FOSSIL FUELS

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FOSSIL FUELS

• CH. 10

CHAPTER 10
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• political and environmental issue
• OPEC largely Arab countries Organization of
  Petroleum Exporting Countries
• 1973 restricted import into US. ahhhhh!!!!
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve prevent crisis
  during f.f. interruption 1 billion barrels

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• 1970s US conserved drove less, bought fewer
  cars, used less heat/air
• 1980s oil prices low and consumption is high
• 1990s continued foreign dependence
• Current more non OPEC suppliers, cheap energy,
  HIGH US consumption large vehicles, larger
  energy-sucking homes (high ceilings, central air,
  hot tubs, etc.), increased speed limits from 55
  mph
• 55 US oil imported
• Supplies wont last forever

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HDC v. LDC

• 20 of population using 60 of energy
• 1 person in HDC 8 in LDC
• Ex agriculture tractors v. animals in field,
  energy to make fertilizers and pesticides
• To raise LDC standard of living usually includes
  a rise in per capita energy consumption
• Energy in US 42 industries (making chemicals,
  minerals, food) 33 make buildings comfortable
  (heat/air, lights, hot water) 25 transportation

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Fossil fuels

• Coal, oil, natural gas
• Partially decayed remnants of organism
• Supplies most of energy in N. America
• Other sources nuclear, solar, wind, etc.
• Nonrenewable resource forming, but too slowly

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Fossil fuel formation

• Ancient climate warm with many swamps with big
  trees
• Plant die, dont decompose well in watery grave
  no fungi in oxygen deprived env., anaerobic
  bacteria dont decay wood quickly
• Sea level changes, sediment traps plants
• TIME, heat, pressure ? convert nondecomposed
  plant material into carbon rich coal.
• Oil microscopic aquatic organism died and
  decompose in sediment and create oxygen deprived
  env. ? no more decomposition. Sediment covered.
• Natural gas (mainly methane) similar formation
  as oil, but hotter
• Oil/natural gas are less dense than rock tend
  to move up through porous rock and accumulate
  beneath nonporous rock

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COAL

• Industrial Revolution of mid 18th century
• Mainly for electricity other energy to melt
  iron during conversion to steel
• Different grades higher heat during formation
  drier, harder, higher energy content

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Grades of Coal
Little heat/soft Lots of heat/hard

1. Lignite soft, little heat, little sulfur lots
   in W. US
2. Subbituminous little heat and little sulfur,
   lots in Alaska
3. Bituminous (soft coal) most common, sulfur!,
   lots of heat, lots in Appalachian region
4. Anthracite (hard coal) least sulfur, highest
   heat, mostly depleted in US

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COAL RESERVES

• Most abundant ff
• China, US (25), Russia, etc.
• Last 200 years at present rate, more if deeper
  deposits become available

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SAFETY PROBLEMS WITH COAL

• Subsurface mining dangerous for miners (cave-ins)
  
• Increased risk of cancer and black lung disease

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF MINING

• Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
  (SMCRA) 1977 requires reclamation of surface
  coal mines
• Reshape land, spread topsoil, plant seeds/plants,
  sedimentation ponds confine sediment filled
  water, prevent acid mine drainage (rains through
  iron sulfide minerals and carries sulfuric acid
  to lakes/streams)

QUICK SUMMARY Water pollution sediment and
acid Land destruction removes topsoil/cant
grow plants/erosion/habitat loss
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ENVIRONMENAL IMPACTS WITH BURNING COAL

• Releases CO2 prevents heat from leaving planet
• Possible effects melt polar ice ? raise sea
  levels and flood coastal areas, increases coastal
  erosion and increase risk of violent storms
• Most CO2 per unit heat
• Most air pollution
• Mercury 1/3 of all airborne emissions
  (biomagnification!!! Consuming large fishick)
• NOx and SOx from bituminous coal H2O ? acid
  deposition
• Normal rain ph 5.6
• Effects decrease aquatic animal populations,
  damage forests

