Energy Resource Availability - Discovering Resources And Their Economic Potential

Resource Mapping and Techno-Economic Potential

Contents

1. Introduction

2. What Is Resource Mapping?

3. What Is Techno-Economic Potential?

4. Concluding Remarks

---

Bitesize Edition

• In my discussions with energy, I discuss key characteristics such as affordability and efficiency on a frequent basis. This section on resource availability is allowing me to venture into some more niche topics.

• Today, I’ll explore what is one of the first stages before any resource can be utilised, and that is discovering it in the first place.

• What processes do we use to find areas where resources could be rich? Once we discover these areas, how do we know if extracting is economically viable? Find out more below.

---

Introduction

As I return to my discussion about resource availability, it’s worth spending time discussing how we discover these resources, and then how we take advantage of this when we do discover them. It’s rare that we can see these resources from ground level, although resources such as crude oil have been used for thousands of years for waterproofing and construction. We hence need methods to access what resources exist below the surface to understand if a batch of resources has economic potential and it worth extracting. Then as we continue to develop technologically, we can discover new, more efficient uses of these resources, such as powering our global transport network using crude oil. With this rather niche topic in mind, let’s dive in below exploring how we can see below the surface.

---

What Is Resource Mapping?

This is the method used to identify and document the natural resources available in a specific area before extraction. The key stages of this process are:

1. Geological Mapping - Determines where resources and minerals could be readily available using rock formations, fault lines, and mineral deposits.

2. Geophysical Surveys - Detecting underground structures via seismic imaging, magnetic surveys, and radar systems.

3. Geochemical Analysis - Collecting rock, soil, and water samples to test for chemicals that could indicate valuable resources are present.