Nonrenewable Energy

1
Nonrenewable Energy

• Chapter 15

2
15-1 What Major Sources of Energy Do We Use?

• Concept 15-1A About three-quarters of the
  worlds commercial energy comes from nonrenewable
  fossil fuels and the rest comes from nonrenewable
  nuclear fuel and renewable sources.
• Concept 15-1B Net energy is the amount of
  high-quality usable energy available from a
  resource after the amount of energy needed to
  make it available is subtracted.

3
How Long Will the Oil Party Last?

• Saudi Arabia could supply the world with oil for
  about 10 years.
• The Alaskas North Slope could meet the world oil
  demand for 6 months (U.S. 3 years).
• Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would
  meet the world demand for 1-5 months (U.S. 7-25
  months).

4
How Long Will the Oil Party Last?

• We have three options
• Look for more oil.
• Use or waste less oil.
• Use something else.

Figure 16-1
5
Oil projections
6
Natural Capital Important Nonrenewable Energy
Resources
Fig 15-2
7
Commercial Energy Use by Source for the World and
the United States
Fig 15-3
8
International Energy information
Click for International Energy Agency
9
U.S. historical energy trends
10
Energy flow in U.S.
11
Net Energy Ratios for Various Energy Systems over
Their Estimated Lifetimes
Fig 15-A
12
15-2 What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Oil?

• Concept 15-2A Conventional oil is currently
  abundant, has a high net energy yield, and is
  relatively inexpensive, but using it causes air
  and water pollution and releases greenhouse gases
  to the atmosphere.
• Concept 15-2B Heavy oils from oil sand and oil
  shale exist in potentially large supplies but
  have low net energy yields and higher
  environmental impacts than conventional oil has.

13
OIL

• Crude oil (petroleum) is a thick liquid
  containing hydrocarbons that we extract from
  underground deposits and separate into products
  such as gasoline, heating oil and asphalt.
• Only 35-50 can be economically recovered from a
  deposit.
• As prices rise, about 10-25 more can be
  recovered from expensive secondary extraction
  techniques.
• This lowers the net energy yield.

14
General Classification of Nonrenewable Mineral
Resources

• Examples are fossil fuels (coal, oil), metallic
  minerals (copper, iron), and nonmetallic minerals
  (sand, gravel).

15
Science Refining Crude Oil
Fig 15-4
16
What comes from a barrel of oil?
17
OPEC Controls Most of the Worlds Oil Supplies

• Possible effects of steeply rising oil prices
• Reduce energy waste
• Shift to non-carbon energy sources
• Higher prices for products made with
  petrochemicals
• Higher food prices buy locally-produced food
• Airfares higher
• Smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles
• Upgrade of public transportation

18
Energy in CaliforniaForeign Source Crude Oil
2008
Click for Ca Energy Commission
19
OIL

• Inflation-adjusted price of oil, 1950-2006.
• What is the cost today? Click

20
U.S. oil supplies
Click for EIA data
21
The Amount of Oil That Might Be Found in the ANWR
Fig 15-5
22
Oil in the SBC
Click for SB Channel Keepers
Click for SB County
23
Gasoline in California
Click for animation ground to car
24
National Gasoline Tax
25
(No Transcript)
26
What will motor vehicle fuel cost in the future?
Annual Energy Outlook 2008 with Projections to
2030 Source EIA http//www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/
gas.html
27
Trade-Offs Conventional Oil, Advantages and
Disadvantages
Fig 15-6
28
Oil Shale Rock and the Shale Oil Extracted from It
29
Trade-Offs Heavy Oils from Oil Shale and Oil
Sand
Fig 15-9
30
15-3 What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Natural Gas?

• Concept 15-3 Conventional natural gas is more
  plentiful than oil, has a high net energy yield
  and a fairly low cost, and has the lowest
  environmental impact of all fossil fuels.

31
How electricity is made in California
32
How does natural gas get to your home?
Click for EIA report
33
NATURAL GAS

• Russia and Iran have almost half of the worlds
  reserves of conventional gas, and global reserves
  should last 62-125 years.
• Natural gas is versatile and clean-burning fuel,
  but it releases the greenhouse gases carbon
  dioxide (when burned) and methane (from leaks)
  into the troposphere.

