Non-renewable Energy

Chapter 17

Renewable Vs. Nonrenewable

• Renewable Resources – Replaceable during a human lifetime.– EX: _____________________________

• Nonrenewable Resources– Replaceable, but over millions of years.– EX:______________________________

Energy Concepts

• Energy– “The ability to do ___________”.

• Energy is neither created or destroyed.

Energy “LOSS” in a car

Energy Resources

• Renewable Energy

– Hydroelectric– Wind – Solar– Biofuels– Hydrogen cell– Geothermal

• Nonrenewable Energy

– Oil– Coal– Natural gas

Worldwide Energy Sources

• Using prior knowledge or educated guesses, divide a circle (pie) into sections that best represent the percentage that each of the following energy sources contributes to the world’s supply.

– Fossil fuel power, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, wind power and solar power

Worldwide energy sources

84%

7%7% 2%

fossil fuel

nuclear power

hydroelectricpower

wind and solarpower

Fossil Fuels

• Chemical energy sources that were formed over millions of years from the remains of living plants & animals.

– Coal (solid)

– Oil (liquid)

– Natural gas (gas)

Formation of Oil

Oil (& Natural Gas) Formation

• Ancient _____________________died & quickly accumulated.

• Anaerobic (lacking oxygen) conditions prevented complete decomposition.

• Increased heat & pressure “cooked” living remains into oil & natural gas.

Formation of Coal

Coal Formation

• Ancient swamp _________ died & quickly accumulated.

• __________ (lacking oxygen) conditions prevented complete decomposition.

• Increased ________ & _______ “cooked” plant remains into coal.

• Eastern US: plants are from 300-320 million years ago• Wyoming: plants are from 40-100 mya

Which fuel do I use?

• What is the purpose?

• Which is most suitable?

Oil

What is Crude Oil?

• Petroleum (crude oil)– Thick, black oil as it

comes out of the ground

• Most valuable natural resource (?)– Gasoline, heating oil, jet

fuel, grease, wax, asphalt, plastics…

Oil (Petroleum) Facts

• Crude Oil (petroleum) is oil pumped from the ground.– Must be refined into usable products (boiled off at various

temperatures)

• Discovered in 1859 in Pennsylvania!

• Known reserves expected to last less than 50 years!– Current price per barrel: $52

Where are Gas & Oil found?

Oil Reserves in…

• United States

• Middle East

• Venezuela

• North Sea

• Siberia

• Nigeria

1. Oil Extraction

2. Oil Refining

• Refinery– Heat crude oil

– Lowest boiling point components are collected first

– Limited refineries in the world.

• Affects supplies, which affects prices.

What is petroleum used for?

• Fuel - transportation, generating electricity

• Making products - plastic, fleece, ink, floor wax, soap, carpet, nail polish, aspirin, etc. (over 6,000 products)

Advantages to using oil

• Most bang for the buck…– Gives the most energy with the least amount of

wasted energy

Environmental Concerns

• Pollution - many pollutants created when burned which leads to smog and acid rain

• Global Warming - releases CO2 when burned

• Oil Spills - damage to plants and animals

4. Oil Reserves Are Low

• Economically depleted– When 80% of a resource has been used– Cost to extract remaining supply is more

expensive than its sale price.

• Oil– At current usage

• 44 years to economic depletion! (1998)• How much is undiscovered?• Should we conserve?

OPEC• Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries– Set up in 1960 so developing countries would

get a fair price for the resource.

– Control 67% of world’s oil

– Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, and Venezuela

Natural Gas

• Underground gas– Mostly methane CH4 (50% - 90%)

Where is it found?

• In or near oil wells

What is it used for?

• Fuel for transportation

• Produces electricity

Advantages

• Burns cleaner than oil, so produces less pollutants

Coal

What is coal?

• Readily combustible rock

• The longer it’s been forming the higher the grade

• Higher grade burns cleaner

Four (4) Grades of Coal

• Peat

• Lignite

• Bituminous

• Anthracite

Grades of CoalGrades of Coal• Peat

– Earliest stage in coal formation

• Lignite (brown coal)– Low quality = low energy

• Bituminous (soft coal)– Most common

• Anthracite (hard coal)– Highest carbon = highest energy

www.uvawise.edu/philosophy/Hist%20295/ Powerpoint%5CCoal.ppt

• Carbon content increases

• Water decreases

• Burns hotter & cleaner!

Coal Facts• Most abundant fossil fuel

– 400 year supply

• 66% of known coal is located in the U.S.

• U.S. is 2nd largest consumer of coal

– China is 1st!

• Most environmentally damaging fossil fuel.

Where is it found?

• Underground

• All over the world– Most abundant in Asia and North America

U.S. Coal Deposits

World Coal Deposits

Surface Mining

-for coal that is buried less than 200 feet deep

- cheaper

Underground Mining

• for coal buried 200-1,000 ft. deep

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk-jrbCi7Sc&feature=related

• Tour through a coal mine• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkHfnp2czZQ

• Centralia, PA

What is it used for?

