydrocarbon: paraffin wax

• High energy density, easy transportability, relatively high

abundance

• Source of raw material for many chemical products

64
Oil Refinery: Separating Components of
Different Molecular Weights

Exercise:

Find out various oil

refinery products and
their usages.

Very detailed flowchart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik
i/Image:RefineryFlow.png

65
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_refinery
 Cracking(裂解)

• Breaking down long carbon chains

• By heating & with catalysts

• e.g. CH3CH2CH2CH3 
CH2=CH2 + CH3CH3

66
 Knocking of Gasoline(汽油)

• Gasoline is burnt to produce energy in a combustion engine

(e.g., of a vehicle)

• Some gasoline start to burn before they are ignited by sparks.

• This premature ignition produces a “knocking” sound. So it is

sometimes called “knocking”.

• Consequences of knocking:
power loss and engine wearing

67
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
 Octane Rating

• Different gasoline have different anti-detonation

• Octane rating: a measure of the anti-detonation (or auto-

ignition resistance) of gasoline and other fuels used in
spark-ignition internal combustion engines.

68
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
 Octane Rating
iso-octane: set at 100 n-heptane: set at 0

A mixture of iso-octane and n-heptane:

x% (by volume) in iso-octane, “octane rating”: x.

Example:
84 liters of iso-octane + 16 liters of n-heptane
84% (by volume) in iso-octane
16% (by volume) in n-heptane
Octane Rating: 84

It is found that 1-pentene has the same “knocking” property as

this mixture, so we say that the octane rating of 1-pentene is
84.
69
 Octane Rating

Octane rating can be smaller than 0 and larger than 100.

e.g.,
n-octane: -10
benzene: 101
ethane: 108

Octane rating for gasoline for vehicles: 85-90.

70
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:09-03-06-Octane.jpg
 Anti-knocking Agent
Tetra-ethyl lead (TEL):
• Added to gasoline to increase octane rating
• About 0.05% of TEL in gasoline
• Pb(CH2CH3)4, mostly covalent in nature, not containing Pb4+ and
CH2CH3–
How it works:
• Knocking causes formation of radicals, e.g., CH3, from gasoline
• Chain reaction: these radicals destroy other gasoline molecules
• Pb(CH2CH3)4  Pb(CH2CH3)3 + CH2CH3 (or Pb + 4 CH2CH3 ?)
These radicals from TEL and remove radicals from gasoline
Sometime literatures say that Pb + O2  PbO2
and the PbO2 reacts with the radicals from gasoline

Other anti-knocking agents (also called octane enhancers):

methanol & ethanol

71
 Problems of Leaded Gasoline

• Lead is toxic to humans

• It poisons Rh and Pt catalysts in catalytic converters (which

convert NOx and VOC emitted from pipes of vehicles into
harmless substances)

Rh = rhodium
Pt = platinum
Both are metals with catalytic property

72
 Natural Gas(天然氣)
• Formation process: similar to that of petroleum

• Components: (%)
methane (CH4): 70 – 90
ethane (C2H6): 5 – 15
propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10): < 5

CO2, N2, helium,

and hydrogen sulfide (H2S): balance

Exercise:

Find out the major natural gas producing and consuming

countries around the world.

73
 Tar Sand

• Also called “oil sand” (actually more appropriate)

• A mixture of extremely heavy crude oil, sand or clay, and

water.

• Natural material, nothing to do with tar (man-made)

• Worldwide sources:
Canada, Venezuela, and USA.

74
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Sands
 Oil Shale(油頁岩)
• A fine-grained sedimentary rock containing significant traces
of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds)
that have not been buried for sufficient time to produce
conventional fossil fuels.

• When heated to a sufficiently high temperature a vapor is

driven off which can be distilled to yield a petroleum-like
shale oil, a form of non-conventional oil, and combustible
shale gas.

• Can be burnt directly as a low-grade fuel for power

generation and heating.

• Can be used as a raw material in the chemical and

construction materials industries.

• Reserve: mainly in North America

75
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale
 Methane Hydrate (Methane Ice)
• Ice that contains a large amount of methane within its crystal
structure

• Total amount: 500-2500 billion tons of carbon

(carbon for all fossil fuel reserves: 5000 billion tons)

• Natural gas hydrates (NGH) vs. liquefied natural gas (LNG) in

transportation:
NGH: stable up to −20 C
LNG: stable up to −162 C
Therefore, there is some interest
in converting natural gas into NGH
rather than LNG for transportation.

76
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_hydrates