34
Liquified Natural Gas
Click for EIA report
35
Shale Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing
36
Shale Natural Gas continued

• Prices of Natural Gas have dropped unit 1000
  cubic feet
• 90s 2, 2005 15, 2010 3.50
• Shale Gas reserves increased 50 from 2007 to
  2008 with 30 of this in Texas
• Project 4/1000 cubic feet for next 80 years
• Low Price Making Wind and Nuke investment slow or
  stop
• Concerns about Groundwater Pollution

37
Shale Natural Gas and Groundwater
Many cases of water contamination from shale
gas drilling operations, which use high-volume
hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), exist Thousands of
problems, including spills, leaks, and the
seepage of contaminants into drinking water
supplies, have been documented around the country
in conjunction with shale gas extraction by HVHF.
? Houses, water wells, and pipelines have
exploded, and people have found methane levels in
their water so high that they could light it on
fire with a match. No studies have demonstrated
that gas extraction operations using HVHF do not
cause water contamination In 2010, both the EPA
and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
under Senator Waxman initiated major studies on
the health and environmental impacts of hydraulic
fracturing. Hydrofracking is not an exact
science When gas companies fracture the shale,
they do not have complete control over where
fractures will develop, so fracturing fluids and
natural gas can move in unexpected
directions,ending up in aquifers and water wells.
Vast numbers of uncapped gas wells threaten
aquifers and drinking wells 18,000 to 48,000
abandoned oil and gas wells that have not been
capped exist in NY. During hydrofracking and
deep-well injection, the high pressure can force
the toxic fluids up through any existing uncapped
wells, contaminating aquifers and drinking
wells. The process itself is not a problem. We
know how to do these things correctly we know
how to do the job right But theres a lot of
operators who arent doing it right. Ron Nelson,
a retired BP Amoco geologist . From Houston
Business Journal, Oct 11, 2010.
38
Natural Gas Projections by EIA
39
Trade-Offs Conventional Natural Gas
Fig 15-10
40
15-4 What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Coal?

• Concept 15-4A Conventional coal is very
  plentiful and has a high net energy yield and low
  cost, but it has a very high environmental
  impact.
• Concept 15-4B Gaseous and liquid fuels produced
  from coal could be plentiful, but they have lower
  net energy yields and higher environmental
  impacts than conventional coal has.

41
COAL

• Coal reserves in the United States, Russia, and
  China could last hundreds to over a thousand
  years.
• The U.S. has 27 of the worlds proven coal
  reserves, followed by Russia (17), and China
  (13).
• In 2005, China and the U.S. accounted for 53 of
  the global coal consumption.
• Burned in 2100 power plants, generates 40 of the
  worlds electricity

42
Stages in Coal Formation over Millions of Years
Fig 15-11
43
Science Coal-Burning Power Plant
Fig 15-12
44
Air Pollution from a Coal-Burning Industrial
Plant in India
45
Electricity production in U.S.
Click of EIA report
46
COAL

• Coal can be converted into synthetic natural gas
  (SNG or syngas) and liquid fuels (such as
  methanol or synthetic gasoline) that burn cleaner
  than coal.
• Costs are high.
• Burning them adds more CO2 to the troposphere
  than burning coal.
• Reduces net energy

47
Coal Gasification
Click for DOE project info
48
Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
Click for DOE info
49
Coal Sequestration Costs

• To sequester carbon dioxide will cost 25 per ton
  of carbon dioxide for a combined cycle plant.
  (50 per ton of carbon dioxide for a traditional
  steam powered plant.)
• This will increase the cost of producing coal
  300 to 60 per ton of coal.
• The power plant that burns the coal to make
  electricity would face a 50 rise in the cost of
  producing the electricity. This is around 2
  cents/kW-hr.
• The homeowner buying only coal produced
  electricity (at 10 Cents/kW-hr) will see a 20
  increase (10 cents to 12 cents/kW-hr) in their
  power bill.
• These estimates are from Scientific American, pp
  52, July 2005

50
CO2 Emissions Per Unit of Electrical Energy
Produced for Energy Sources
Fig 15-14
51
Case Study Coal Consumption in China

• Burns more coal than the United States, Europe,
  and Japan combined
• Coalburning plants Inefficient or non-existent
  pollution controls
• Leading area for SO2 pollution health hazard
• Acid rain due to coal burning
• Hg showing up in salmon off the western coast of
  the United States
• Air quality of Korea and Japan impacted

52
Trade-Offs Coal, Advantages and Disadvantages as
an Energy Resource
Fig 15-15
53
Trade-Offs Synthetic Fuels
Fig 15-16
54
15-5 What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Nuclear Energy?

• Concept 15-5 Nuclear power has a low
  environmental impact and a very low accident
  risk, but high costs, a low net energy yield,
  long-lived radioactive wastes, vulnerability to
  sabotage, and the potential for spreading nuclear
  weapons technology have limited its use.

