Natural Resources

FOSSIL FUELS– Take millions of years to form– Form from ancient decaying

organic/living material– three types:

• coal (hydrocarbon rock) • oil/petroleum (mixture of liquid

hydrocarbons)• natural gas (mixture of gaseous

hydrocarbons)

– We’re currently using them up at a record pace.

– Oil spills are a big problem.

NUCLEAR ENERGY

– Heavy nuclei (uranium-238) are bombarded with neutrons, causing the atom to split, releasing energy.

– Nuclear Power Plants are very safe if they’re built properly. They are designed to contain any radioactive leaks within the “containment building”… but sometimes mistakes happen, causing massive amounts of harmful radiation to leak out.

SOLAR ENERGY

– Light energy harnessed from the sun

– Photovoltaic Cells (solar panels) are very expensive to build and install… but once you’ve got them, you have free energy! (Last time I checked, sunlight was free!)

WIND ENERGY– Using wind to turn

aerogenerators or wind turbines to generate electricity.

– Drawback: it’s not very windy everywhere… the most wind is usually on the tops of tall mountains or in very flat areas.

HYDROELECTRIC ENERGY– Running water in rivers turns

turbines inside dams to generate electricity.

– Building a dam creates great recreation area, and prevents flooding during heavy rains.

– Building a dam destroys the habitat of the organisms that live upstream and downstream from the dam.

– Fish cannot swim past most dams, so spawning is difficult or impossible.

TIDAL ENERGY• Tidal dams are built

across bays…

• When the tides come in and go out,

• The water pushes air that turns turbines

• To generate electricity.

• How many places on earth can take advantage of tidal energy?

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

– Hot water from deep underground creates steam

– The steam turns turbines which generate electricity

– How does digging the wells for this type of energy affect the environment?

Fuel Cells• A fuel cell is an electrochemical

device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity

• Water and heat are by-products • Advantages:

• Fuel cells operate silently, so they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution

• The waste heat from a fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or office. 

• Very efficient

• Disadvantages:• Expensive

• Very flammable gas

• Issue with onboard storage unit (too large)

Biomass

• Biomass energy, or "bioenergy"—the energy from plants and plant-derived materials

• Advantages: – CO2 production = CO2 intake, so no

excess greenhouse gases are created– Can be found worldwide– Lower landfill use

• Disadvantages: – crops take up a lot of land and water;

– planting and harvesting take lots of energy;

– crops are not available year round

Biofuels

Biomass can be converteddirectly into liquid fuels, called "biofuels,” to be used for transportation

– Ethanol is an alcohol created from biomass (usually corn)

– Biodiesel is made by combining alcohol (usually methanol) with vegetable oil, animal fat, or recycled cooking grease.

– Blended with gasoline, both increase vehicle performance and cut down carbon monoxide and other smog-causing emissions.