Chapter 14 - Nonrenewable Resources

Core Case Study: Using Hydrofracking to Produce Oil and Natural Gas

- tight oil - oil from shale rock
- horizontal drilling - drilling a vertical well deep into the earth, turning the flexible shaft of the drill, and drilling horizontally to gain access to multiple oil and natural gas deposits
- hydraulic fracturing (fracking/hydrofracking) - used to free trapped oil and natural gas by high pressure pumps of water that crack the shale
- the best but most expensive option to clean up the waste is to clean up the waste and reuse it in the fracking process
- other two options are storing it in deep underground waste wells or sent to sewage treatment plants and stored in open air ponds

Where Does the Energy We Use Come From?

- the sun provides 99% of the Earth's energy
- Commercial energy - energy that is sold in the marketplace, to supplement the sun's life-sustaining energy (nonrenewable and renewable resources)
- 90% of commercial energy came from nonrenewable resources in 2015

Net Energy: It Takes Energy to Get Energy

- to produce energy, energy is used
- Net energy - the amount of high-quality energy available from a given quantity of an energy resource, minus the high-quality energy needed to make the energy available (Net Energy = E. Output - E. Input)
- Energy efficiency - using less energy to provide the same amount of useful work

We Depend Heavily on Oil

- Oil is the most widely used resource in the world and U.S.
- Crude oil (petroleum) - black, gooey liquid containing a mixture of combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities
- peak production - after a decade of pumping, the pressure in a well drops and its rate of crude oil production starts to decline
- refining - complex system which crude oil is heated and vaporized in giant columns and separated, by use of varying boiling points, into products such as gasoline, heating oil, and asphalt
- petrochemicals - chemicals obtained by refining; used as raw materials for industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, plastics, paints, and medicines

Is the World Running Out of Crude Oil?

- we use roughly 34.7 billion barrels of crude oil (stretched out would equal 19.7 million miles)
- proven oil reserves - known deposits from which oil can be extracted profitably at current prices using current technology
- oil has a medium net energy since producers have had to spend more money and use more energy to dig deeper wells
- crude oil is not running out, but the easily accessible reserves are

Oil Production and Consumption in the United States

- the U.S. uses 20% of the produced oil, produces 13% of the oil, and only has 3.2% of the world's proven crude oil reserves

Transporting Crude Oil Through Pipelines

- pipeline ruptures and spills are not uncommon due to vast amount of piping
- 2010, largest inland oil spill caused 3,190,000 liters of oil to be spilled into the Kalamazoo River due to a pipeline burst
- conflict arose due to the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline by Native American tribes since they feel that it could harm their drinking source and it crosses ancestral land

Oil Advantages and Disadvantages

Oil's Environmental Impact

- heavy crude oil - thicker and stickier (oil shale rock and oil sands)
- Shale oil - heavy oil extracted from oil shale rock
- lighter oil is trapped in-between shale rock, whereas, shale oil is dispersed within the bodies of shale rock
- the production of rock waste, possible leaks of kerogen to water tables, and high water use are disadvantages for shale oil
- oil sands/ tar sands - mixture of clay, sand, water, and organic material called bitumen - a thick, sticky, tar-like heavy oil with a high sulfur content
- low net energy, expensive, and huge environmental impacts are disadvantages for oil sands

Natural Gas is a Versatile and Widely Used Fuel

- Natural gas- a mixture of gases of which 50-90% is methane
- has a medium net energy and is used for heating, cooking, and industrial purposes
- emits 30% less CO2 than oil and 50% less than coal and produces the same amount of energy
- Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) - natural gas deposit is tapped, propane and butane gases can be liquified under high pressure and removed
- Liquified natural gas (LNG) - natural gas can also be transported across oceans by converting it at a high pressure and low temperature (lower net energy than natural gas)

Can Natural Gas Help Slow Climate Change?

