Nonrenewable Energy

1. Nonrenewable Energy Chapter 15

2. Nonrenewable Resources • Things human use that have a limited supply; they cannot be regrown or replenished by man

3. Dealing with Nonrenewable Resources • Possible Solution– using less of a resource or reusing a resource, ex. refilling plastic laundry jugs, reusing plastic bags, etc. • Problems – • Requires a change in our lifestyle and some people will resist.

4. Restoration • Definition – recycling our resources • Examples – aluminum, glass, tin, steel, plastics, etc. • Problems – recycling a resource often costs more than using the raw material; we don’t have the technology to recycle everything

5. Sustainability • Definition – prediction of how long specific resources will last; ex. we have a 200 year supply of coal in the U.S. • Problems – these are only predictions; they may not be accurate

6. Harvesting Nonrenewable Resources-COSTS • Ownership costs – equipment, labor, safety (insurance), environmental costs (reclamation, pollution control, air monitors, water treatment, etc.), taxes • External costs – processing the resource, transporting the resource • Marginal costs – research: finding new sources of the resource and new ways to harvest it

7. Harvesting Nonrenewable Resources-BENEFITS • Direct – money received for resources; provides many jobs • Indirect – land can be reclaimed (brought back to original condition) and sold for profit.

8. Primary Resources • Original sources that are used to make electricity or heat

9. SecondarySources • Heat and electricity that we use for energy

10. Cogeneration • Production of two useful forms of energy, such as high-temperature heat or steam and electricity, from the same fuel source. • Ex. An industry using natural gas for manufacturing and using the waste heat to produce electricity.

11. Examples of Primary Sources Fossil Fuels • Energy conversion – chemical to electrical, heat or mechanical • Only about 30% efficient • Benefits – easy to use, currently abundant • Costs – a nonrenewable resource, produces pollutants that contribute to acid rain and the greenhouse effect • Oil- Supplies the most commercial energy in the world today. People in the U.S. use 23 barrels of petroleum per person or 6 billion barrels total each year!!!

12. Core Case Study: How Long Will Supplies of Conventional Oil Last? • Saudi Arabia could supply the world with oil for about 10 years. • The Alaska’s North Slope could meet the world oil demand for 6 months. (U.S.: 3 yrs.) • Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would meet the world demand for 1-5 months. (U.S.: 7-24 months)

13. Core Case Study: How Long Will Supplies of Conventional Oil Last? • We have three options: • Look for more oil • Use or waste less oil • Use other energy sources

14. Fossil Fuels Supply Most of Our Commercial Energy SOURCE : DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Annual Energy Review 2009 • About 82% of global commercial energy comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels with the remainder coming from renewable sources.

15. Commercial Energy Use by Source for the World and the United States

19. How Power Plants Produce Electricity

20. Natural Capital: Important Nonrenewable Energy Resources

21. Case Study: A Brief History of Human Energy Use • A Brief History of Human Energy Use • Muscle power: early humans • Discovery of fire • Agriculture • Use of wind and flowing water • Machines powered by wood, then coal • Internal combustion engine • Nuclear energy • Energy crisis

23. OIL / PETROLEUM

24. We Depend Heavily on Oil • Crude oil(petroleum): thick liquid containing hydrocarbons that we extract from underground deposits and separate into products such as gasoline, heating oil and asphalt. • Only 35-50% can be economically recovered from a deposit.

25. Science: Refining Crude Oil • An oil refineryuses distillation to separate crude oil into it’s components: • Based on boiling points, components are removed at various layers in a giant distillation column. • The components with the lowest boiling points are removed at the top.

26. OPEC Controls Most of the World’s Oil Supplies • Twelve OPEC countries have 60% of the world’s proven oil reserves and most of the world’s unproven reserves. • Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

27. Rising Oil Prices • Global oil production peaked around 2005 • Sharp increases in oil prices could threaten the economies of countries that have not shifted to new energy alternatives. • Possible effects of steeply rising oil prices: • Higher food prices • Airfares higher • Reduce energy waste • Upgrade of public transportation • Smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles • Shift to non-carbon energy sources • Higher prices for products made with petrochemicals

28. The United States Uses Much More Oil Than It Produces • The U.S. – the world’s largest oil user – has only 2.4% of the world’s proven oil reserves. • The U.S. uses 24% of worldwide crude oil. • The U.S. imports 60% of the oil it uses.

