NONRENEWABLE AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES

NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be re-made or re-grown at a scale comparable to its consumption.

Examples of non-renewable resources: Nuclear energy Coal Petroleum Natural gas

Nonrenewable energy resources removed from the earth’s crust include: oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium

NUCLEAR ENERGY Nuclear fission uses uranium to create energy. Nuclear energy is a nonrenewable resource because once the uranium is used, it is gone!

Three Mile Island March 29, 1979, a reactor near Harrisburg, PA lost coolant water because of mechanical and human errors and suffered a partial meltdown 50,000 people evacuated & another 50,000 fled area Unknown amounts of radioactive materials released Partial cleanup & damages cost $1.2 billion Released radiation increased cancer rates.

Chernobyl April 26, 1986, reactor explosion (Ukraine) flung radioactive debris into atmosphereatmosphere Health ministry reported 3,576 deaths Green Peace estimates32,000 deaths; About 400,000 people were forced to leave their homes ~160,000 sq km (62,00 sq mi) contaminated > Half million people exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity Cost of incident > $358 billion

Effects of Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Fukushima disaster – Japan, March 2011 Earthquake, followed by tsunami – subsequent loss of power to cool reactors, plus fire at plant before

COAL, PETROLEUM, AND GAS Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are considered nonrenewable because they can not be replenished in a short period of time. These are called fossil fuels. They are made of hydrocarbons. Oil and natural gas can provide three times as much energy as an equal mass of wood

HOW IS COAL MADE ???

Advantages and Disadvantages of Coal Pros Most abundant fossil fuel Relatively cheap Major U.S. reserves – contributes to energy independence 300 yrs. at current consumption rates High net energy yield Can be burned directly to produce a lot of heat in a stove, train engine or factory Cons Dirtiest fuel (produces particulate matter, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide) Mining causes major environmental degradation Major threat to health © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP

Natural gas Natural gas is a mixture of methane and other gases. Used to produce electricity, heat homes and water, Industry (heat for warmth and producing things), Vehicles, cooking Advantages: produces large amounts of energy but lower levels of many air pollutants than coal or oil, easy to transport Disadvantage: highly flammable

Oil/Petroleum Deposits of crude oil often are trapped within the earth's crust and can be extracted by drilling a well Used in industry to power machinery and in transportation

HOW ARE OIL AND GAS MADE ???

Info for Oil: Risk of spills Infrastructure already in place

HMMMM.... If nonrenewable resources are resources that cannot be re-made at a scale comparable to its consumption, what are renewable resources?

RENEWABLE RESOURCES Renewable resources are natural resources that can be replenished in a short period of time. ● Solar ● Geothermal ● Wind ● Biomass ● Water

SOLAR Energy from the sun. Why is energy from the sun renewable?

GEOTHERMAL Energy from Earth’s heat. Advantage: unlimited source of cheap energy. Disadvantage: There are only a few places where magma comes close to Earth’s surface. Elsewhere, very deep wells are needed to tap this energy and that is expensive.

WIND Energy from the wind. Why is energy from the wind renewable?

BIOMASS Energy from burning organic or living matter. Examples include: Wood, leaves, food wastes, and manure.

WATER or HYDROELECTRIC Energy from the flow of water. Why is energy of flowing water renewable?

Energy Efficiency Energy efficiency – the amount of useful energy produced compared to the amount wasted as heat; built into the device or system, unavoidable waste Examples of levels of energy efficiency: human body: 20-25% incandescent lightbulb: 5% internal combustion engine: 20-25% steam turbine: 45%

Energy Conservation Energy conservation – making an effort to reduce the amount of energy used… some waste can be avoided

Use of energy resources in the U.S. U.S. has 4.6% of world population; uses 24% of the world’s energy

SUMMARY What are the differences between nonrenewable and renewable resources?