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Environmental Geology Test 2 > Fossil Fuels > Flashcards

Fossil Fuels Flashcards

1
Q

The original source of energy contained in fossil fuels is

A

Solar Energy

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2
Q

At present, most of the energy used in the United States is supplied by

A

Fossil Fuels

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3
Q

Petroleum consists of a variety of liquid compounds which are accurately referred to as

A

Hydrocarbons

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4
Q

The United States presently

A

Imports more than half of the oil it uses

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5
Q

Most oil and natural gas is found in

A

Sedimentary rocks

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6
Q

Enhanced oil recovery methods include all of the following except

A

Underground mining of oil bearing rock

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7
Q

The two principal sources of artificial oil spills are tanker accidents and

A

Spills from offshore drilling activity

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8
Q

Formation of coal also results in the production of quantities of gases that are rich in

A

Methane

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9
Q

Which of the following techniques for cleaning up an oil spill has been most successful?

A

Seeding the oil with microorganisms or adding limiting nutrients to stimulate natural microorganisms that degrade the oil

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10
Q

Which of the following is estimated to be the largest potential fuel resource?

A

Gas in gas hydrates

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11
Q

The first of the fossil fuels to be widely used was

A

Coal

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12
Q

Coal is formed from

A

The remains of land plants

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13
Q

The highest grade of coal, in terms of heat value per unit weight is

A

Anthracite

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14
Q

Which of the following statements is not true?

A

There is sulfur in coal but not in oil or natural gas

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15
Q

Dangers to underground coal miners include all of the following except

A

Respiratory illness due to breathing silica

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16
Q

Each of the following might, in part, be strip-mined except

A

Geopressurized natural gas

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17
Q

A fossil-fuel source that may either be an immature petroleum deposit or a petroleum deposit that has lost its lighter hydrocarbons is

A

Tar sand

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18
Q

Oil shale and tar sand share each of the following environmental problems except

A

The production of quantities of ash when the fuel is burned

19
Q

Oil extraction may cause

A

Land subsidence

20
Q

Enhanced oil recovery methods are necessary because

A

Only about one third of the liquid petroleum within a field can be recovered by initial pumping

21
Q

Fossil Fuels include:

A
  • coal
  • hydrocarbons:
  • oil (“crude oil”)
  • tar sands
  • shale oil
  • natural gas
  • coal bed methane
22
Q

Note on Fossil Fuels

A

Know photosynthesis—
•If the reaction runs in reverse, it produces energy.
•SO, when oxygen is added to organic material (through decay or burning), energy is produced, and water and carbon dioxide return to the Earth or atmosphere.

23
Q

COAL: How does is form?

A

Formation of Coal Deposits!
•Coal is formed from remains of land plants, not from marine organisms (like petroleum)
•Swamp settings ideal with abundant trees and leaves!
•Requires anaerobic conditions (no oxygen) to convert the fallen trees and dead leaves into coal
•Coal is solid (not liquid or gas) and usually contains elements besides hydrogen and carbon, such as sulfur, nitrogen.
•sulfur and nitrogen combine with oxygen and water in the atmosphere to produce sulfuric and nitric acids that contribute to acid rain and acid mine drainage.

24
Q

COAL: How does is form?

A

As organic matter is buried and compressed, the amount of water, oxygen and hydrogren decreases, producing an increasingly carbon-rich material

25
Q

Where is COAL found?

A

America has more coal than any other fossil-fuel resource.
• 20% of the total U.S. energy consumption
• The United States has more coal reserves than any other single country in the world
• 25% of all the known coal in the world is in the
United States

26
Q

How is COAL used?

A
  1. Gasification :
    •Low heat gas mix of carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrogen
    •Various technologies are being developed to increase the quality and production of this gas - but mostly has been replaced by natural gas.
    •In situ (underground) production projects ongoing also
  2. Liquefaction :
    •Air and steam are added to raw coal, which is heated. The carbon in the coal reacts with the oxygen and water, producing petroleum-like hydrocarbons, and gases (CO2, CO, CH4).
    •Coal liquids contain less sulfur, nitrogen and ash, and are easier to transport than solid coal. has been generated from coal in the past successfully.
27
Q

CLEAN COAL (?)

A

Clean coal is an umbrella term used primarily to describe technologies that may reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases that arise from burning coal for electrical power.

Typically, clean coal is used by coal companies in reference to carbon capture and storage, which pumps and stores CO2 emissions underground, and to gasification plants which reduce CO2 emissions.

28
Q

Coal Summary

A
  1. Coal forms from land plants that are deeply buried. The greater the burial depth (and higher the temperature of burial), the higher the
    grade of coal and carbon content.
  2. Major coal deposits are associated with recent or ancient convergent plate boundaries, where conditions were favorable to extensive
    wetlands, burial of layers and deformation of layers.
  3. There are large reserves of coal on many continents, particularly North America and Asia, which are estimated to last up to 250 yrs.
  4. There are major environmental impacts associated with coal energy, especially CO2 (and SOx, NOx) emissions into the atmosphere, and acid mine drainage.
29
Q

HYDROCARBONS:

How do they form?

A

Organic matter, rich in carbon and hydrogen, accumulate and are rapidly buried
• Rapid burial aids in the decay of the organic material protecting it from oxygen and biological reactions that would
destroy the formation of the hydrocarbons
• Source of the organic material is accumulated marine microorganisms
• These organisms die and settle to the sea floor
•Some natural gases are derived by burial of massive amount of plant material!
• Continental oil fields reflect the presence of marine sedimentary rocks below the surface.

30
Q

oil

A

a variety of heavy liquid hydrocarbon compounds

31
Q

natural gas

A 
gaseous hydrocarbon compound most 
commonly methane (CH4)
32
Q

Where do we find

HYDROCARBONS ?

A

Under heat and pressure, the solid organic matter will be converted to liquids and/or gases (hydrocarbons)
• Liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon will migrate out of the rocks in which they formed
•The migration is required so the hydrocarbon will pool in economically
usable deposits
• Reservoir rocks for hydrocarbon are overlain by impermeable caps that trap the migration of the hydrocarbons, otherwise, oil and gas may keep rising to the earth’s surface

Virtually no petroleum is found in rocks younger than 1 to 2 million years
old, implying that the process of petroleum formation is fairly slow

33
Q

Source rock:

A

fine-grained organic rich sedimentary rocks, then O&G migrating upward to the reservoir rocks

34
Q

Reservoir rock:

A

porous and permeable rocks

35
Q

Cap rock

A

Impermeable rock as a barrier to trap O&G in place, forming oil fields

36
Q

Where do we find

HYDROCARBONS ?

A

A. simple fold trap
B. petroleum accumulated in a fossilized coral reef
C. fault trap
D. petroleum trapped against an impermeable salt dome

Newly developing ocean basins, formed by plate tectonics and continental rifting,
provide just the right conditions for rapid burial in anoxic waters.

37
Q

What is Coal Bed

Methane?

A
  • form of natural gas extracted from coal beds
  • methane is stored within coal pores in a near-liquid state
  • unlike most natural gas reservoirs, CBM contains very few heavier hydrocarbons (propane, butane…)
  • environmental problems: salty water, flammable, water intensive, erosion and runoff, groundwater contamination
38
Q

What are some other types

of fluid HYDROCARBONS? Oil Shale

A

•Oil Shale refers to a waxy solid hydrocarbon called kerogen contained in
a sedimentary rock
•Kerogen is produced where temperatures and pressures were not high enough to produce liquid petroleum (often deposited in continental lakes) richest deposit yields only ~3 barrels of
shale oil per ton of rock processed.
•Oil Shale is an abundant resource in U.S.
•About 2 to 5 trillion barrels of shale oil
•Problems remain to be solved:
•Technology requirements
•Limited water supplies in mining areas
•Actual amount of oil to be produced
from shale is not clearly defined
•Environmental concerns

richest deposit yields only ~3 barrels of
shale oil per ton of rock processed.

39
Q

What are some other types
of fluid HYDROCARBONS?
tar sands

A

Tar Sands are sedimentary rocks containing a
very thick, semi-solid, tarlike petroleum. Tar
sand deposits may represent very immature
petroleum deposits (bitumen).
•Oil shale and tar sand must be mined,
crushed, and heated to extract the petroleum,
which can then be refined into various fuels
•Mining and processing tar sand (currently)
requires nearly half as much energy as the
end product yields.

40
Q

What are some other types
of fluid HYDROCARBONS?
shale gas

A 
black shales 
(tight natural gas), 
where methane is 
distributed in very 
small openings 
throughout the 
shale (Marcellus 
Shale).
41
Q

Peak oil?

A

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells.

42
Q

Enhanced Oil Recovery

A

New technologies have increased production from marginally producing
fields (i.e. off-shore drilling)
•Primary recovery: limited to original pumping!
•Secondary recovery: pump water into reservoir to fill in empty pores
and buoy up more oil to be pumped from the well
•Enhanced recovery: used after primary and secondary recovery techniques have depleted the recoverable oil. As much as 75% of the
oil remains in the reservoir. A variety of
technologies can be used to obtain more oil from such reservoirs.

43
Q

Fracking is exempt from:

A

Clean Water Act
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Clean Air Act
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (CERCLA) also known
as the Superfund Law
• established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous
waste sites;
• provided for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites;
• established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be
identified.
• The industry is not covered by the “Emergency Planning and
Community Right to Know Act” (EPCRA) • allow state and local planning for chemical emergencies;
• provide for notification of emergency releases of chemicals
• address communities’ right-to-know about toxic and hazardous chemicals.

44
Q

EROI

A

Energy return on investment for an activity:

EROI = Energy delivered to society Energy put into that activity

Usually consider energy invested from society

Environmental Geology Test 2 (4 decks)

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