1. Nonrenewable Energy Resources

2. Key Concepts Available energy alternatives Oil resources
Natural gas resources
Coal resources
Nuclear fission and fusion

3. Evaluating Energy Resources
Renewable energy
Non-renewable energy
Future availability
Net energy yield
Costs
Environmental effects

4. Important Nonrenewable Energy Sources

5. North American Energy Resources

6. Active drilling sites LOUISIANA ALABAMA GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI TEXAS
FLORIDA
GULF OF MEXICO
Active drilling sites

7. 70 60 50 40
Oil price per barrel 30 20
(1997 dollars) 10
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Year

8. Oil (million barrels per day)30
History
Projections 25 20
Net
imports
Consumption
Oil (million barrels per day) 15 10
Domestic
supply 5
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Year

9. Oil (million barrels per day)
History
Projections
120
100 80
Total
Oil (million barrels per day) 60
Developed 40 20
Developing
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Year

10. Oil Petroleum (crude oil) Recovery Petrochemicals Refining
Transporting

11. Conventional Oil: Advantages
Relatively low cost
High net energy yield
Efficient distribution system

12. Conventional Oil: Disadvantages
Running out
Low prices encourage waste
Air pollution and Greenhouse gases
Water pollution

13. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Controversy: Trade-offs
Would create jobs
Oil resources are uncertain
Uncertain environmental impacts
Drilling controversies

14. Drilling for Oil and Natural Gas National Wildlife Refuge
Trade-Offs
Drilling for Oil and Natural Gas
In Alaska’s Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge
Advantages
Disadvantages
Could increase U.S oil and
natural gas supplies
Could reduce oil imports
slightly
Would bring jobs and oil
revenue to Alaska
May lower oil prices slightly
Oil companies have
developed Alaskan
Oil fields without
significant harm
New drilling techniques
will leave little environ-
mental impact
Only 19% of finding oil equal to what
U.S. consumes in 7-24 months
Too little potential oil to significantly
reduce oil imports
Costs too high and potential oil supply too
little to lower energy prices
Studies show considerable oil spills and
other environmental damage from
Alaskan oil fields
Potential degradation of refuge not
worth the risk
Unnecessary if improved slant drilling
allows oil to be drilled from
outside the refuge

15. Oil Shale and Tar Sands
Oil shale
Tar sand
Bitumen
Kerogen

16. Trade-Offs Advantages Disadvantages
Heavy Oils from
Oil Shale and Oil Sand
Advantages
Disadvantages
High cost (oil shale)
Moderate cost (oil sand)
Low net energy yield
Large potential supplies,
especially oil sands
in Canada
Large amount of water needed for processing
Easily transported within
and between countries
Severe land disruption from surface mining
Water pollution from mining residues
Efficient distribution
system in place
Air pollution when burned
Technology is well developed
CO2 emissions
when burned

17. Natural Gas 50-90% methane Conventional gas Unconventional gas
Methane hydrate
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Approximate 200 year supply

18. Conventional Natural Gas
Trade-Offs
Conventional Natural Gas
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ample supplies (125 years)
Nonrenewable resource
High net energy yield
Releases CO2 when burned
Low cost (with huge subsidies)
Methane (a greenhouse gas) can leak from pipelines
Less air pollution than other fossil fuels
Difficult to transfer from one country
to another
Lower CO2 emissions than
other fossil fuels
Shipped across ocean as highly
explosive LNG
Moderate environmental impact
Sometimes burned off and
wasted at wells because of low
price
Low land use
Easily transported by pipeline
Requires pipelines
Good fuel for fuel cells and gas turbines

19. Coal Stages of coal formation Primarily strip-mined
Used mostly for generating electricity
Enough coal for about 1000 years
High environmental impact
Coal gasification and liquefaction

20. Coal Formation and Types

21. Trade-Offs Advantages Disadvantages
Coal
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ample supplies
(225–900 years)
Very high environmental impact
Severe land disturbance, air
pollution, and water pollution
High net energy yield
Low cost (with
huge subsidies)
High land use (including mining)
Mining and combustion
technology well-developed
Severe threat to human health
High CO2 emissions when burned
Air pollution can be reduced with improved
technology (but adds
to cost)
Releases radioactive particles and
mercury into air

