Unit 6 - Energy Resources + Consumption Flashcards
Types of energy (10)
- coal
- oil
- natural gas
- biomass
- biofuels
- nuclear
- hydro
- wind
- solar
- geothermal
Energy sources for electricity (7)
- coal
- oil
- nuclear
- hydro
- wind
- solar
- geothermal
Energy sources of transportation (3)
- Oil
- Natural gas
- biofuels
Energy sources for heating (4)
- Natural gas
- biomass
- solar
- geothermal
Nonrenewable energy sources
Those that exist in a fixed amount + involve energy transformation that cannot be easily replaced
Examples of non renewable energy sources
Coal, oil, ngl gas, nuclear
Renewable energy sources
Those that can be replenished naturally, at/near the rate of consumption, and reused
Examples of renewable energy sources
Biomass, Biofuels, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal
*cannot be used too quickly
How is electricity made?
Generator: magnets need to spin a piece of copper to make energy
FF
1. Burn FF
2. heat, boils water
3. Water —> steam
4. Steam turns a turbine that is connected to a generator
Fuel type: Wood
Commonly used as fuel in forms of (1) firewood and (2) charcoal
It is often used in developing countries because it is easily accessible
Charcoal
- wood is heated to remove water
- t is lighter than wood + contains about twice as much energy per unit of weight than wood
- when burned, it doesn’t produce as much smoke + does not need to be tended constantly
Impacts that result from using wood
- habitat loss
- increase in CO2 (carbon sink + burn)
- loss of biodiversity
- desertification
Peat
Partially decomposed organic material that can be burned for fuel
- formed in bogs (wetland) —> more soil
- can be a precursor to coal
- found in answer OC and acidic environments
Coal
3 types of coal for fuel
1. Lignite
2. Bituminous
3. Anthracite
- heat, pressure, and depth of burial contribute to the development of
Natural Gas
The cleanest of FF (mostly methane CH4)
- FF can be made into specific fuel types for speicalized uses
Crude Oil
Can be recovered from tar sands (clay, sand, water, and bitumen)
Oil
From plankton, which die and sink to the bottom w/sediments. Under pressure + heat —> mud is cooked into oil (sediment layers)
- 10-100 million years
Separated based on boiling pt in a process called distillation
- fractional distillation of crude oil
Oil from Shale Rock
- mine, crush, heat oil shale rock to obtain oil
- location: Bakker fields in N Dakota/Montana
- potential of a tremendous amount of oil
Environmental impact - net energy is low
- pollutes largest amount of water
- releases more CO2 per unit of energy than conventional oil
Oil from Tar Sands
- moist sand and clay containing a rich heavy form of petroleum - bitumen
- location: Alberta, Konda
- under boreal forest
- produces 3-5 times more GHGs that producing conventional oil
- uses huge amount of water
- creates tailing pond w/toxic surge
- need to burn natural gas in order to process
Oil in the News
Keystone Pipeline XL
- transCanada wanted to add a pipeline that would bring oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries in S US
- in the news since 2010
Bps Deep Horizon Oil Spill
- 2010
- world’s biggest accidental oil spill
- 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled in 3 months
Natural Gas
Methane (mostly hydrogen)
- Methane is produced when plants decay w/o oxygen
- can be harvested from sewage plants, landfills, and livestock + crop waste
- commercial scale production is from oil and coal formations
- US: fracking - drilling horizontally + fracturing rock w/high pressure water
- burns cleaner than coal
Benefits of Fracking
- creates jobs + economic benefits
- emits half the amount of CO2 compared to coal
- reduce missions by 10%
Coal
Starts as plants in swamps, gets covered w/sediments +cooked under pressure
- emissions: NOx, SOx, Hg, Pb, U, As, Ash, CO2
- simple, available + cheap
- largest electricity source
Clean coal
- CO2 is still there, but they get NOx and SOx and mercury out
- by removing pollutants, you used more energy —> use more coal
