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7.1 Nonrenewable energy-fossil fuels (Oil (Oils is the second most widely…
7.1 Nonrenewable energy-fossil fuels
Energy and energy use
We ise commercial energy, energy that is sold in the marketplace, to supplement the sun't life-sustaining energy
Nonrenewable energy resources: fossil fuels and in the nuclei of certain atoms
Renewable energy resources: wind, flowing water, energy from the sun, biomass, and heat in the earth's interior
About 90% of the commercial energy used in the world comes from nonrenewable erg resources
the world depends on fossil fuels the product of an ancient plant and animal remains buried millions of years ago and subjected to intense heat and pressure
Some fossil fuel, like coal, now toward making electricity, meanwhile some fossils are used more directly
In all cases, energy is released from fossil fuels through combustion, and converted into other forms (heat, kinetic, electric, etc.)
Net energy is the amount of high quality energy available from a given quanitit of energy resources, minus the high quality energy need to make the energy available.
Net energy = energy output - energy input
Energy density is the amount of energy available per kilogram of resource
Oil
Oils is the second most widely used energy resource in the world and the most widely used energy in the Unites States
We use oil to transport people goods, heat homes, grow food, make energy resources available for use, manafacture most f the things we use every day from plastics to cosmetics to asphalts on roads
Crude oil, petroleum or coventina oil, contains a mixture od combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities
Geologists survey landscapes on the ground and from the air to identify tock formation that might have oil deposits and they make seismic survey of its rock formations, then geologist drill an exploratory well to learn whether the sierras enough oil to be extracted profitably. If It does, a well is drilled and the oil is drawn by gravity out of the rock pores, flow to the bottom of the well and is pumped from there to the surface. After years of plumping, usually a decade or so, the pressure in a well drops and its rate of crude oil production starts to decline. This point is referred as peak production form the we'll
Refining requires a large energy input- decreases the energy oil
34 billion barrels of crude oil used worldwide
Proven oil reserves: down deposits from which oil can be extracted profitably at current prices using current technology
net energy fro extracting oil has dropped by more han 50%. There is nt global shortage of oil, but there is an increasing shortage of cheap oil. Producers now have to spend more more and more energy to extract and transport oil
As a result, oil has a medium net energy (and is decreasing( and is more destructive (higher environmental impact)
Hydrofracking
Geologists have known for decades about vast deposits of oil and natural gas that is integrated within bodies of shale rock
Hydrofaulic fracturing = hydrofracking
High pressure trumps force a mixture of water, sand, and cocktail of chemicals through hole in the well pipe to fracture he shas rock and create cracks
EEhen the pressure is released a mexture of oil and about half of the slurry flows to the surface through the well pipe
Problems with hydrofracking:
huge energy input,
uses large amounts of water
Wastewater- can contaminate local environements
Natural gases
Are cheaper to extract
less expensive and take less time to build
Burns cleaner than oil and much cleaner than coal
Coal
Coal is a solid fossil fuel formed from the remains o and plants that were buried and exposed to insets heat and pressure for 300-400 millions years
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel
Coal is burned int power plants to produce electrify and burned in industrial plants to produce the intense heat required to make steel, cement and other products
Coal is by far the dirties of all fossil fuels
Coals burning plants are among the largest emitters of C02, which contributes to atmospheric warming and climate change
Mining coals severely degrades lands
Release large amounts for black carbon particulates, or soot, and much smaller, fin particles of air pollutant such as toxic mercury
Because of air pollution law, coal burning plants use scrubbers to remove toxic pollutants before they leave the smokestacks
This reduces air pollution but produces a dust like material called coal ash, which can contain dangerous, indestructible chemical elements such as arsenic, land, mercury, cadmium, and radioactive radium
We are not playing the full cost of using coal
Phase of out subsidies and tax breaks
Tax C02 emmisssions
Create and enforce stricter air pollution controls
Regulate coal ash
Synfuels
Solid coa can be converted into synhetuc natural gas by a process called gasification, which removes sulfur and most other impurities from coal
Coal can be converted into liquid fuels such as methanol and synthetic gasoline through a process called coal liquefaction
hs fuels called synfuels, are often referred as cleaner versions of coal
However, compered to burning coal directly, producing synfuel requires the mining of 50% more coal
So, although less toxic, synfuels add 50% more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, more climate change, ocean acidification and water shortages
