Energy Resources (nonrenewable)

Evaluating Energy Resources 99% of energy to heat earth comes from the sun. Fossil fuels account fro about 1% of heating. Solar energy is inexhaustible and free! Solar energy also has indirect forms: wind, flowing and falling water, biomass.

So where does commercial energy come from? Commercial energy (energy sold in the markets around the world) comes from the burning of fossil fuels. These are resources gathered from the earths crust. Ex’s: Oil, natural gas, and coal.

Commercial Energy Can come from biomass, hydropower, wind energy or solar energy (renewable) Can also come from nonrenewable sources like nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

Commercial Energy Stats. Oil and natural gas are the most consumed fuel types. (who do you think uses the most?) The average American uses as much fuel in a day as an individual in the poorest countries uses in a year!! 94% of the energy used in the U.S. is nonrenewable. Why? Burning these fuels is the leading cause of localized pollution in the nation. U.S. nuclear and fossil fuel companies have been receiving subsidies that the do not need for over 5 decades.

What oil is left?

We need to Evaluate Resources that we use In order to do this we can use the measurement of net energy. The net energy of a substance in commercial terms is the amount of energy you can produce after subtracting the energy used to create said product. Essentially, it takes energy to make energy (the same is true for money)

Energy Ratios Oil has a high net energy ratio because it is easily accessible (ask Mr. Clampet) but it may not be this way for much longer. Nuclear energy has a lower energy ratio at first due to the tremendous costs of running and building a power plant. You must extract and process U ore, convert it to nuclear fuel rods, build the plant, operate the plant, and store the wastes that will likely last longer than the human race.

Oil Crude oil (petroleum) is a thick liquid containing hydrocarbons It is extracted from the ground and made into gasoline, heating oil, and asphalt. It provides 1/3 of all energy to heat homes, buildings, and run vehicles.

How to make oil It takes millions of years… Sediments of dead and buried organic material were falling onto the seafloor faster than it could decay. Pressure from the depth helped to “cook” this material and covert it to oil. Most of the oil deposit is in the form of heavy crude. This is too expensive or difficult to recover.

Drilling Drilling causes moderate damage to habitats and environments. It is not the primary problem. The problem arises when we transport the materials that we have drilled to be refined, or from the refinery. Ex: Exxon oil spill, BP gulf spill. There are ways to drill more effectively and have less of an environmental impact (slant drilling, multiple drilling sections off of one platform)

After Extraction Once it is pulled from the earth, oil is sent to a refinery. Refining the oil actually decreases the net energy yield. Petrochemicals (those created form refining the oil) are used in plastics, pesticides, paints and medicines.

International Oil OPEC (organization of petroleum exporting countries) controls most of the world’s oil. Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela Oil is the world’s largest business, so control over this gives great economic and political power.

United States Oil Supply The U.S has a very small percentage of the world’s oil resources, but we use more than almost every other country! Oil production in the U.S. is down which makes the prices higher. Why? Imports The current supply of oil should last 40-90 years. If we continue to use it at the pace we have been, we will need to discover sources as large as that of Saudi Arabia every ten years.

ANWR The Aortic Natural Wildlife Refuge is a controversial issue. This is the only strip of Alaskan coastline not open to drilling for oil. It is also 1/5 of the national wildlife system of the U.S. The tundra biome is the home of many complex organisms that cannot survive the changes that drilling here would create.

Comparison of ANWR to the United States

Reasoning for Not Drilling ANWR There is only a 1/5 chance of finding oil at this location. If we do find oil here, it will likely only last for two years or less The drilling could cause irreparable harm to the ecosystems present on the coastline Drilling here could open the door for exploratory drilling of other wildlife refuges.

