Lecture 1

Question 1

What are liquid transportation fuels?

Answer 1

Combustible energy vectors - high energy density

Question 2

Outline the major liquid transportation fuels from oil

Answer 2

• Petrol/Gasoline: Volatile blend of hydrocarbons, length 5-12, may contain additives including ethanol and anti-knock agents
• Diesel fuel: 75% saturated hydrocarbons (primarily parrafins) and 25% aromatic hydrocarbons. Can length 10-15, less volatile
• Kersene/parafin (avaition fuel): Petroleom mid range distillate of 12-15 chain length. Originally a replacement for whale fuel in lighting.
• Heavy fuel oil: what is left after other bits have been distilled used in very large diesel engines

Question 3

What is the economics of oil refineries?

Answer 3

85% of feedstock used for liquid fuels for 50% of the profit

Other 50% comes from chemicals and materials made with 15% of the feedstock

Question 4

How much biomass would be needed to replace UK road transport fuel?

Answer 4

UK road transport requires 50 million tonnes of liquid fuel per year

Need 150 million tonnes of biomass to fully replace it

Need to import

Question 5

How can renewable energy and heat be made?

Answer 5

• Wind
• Solar
• Geothermal
• Nuclear
• Hydro
• Marine

Question 6

Outline tertiary primary production with relation to humans

Answer 6

• Primary annual plant production varies less than 2% annually across the entire planet
• Huamns consure 40% of earths promary production whilst representing 0.5% of the heterotroph biomass
• 40% increase in people by 2050
• 40% land is currently appropraited by humans
• 53% is unharvestable, below ground or unavailable
• 10% left

Question 7

Outline the basic points of simons first lecture

Answer 7

1. The age of the universe - 14 billion years old, more stars than sand, earth is 4.5 billion year old rock
2. Life - complex self-replicating rare system
3. Intelligent life - rare, conciousness, language, predictive responsibility
4. Life shaped by the environment - period of warming between regular periods of glaciation (fossil rock records)
5. The environment is shaped by life - plants, oxygen increase, carbon and oxygen cycles , dark ages fall of civilisation, indonesia volcanos
6. Resource availability limits expansion - easter island
7. Earth is not fully closed system
8. Food consumption incresing, population increasing, anthropocene, fish stocks, depletion of v slow ‘renewable’ resources
9. Global warming - global temp/co2 linked
10. Wood age - coal power, petroleum, energy use
11. Renewable electricity
12. Transportation fuels - biomass as an option, is there enough