Unit 6- APES

Renewable vs Non-renwable

Kinetic energy, turbine, generator

Coal, Oil, natural gas

Intermittent vs base

Load power

Tax Incentive

Fracking and tar sands

Bio mass

Active vs passive solar

Full Notes: Unit 6 - Energy Resources and Consumption

Introduction to energy

Definition;

Energy - defined as the fundamental entity of nature that is transferred between parts of a system and their production of physical change within the system and is usually regarded as the capacity for doing work.

Law of Conservation of Energy - States that energy can be converted and formed but not created or destroyed remember that the sun is the source of energy for most life on Earth and as a star the sun is heated to high temperatures.

living organisms require energy to stay alive. carnivores get energy from eating other animals herbivores get energy from eating plants plants get energy from the Sun and Dutch Wars get energy from consuming dead organic matter.

Forms of energy;

Chemical- chemical energy stored in bonds between atoms and a molecule

Electical - energy results from the motion of electrons

Electromagnetic- energy Travels by waves

Mechncial - there are two types of mechanical energy potential energy a book sitting on a table and kinetic energy a baseball flying through the air

Nuclear - Nuclear energy is stored in the nuclei of atom and it is released by either splitting or joining atoms

Thermal - Heat is the internal energy in substances the vibration and movement of atoms and molecule molecules within substances

Law of Thermodynaics

First law - Energy cannot be created or destroyed

Second law - Energy what energy is converted from one form to another a less useful form result energy quality EG only 20% of the energy and gasoline is converted to mechanical energy while the rest is lost if he has known as low quality energy

6.1 renewable and nonrenewable resources

A definition: renewable energy is energy that is collected from resources that are naturally replenished on a human time scale. Example sunlight, wind, rain, Tides, waves

Renewable energy resources exist over y geographical areas in contrast to other energy sources that are concentrated and limited number of countries Robert development of renewable energy and Energy Efficiency is resulting in significant energy security climate change of mitigation and economic benefits at least 30 nations are on the road already utilize money renewable energy contributing to more than 20% of the energy Supply as 2021 renewable energy resources accounted for about 12.4% of total us primary consumption.

Definition: Non-renewable resources -

most fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal are considered non-renewable resources in that their use is not sustainable because their formation takes billions of years.

In the United States most of the current energy demand comes from non-renewable energy sources such as coal, natural gas, petroleum, propane and uranium.

The following arguments are used to defend the continued use of fossil fuels;

Abundance Supply resulting in relatively low prices for consumers

Concentrated fuel with higher net energy

infrastructure already in place for extraction, processing, and delivery

politics for example losing existing jobs are concerns over unemployed coal miners

technology already exists for their use

6.2 Global Energy Consumption

Background; the world energy consumption will grow by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2050 and will be focused in regions where strong economic growth is driving demand.

Industrial structures which include agriculture, construction, manufacturing, mining, and refining, account for the largest share of energy consumption of any end user.

People are using more energy more than ever, with the majority of the increased energy use coming from developing countries.

Today, coal, oil, and natural gas generate most of the world energy, but renewable energy is growing fast, with the pace in renewables coming at the expense of cooa, which is leveled off in response to concerns about the effect of its greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change.

6.3 Fuel Types and Uses

Background: The most widely used sources of global energy are fossil fuels, which are fuels formed from past geological remains of living organisms. This includes oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro. Renweables play a small part in the world energy consumption.

Wood:

Burning wood fuel creates the following byproducts; carbon dioxide, heat, steam, water vapor, and wood ash.

Burning wood creates more atmospheric co2, then the decomposition of wood in a forest Because by the time the bark of a dead tree has rotted, the log has already been occupied by other plants and microorganisms, which continue to sequester the CO2 by integrating the hydrocarbons of the wood into their own life cycle

Pros:

Ash can be used as fertilzer

Easily accessible near Forest

Inexpensive in rural areas

renewable energy source

Cons

accelerated soil erosion

air pollution

Deforestation

destruction of ecosystems

6.4 PEAT

Defintion: PEAT is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter, which forms when plant material does not fully decay in acidic and anaerobic conditions (eg; bongs and swamps)

It is mainly composed of vegetation such as Moses sedges and shrubs. over time, the formation of PEAT is often the first step in the geological formation of fossil fuels such as coal particularly low grade cause such as ligonite.

Studies show that PEAT is found in Northern latitudes and that has been frozen for many thousands of years is now thawing due to climate change.

PROS:

Natural deposits are found around the world. easily accessible.

technically irenewable resource however accumulates less than 1 mm/year - in an impractical growth time period for widespread use

CONS

Air pollution suit and carbon dioxide

destruction of ecosystems

production costs are high

requires transportation to sites

COAL

How is Coal Formed? Coal is formed when dead plant matter that converted much of earth's tropical land surface at one time decayed into peat and is then converted into cool but heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years.

Partially degacayed matter -> heat & pressure -> coal

There are 3 MAJOR Categories of Coal you should be familiar with.

Lignite: Often called brown, is a type of most harmful to human health and is used almost exclusively as the primary field for electric power generation around the world

Bitminous: used primarily as fuel and steam electric power generation (most commonly used) (very pollution)

Anthracite: used primarily for residential and commercial space Heating

The United States has the largest proven recoverable coal reserves in the world, where China is the world’s largest producer of coal. It supplies 40% of the worlds energy.

CONs:

Millions of tons of ash from burning coal are released into the atmosphere each year. Carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulates particles, which are extremely dangerous and heavy metals are some of the pollutants released into air when coal is burned.

Acid rain is another environmental byproduct of burning coal, which releases sulfur dioxide, and then combines with water vapor into the atmosphere to produce acid rain

US CLEAN ACT: Requires up to 90% reduction in the release of sulfur containing gases. The following are tecnicolgies to remove pollutants produced by burning coal.

Baghouse filters

burning pulverized coal at lower temperatures

coall gasification

Cyclone separator

electrostatic precipitator

Scrubbers

PROS AND CONS

PROS:

Known world coal reserves will last approximately 300 years of the current rate of consumption

They have relatively High net energy yield

US Government subsides keep prices low, making coals overall cost LOW to other fuels

CONS:

Burning call releases mercury, arsenic, sulfur, and radioactive particles in the air.

Coal contributes to global warming from emissions of cool combustion

cold contributes to the formation of acid air

contributes to the prediction of photochemical and industrial smog and releases particulates which can cause diseases