1. Fossil Fuels, Their Impacts, and Energy Conservation
Pt. 1

2. Central Case Study: Alberta’s Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Oil sands (tar sands)
Layers of sand or clay saturated with bitumen
Bitumen
Very viscous, tarry, type of petroleum
Environmental impacts
Boreal destruction
Toxic tailings (wastewater dumps)
Impacts in Canada:
Keystone XL Pipeline
To build or not to build?

3. Central Case Study: Alberta’s Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Make a list of pros and cons for building the pipeline (as you read the case study)
When you finish reading write a few sentences about the following:
If you were the president faced with this decision, what would you decide, and why?

4. Central Case Study: Alberta’s Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Pro
Jobs for U.S. workers
Dependable oil supply
Buying oil from a stable/friendly diplomatic neighbor
Reduce reliance on oil producing nations w/authoritarian gov’t & poor human rights
Con
Destruction of Boreal Forests
Transporting oil over our largest aquifer
Intensify climate change w/ increased amount of oil
Energy intensive extraction
Prolong fossil fuel dependence

6. Final Decision

8. Fossil FUELS Sunlight Photosynthesis Plant Growth Food Webs
Organic material returns to the earth
Organisms die and their chemical energy can be transferred to fossil fuels
Under the right conditions
Buried beneath many sediments
Pressure, heat, moisture, etc

9. Today we rely on three main fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas

10. Energy Use Why do we need fossil fuels?
Electricity
Transportation
Manufacturing
Heating
Cooking
Different fossil fuels have different uses
Oil
Gas & Coal
transportation
electricity

11. Sources and Consumption of Energy
The U.S. is only 4.4% of the world’s population, but consumes 19% of the world’s energy
Standardized oil equivilant “tons” of all types of energy

12. Half of the world’s proven reserves of crude oil lie in the Middle East, which is also rich in natural gas
Russia holds the most natural gas, and is also rich in coal
The U.S. possesses the most coal of any nation

13. It Takes Energy To Make Energy
Net Energy
EROI
Net Energy= Energy Returned - Energy Invested
Ex. Oil sands- transport, vast construction, Natural gas used to heat water used in separation process ALL TAKE ENERGY
Energy Returned on Investment
= E. Ret / E. Inv
Ex. EROI for Natural gas and Oil ~30:1 in the 50s, now ~11:1, LOWER because we have to work harder to extract remaining fossil fuels

14. How do Fossil Fuels Form?
Most organisms decompose under aerobic (in the presence of air) conditions
Under anaerobic conditions (little to no oxygen, i.e. swamps, lakes, sea floor) fossil fuels can form after millions of years
3 conditions that must align for fossil fuels to form
Chemical composition of material
Temperatures & pressure
+/- of anaerobic decomposers
Passage of time

15. COAL The world’s most abundant fossil fuel
Swampy environments of million years ago have created coal deposits around the world
Heat+pressure+time
The more coal is compressed, the greater the carbon content, the greater the energy per unit volume
Coal fired engines drove the industrial revolution
ELECTRICITY
Powers 40% of U.S. electricity but China is the worlds primary producer & consumer of coal

18. OIL Formed in marine environments
Dead plankton get buried in sediments, +heat +pressure and you get kerogen
Kerogen under more heat and more pressure leads to oil AND natural gas (deeper…takes more heat, more pressure to form nat. gas)
FUEL FOR VEHICLES
Gas for cars
Diesel for trucks
Jet fuel for planes
Petroleum is found in plastics, lubricants, fabrics, pharmaceuticals

20. Natural Gas Formed in the same way as oil (plankton, heat, pressure)
Gas formed in this way is THERMOGENIC, mostly methane and some other types of volatile hydrocarbons
BIOGENIC GAS formed at shallow depths by anaerobic bacteria Ex. The Landfill ***Usually pure methane***
“Clean burning” emits ½ as much Co2 as coal, 2/3 as much as oil
Bridge fuel – energy experts believe natural gas is a bridge leading from fossil-fuel economy to renewable energy of the future

21. Others Oil sands- sand/clay containing 1-20% bitumen (C rich, H poor)
Oil Sands, Oil Shale
Methane Hydrate
Oil sands- sand/clay containing 1-20% bitumen (C rich, H poor)
Oil shale- sedimentary rock filled with kerogen that can be processed into shale oil (type of petroleum)
…we will get to fracking later
“methane ice”
Ice-like solid formed in sediments in the Arctic & the ocean floor
Molecules of methane embedded in the ice

22. We are Depleting Our Reserves
We can look at the reserves-to-production ratio (R/P ratio) to estimate how many years we have left of fuel reserves w/ the current rate of production
Natural gas- 64 years
Coal- 112 years
PEAK OIL CRISIS
The point at which we have reached top production and no new oil is discovered
Peak oil could be reached anywhre from now until 2040
This will profoundly affect our lives
Lack cheap oil
Global economy could collapse
OR will we quickly find alternatives?