22. Trade-Offs Advantages Disadvantages
Synthetic Fuels
Advantages
Disadvantages
Large potential supply
Low to moderate net energy yield
Higher cost than coal
Vehicle fuel
Requires mining 50% more coal
High environmental impact
Moderate cost (with large government subsidies)
Increased surface mining of coal
High water use
Lower air pollution when burned than coal
High CO2 emissions when burned

23. Nuclear Energy Fission reactors Uranium-235 Potentially dangerous
Radioactive wastes

24. Types of Radiation
Alpha Particles
Beta Particles
Gamma Rays

25. Alpha Particles Occurs in atoms with Z > 83 Helium nucleus
Large, slow moving and not very penetrating. Easy to shield against
Emission lowers atomic mass by 4
and atomic number by 2

26. Beta Particles Occurs in atoms with too high a proton/neutron ration
High energy electron from the nucleus
Small and fast, more dangerous
Daughter atom is same mass but higher atomic number than the parent atom

27. Gamma Rays Emitted when nuclei stabilize
Extremely high energy photons that travel at the speed of light
Exposure is very dangerous
Emission results is a more stable state for the same atom

30. Locations of U.S. Nuclear Power Plants1 1
Operational
Yucca Mountain high-level
nuclear waste storage site
Decommissioned

33. Salem Generating Plant, Lower Alloways Creek, NJ

37. Decommissioning of reactor Prospective “closed” end of fuel cycle
Nuclear Fuel cycle
Fuel assemblies
Decommissioning of reactor
Reactor
Enrichment UF6
Fuel fabrication
(conversion of enriched
UF6 to UO2 and fabrication
of fuel assemblies)
Temporary storage
of spent fuel assemblies
underwater or in dry casks
Uranium 235 as
UF6 Plutonium-239
as PuO2
Conversion of
U3 O8 to UF6
Spent fuel
reprocessing
Low level radiation
with long half-life
Geologic disposal of moderate
and high-level radioactive wastes
Open fuel cycle today
Prospective “closed” end of fuel cycle

38. Conventional Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Trade-Offs
Conventional Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Advantages
Disadvantages
Large fuel supply
High cost (even with large subsidies)
Low environmental
impact (without accidents)
Low net energy yield
High environmental impact (with major accidents)
Emits 1/6 as much CO2 as coal
Moderate land disruption and water pollution
(without accidents)
Catastrophic accidents can happen (Chernobyl)
No widely acceptable solution for
long-term storage of radioactive
wastes and decommissioning worn-out plants
Moderate land use
Low risk of accidents because
of multiple safety systems (except
in 35 poorly designed and run
reactors in former Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe)
Subject to terrorist attacks
Spreads knowledge and technology for building nuclear weapons

39. Serious Nuclear Accidents
Three Mile Island (1979)
Chernobyl (1986)

41. Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania

43. Chernobyl Reactor After Accident

44. Radiation Plume From Chernobyl Nuclear Accident - 26 Apr 86

45. Dealing with Nuclear Waste
High- and low-level wastes
Terrorist threats
Underground burial
Disposal in space
Burial in ice sheets
Dumping into subduction zones
Burial in ocean mud
Conversion into harmless materials

46. Yucca Mountain Controversy
Wastes stored and guarded in one place
Possible long-term groundwater contamination
Security and safety concerns during waste transport to the site

47. Nuclear power plants
Yucca Mountain
Railroads
Highways

48. Permanent Underground Disposal of Nuclear Wastes
Storage Containers
Fuel rod
Primary canister
Ground Level
Overpack
container
sealed
Unloaded from train
Personnel
elevator
Air shaft
Nuclear waste
shaft
Underground
Buried and capped
Lowered down shaft

49. Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Cinder Cone Volcanoes

51. Nuclear Alternatives New reactor designs
Breeder nuclear fission reactors
Nuclear fusion