Unconventional Fossil Fuels Flashcards
What are unconventional fossil fuels?
Energy resources that are not easily accessible;
-Oil from rocks underneath deep water.
-Oil and gas trapped in the pore spaces within rocks rather than in a large reservoir (eg, oil shale, tar sands and shale gas.
What are the benefits of conventional fossil fuels?
-As conventional fossil fuels run out, these resources can replace them where uses currently need fossil fuels.
-There are very large reserves that could be developed, so extending the possibility of a diversified energy mix.
-Valuable for providing jobs and money especially in remote communities.
What are the costs of unconventional fossil fuels?
-High financial costs.
-Many resources are in fragile environmental areas.
-There are uncertainties about safety for people/environment of new methods of extraction.
-Greenhouse gas emissions will continue, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere
-Extraction of oil requires lots of energy, leaves open scars on landscape, removes natural vegetation, causes water contamination, and infringes the rights of local people.
-Extraction of gas by fracking lowers local water levels, contaminates water with chemicals and causes ground movements.
