apes energy unit

how many coal fired coal plants are there, where is the biggest located, and what is the avg home usage in the US

• 589

• largest = Indiana (25 tons/min - 24/7)

• avg home usage = 10-15k kwh/yr (=10-15k lbs coal)

efficiency of coal fired plants (how much is used)

33% efficient (66% lost)

• incandecent lightblub = 10% efficient

what is the 2nd law of thermodynamics

with each energy conversion, usable energy is lost —> less efficient

voltage vs current

• voltage = potential for energy, how much can flow

• current = actual amount of electricity flowing

what is petroleum/oil mostly used for, what place has the most of it

• use = transportation (gasoline/diesel)

• place = Saudi Arabia

3 types of petroleum/oil extratction

1. pump jacks (land based)

2. oil rig (off shore)

3. tar sands (ex. in canada)

pump jacks

• old tech (more sustainable/environmentally friendly)

• land based

• roads to lead to it — concrete

• lower habitat loss

oil rigs

• new tech (less sustainable/not environmentally friendly)

• off shore

• has to go through thousands of ft of water and then it can dig

• uses LOTS of electrcity

• bad bc of potential oil spills

tar sands in canada

• bad

• surface mining

• sand grains are covered in oil and they want to seperate the oil from the sand

• uses fossil fuels to heat the sand and get the oil off

• 50x more polluting (bc ur using ff to get ff)

the deep water horizon spill

semi-submersable oil rig that exploded april 2020, oil exploded and the rig caught on fire, oil spilled in the gulf, 1st tried to set the oil in the water on fire and later used a chemical spray that made the oil solid (sinks)

• effects: can’t eat the fish, air is polluted, poured over 1 million gallons of chemicals into the water to solidify the oil (but it’s still in the water)

how many passenger vehicles in the US, how much oil does US demand per day

• 256 million passenger vehicles

• demand 19 million barrels/day

transportation of the petroleum/oil, how could it be bad

• pipelines (1000s of miles of it)

• bad bc of potential leaks and impedes migratory patterns

refining of petroleum/oil

crude oil —> furnice —> distiller column

uses of refined petroleum/oil (hightest —> lowest temp)

• high temp = cars (emmisions/exhaust — CO2, SOx, NOx, PM - soot/ash, CO - colorless and oderless and can kill u) ~~ 8,887g CO2/gallon

• second to high = airplane/jet

• second to low = trucks (*transportation)

• low temp = asphalt/road (it’s an ingredient in tar)

conservations of petroleum/oil

• manufacture IN country (don’t need as much fuel for transport)

• biofuels: ethonol (made of corn/”sugar based” — 10% in all gas) & biodiesel (made of fats, veg oil, and ALGAE)

• end fossil fuel subsidies

• raise CAFE (corp avg fuel efficiency) standards: required mpg - higher

• bike, walk, carpool, public transport, HOV lanes (promotes ridesharing)

• raise gas prices (ex. UK ~~ $10/gallon)

• better city planning for walkable/bikeable cities

• don’t idle ur car

• hybrid (mpg) vs electric (embodied energy)

#1 place in natural gas

russia (#2 is US)

formation of natural gas (an all fossile fuels) — the 4 stages

peat: poo/dead stuff (organic matter) piles up @ bottom of lake, pond, river | wet

~ 1 million yrs later ~

lignite: after lots of yrs the organic matter is underground now —> water gets squeezed out, matter is packed together

~ 1 million yrs later ~

bituminous: u can now mine it, further underground, has high sulfur tho (lots of impurities) —> acid rain due to sulfur emissions

~ 1 million yrs later ~

anthracite: hardest, highest carbon, burn the best, cleaner

extraction of natural gas

hydrolic fractoring/fracking

• force hydrochloric acid down

• crack/shake/frack (causes earthquakes) — in the shale layer

• shaking loosens the gass and the fluid takes it

• pull gas and fluid out

• seperate gas and fluid

  ---

• bad stuff: liquid forced down finds its way into aquifer —> contaminates, & the fluid is made of over 560+ chemicals

what is natural gas used for

buses/transportation, heating, cooking, electricity

triple bottom line of natural gas extraction (enviromental)

• extreme freshwater usage —> depleting aquifers

• groundwater contamination w/ CH4 and fracking fluid

• increased FF combustion bc of tractor trailers & diesel generators that pump fluid (800 gallons/day)

• methan leaks during extraction

• methane = strongest GG

• burning CH4 emits ½ as much CO2 as burning coal

triple bottom line of natural gas extraction (money)

• singing bonus for leasing land

• costs of insurance/medical bills, loss of works/livlihood

• low property values

triple bottom line of natural gas extraction (people)

• health problems from injesting contaminiated water and inhaling fumes

  • loss of taste, smell, hair (ex. that cat in the vid), chronic headaches, neuropathy: dead nerves)