- Emits less CO2 per unit of energy than coal
- Low price could slow shift to other renewable energy resources
- Methane a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2
- drilling, production, and distribution of natural gas releases large quantities of methane

Natural Gas Environmental Impacts

- uses high volumes of water; depletes environment of water
- water can be contaminated
- cement is used to prevent waste water leakage; well casing failure and cement fracking can lead to methanols emission
- earthquakes

TO PREVENT:
- eliminate exemption from laws
- use less wells
- monitor more frequently
- repair existing natural gas leaks

Coal is a Plentiful but Dirty Fuel

- coal - a solid fossil fuel formed from the remains of land plants that were buried and exposed to intense heat and pressure for 300-400 million years
- it produces 40% of the world's electricity and 30% for the U.S.
- most abundant fossil fuel, but by far the dirtiest
- medium to high net energy

We Are Not Paying the Full Cost go Using Coal

- coal is the cheapest and most plentiful;
- Marginal cost - any increase in the cost of producing an additional unit of product
- most of coals harmful impacts and health risks are not provided in its up front cost which is a violation of the full-cost pricing principle

The Future of Coal

- U.S. coal use dropped 18% between 2007 and 2013
Increased competition from natural gas, wind, and solar power
- Natural gas should overtake coal as largest electricity source by the 2030s
- U.S. coal producers are exporting coal
- Use is expanding in India, Africa, and Asia

Converting Coal into Gaseous and Liquid Fuels

- Synthetic natural gas (SNG) - coal gasification, which removes sulfur and most other impurities in coal
- lower net energy than coal; need 50% more coal to make them - 50% more carbon emission
- Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) - removes CO2 from smoke stacks of coal-burning power plants

How Does a Nuclear Fission Reactor Work

- cost much more and take loner to build than any other source of electricity
- Nuclear fission - occurs when the nuclei of certain isotopes with large mass numbers (such as uranium-235) are split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by a neutron and release energy
- as more and more isotopes split, a chain reaction occurs
- this reaction will heat water into steam which will spin a turbine to produce electricity
- Uranium is processed into pellets which are then packed closely together in fuel rods which ate placed together in fuel assemblies, and water is used as a coolant
- control rods are moved in and out of the reactor to absorb more or fewer neutrons in the nuclear fission chain reaction and regulate how much power is produced
- they can't explode like a nuke, but can have a core meltdown that will release radioactive material

What is the Nuclear Fuel Cycle?

- Nuclear fuel cycle- occurs when the mining of uranium, procession and enriching to make nuclear fuel, using it in the reactor, building a nuclear power plant, safely storing wastes for thousands of years until their radioactivity falls to safe levels, and retiring the highly radioactive nuclear plant by taking it apart and storing its high-and moderate-level radioactive material safely for thousands of years
- we should look at the overall process of nuclear cycle rather than just the power plant when discussing environmental impacts
- low net energy
- can lead to nuclear weapons

Dealing with Radioactive Nuclear Wastes

- enriched uranium lasts for about 3-4 years and the fuel rods must be disposed of
- they are stored in water-filled pools for a few years where they can then be transferred to dry casks
- deep burial in an underground repository is the cheapest safest way to store radio active wastes
- 3 ways to decommission reactors:
1. remove and store the highly radioactive parts in a permanent, secure repository
2. install a physical barrier around the plant and set up full-time security for 30-100 years before dismantling the plant
3. enclose the entire plant in a concrete and steel-reinforced tomb, called a containment structure

Can Nuclear Power Slow Climate Change?

- the actual plant is does not emit carbon, but the overall process of building it and deconstruction it emits carbon

Nuclear Power's Future is Uncertain

- it has not grown in the United States since there are faster, cheaper, and less carbon emitting alternatives
- its high cost and low net energy and nuclear weapon contribution are the main reasons preventing nuclear power from growing
- the few accidents cause fear in the public which also prevent it from growing

Case Study: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident in Japan

- March 11, 2011: accident at this power plant was caused by an earthquake that created a tsunami
5 public affects:
1. it increased public fear
2. high cost which adds to price of power plants
3. led to Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland to announced plans of phasing out nuclear energy
4. exposed Japan to air pollution
5. it caused Japan to be more efficient with their energy use

Is Nuclear Fusion the Answer

- nuclear fusion- the nuclei of two isotopes of a light element such as hydrogen are forced together at extremely high temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy in the process
- there would be no risk of the additional spread of nuclear weapons, no risk of radioactive contamination fossil fuels would also not be needed
- it is still in laboratory phase after 50 years