Ch. 9 Flashcards
What are fossil fuels? (3)
- coal
- oil
- natural gas
- supply 80% of world’s energy
What are reserves?
known deposits from which materials can be extracted profitably with existing technology under prevailing economic conditions
Reserves of Coal
remains of plants
Formation of coal
transformed into coal with time, pressure, and heat
Reserves of oil and gas
derived from microscopic marine organisms
Formation of oil and gas
transformed to oil and gas through time, pressure, and heat
2 types of mining
- surface - easier; remove layers of overburden (soil, vegetation, etc.)
- subsurface - shafts and tunnels (underground)
define mountain top removal
surface mining; bulldoze top of mountain off
safety components of subsurface mining (5)
- more labor-intensive
- time-consuming
- support structure
- need enough air
- flooding/water
product of combustion of coal
air pollutants
transportation of coal
- freight and trains
- expensive
issues related to extraction and use of coal (3)
- health and safety issues with mining
- transportation
- environmental issues
health and safety issues related to mining coal (2)
- explosions
2. black lung disease
transportation issues related to mining coal (1)
- expensive
environmental issues related to mining coal (4)
- landscape disturbance, subsidence (ground starts to sink down)
- acid mine drainage - coal = high amount of sulfur with water = sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
- air pollution - combustion of coal releases sulfur dioxide gas and water = H2SO4 and acid rain
- generates particulates (produces haze and reduces air quality)
reclaimed mines
must replace overburden, cleanup toxins, plants, and return to previous state
extraction of oil
- drilling operations extract oil and bring it to the surface
- drilling tower = huge expense
- has many wells to try and get as much out of tower as possible
processing oil
crude oil is refined to make many different products
what happens at oil refineries?
oil is heated and elements of crude oil boils, vapors captured and you get oil
products of processed oil (14)
- fuel gas
- liquified gas
- propane
- butane
- kerosene
- jet fuel
- residual fuel
- oil and lubricants
- petrochemical compounds
- gasoline
- diesel
- furnace
- asphalt
- coke
issues of extracting oil (2)
- oil spills (pipelines and tankers)
- less spills from ’70s to ’00s
- air pollution - emissions of CO2 (with all fossil fuels
- not as bad as coal
Extraction of natural gas
extraction procedures similar to oil
transportation of natural gas
- difficult
- some gas transported as liquified natural gas (LNG)
environmental issues of natural gas (3)
- less environmental impacts than oil or coal
1. little waste production during extraction
2. little possibility of harm during transport (if liquified)
3. combustion produces less air pollutants
nuclear fission
some atoms are radioactive and spontaneously decompose
process of nuclear energy (3)
- decomposition releases large amounts of energy (radiation) and subatomic particles
- after decomposition, atom becomes different kind of atom
- release of subatomic particles initiates chain reaction, causing other atoms to also decompose and release energy
why is nuclear energy a chain reaction
self-sustaining reaction, but can get out of control
nuclear reactors
reactors allow for a sustained, controlled nuclear fission chain reaction
components of nuclear reactors (5)
- fuel rods - contains uranium - 235
- *control rods - control rate of fission reaction
- *coolant - moderates temp; cools water
- moderator - steam produces from heat of fission reaction, separates turbine that produces electricity
- as control rods go deeper, it slows reactions down; keeps control
* critical components
nuclear fuel cycle (7) (diagram)
- uranium mining
- uranium enrichment
- fuel fabrication
- nuclear fission
- used fuel rods
- re-processing
- waste
issues related to use of nuclear fuels (4)
- exposure to ionizing radiation (radioactivity)
- damage to DNA or other biological molecules
- accidents at nuclear reactors
- decommissioning nuclear plants
- nuclear waste disposal
3 popular nuclear reactor accidents
- 3 Mile Island (Harrisburg, PA; 1979)
- Chernobyl (Ukraine; 1986)
- Fukushima Dai’ichi (Japan; 2011)
describe 3 Mile Island accident
- coolant pump malfunctioned
- shut down reactors and contained radioactivity
describe Chernobyl accident
- running tests
- uncontrolled chain reaction
- control rods didn’t fit anymore
- explosion and death
describe Fukushima Dai’ichi accident
- tsunami
- reactor shut down
- wave hit
- partial meltdowns
- lots of contaminants released