• Burned to generate electricity– ½ of electricity in US is from coal

• Making steel– used to smelt iron ore into iron

Advantages

1. Cheap

2. Needs little refining

Environmental Concerns

• Surface mining – removes the top of an entire mountain

• Toxic chemicals – (mercury) leach from waste rock into nearby streams

• Pollution, Acid Rain, & Global Warming – depends on the grade of the coal

Electricity

• The movement of electrons.

• Created by moving a

conducting material (copper wire) through a magnetic field.

Energy is needed to make electricity

• Where does the supply of electrons come from?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyClNtyFOs

Large Scale Electricity Production

• Coal fired power plants

1. Burn coal to make heat.

2. Heat boils water to make steam.

3. High pressured steam turns a turbine.

4. Moving turbine turns the generator (magnets and wires).

5. The magnet creates a flow of electrons = Electricity!

Turbine and Generator

Nuclear Energy

Section 17.2

United States Electricity Production

• 50.8% = coal• 19.7% = nuclear

– 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S.

– 5 nuclear power plants in PA

– Montgomery Co. = Limerick Power Plant

– No new plants ordered since 1978!

Map of the United States Showing Locations of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors

What is Radiation?• Radiation = particles given off by

unstable atoms.

• 3 Types:– Alpha (α)

• Travels few inches• Blocked by paper (skin)

– Beta (β)• Travels few feet• Blocked by aluminum, glass

– Gamma (γ)• Travels far• Blocked by lead (steel & concrete).

Background Radiation

• The amount of radiation we are exposed to daily from the environment

• Average = • 360 millirem/year

Nuclear Energy

• The energy that exists within the nucleus of an atom.

• Nuclear Fission = the release of energy from the splitting of atoms!

• Nuclear Fusion = the combining of two smaller atoms into one larger atom.

• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11945-nuclear-energy-introduction-to-nuclear-energy-video.htm

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear ChangeNuclear Fission

• Bombs & power plants

• Big, unstable isotopes are struck by neutrons, which splits the atom’s nuclei

• More neutrons “shoot out” to strike nearby atoms, causing a chain reaction.

Nuclear Fusion

• Sun and stars

• 2 small (light) atoms are forced together– H + H = He

• Need temps > 100,000,000ºC

• Releases more E than fission

Controlled Nuclear Fission Controlled Nuclear Fission ReactionReaction

cstl-cst.semo.edu/bornstein/BS105/ Energy%20Use%20-%203.ppt

Nuclear Power PlantNuclear Power Plant1. a controlled nuclear fission chain

reaction 2. heats water3. produce high-pressure steam 4. that turns turbines 5. which turns generator and creates

electricity.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power2.htm

www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.ppt

• http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/nukequiz/nukequiz_one/nuke_parts/reactor_parts.swf

• http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/animated-pwr.html

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW9qB2dN_o8&feature=related

Nuclear Reactor

• Domed building

• Where nuclear fission occurs.

• Surrounded by thick concrete, steel & lead.

• Blocks all radiation!

Inside the Reactor

• Fuel Rods– 35,000 – 70,000 fuel rods– 3% Uranium-235 pellets– In water (moderator)

• Control Rods– absorb extra neutrons– Control the chain reaction

Cooling Tower

• Water is the coolant in the system.

• Tower is used to condense hot steam to liquid water.

• Usually taken from river, lake, ocean.

• Water can be reused.

Nuclear Energy

Advantages• Efficient fuel

– Small pellet = energy of ton of coal

• Emits no greenhouse gases

• Releases less radiation than coal-fired plants

Disadvantages• U-235 supply is

nonrenewable– Expected to last 200 years.

• Building reactor is expensive.

• Long-term storage of nuclear “wastes”.

• Possible meltdowns & accidents.

The time needed for one-half of the nuclei in a radioisotope to decay and emit their radiation to form a different isotope

Half-time emitted Uranium 235 710 million yrs alpha, gammaPlutonium 239 24.000 yrs alpha, gamma

During operation, nuclear power plants produce radioactive wastes, including some that remain dangerous for tens of thousands of years

Half-LifeHalf-Life

www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.ppt

Yucca Mountain

• An underground storage facility for the long-term management of all U.S. radioactive waste.– 10,000 years and beyond

• Construction started:2002• Set to receive waste: 2017• Waste currently stored on-site at

nuclear facilities.

• http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/search/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=BE0FB49C-7C70-4C56-95F2-B3904BC9077F

• 10 min video on nuclear energy– Fission, fusion, overview

• http://www.ida.liu.se/~her/npp/demo.html#instructions

• Reactor simulator

• Genetic damages: from mutations that alter genes

• Genetic defects can become apparent in the next generation

• Somatic damages: to tissue, such as burns, miscarriages & cancers

Effects of RadiationEffects of Radiation

www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.ppt