Non-sustainable energy: Drilling for oil

Definition Renewable resources: Nonrenewable resources: any natural resource that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time Nonrenewable resources: natural resource which cannot be reproduced, grown, generated Resources that are consumed much faster than nature can create them

Definition* Crude oil/petroleum - "unprocessed" oil, the stuff that comes out of the ground Hydrocarbons – a compound of hydrogen and carbon naturally-occurring flammable mixture of hydrocarbons found in geologic formations

Crude oil Remains of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago in a marine (water) environment before the dinosaurs   Over the years, the remains were covered by layers of mud Heat and pressure from these layers helped the remains turn into what we today call crude oil

Crude oil refinery http://static.howstuffworks.com/flash/oil-refining.swf

Usage Kerosene Waxes Lubricants Asphalt Rubber Textile Sport equipments Basket balls Hockey sticks Top two – gasoline 19%, Diesel 10%

Where to drill? Geologists examine surface rocks and terrain, with the additional help:  satellite images gravity meters magnetometers Gravity meters - they can use sensitive gravity meters to measure tiny changes in the Earth's gravitational field that could indicate flowing oil, Magnetometers -  to measure tiny changes in the Earth's magnetic field caused by flowing oil

Oil sands

Bitumen A layer of water and heavy oil that cover grains of sand

Where is oil crude oil found?

Alberta’s oil sands

Consideration before beginning Land must be cleared and leveled May need to build roads Need a source of water Waste disposal Water - Because water is used in drilling, there must be a source of water nearby. If there is no natural source, the crew drills a water well. Waste disposal - The crew digs a reserve pit, which is used to dispose of rock cuttings and drilling mud during the drilling process, and lines it with plastic to protect the environment. If the site is an ecologically sensitive area, such as a marsh or wilderness, then the cuttings and mud must be disposed of offsite -- trucked away instead of placed in a pit.

Flattening out the land

Alberta

Extracting bitumen Too thick to pump out so bitumen must be dug out

Extracting bitumen

Oil

Oil

Pumping oil Christmas Tree – fast flowing wells Grasshopper – slow flowing wells

Transporting oil

Offshore drilling

Detecting oil in the ocean

Problems with offshore drilling BP oil spill

Underwater

Gulf of Mexico