In This Issue
Spring Issue of The Bridge on Emerging Issues in Earth Resources Engineering
April 14, 2014 Volume 44 Issue 1
Articles In This Issue
  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorMary P. Anderson Charles Fairhurst

    Editors’ Note

    Earth resources engineering (ERE) has roots in mining and petroleum engineering but more broadly is engineering applied to the discovery, development, and production of subsurface earth resources such as minerals, hydrocarbons, groundwater, and geothermal energy. Production of ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorRoland N. Horne and Jefferson W. Tester

    Geothermal energy could be called an “underground” renewable energy source not only because of its physical origin but also because its importance remains largely unknown to many decision makers and members of the public. Although historically high oil prices in the early 1980s ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorMark D. Zoback and Douglas J. Arent

    The use of horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing technologies has enabled the production of immense quantities of natural gas, to date principally in North America but increasingly in other countries around the world. The global availability of this resource creates both ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorLeigh W. Freeman and R. Patrick Highsmith

    The Future of Mining—From Agricola to Rachel Carson and Beyond

    Mining is virtually as old as humanity. Supplying basic materials for shelter, tools, and weapons and supporting energy, food, and high-technology industries, it is directly linked to quality of life, which in turn is linked to ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorJohn D. Bredehoeft and William M. Alley

    Water is a critical resource, and groundwater is an important component of that resource. Water differs from other ground-based resources in that it is renewable: other extractive resources are expected to be depleted eventually, whereas it is possible to develop groundwater so that it will last ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorSally M. Benson and S. Julio Friedmann

    An Important Part of a Response to Climate Change

    Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) have risen to 400 ppm from a preindustrial baseline of about 280 ppm. With the relentless increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) over the past 150 years and their impacts on climate, ...

  • Monday, April 14, 2014
    AuthorJohn A. Cherry, William M. Alley, and Beth L. Parker

    An Earth Science Perspective

    Climate change in the form of global warming is a widely accepted threat to humanity on a global scale and attributed at least in part to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nuclear power is a well-established source of electrical energy that produces minimal ...