1. Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Chapter 12
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Friedland and Relyea Environmental Science for AP®, second edition
© 2015 W.H. Freeman and Company/BFW
AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board®, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

2. Patterns of Energy Use
After this portion of the lecture, you should be able to
describe the use of nonrenewable energy in the world and in the United States.
explain why different forms of energy are best suited for certain purposes.
understand the primary ways that electricity is generated in the United States.

3. First Law of Thermodynamics
→ Conservation of Energy:
Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another.

4. The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Heat can flow spontaneously from a hot object to a cold object; it will not flow spontaneously from a cold object to a hot object.
The total entropy of an isolated system never decreases. Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. This gives us yet another statement of the second law:
Natural processes tend to move toward a state of greater disorder.
Example: If you put milk in your coffee and stir it, you wind up with coffee that is uniform. No amount of stirring will get the milk to come back out of solution.The second law of thermodynamics is the one that defines the arrow of time—processes will occur that are not reversible.

5. Nonrenewable energy is used worldwide and in the United States
Fossil fuel A fuel derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago.
Coal, oil, and natural gas
High energy solid, liquid and gas
Nonrenewable energy resource An energy source with a finite supply, primarily the fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.
Nuclear fuel Fuel derived from radioactive materials that give off energy.

6. World Use
Every country in the world uses energy at different rates and relies on different energy resources.
which resource is readily available
which resource is economical

7. The basic unit of energy is the joule (J).
One gigajoule (GJ) is 1 billion (1 × 109 ) joules, or about as much energy as is contained in 30 L (8 gallons) of gasoline.
One exajoule (EJ) is 1 billion (1 × 109 ) gigajoules. In some figures, we also present the quad, a unit of energy used only by the U.S. government to report energy consumption.
The quad is 1 quadrillion, or 1 × 1015, British thermal units, or Btu. One quad is equal to EJ.

8. Conversion Units Joule British thermal unit (BTU)
1 joule = Btus
1 Btu = 1, joules
1 kilojoule = 1,000 joules
1 kilojoule = Btus
1 Btu = kilojoules
1 kilojoule = .239 kilocalories
1 kilocalorie (kcal) = kilojourles (kJ)
1 watt hour = 3,600 joules
1 kilowatt hour = 3.6 megajoules
1 megajoule = 1 million joules
1 terajoule = 1 million megajoules
1 British thermal unit (Btu) = 252 International Table calories
1 calorie = Btus
1 Btu = .252 kilocalories (kcal)
1 kilocalorie (kcal) = British thermal units (Btu)
1 Btu = 1,055 joules
1 Btu = kilojoules
1 kilojoule = Btus

9. Worldwide Patterns of Energy Use
Worldwide annual energy consumption, by resource, in 2011.
Oil, coal and peat, and natural gas are the major
sources of energy for the world.
WORLDWIDE CONSUMPTION

10. Worldwide Patterns of Energy Use
UNITED STATES 325 GJ/YEAR. 5X’s the World’s average
Greatest total energy?
Greatest per capita?
Global variation in total annual energy consumption and per capita energy consumption. The 10 countries shown are among the largest and the smallest energy users in the world.

11. Worldwide Patterns of Energy Use
20 percent of the world’s population lives in developed countries, those people use 70 percent of the world’s energy each year.
people living in rural areas of developing countries primarily still use such fuels as wood, charcoal, or animal waste.
Commercial energy source An energy source that is bought and sold.
Subsistence energy source An energy source gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs.

12. Worldwide Patterns of Energy Use
Energy consumption in the United States from 1850 through Wood and then coal once dominated our energy supply. Today a mix of three fossil fuels accounts for most of our energy use. The recent increase in natural gas and decrease in oil and coal is quite evident.

13. Worldwide Patterns of Energy Use
United States annual energy consumption by resource and end use in 2012.
These graphs show energy
consumption and end use in the United States. (a) United States annual energy consumption by fuel type in (b) United States end use energy sectors in Commercial includes businesses and schools.
Energy use varies regionally and seasonally.

14. Different energy forms are best suited for specific purposes
The best form of energy to use depends on the particular purpose for which it is needed.
For example, for transportation, we usually prefer gasoline or diesel fuel
wood or coal fire starts relatively slowly and if used in an automobile, it would take a long time to get enough heat to power the car

15. Quantifying Energy Efficiency
when energy is transformed, its ability to do work diminishes because some energy is lost during each conversion.
the efficiency of converting coal into electricity is approximately 35 percent
It is possible to determine energy efficiency by calculating the energy return on energy investment (EROEI)
EROI = Energy obtained from fuel ÷ Energy invested to obtain fuel
The larger the value of EROI, the more efficient the fuel.

16. For example, in order to obtain 100 J of coal from a surface coal mine, 5 J of energy is expended.
EROEI = 100 J/5 J = 20
If we add in the cost to extract, process and deliver natural gas the efficiency is higher than the electric.

17. Quantifying Energy Efficiency
Inefficiencies in energy extraction and use. Coal provides an example of inefficiencies in energy extraction and use. Energy is lost at each stage of the process, from extraction, processing, and transport of the fuel to the disposal of waste products.