• legislation: fracking is exempt from Clean Air/Water Acts

what other thing can we use as renewable energy

poo 💩

extraction of coal for electricity produciton

• habitat loss

• decreased biodiversity

• increased FF for machinery and transport

• unsafe for workers

processing of coal for electricity production

clean it —> crush it

• creates waste products (coal slurry — liquid + coal dust)

power plant (coal) for electricity production

1. combustion

2. heat boils water —> steam

3. steam turns a turbine

4. excites electrons in generator (circular motion) —> electricity

• power plant puts out CO2, SOx, NOx, PM, Hg (mercury)

  • mercury put out —> goes into ocean —> fish absorb it —> we eat it —> bad 👎

transmission (electricity production)

• power grid - OLD (1950)

• long distances ~ 2nd law of thermodynamics (the longer it is, the more energy/heat u lose)

• 33% efficient (33% of the coal is getting to ur house, the rest is lost as heat)

• HEAT LOSS

heat, AC, lights (electricity production)

• ~10 cents kwh = 1lbs coal

• SUBSIDIES make every step cheaper and cheaper

conservation of electricity

• lessen use of ur thermostat

  • summer: 70°+, open windows

  • winter: 65°, heavy curtains help w heat retention

• less light, turn off appliances/unplug when not in use

• *support legislation to end FF subsidies

solutions for electricity use (heat)

• biomass: burn firewood and trash

  • carbon neutral: no net increase of carbon, when u chop up/burn the tree, it releases the carbon it was storing — not making more

• biogas: renewable, formation of methane

  • poo, waste, plant material

• biodigester: capture methane (in a big bag the size of the classroom) —> use for cooking, heating, energy heat

  • on community lvl

solutions for electricity use (others)

• multi-source (ex. solar panels)

• localized-closer distance (increased efficieny)

what is uraniam and what is it mostly used for

• uraniam = a metal we mine out of the ground —> used for nuclear fision

• used mostly for electricity (rather than transportation)

leader in nuclear power

France (gets most of its power from nuclear power)

pros and cons of nuclear power

• pros

  • normally (per every day) nothing goes into the air, water, or soil (no harmful emissions)

  • high yield energy***

  • reprocessing

• cons

  • thermal pollution (from the warm water used to cool machinery)

  • spent fuel (nuclear fuel that has been used in a reactor)

  • terrorist attack target x NIMBY (fuel is sitting around and there’s fear of terrorist attacks, “not in my backyard” — put it somewhere else)

  • uranium is surface mined

describe the nuclear power process (include what is bad)

• neutron collides w/ uranium atom —> splits the atom —> releases energy in the form of heat —> heat boils water —> steam turns a turbine —> generator is powered

• ^free neutrons used to continue the reaction

• bad: fragments (waste) are radioactive (spontaneously releasing energy) —> health hazards (ex. cancer ~ thyroid, vomiting, diarrhea, development problems)

renewable resources: wind (causes, benefits)

• caused by changes in atmospheric temp/pressure

  • convection cell (look at pic)

• creates jobs (for maintanance/installation of wind turbines)

renewable resources: geothermal (how does it work, con)

• taking advantage of the earth’s heat (heat comes interior comes from nuclear decay)

• GHP (geothermal heat pump)

  • 10-12 ft underground is a constant 55°F

  • you use that heat and bring it into buildings for heating/cooling (start at 55 instead of 0 and then go up)

  • uses LESS electricity

• con: pricey bc of excavation ($20-25k)

renewable resources: tidal/wave (causes, how it’s used, con)

• tides caused by gravitational pull of the sun/moon (2 high tides, 2 low tides)

• wind causes waves

• tidal barrage = most efficient, as tide goes in/out the turbine spins

• can have a wind turbine at the top to make even more electricity

• con: site specific bc you can only do it near coastlines

renewable resources: solar

• PV (photovoltaic — production of electricity when exposed to sunlight)

• nuclear fusion: helium joining, how the sun gets its power

• very expensive — only stores electricity if it has a battery

• net metering = $$

  • if you’re connected to the grid, you can sell your excess power to the power company (ex. in the summer, Tucker’s power goes to surrounding neighborhoods)

renewable resources: thermal

• use sun’s heat to produce electricity

• passive system: basic, no moving parts, just capture the sun’s rays (ex. greenhouse, solar oven)

• active system: mechanical components (fans, pumps) to circulate heat-carrying fluids

• aka concentrated solar energy/power: uses groups of mirrors to concentrate solar energy on a central collector (then makes steam —> turbine —> generator —> electricity)

• con: takes up a lot of land/space, site specific (ex. desert area), steam turbines required for electricity —> water access/evaporation are concerns, also since they’re far away efficiency goes down (33% efficiency/2nd law of thermo concept)

most common source of energy in developed countries

coal

most common source of energy in developing countries

biomass (ex. they go outside and cut a tree)

most common renewable in developed countries

hydro

identify which country had the largest reserves for each resource: coal, petroluem, and natural gas

coal = US
petroluem = Saudi Arabia
natural gas = Russia

the following characterizes which renewable:

• multi use of land

• used offshore

• rare earth magnets

• fastest growing sector

wind

the following characterizes which renewable:

• California obtains 60%

• can be localized

• low emissions

geothermal (on a divergent boundary)

which country is on a divergent boundary

iceland

US gets most of its oil from ____________ and ____________

canada and mexico