Unit 6-Nonrenewable and Renewable Energy

4 nonrenewable resource

  • Coal

    -Fossil Fuel

    -Coal and Coke used to produce

  • Oil

    -Fossil Fuel

    -“Crude oil”

    - Oil and petroleum

  • Natural Gas-Fossil Fuel

  • Nuclear Energy

    - Uranium (Fuel Source)

5 renewable resources

  • Solar Energy

  • Wind

  • Hydrogen

  • Biomass

  • Geothermal

Energy Consumption of Resources

  • As the world becomes more industrialized, the demand for these resources will also rise.

  • Not evenly distributed between countries.

  • Coal is easy to mine and mining is not very expensive

  • Many graphs show that resources like coal are not as demanded as they were years ago

    -Nuclear energy

When nonrenewable resources are harvested, the amount of that resource lessens.

Origins of nonrenewable resources

Through heat, pressure and time, your resource is created

  • Coal- Aquatic Plants

  • Microscopic animals

Country use of resources

  • Canada uses “Tar Sands” to produce coal

  • Australia is the leader of coal distribution

  • France is the leader of nuclear energy

Coal

  • Composed mostly of Carbon

  • The US has the largest coal deposits, with some in West Virginia, Wyoming, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky

  • Environmental Concerns:

    -Water Drought/ Pollution

    -Migration issues

  • Rules for the water:

    -Producing Steam

    -Shares a cooling factor

    - Waste Storage

  • Water’s third role will be the ash disposal pond

  • Concerns about the waste from the ash disposal pond can be leaks into the river, toxic environments for workers, and pollution

    Fossil Fuel Combustion

  • Incomplete combustion results in carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxides.

  • Combustion Issues

    -Habitat destruction from mining

    -Heavy use of water which depletes habitat of water needed by local species

    -Respiratory issues from pulverized coal exhausts

    -Carbon dioxide which increases greenhouse gas effect globally

Pros and Cons of Coal

Pros

  • Abundance

  • Affordability

  • less expensive to create coal powered generation plants

Cons

  • Release of NOx and Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere when burned

  • Dangers of the extraction process

Fuel Types

  • Wood and Charcoal, Peat, Oil, and Natural Gas

  • Peat- A precursor to coal

  • Types of coal

    - Lignite- produces most smoke, because of moistness (Li)

    - Bituminous- most sulfur byproduct, most used (Bi)

  • Anthracite- most valuable, produces most heat and carbon emissions (An)

  • All are developing country resources

  • Negatives

    • Inefficient and toxic to breathe in

  • Deforestation plays a role in the negatives of these three as well as soil erosion

  • Burning peat indoors can cause respiratory illness

  • Oil, specifically crude oil (petroleum), goes under the process of distillation, which is the separation of oil with different boiling points

  • Crude Oil can be recovered from tar sands which is a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen

    - Water and Sand must be removed, and leftovers, must be purified to get crude oil

    • Pros- Has high energy density, Is easily available, and is a constant power source

    • Cons- Water pollution, Emissions of greenhouse gases, and political tensions

    • Through refineries

  • 90% of natural gas is composed of methane (CH4)

  • Out of all Fossil Fuels, Natural gas has Less Emissions

  • Pros: Less Emissions, Easy Transport, and Easier and Safer to Store

  • Cogeneration

    • Occurs when a fuel source is used to create heat and generate electricity.

    • Harvests the heat being produced

    • Very High Efficiency

Fracking

  • The process of drilling down into the Earth before a high pressure water mixture to pull out gas.

    • Pros- Gaining more access to these resources (Gas and Oil), Better Air Quality (compared to coal and oil) Emissions

    • Cons- Water Pollution, Less focus on Renewable Energy Resources, Increased number of droughts, spread of toxins

    General Composition

  • Composed of Hydrocarbons

Nuclear Energy

  • Considered nonrenewable because of the use of uranium (Fuel)

  • Derives from the atom of the nucleus

  • Nuclear Fission- when nuclei of atoms are split apart. Use by plants to generate electricity.

  • For Uranium, Uranium 235 (U-235) play an important role in nuclear reactors.

Plutonium

  • When finished with Uranium, plutonium arrives

  • Could be used as a fuel in nuclear reactors

  • Extremely hazardous, so this can also be a con for nuclear energy

Nuclear Pros and Cons

  • Pros: Less Gas Emissions,

    • Cons: Bombs, Meltdowns, etc.

