EAES FINAL ENERGY

🔋 What is Energy?

• Energy – the ability to do work.

• Forms of energy:

  • Light, heat, electrical, chemical

  • Kinetic energy – due to motion (e.g., flowing water)

  • Gravitational potential energy – stored due to elevation (e.g., water in a dam)

  • Chemical potential energy – stored in food, fuels; released during combustion.

• Law of Conservation of Energy – Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed from one form to another.
  (Slide 2)

🔥 Traditional (Pre-Industrial) Energy Sources

• Wood, peat, dung – burned to release heat.

• Animals – used for mechanical energy (plowing, transport).

• Wind – sails, windmills.

• Water – waterwheels/mills for mechanical power. (Slide 5)

🌍 Modern Dominant Energy Sources

• Dominated by fossil fuels, especially oil, followed by natural gas and coal.

• Oil remains the most consumed energy source globally for over 50 years.

• Fastest growth over the last 20 years:

  • Absolute terms: natural gas

  • Relative terms: renewables (e.g., wind, solar)
    (Slide 6)

⚛ Carbon-Based Energy Types

• Coal – from ancient peat bogs/swamps; mostly carbon.

• Oil and gas – from marine plankton remains; hydrocarbons (oil = liquid/solid, gas = methane).

• Peat – from modern bogs; precursor to coal.

• Biomass – recent organic material (wood, dung).

• Biofuels – e.g., ethanol from corn.

• All are forms of chemical potential energy, released by combustion.
  (Slides 3–4, 12–14, 16–17)

🌱 Renewable vs. Non-Renewable

• Renewable – replenished naturally at or above the rate of consumption.

  • Examples: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass (if managed sustainably).

• Non-renewable – finite, consumed faster than replenished.

  • Examples: oil, gas, coal, uranium. (Slides 7–8)

💥 Why Fossil Fuels Dominate

• Historically:

  • Easy to extract

  • High energy return on investment (EROI)

  • Easily converted into useful energy

• Today, they still provide ~80% of global energy (~480 out of 600 Exajoules, 2021).
  (Slides 9–10)

🛢 Conventional vs. Non-Conventional Energy

• Conventional:

  • Easily accessible/used.

  • Includes oil, gas, coal, hydroelectric, nuclear.

• Non-Conventional:

  • Difficult to access or require new tech.

  • Includes oil sands, shale gas, wind, solar, geothermal.
    (Slide 11)

🪨 How Fossil Fuels Form

• Coal:

  • Compressed, fossilized plant matter from anoxic swamps/bogs.

  • Mostly carbon.

• Oil and Gas:

  • From marine plankton decomposed in anoxic marine sediments.

  • Oil = liquid hydrocarbons; Gas = methane-rich.

• Extraction:

  • Coal: strip or mountaintop removal mining.

  • Oil/Gas: drilled from rock formations or oil sands. (Slides 12–14, 16–17)

🌎 Global Fossil Fuel Locations

• Coal: China (largest producer/consumer); growth in Asia-Pacific; decline in Europe/North America.

• Oil: Reserves in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada.

• Gas: Russia, Middle East, USA (if unconventional included).

• Environmental Footprint:

  • Air pollution (CO₂, SO₂, NOx)

  • Habitat destruction

  • Water use/pollution

  • Oil spills, methane leaks (Slides 14–15, 21, 25–26)

🛠 Uses of Fossil Fuels

• Electricity generation

• Transportation (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel)

• Heating homes

• Industrial uses (Slides 4, 16, 25)

🏜 Oil Sands

• Mixture of bitumen, sand, clay, and water.

• Bitumen = heavy oil that must be heated/diluted to flow.

• Different from light crude:

  • Higher processing energy required

  • Lower EROI

  • Extracted by strip mining or in-situ steam injection

• Canada has the 3rd largest oil reserves due to oil sands. (Slides 21–23)

🌍 Global CO₂ Emissions Trends

• Emissions increased 1.34% from 2022–2023

• Slower than early 2000s (~3.3% annual rise then).

• 2009: drop due to global recession

• 2020: drop due to COVID lockdowns

• Biggest emitters (total): China, U.S., India

• Per capita: Canada among the highest (due to oil/gas, transport, heating needs)

• Per GDP unit: emissions can vary based on energy efficiency and industry structure
  (Slides 30–31)

🌞 Motivations for Renewables

• Energy independence

• Sustainability

• GHG reduction

• Triggered by oil crises (1970s, 2000s) and growing concern over climate change.
  (Slide 29, 32)

♻ Main Types of Renewable Energy & How They Work

1. Hydroelectric

   • Water stored at height (potential energy) → released → turns turbine.

   • Clean, large-scale; requires dam infrastructure.

   • One of the oldest and largest global sources.

2. Wind

   • Kinetic energy of wind turns turbine blades → generates electricity.

   • Offshore wind is stronger and more reliable.

   • Led by China, U.S., Germany, UK.

   • Canada ranks 9th.

3. Solar

   • Photovoltaic (PV): sunlight → electricity directly.

   • Concentrated Solar Power (CSP): focuses sunlight to boil water and spin turbines.

   • Leaders: Germany, China, Japan, India.

4. Geothermal

   • Uses Earth’s heat to produce steam → spins turbine.

   • Closed-loop system (steam is re-injected).

   • Leaders: U.S., Philippines, Iceland.
     (Slides 33–40)

• Dominant in installed capacity globally: Hydro (longest history, large scale).

• Growth in wind and solar driven by tech improvements and falling costs.
  (Slides 37–41)