55
NUCLEAR ENERGY

• When isotopes of uranium and plutonium undergo
  controlled nuclear fission, the resulting heat
  produces steam that spins turbines to generate
  electricity.
• The uranium oxide consists of about 97
  nonfissionable uranium-238 and 3 fissionable
  uranium-235.
• The concentration of uranium-235 is increased
  through an enrichment process.

56
Small amounts of radioactive gases
Control rods
Containment shell
Heat exchanger
Waste heat
Generator
Turbine
Steam
Uranium fuel input (reactor core)
Hot coolant
Useful electrical energy 2530
Hot water output
Pump
Pump
Shielding
Pump
Waste heat
Coolant
Pump
Cool water input
Moderator
Pressure vessel
Coolant passage
Water
Condenser
Water source (river, lake, ocean)
Periodic removal and storage of radioactive
wastes and spent fuel assemblies
Periodic removal and storage of radioactive
liquid wastes
Fig. 15-17, p. 387
57
After 3 or 4 Years in a Reactor, Spent Fuel Rods
Are Removed and Stored in Water
58
What Is the Nuclear Fuel Cycle?

• Mine the uranium
• Process the uranium to make the fuel
• Use it in the reactor
• Safely store the radioactive waste
• Decommission the reactor

59
Decommissioning of reactor
Fuel assemblies
Reactor
Enrichment of UF6
Fuel fabrication
(conversion of enriched UF6 to UO to UO2 and
fabrication of fuel assemblies)
Temporary storage of spent fuel assemblies
underwater or in dry casks
Conversion of U3O8 to UF6
Uranium-235 as UF6 Plutonium-239 as PuO2
Spent fuel reprocessing
Low-level radiation with long half-life
Geologic disposal of moderate- and high-level
radioactive wastes
Open fuel cycle today Recycling of nuclear fuel
Fig. 15-19, p. 389
60
What Happened to Nuclear Power?

• Slowest-growing energy source and expected to
  decline more
• Why?
• Economics construction operation costs
• Poor management
• Low net yield of energy of the nuclear fuel cycle
• Safety concerns
• Need for greater government subsidies
• Concerns of transporting uranium

61
Case Study Worst Nuclear Power Plant Accident in
the World

• Chernobyl
• April 26, 1986
• In Chernobyl, Ukraine
• Series of explosions caused the roof of a reactor
  building to blow off
• Partial meltdown and fire for 10 days
• Huge radioactive cloud spread over many countries
  and eventually the world
• 350,000 people left their homes
• Effects on human health, water supply, and
  agriculture

62
TRADE-OFFS
Conventional Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Advantages
Disadvantages
Large fuel supply
Cannot compete economically without huge
government subsidies
Low environmental impact (without accidents)
Low net energy yield
High environmental impact (with major accidents)
Emits 1/6 as much CO2 as coal
Environmental costs not included in market price
Moderate land disruption and water pollution
(without accidents)
Risk of catastrophic accidents
Moderate land use
No widely acceptable solution for long-term
storage of radioactive wastes
Low risk of accidents because of multiple safety
systems (except for Chernobyl-type reactors)
Subject to terrorist attacks
Spreads knowledge and technology for building
nuclear weapons
Fig. 15-21, p. 391
63
TRADE-OFFS
Coal vs. Nuclear
Coal
Nuclear
Ample supply
Ample supply of uranium
High net energy yield
Low net energy yield
Very high air pollution
Low air pollution
Low CO2 emissions
High CO2 emissions
Much lower land disruption from surface mining
High land disruption from surface mining
Moderate land use
High land use
Low cost (with huge subsidies)
High cost (even with huge subsidies)
Fig. 15-22, p. 392
64
Will Nuclear Fusion Save Us?

• Nuclear fusion is the power of the future and
  always will be
• Still in the laboratory phase after 50 years of
  research and 34 billion dollars
• 2006 U.S., China, Russia, Japan, South Korea,
  and European Union
• Will build a large-scale experimental nuclear
  fusion reactor by 2040

65
New and Safer Reactors

• Pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) are smaller
  reactors that minimize the chances of runaway
  chain reactions.

Click for MIT
66
Science Focus Are New and Safer Nuclear Reactors
the Answer?

• New Generation nuclear reactors must satisfy
  these five criteria
• Safe-runaway chain reaction is impossible
• Fuel can not be used for nuclear weapons
• Easily disposed of fuel
• Nuclear fuel cycle must generate a higher net
  energy yield than other alternative fuels,
  without huge government subsidies
• Emit fewer greenhouse gases than other fuels

67
Future Energy Projections of U.S.
Click for projection report