18. Efficiency and Transportation
Nearly 30 percent of energy use in the United States is for transportation, This is an area in which efficiency is particularly important.
Transportation is achieved primarily through the use of vehicles fueled by petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel.

19. Electricity accounts for 40 percent of our energy use
Electricity can be generated from many different sources
Electricity is a secondary source of energy, meaning that we obtain it from the conversion of a primary source.
Energy carrier Something that can move and deliver energy in a convenient, usable form to end users.

20. The Process of Electricity Generation
All thermal power plants convert the potential energy of a fuel into electricity.
Turbine A device with blades that can be turned by water, wind, steam, or exhaust gas from combustion that turns a generator in an electricity-producing plant.
Electrical grid A network of interconnected transmission lines that joins power plants together and links them with end users of electricity.

21. The Process of Electricity Generation
Steps for using coal to produce electricity:
The burning fuel from coal transfers energy to water, which becomes steam.
The kinetic energy contained within the steam is transferred to the blades of a turbine, a large device that resembles a fan.
As the energy in the steam turns the turbine, the shaft in the center of the turbine turns the generator.
This mechanical motion generates electricity.

22. The Process of Electricity Generation
A coal-fired electricity generation plant. Energy from coal combustion converts water into steam, which turns a turbine. The turbine turns a generator, which produces electricity.

23. Efficiency of Electricity Generation
Combined cycle A power plant that uses both exhaust gases and steam turbines to generate electricity. Increases efficiency (30% to ~ 60%)
Capacity In reference to an electricity-generating plant, the maximum electrical output.
capacity of 500 MW day = 12,000 MWh
most homes measure electricity in kWh so the plant would generate 12,000,000 kWh/day
Capacity factor The fraction of time a power plant operates in a year.
Most have a capacity factor of 0.9 or higher
Wind may only have 0.25

24. 900 kWh∕month × 12 months∕year = 10,800 kWh∕year
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a typical home in the United States uses approximately 900 kWh of electricity per month. On an annual basis, this is
900 kWh∕month × 12 months∕year = 10,800 kWh∕year
How many homes can a 500 MW power plant with a 0.9 capacity factor support? Begin by determining how much electricity the plant can provide per month:
1 MWh equals 1,000 kWh, so to convert MWh per month into kWh per month, we multiply by 1,000:
500 MW X 24 hours/day X 30 days/month X 0.9 =324,000 MWh/month
324,000 MWh/month X 1,000 kWh/MWh = 324,000,000 kWh/month
324,000,000 kWh/month ➗ 900 kWh/month/home = 360,000 homes

25. Efficiency of Electricity Generation
Cogeneration The use of a fuel to generate electricity and produce heat. Also known as combined heat and power.
For example, if steam is used for industrial purposes or to heat buildings it is diverted to turn a turbine first.
This improves the efficiency to as high as 90 percent.

26. Fossil Fuel Resources After this lecture, you should be able to
discuss the uses of coal and its consequences.
discuss the uses of petroleum and its consequences.
discuss the uses of natural gas and its consequences.
discuss the uses of oil sands and liquefied coal and their consequences.
describe future prospects for fossil fuel use.

27. Coal is the most abundant and dirtiest of the fossil fuels
Coal A solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant materials preserved 280 million to 360 million years ago.
There are four types of coal: 
Peat: low heat content
Lignite: low heat content, sedimentary rock
Bituminous: extensively used, high heat, aka “soft coal” High sulfur content
Anthracite: highest heat content, supplies limited, aka “hard coal”
The largest coal reserves are in the United States, Russia, China, and India.

28. Coal Sub-bituminous would go here!
The coal formation process. Peat is the raw material from which coal is formed. Over
millions of years and under increasing pressure due to burial under more and more layers of rock and sediment, various types of coal are formed.

29. Advantages of Coal Energy-dense Plentiful
Easy to exploit by surface mining
Needs little refining
Inexpensive
Easy to handle and transport

30. Disadvantages of Coal Contains impurities
Releases impurities into air when burned
Trace metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic are found in coal
Combustion leads to increased levels air pollutants
Ash is left behind, leads to possible runoff
Carbon is released into the atmosphere

31. Coal Extraction
Subsurface mining: underground, labor intensive, dangerous (methane, cave-ins, black lung disease)
Surface mining/area strip mining: coal close to surface, bulldozers remove surface material (strip mining=flat areas, contour strip mining=hills, mountains)
Open-pit mining (quarry)
-All 3 done in Appalachia but first two most prevalent (soft coal)
Coal is ~25% of world’s commercial energy.
Major users: China, Russia, U.S., Germany, India

33. World coal reserves

34. Coal-fired power plants
1. Coal is pulverized and burned in boiler
2. Boiling water turns into high-temp. steam
3. Steam turns shaft of turbine, which turns rotor of a generator
4. Generator produces electrical current

35. Coal liquefaction converting solid coal to liquid, gas
produces “synthetic natural gas”
Pro’s:
can be used to produce heat, electricity
easily transported and produces less pollution during transport
Con’s:
low net E. yield, polluting
large use of “synfuels” would accelerate FF depletion