Solar Energy

Solar Energy is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy

Solar panels are made of silicon

Silicon solar cells uses two different layers of silicon

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Renewable

  • Makes energy where

  • Safer than other forms of energy

  • The cleanest

  • CHEAPER after installing

  • Technological advancements

Cons

  • Can be used only in the daytime (intermittent)

  • Takes up space

  • High up front cost

  • Non-tangible

    How it Works

  • The sun arrives and share sunlight with an

  • It runs through a channel that produces electricity

Wind

  • The process of creating electricity using the wind or air flows that occur naturally in the earth’s atmosphere.

  • Wind turbines capture kinetic energy from the wind and generate

  • Pros- clean, renewable, Allows for multiple use lands, Space saving

  • Cons- Wildlife Threat (particularly with flying animals), Storage Capacity, High Maintenance

Hydroelectric Energy (Dams)

  • Not really an increase in using this resource will be seen

  • Basically putting a block in the river

  • Cons- High Maintenance, Blocking Migration of wildlife, Expensive to fix, intake can be blocked by sediment, S

  • Pros-

  • The fish-ladder is a giving animals up stream a good way to move around the dam.

  • Types are-

    - Impoundment facility Pumped Storage facility

    - Pumped Storage Facility

    • Recycling the same water over and over based on demand

Geothermal Energy

  • Heat derived within the sub-surface of the earth and carried to Earth by water and/or steam.

  • Harnessed to generate clean electricity or heating purposes

  • wells are drilled 1-2 miles deep into Earth to pump steam or hot water to the surface

  • When water reaches the surface, the pressure is dropped, which causes the water to turn into steam.

  • Pros- Environmentally Friendly (compared to gas or oil furnaces), rare pollution, not weather dependent, year-round

  • Cons- High Upfront cost, Large usage of water, majority of power plants are potentially dangerous to the Earth’s surface

Biomass

  • Burning of biomass produces heat for energy at a relatively

  • Leads to harmful respitatory issues.

  • Comes from the sun Biomass energy is important for plants as the energy is used for photosynthesis

  • Wood, Peat, Charcoal, Crop Residue

  • Pros- Easily accessible, cheap

  • Cons- Burned indoor which amplifies pollutants resulting in health affects

Bio fuels

  • Ethanol and Biodiesel

  • Liquid fuels made from plant matter that can be used as substitutes for conventional petroleum products

  • Can be used as a substitute for gasoline

  • Burning ethanol does not introduce additional carbon into the atmosphere via combustion

  • Biodiesel- chemically modified oil for plants

  • Biofuel Sources

    • Ethanol- Corn US

  • Pros-Potentially renewable, Combustion is carbon neutral

  • Cons- Net Energy is Low, Fertility of AG land is reduced, Deforestation

    Way of The Future

  • Algae can probably become one of the most prominent resources in the future.

  • Makes a lot of oil that becomes bio fuels

    Distribution of Energy Resources

Uranium

  • Australia has the most reserves, France uses the most energy

  • Countries with the largest oil reserves are Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada

  • US is the biggest exporter of coal

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

  • An alternative to nonrenewable fuel sources

  • Hydrogen is used as a fuel in vapor form

  • It is combined with oxygen in the air to form water and release energy (electricity)

  • Pros- No CO2 if produced from WATER, more efficient

  • Cons- Very Expensive, Methane produces carbon emissions

  • Hydrogen fuel (H2) is added to the cell

    - This can be fuel as a liquid or gas

    Steps

  • Hydrogen molecules are split into protons (H+) and Electrons (-) where they come in contact with the anode.

    • Hydrogen atoms move across the membrane

    • Electrons move freely creating an electric current (usually a path provided by a wire) supplies the energy

  • Oxygen molecules combine with the protons and electrons of hydrogen to create water vapor at the cathode.

    • Water vapor is the only emission from the fuel cell

  • Used for- buses and cars

Thermal pollution

  • Occurs in nuclear and coal power plants (mainly nuclear)

  • The release of of heated water, 30-40 Celsius, into a body of water

  • Can decrease D.O levels and doing so, harms living things in water

  • Eutrophication

  • Accelerated metabolism of cold-blooded aquatic animals

  • Overall loss of biodiversity

Energy Conservation

  • There are many ways to conserve energy: using less water, being more cautious regarding air conditioner, turning of lights everytime you leave a room

  • Conservation Landscaping

  • Reduces irrigation energy

  • Xeriscaping

  • Transportation

    • Fuel economy standar