Oil companies have used steam to push crude oil out of the ground for quite some time, but a new invention recently unveiled by solar company GlassPoint could drastically change the way that steam is generated. It may be unconventional, but if it helps protect the environment, it's worth a closer look.
The unveiling last week revealed GlassPoint?s invention?a glass house located in an oil field in Bakersfield, California. The house contains several solar reflecting mirrors that are made to follow the sun?s rays. The sunlight bounces off the mirrors and is directed towards a series of water-filled pipes suspended from the ceiling, allowing the water to boil, turn into steam, and push the crude oil from the ground.
For decades oil companies have been using natural gas to heat the water boilers that coax the oil from the ground. This has led these fields in Kern County to consume 25% of the total natural gas consumed in all of California.
So not only would such an invention cut down the consumption of natural gas in the state, but after covering the initial price of installation, the cost of solar energy could easily compete with the cost of gas, and according to GlassPoint Chief Executive Rod MacGregor, it could mean as much as a 50% reduction.
The current stumbling block is how viable such a solution is, considering the large amount of acreage these companies extract oil from. For instance, in order to satisfy all the steam needs of an oil field the size the glass house site, there would need to be 100 acres of glass houses in all.
Perhaps the best news, however, is that big oil companies like Berry, Chevron, and Total are all considering solar technology as a very probable solution to their gas needs. Even if GlassPoint?s invention doesn?t make its way across the United States, it presents a very real step in the right direction.
Source: http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/passive-solar/glasspoint-solar-green-oil/
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