APES Fossil Fuels

steps of coal formation

peat - low heat

lignite - low heat low sulfur

bituminous - high heat high sulfur

anthracite - high heat low sulfur

coal

USA, China, and Russia

combustion

thermal pollution

coal fired power plant

mine

pulverize

burn

heat boils water, liquid to steam

turbine to generator

mineral resource

naturally occurring material in or on the earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful materials at an affordable cost

ore

a rock containing enough of one or more metallic minerals that can be mined profitably

overburden

the material above the mineral in surface mining that has to be moved before mining commences

gangue

commercially valueless material

tailings

the leftovers when the gangue is removed from the ore

cyanide heap leaching

cheap technology to extract - the cyanide separates gold from ore

surface

open pit, strip mining, and mtn top removal

lots of habitat destruction

subsurface

underground coal mining can be dangerous and more expensive

AMD, explosions, ground water pollution

in-situ

dissolving subsurface deposits in water and pumping them to the surface

Mining Law of 1872

encouraged mineral exploration and mining of hard rock minerals on U.S public lands

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

requires that any surface mining can be reclaimed

oil

drilling and must be distilled through boiling

Saudi Arabia and Venezuela

prices set by OPEC

other methods are oil shale w/ fracking

natural gas

cleaner burning producing much less NOx, CO2, SO2, and particulates

fracking

ANWR

should we drill for more oil in protected ecosystems?

Keystone pipeline

carries tar sand oil from Canada to refineries in the USA

could it contaminate Ogallala

Dakota Access Pipeline

carries shale oil from North Dakota to refineries

could it contaminate Missouri River

nuclear energy

splitting nuclei fission in the core produces heat which turns water into steam, to a turbine, spinning the copper wire surrounded by a magnet inside the generator, moving electrons

fuel is uranium or plutonium

CORE

contains road, each rod contains pellets, each pellet contains the energy equivalent of 1 ton of coal or 4 barrels of crude oil

Three mile island

partial core meltdown in PA

contained but loss of coolant accident

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

oversees nuclear power plants in the US

low level nuclear waste

store for 100-500 years for decay

includes contaminated clothes and equipment

high level nuclear waste

spent fuel rods and kept at nuclear facilities

Yucca Mtn Storage Site

acid mine drainage

highly acidic water rich in heavy metals can be leached from rocks that come in contact with sulfuric acid

liming is a treatment