Non-Renewable Energy Resources

Global Energy Consumption by Source

• What is the total percentage for fossil fuels?– 80%

• What is the total percentage for nuclear?

Fossil fuels

• Oil (crude oil, petroleum)• Coal• Natural Gas• all formed millions to hundreds of millions

of years ago– Carboniferous age (360-280 million years ago)

• ``cooking’’ of dead organic matter

How do we generate electricity from these fuel sources?

-A fancy way of boiling water1.Heat is generated by burning of fossil fuels or nuclear reaction2.Heat causes water to boil which generates steam3.Steam causes a turbine to spin which generates electricity

Coal

-World coal production in 2010-http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=4210

Coal

Coal

• How does coal form?– Forms from dead and decaying organic material (plants)

in swampy areas– As it gets buried, temperature and pressure “cook” it

Coal

Coal

• Shaft mining– Less environmental

impact than open pit– More dangerous

Coal• Open pit coal mine

– Very large! Some can be seen from space

Coal

More impacts on the environment

Less dangerous than shaft mining

Coal• Burning coal produces air

pollution

• All coal burning produces sulfur which can cause acid rain

• In China there are “blue sky” ratings based on the days Air Quality Index (AQI) as a result of air pollution

Natural Gas

• Mainly methane: CH4

• Does methane smell?– No. The gas that is piped into your home for

heating or cooking has a smell added to it so you can detect a leak or malfunctioning appliance.

• Burns relatively cleanly

Natural Gas

• Electric power is the largest use of natural gas

• Residential use includes home heating and cooking

State-of-the-art landfill

Captures methane

Natural Gas and OilFormation• In seas

• Small organisms—plants and animals—settled out in the mud at the bottom– Buried under more silt, mud– Cooked under heat and pressure

• Oil eventually moved into permeable rock—reservoirs—where oil is found today

Tiny plants and animals

Natural Gas and Oil

Oil

Top 10 oil producing countries for 2007in millions of barrels per day (mbpd)

Oil (tar sands)Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada

Oil (tar sands)

Oil

Oil (tar sands)

Oil (tar sands)

Trans-Alaska Pipeline

Prudhoe Bay Field

Port of Valdez

1300 km (800 mi) long

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_alaska_pipeline

Trans-Alaska Pipelinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_alaska_pipeline

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov

Exxon Valdez aground on a reef, Prince William Sound, Alaska

-March 198911 million gallons of oil were spilled

(roughly equal to 17 Olympic size swimming pools)

Oil

• Deep ocean oil drilling is more difficult and more expensive than drilling on land

The Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform caught fire and sank with the loss of 11 crew members, as the well was being closed pending later production.

April 20, 2010

Oil

Peak OilPeak Oil- the point in time when a maximum rate of oil extraction is reached

Peak Oil