Nonrenewable Energy Sources Learning Goal: I will be able to list various types of nonrenewable energy sources, discuss potential environmental concerns and provide examples of disasters

What is nonrenewable? They are energy sources that are used up faster than natural processes can replace them. Most of the energy resources used to generate electricity are nonrenewable.

Fossil Fuels Oil, natural gas, and coal Are formed from the remains of swamp plants and other organisms that were buried and altered over millions of years.

Coal The most abundant fossil fuel It contains at least 50% plant remains If the consumption of coal continues at its current rate, it is estimated that the current coal supply will last for 250 years.

Oil and natural gas Are formed over millions of years Are the remains of buried microscopic marine organisms

Oil Is a thick, black liquid hydrocarbon. 41% of the energy in the U.S. comes from oil.

Natural Gas A gaseous hydrocarbon that often forms with coal, but above it, since natural gas is lighter. 24% of the energy in the U.S. comes from natural gas.

Oil and Natural Gas Americans obtain most of their energy from oil and natural gas. Natural gas is used mainly for heating and cooking. Oil is used in many ways including as heating oil, or gasoline, or in manufacturing.

How do you get fossil fuels? They are removed from the ground through mining or pumping.

Environmental Impacts of Mining??

Disasters: Oil Spills

Gulf of Mexico: 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico flowed unabated for three months in 2010 It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry

Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-filled barricades along shorelines, and dispersants were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands, and estuaries from the spreading oil

Conserve fossil fuels Slow down the current consumption rate. How?????

Nuclear Energy Alternate energy source produced from the fission, or splitting of uranium atoms. It is considered to be a nonrenewable energy source. Why? Because it uses uranium- 235 as a fuel, and a limited amount of it is available for use.

Problems with nuclear energy Nuclear power plants produce highly radioactive nuclear waste. Nuclear waste must be stored and contained for at least 10,000 years.

Nuclear Disasters: Chernobyl catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine 31 deaths and long-term effects such as cancers and deformities are still being accounted for

There was a sudden power output surge, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a more extreme spike in power output occurred, which led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. A fire sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area 350,400 people were evacuated

Childrens toys and gas masks litter a kindergarten classroom in Pripyat, Ukraine. The abandoned town sits just two miles (three kilometers) from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which exploded in the predawn hours of April 26, All 50,000 Pripyat residents were evacuated after the accident, and the town, which was created for Chernobyl employees, has not been repopulated.

The above picture was taken by Paul Fusco in an orphanage in Belarus. It is of Sasha, at the time a four and a half year-old, affected by radiation from Chernobyl.

A Modern Disaster: Fukushima

The collapse of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant caused a massive release of radioactive materials to the environment. The lives of hundreds of thousands continue to be affected by the disaster. A prompt and reliable system for evaluating the biological impacts of this accident on animals has not been available.

Learning Goal: Where are we? “I will be able to list various types of nonrenewable energy sources, discuss potential environmental concerns and provide examples of disasters”