FOSSIL FUELS

Coal- solid fuel formed from plants ~ 300 MYA Four types of coal ranked from lesser to greater

age, exposure to pressure, and energy content.

Partner talk: which type of coal do you think is more common, bituminous or anthracite? Why?

Coal

Less energy density More energy density

Advantages Disadvantages

Energy-dense Contains impurities

Plentiful Release impurities into air when burned

Easy to exploit by surface mining Trace metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic are found in coal

Technological demands are small Combustion leads to increased levels of sulfur dioxide and other air pollutants into the atmosphere.

Economic costs are low Ash is left behind

Easy to handle and transport Carbon is released into the atmosphere which contributes to climate change

Needs little refining Mining can be dangerous to miners!

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Coal

Petroleum- a mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur that occurs in underground deposits.

Formed from ocean-dwelling phytoplankton

that died 50-150 million years ago.

Countries with the most petroleum are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran, China, Canada, and Mexico.

Petroleum

Partner Talk

All 3 North American countries are in the top 6 petroleum producers.

So why do you think we have to import so much oil from the middle east? What are some of the consequences of this?

Partner TalkWhat does the geology reading from chapter 8 (tectonic plates) have to do with this picture?

Advantages Disadvantages

Convenient to transport and use

Releases CO2 into atmosphere

More energy dense than coal

Possibility of leaks when extracted and transported

Cleaner-burning than coal

Burning releases: S, Hg, Pb, As into the atmosphere when burned

Must be refined

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Petroleum

Natural gas- exists as a component of petroleum in the ground

Also found in gaseous deposits separate from petroleum

Contains 80 to 95 percent methane and 5 to 20 percent ethane, propane, and butane.

Natural Gas

Advantages Disadvantages

Contains fewer impurities and therefore emits almost no sulfur dioxide or particulates(we can burn it safely inside!)

When unburned, methane escapes into the atmosphere – greenhouse gas

Emits only 60% as much carbon dioxide as coalVERY energy dense!

Exploration and extraction of natural gas has the potential of contaminating groundwater

Advantages and Disadvantages Natural

Gas

Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) was on last year’s AP Exam.Most students thought it was a typo! You should know a little about this process! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timfvNgr_Q4

Bitumen (tar or pitch)- a degraded type of petroleum Tar sands = mixed bitumen, water, sand, clay Difficult and expensive to mine and refine into useful

oil

Oil Sands (Tar Sands)

Canadian Tar Sands! Keystone XL pipeline!

http://action.nextgenclimate.org/page/content/barn-video-share/

Partner Talk

If tar sands are so difficult and expensive to mine and refine, why are we even talking about it?

Why is Keystone XL significant?

Peak oil – when world oil production reaches a maximum - after this we continually produce less and less oil each year

Eventually run out of oil.

The Hubbert Curve

Hubbert Curve with Tar Sands

If current global use continues, we may “run out” of conventional oil in less than 40 years.

We will probably ALWAYS have some oil, just not enough for our current uses and too costly Economics! Tar sands aren’t profitable unless

oil sells for over $70 a barrel. That only happened in the last decade (2005)

Coal supplies will last for at least 200 years, and probably much longer.

The Future of Fossil Fuel Use

Partner Talk

What are some social, economic, and environmental impacts of extracting these fossil fuels?

Write down 2 of each.