Reasons For Drilling The drill area is only 2000 acres out of almost 19 million of land. Drilling here could alleviate some of our dependence on foreign oil. There are already developed sites in the area that can be adapted for our use

Oil Sands Oil Sands could be an alternative to drilling in areas protected by refuge. This material is a mixture of oil, sand, clay, water, and Bitumen It is difficult to separate the oil from the other materials. Alberta Canada has ¾ of the world’s reserves Extracting oil from these sands produces a very large amount of Carbon Dioxide pollution and localized pollution

Oil Shales Rocks containing a burnable mixture of hydrocarbons Must be heated in a huge container to extract the hydrocarbons Could be a supply of 240 times that of conventional oil. The problem is that it is extremely expensive to refine. So much so that it is not economical to do so.

Natural Gas This resource contains methane, propane, butane, and small amounts of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide Unless pipelines are built, the natural gas that is present above oil deposits (the most conventional kind) cannot be used. The fuel companies must burn off the gas before/as they get to the oil. This wastes a resource and released high amounts of Carbon Dioxide

Unconventional Natural Gas Methane hydrate is found in small bubbles trapped beneath the permafrost located within the arctic and beneath deep ocean sediments. The amount of energy trapped within these molecules is almost twice that of oil, natural gas, and coal resources combined! It is very expensive currently to gain access to this resource. Also, when it is brought to the surface it warms up and releases methane, a greenhouse gas

LPG LPG is an acronym for liquid petroleum gas. When a field of natural gas is tapped propane and butane are removed and used in liquid form as LPG. This gas is used in rural areas not reached by natural gas pipelines The rest of the methane from the natural gas is cleansed of water vapor, poisonous hydrogen sulfide, and almost all impurities before being pumped into pipelines for distribution.

LNG LNG stands for liquid natural gas. This exists at a very low temperature (to keep it a manageable liquid) It is made from natural gas that has been cooled and stored. It can be shipped internationally by container ships as long as they are refrigerated.

Benefits of Natural Gas Natural gas run turbines are much cleaner and more efficient than oil run ones. They are also cheaper to make and to run Burning natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, so its use is expected to grow dramatically

Some Statistics About Natural Gas Russia and Iran have almost half of the worlds conventional natural gas reserves. Known supplies of conventional reserves could last anywhere from 62-125 years depending on consumption. Unconventional reserves could last 200 years Like oil, natural gas production in the U.S. is expected to decline more and more. This will lead to dependence on imports of yet another fuel supply.

Coal Can be extracted by surface and underground mining Consists of carbon and small amounts of sulfur, mercury, and radioactive material. It is a solid fossil fuel formed when the buried remains of land plants were subjected to intense heat and pressure over many millions of years.

Processing After Coal is removed from the earth it is broken up, crushed, washed to remove impurities and then shipped by trains to power plants and industrial factories.

Anthracite This is the most desirable type of coal due to the fact that it is mostly made up of carbon. It has less sulfur in it to pollute the air. It burns at a very high temperature creating more energy. It is more rare, making it an expensive form of the resource

Coal Mining This is one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S.! Collapsing tunnels and the black lung are huge problems for miners. Surface mining scars the land. In most countries it is not restored at all. It is partially restored in the United States.

Types of Surface Mining Area Strip Mining: Used to extract coal near the surface on flat terrain Contour strip mining: on hilly or mountainous terrain. Entire mountaintops can be removed in some cases.

Stats on Coal Coal is burned mostly to produce electricity and steel. United States has 25% of the total reserves, Russia has 16% and China has 12% Coal is burned to generate 62% of the world’s power (52% U.S.) Identified and unidentified supplies could last 214-1125 years. As of 2002, coal usage was split between U.S. and China

Environmental Impact of Coal Coal accounts for over 1/3 of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions. It is dirty fuel!!! Air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, particulates and toxic metals (mercury arsenic and lead) kill thousands of people prematurely It causes over 50,000 cases of respiratory illness yearly and results in several billion dollars in property damage It is responsible for ¼ of atmospheric mercury pollution in the U.S. and it releases far more radioactive material than normally active nuclear plants.

SNG Synthetic natural gas is created through coal gasification. Liquid fuels like methanol or synthetic gasoline can be created by liquefying coal. They cost more, require 50% more coal, and give off 50% more carbon dioxide Technology is advancing that could make the process of turning coal into SNG or synthetic fuel cheaper and cleaner.