Questions 2-4

Oil sand/tar sand

a mixture of clay, sand, water, and bitumen—a thick, sticky, tar-like heavy oil with a high sulfur content

Shale oil

• Slow-flowing, dark brown, heavy oil obtained when kerogen in oil shale is vaporized at high temperatures and then condensed.

• Unconventional oil extracted from shale rock formations

• Shale oil can be refined to yield gasoline, heating oil, and other petroleum products.

Major advantages of using heavy oils produced from oil sand and oil shales as energy resources

Large potential supplies

Easily transported

Efficient distribution

Disadvantages of using heavy oils produced from oil sand and oil shales as energy resources

Low net energy

Water pollution

Releases CO2

Major energy resources the world and the United States rely on

fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal)

nuclear energy

renewable sources like solar, wind, and hydropower

Net energy

Usable energy from a given quantity of an energy resource, minus the high-quality energy needed to make the energy available.

The difference between energy produced and energy used to produce it

Net-energy = energy output - energy input

crude oil (petroleum)

• Contains combustible hydrocarbons

• Cannot be used as it comes out of the ground

• Must be refined using high-quality energy

• A fossil fuel extracted from the earth and refined into various products like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

• Petrochemicals—byproducts

petrochemical

used as raw materials to make industrial organic chemicals

Ex: cleaning fluids, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fibers, paints, medicines, and cosmetics

Who controls most of the world’s oil supply?

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Cons of drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere

Major advantages of using conventional oil as an energy resource

Crude Oil is Readily Available. ...

Ample supply for several decades

It Has a High Energy Density. ...

Low land disruption

Disadvantages of using conventional oil as an energy resource

environmental/water pollution

Releases CO2

climate change impacts

resource depletion

potential for accidents like oil spill