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MAKING COAL CLEANER

• 1. Scrubbers remove sulfur. Chemical react with
  sulfur to create precipitate to settle out
  expensive 10-15 of construction costs
• 2. Lime scrubbers H2O lime sprayed to
  neutralize sulfur dioxide creates calcium
  sulfate sludge. Landfills
• Resource recovery
• sell calcium sulfate (synthetic gypsum) to make
  drywall, to farmers for soil (hold water)
• Fly ash is used to make lightweight concrete
• 3. Electrostatic precipitator removes
  particulate matter (like fly ash)
• 4. fluidized-bed combustion mixes crushed coal
  with limestone during combustion. Limestone
  neutralizes sulfur-dioxide ? calcium sulfate.
  Lower temperature produces less Nox
• Produces more heat from a given amount of coal,
  less CO2 emitted per unit electricity

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Can coal ever be truly clean?

• What does that mean anyway?
• Clean coal

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Clean Air Actprotects the public from air
pollutants hazardous to our health

• Amendments of 1990
• Reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
  oxides to reduce acid rain

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OIL AND NATURAL GAS

• Most of energy used in world (including US)
• Petroleum crude oil
• Petrochemical plastics, fertilizers, pesticides
• Natural gas mainly methane, some butane,
  propane.
• very little air pollutants
• - difficult to transport b/c a gas
• Methane generate electricity, transportation
• Store butane, propane as liquid (liquified
  petroleum gas)

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EXTRACTION

• Oil pumps
• Find traps by
• Drill test holes to obtain rock samples
• Produce explosion and analyze sound waves

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Fracking hydraulic fracturing

• Water, sand, and chemicals injecting underground
  to release natural gas
• Concerns contaminating groundwater with unknown
  chemicals and methane

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RESERVES

• Oil middle east over 50/ 50 years left (not
  considering industrialization of China)
• Natural gas Russia (40) and Iran/ 150 years

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Environmental problems with natural gas and oil

• 1. burning the fuel CO2 (less with natural
  gas), acid deposition (not natural gas)
• 2. production and transport
• Exxon Valdez Alaskan Oil Spill 1989 lack of
  double hull hit reef killed birds, sea otters,
  etc.
• Persian Gulf Oil Spill biggest in world, on
  purpose, 6 million barrels
• Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill - during deep
  water drilling 5 million barrels

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

• Debate to open to oil exploration
• create jobs, area close by production
  declining, decrease dependence of foreign oil
• - hurt national wildlife refuge (platforms,
  pipelines, roads, potential spills), temporary
  amount will increase future dependence

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SYNFUELS another option for the future

• Liquid/gas from coal or other natural sources
• Drawbacks energy intensive to produce low net
  energy yield
• Types
• Methane Hydrates methane in ice (permafrost
  areas, beneath deep ocean floor) positive
  feedback (global warming)
• Tar sands have bitumen (semi-solid oil), can
  convert bitumen to oil, mined using strip-mining
• Oil Shale oily rock
• Coal-to-liquid
• Easy to transport through pipes, produce
  gasoline, can use lower grade coal, , requires
  energy

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Keystone XL pipeline

• Oil sands (tar sands) in Canada
• Concerns
• Oil spills/crossing Ogallala Aquifer
• Extracting surface mining or injecting lots of
  steam to make less thick lots of energy (lots
  of CO2)/ Boreal forest
• Expensive to turn into gasoline

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Pros/cons summary

• Coal
• plentiful, not harmful if spilled, relative
  high energy yield
• - erosion, acid mine drainage, hurts miners,
  NOx/SOx/CO2/mercury
• Oil
• cheap, versatile, high energy yield
• - NOx/SOx, CO2, , oil spills, wildlife
  habitats
• Natural gas
• no pollution from NOx and SOx, high energy
  yield
• - highly explosive, hard to transport (pipes
  carry risk of leaks/explosions), methane (CH4 is
  a greenhouse gas and ozone destroyer), least
  amount CO2

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