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UW prof writes book on CBMUW prof writes book on CBMWednesday, July 14, 2010 By Business Report Staff LARAMIE — A University of Wyoming professor, K.J. Reddy, has put together a book on coalbed methane. The 511-page “Coalbed Natural Gas: Energy and Environment,” published by Nova Science Publishers Inc., has 19 chapters written by selected authors from UW and around the world. "Wyoming has been at the research forefront of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) development for the last 10 to 12 years," said Reddy, who is in the Department of Renewable Resources in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "In recent years, CBNG has become prominent because of several environmental issues, but also because it is a clean-burning fossil fuel compared to coal, oil or other fossil fuel. Its carbon footprint is small compared to other energy production." The book examines aspects of CBNG from start to finish — water quantity and quality, use, public education, geochemistry, environment and water management. "There was a need for a source where all can access information for ideas about the processes they can use to manage water and the environment responsibly," he said. Nova had invited Reddy to write the book based on his own research group's work and his work with the energy industry, but he said CBNG issues are so interdisciplinary that he wanted others to contribute. "I decided I should invite others for their expertise, not only from the U.S., but other countries where CBNG production is occurring," he said. "We have so many faculty members working on coalbed methane issues. I wanted to show the leadership in how we are looking at the issues." Although a resource for academia, the book's expertise is designed to be used, he said. "This has applications the industry could use to manage the water from the processes," Reddy explained. "It has the treatment technologies they can use. Those all depend on the economics of a company in how the company uses the water." The amount of water in Wyoming involved over the 15-20 years of the life of CBNG production is estimated at 3 billion cubic meters. "In a semi-arid environment, water is more of a valuable resource than anything else," he said. "We began looking into what is the geochemistry, water quality and beneficial uses of the water." |
