The metabolism of oil extraction : a bottom-up approach applied to the case of Ecuador
Parra, Rony (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Di Felice, Louisa Jane (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Giampietro, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Ramos Martín, Jesús (Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam. Grupo de Población y Ambiente)

Date:	2018
Abstract:	The global energy system is highly dependent on fossil fuels, which covered approximately 90% of primary energy sources in 2016. As the quality and quantity of oil extracted changes, in response to changes in end uses and in response to biophysical limitations, it is important to understand the metabolism of oil extraction - i. e. the relation between the inputs used and the output extracted. We formalize a methodology to describe oil extraction based on the distinction between functional and structural elements, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to generate a diagnostic of the performance of oil extraction and to build scenarios. The analysis allows generating modular benchmarks which are applicable to other countries. It is shown that oil extraction in Ecuador consumes, per cubic meter of crude oil extracted, over 100 kWh of electricity and 1. 5 GJ of fuels, requiring 3 kW of power capacity and 2 h of human activity. A scenario is developed to check the effects on Ecuador's metabolic pattern of an increase in oil production over the next five years. The strength of the proposed methodology is highlighted, focusing on the adaptability of the method for dealing with policy issues.
Grants:	European Commission 689669 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación HAR2016-76814-C2-1-P
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Oil extraction ; MuSIASEM ; Ecuador ; Metabolism ; Complexity
Published in:	Energy policy, Vol. 122 (Nov. 2018) , p. 63-74, ISSN 0301-4215

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.07.017

Post-print 40 p, 724.2 KB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) > Integrated Assessment: Sociology, Technology and the Environment (IASTE)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles