Fossil Fuels

Question 1

what are fossil fuels?

Answer 1

a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms.

Question 2

how important are fossil fuels in our economy?

Answer 2

Most transport of goods
Mature infrastructure built around it
Reliable supply
Used in electricity generation

Question 3

What are advantages to fossil fuels?

Answer 3

> Extensive infrastructure

>Effective conversion of petroleum into derivatives

Question 4

Fossil fuel industry is often said to be inefficient. Name 2 reasons why?

Answer 4

When combusted, they make heat

Long transportation associated (long supply chain implying non local)

Question 5

How important are fossil fuels in electricity generation?

Answer 5

About 40% of electricity comes from coal

Petroleum is major part of transportation

Question 6

What are 3 concerns associated with fossil fuel economy?

Answer 6

Society dependent on (athuman scale) finite fossil resources
Economic dependency
Big inefficiencies
Pollute air, water, soil

Question 7

what are some of the upstream impacts of fossil fuels?

Answer 7

Coal mining:
─ Polluted streams and rivers
─ Deaths (mining, railway crossings)
• Natural gas:
─ Land use from pipelines and extraction
─ Leakage of methane from pipelines (~2%)
• Oil:
─ Refinery emissions and hazardous waste
─ Oil spills

Question 8

what is cogeneration? Is it a problem?

Answer 8

AKA combined heat and power
Use of a power station to simultaneously generate both ELECTRICITY and HEAT
This is more economical and boosts overall efficiency. 52% vs 33%

Question 9

name three things that a co generation heat can be used for (facility smoke berkeley southside)

Answer 9

This plant runs on natural gas

• make electricity
• heat building with it
• can be used as laboratory or industrial processes (steam)