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FANTASTIC FOSSIL FUELS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY RESERVES

  • Coal Energy Reserves

    • Major countries with reserves:

    • United States

    • Russia

    • Australia

    • China

    • Estimates: Approximately 100-150 years left at current extraction and consumption rates.

  • Oil Energy Reserves

    • Major countries with reserves:

    • Venezuela

    • Saudi Arabia

    • Iran

    • Canada

    • Iraq

    • Estimates: Approximately 50 years left at current trends.

  • Natural Gas Reserves

    • Major countries with reserves:

    • Russia

    • Iran

    • Qatar

    • United States

    • Estimates: Approximately 50-60 years left at current consumption rates.

SHALE GAS RESERVES

  • Fossil fuels are classified as non-renewable and will be depleted over time.

  • The extraction and use of fossil fuels are driven by short-term economic profit.

  • Discovered but unharvested reserves represent a potential economic benefit for countries.

FUEL TYPES AND WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM

SUBSISTENCE FUEL

  • These fuels are easily accessible and are primarily used in lesser-developed countries for domestic purposes such as cooking and heating.

  • Common sources include:

    • Wood: Cheap or free but leads to deforestation and habitat loss.

    • Charcoal: Produced by heating wood under low oxygen conditions, resulting in a more convenient fuel source.

    • Peat: Partially decomposed organic matter (e.g., ferns) found in bogs and swamps. Once dried, peat can be utilized as biomass fuel.

COAL

  • Formed via the pressurization and sedimentation of peat over geological time.

  • Types of Coal (ranked from lowest to highest value):

    1. Lignite (brown coal)

    2. Sub-bituminous coal

    3. Bituminous coal

    4. Anthracite (highest energy density due to high carbon content)

    • The more carbon dense the coal, the hotter and longer it burns, thus producing more energy.

  • Burial Depth and Temperature:

    • Less than 0.2 km / 0-25°C: Peat

    • 0.2-1.5 km / 25-40°C: Lignite

    • 1.5-2.5 km / 40-75°C: Sub-bituminous

    • 2.5-6 km / 75-180°C: Bituminous

    • Over 6 km / >180°C: Anthracite

  • Carbon content progression by type:

    • Peat: <20%

    • Lignite: 20-35%

    • Sub-bituminous: 35-45%

    • Bituminous: 45-80%

    • Anthracite: >80%

NATURAL GAS

  • Derived from the decayed remains of plants and animals, primarily marine, buried under rock layers, where they are converted into oil and natural gas over time due to pressure.

  • Composed primarily of methane (CH₄), it usually resides above trapped oil in reservoirs.

  • Natural gas is considered the "cleanest" fossil fuel, resulting in minimal pollutants when combusted compared to coal.

CRUDE OIL

  • Formed from decaying organic matter trapped under rock layers.

  • Extracted by drilling through rock layers and using pressure to pump out the liquid oil.

  • Also obtainable from tar sands, a mix of clay, sand, water, and bitumen (a thick, semi-solid form of petroleum).

  • The extraction process of oil from tar sands is notably energy and water-intensive.

FOSSIL FUEL PRODUCTS

  • Crude Oil Conversion:

    • Fractional Distillation Process:

    1. Crude oil is heated in a furnace, and vapor passes into a distillation column.

    2. Different hydrocarbons are separated based on their boiling points.

    3. Hydrocarbons with lower boiling points (e.g., naphtha) gather at the top, and those with higher boiling points settle at the bottom.

    • Naphtha can be used in the production of plastics.

MORE KNOWLEDGE

  • Gasoline Octane Ratings:

    • Octane 87: Standard fuel for most cars.

    • Octane 89: Offers marginally better stability, preventing premature ignition.

    • Octane 91: Designed for high-performance engines requiring maximum stability.

  • Common Myth: Higher octane ratings are cleaner or “better” for engines—only relevant for performance cars; regular cars will not benefit from high octane.

SPECIALTY FUEL

  • Diesel Fuel: Used in compression engines; not compatible with regular petrol vehicles and can cause costly repairs if misused.

  • Ethanol Fuels (E10, E15, E85): Higher ethanol blends mixed with gasoline suitable only for flex-fuel vehicles.

  • Should be properly labeled at fuel stations (often color-coded for identification).

FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION

  • Chemical Equation: Hydrocarbons + O₂ → CO₂ + H₂O

  • Combustion of fossil fuels releases energy and carbon into the atmosphere, impacting the carbon cycle significantly.

THE GENERAL RULE FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION

  1. Create heat by burning fuel or through nuclear fission.

  2. Use a water source to turn into steam.

  3. Utilize steam to turn turbines.

  4. Turbines power generators.

  5. Generators produce electricity.

  6. Electricity is transmitted via power lines to various locations.

THE BAD STUFF: COAL EDITION

  • Negative Impacts of Coal:

    • Habitat Destruction: Necessitates potentially harmful land clearing for mining.

    • Pollutants Produced: CO₂ as greenhouse gas, particulate matter (PM), and toxic ash (containing heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic).

    • Environmental Consequences: Contributes to bioaccumulation and biomagnification, SOx and NOx gases, acid rain, and smog.

CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY

  • Concept of “Clean Coal”: Technologies aimed at reducing emissions from coal burning, including wet scrubbers and coal washing.

  • Presently focused on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to contain CO₂ emissions from combustion by piping it into porous rock formations with a saline solution for long-term storage.

  • Financial challenges due to high costs associated with these technologies.

WA PARISH GENERATING STATION

  • Located in Houston, with a system called Petra Nova, which successfully captured about 1.6 million tons of CO₂ annually.

  • Shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic due to declining oil prices.

OIL/PETROLEUM EXTRACTION

  • Oil is obtained through drilling wells into the ground, targeting deposits found in rock types like shale, sandstone, and carbonates.

THE BAD STUFF – OIL/PETROLEUM EDITION

  • Environmental Issues:

    • Spills (notable incidents include Exxon-Valdez and BP Oil Spill).

    • Habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from drilling infrastructure and access roads.

FRACKING

  • Hydraulic Fracturing: A technique used to release natural gas trapped in semi-permeable sedimentary rocks by injecting pressurized water.

  • Enhanced natural gas supplies and reserves through this method.

THE BAD STUFF – NATURAL GAS EDITION

  • Environmental Concerns: Reduction of ground/surface water resources, habitat loss, releases of methane (a potent greenhouse gas), potential contamination from leaks, and increased seismic activity.

TAR SANDS

  • Characteristics: Bitumen deposits from which crude oil can be extracted, typically requiring larger amounts of water and energy for extraction.

  • Canada (Alberta) has the world's largest tar sands reserves, extending global oil supplies.

THE BAD STUFF – TAR SANDS EDITION

  • Negative Environmental Impacts:

    • Habitat destruction and biodiversity loss due to land clearing.

    • Depletion of water resources and potential contamination from toxic tailings.

    • Additional CO₂ emissions caused by fossil fuel consumption required for extraction, transport, and refinement.