29. Case Study: Oil and the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge • The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) • Not open to oil and gas development • Fragile tundra biome • Decrease dependence on foreign oil?? • “Drill baby, drill!”

30. OIL PROs CONs CO2 emissions H2O pollution from tanker spills Habitat destruction from pipeline construction and oil spills • Relatively Cheap • Easily transported – pipelines, oil tankers • Versatile

31. Will Heavy Oil from Oil Sand or Shale Oil Be Viable Options? • Heavy and tarlike oils from oil sand and shale oil could supplement conventional oil, but there are environmental problems. • High sulfur content • Extracting and processing produces toxic sludge • Uses and contaminates larges volumes of water • Requires large inputs of energy which reduces net energy • Canada has 75% of the world’s oil sand. • The Western U.S. has 72% of the world’s shale oil.

32. Trade-Offs: Heavy Oils from Oil Shale and Oil Sand

33. NATURAL GAS

34. Natural Gas Is a Useful and Clean-Burning Fossil Fuel • Natural gas, consisting mostly of methane (CH4), is often found above reservoirs of crude oil. • Coal beds, bubbles of methane trapped under the arctic permafrost and beneath deep-ocean sediments, and landfills are unconventional sources of natural gas.

35. Natural Gas Is a Useful and Clean-Burning Fossil Fuel • Russia, Iran, and Qatar have about 3/4 of the world’s reserves of conventional gas, and global reserves should last 62-125 years.

36. Natural Gas Is a Useful and Clean-Burning Fossil Fuel Produces electricity X 2 Fuel burning in a combustion chamber produces hot gases that pass directly through the turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. Then these hot gases are used to turn water to steam, which pushes a second turbine producing more electricity.

37. Natural Gas Is a Useful and Clean-Burning Fossil Fuel • Natural gas is transported through dense networks of pipelines • Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) • Pressurized tanks used in rural areas • Liquefied natural gas (LNG) • Gas is cooled and pressurized in order to ship across the ocean

38. Natural Gas

39. Natural Gas: Fracking

41. COAL

42. Coal Comes in Several Forms and Is Burned Mostly to Produce Electricity • Coal: solid fossil fuel that is formed in several stages as the buried remains of land plants that lived 300-400 million years ago. • Burned in 2100 power plants, generates 40% of the world’s electricity (49% in the U.S.) • Inefficient process that burns coal to boil water which produces steam that turns a turbine

43. Coal • Most abundant fossil fuel! • 4 types: • Lignite • Low energy, low sulfur • Sub-bituminous • Intermediate energy, low sulfur • Bituminous • Intermediate energy, high sulfur • Anthracite • Hard coal: high energy, low sulfur, small quantities

44. Stages in Coal Formation over Millions of Years

45. Science: Coal-Burning Power Plant

46. Coal • Major use: electricity • Our current supply will last 150 – 200 years • Largest reserves: US, Russia, China

47. Coal Is a Plentiful but Dirty Fuel • Environmental costs of burning coal: • Single biggest air polluter in coal-burning countries • CO2 – one-fourth of the annual global emissions • Sulfur released as SO2 (acid rain) • Large amount of soot • Mercury (Hg) • Radioactive materials • Environmentalists call for: • Taxation on CO2 production by power plants • Cleaner coal-burning plants

49. NUCLEAR POWER The blue glow is known as Čerenkov radiation– when charged particles (electrons) passes through an insulator (water).

50. Nukes A Little Chemistry Review: • Nucleus = protons + neutrons • Protons: positive, = to atomic # • Neutrons: no charge, same mass as proton • Atomic mass = protons + neutrons • Electrons • Orbit nucleus, negative charge, = to protons • Isotope: different neutrons • Same number, same protons • Ion = charged particle