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Energy Production. NRE/ENVIRON 201 November 21, 2002 Kishi Animashaun. Lecture Outline. Energy IQ Test Energy 101 (Definitions, Costs & Benefits) Break Implications of US Energy Policy Question & Answer. Energy IQ #1 . What uses more energy (watts): a hairdryer or a microwave ?????
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Energy Production NRE/ENVIRON 201 November 21, 2002 Kishi Animashaun
Lecture Outline • Energy IQ Test • Energy 101 (Definitions, Costs & Benefits) • Break • Implications of US Energy Policy • Question & Answer
Energy IQ #1 • What uses more energy (watts): a hairdryer or a microwave ????? • A hairdryer (1200-1875 watts) versus a microwave is estimated to use 750-1100 watts
Energy IQ #2 • What uses more energy: a clothes washer or a clothes dryer ?????? • A dryer (1800 - 5,000) versus a washer which uses between 350-500 watts.
Energy IQ #3 • What form of energy is more costly to produce? a) nuclear power b) wind energy c) coal • the answer: nuclear
Energy IQ #4 • If the United States stopped importing oil and depended exclusively on indigenous supplies, at current consumption levels - how long would our reserves last? a) 2 years b) 10 years c) 50 years • the answer is b) 10 years
Energy 101 Definitions: • Energy : the capacity to do work, changing physical state or motion of an object (Btus, joules, calories,etc.) • Work: the application of force through distance • Power: the rate of energy delivery (watts)
Energy & Environmental Injustice Environmental Injustice (or environmental racism): • disproportionate impact on the poor and people of color (POC) as a result of discriminatory rules, regulations, and/or policies governing the siting and management of least undesirable land uses (LuLus)
My Work on Energy & EJ Campaigner for Greenpeace from 1994- 1999 with communities against proposals for least undesirable land uses (LuLus) in: • San Francisco, California • Homer, Louisiana • Ogoniland, Nigeria • Convent, Louisiana • Lake Charles, Louisiana
Worldwide Production (cont’d) • Fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) account for about 95% of all production • Renewables account for less than 3%
We can’t talk about Production without Consumption….. • On average, each person in the US & Canada use more than the equivalent of 60 barrels of oil (300 gigajoules) per year! • In the US, energy use: • 36% Industrial consumption (i.e metal industries and the petrochemical industry) • 37% Residential of Commercial Use • 26% Transportation (Personal Vehicles and Freight)
COAL • Fossilized plant material • carbon-rich • Coal reserves located primarily in Europe (24%), Asia (24%), North & Central America (23%) and Former USSR (15%) • impacts/costs: air and water pollution, human health concern in mining and combustion and influence climate change
OIL • Also derived from organic matter • Major reserves in Saudi Arabia (25.3%), Iraq (9.5%), Kuwait (9.5%), Iran (9%), UAE (8.8%), and Venezuela (7%) • impacts: air & water pollution
NATURAL GAS • It’s cheaper, cleaner and produces half as much carbon dioxide as coal • The former USSR (42%) and Asia (35%) are the leader in gas reserves
NUKES • Roughly about 100 plants in the US (latest at Watts Bar in Tennessee) • most expensive form of energy - especially when decommissioning is taken into account • generates energy through a process of nuclear fission (not fusion)
RENEWABLES • Conservation • Solar Power • Biomass (Good and Bad) • Hydropower • Wind Power • Geothermal
SO…WHAT DO WE DO NOW? What are the implication of our (US) current consumption levels given the availability of natural resources? How do we create sustainable energy policy? Where does the impetus come from: individuals, government, or industry?