Unit 8: Fossil Fuels Flashcards
How do fossil fuels generate power?
The fossil fuels are burnt to generate heat, which then turns water into steam. This steam turns a turbine, which generates electricity.
Methods of extracting fossil fuels
Coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil sands.
Coal
Solid fuel formed primarily by plant material fossils.
Coal advantages
Energy dense, plentiful, easy to get by surface mining, easy to handle, little refining.
Coal disadvantages
Surface mine tailings, subsurface mine consequences, pollutants from burning, ash, PM.
Petroleum advantages
Convenient to transport and use, energy dense, cleaner than coal.
Petroleum disadvantages
Air pollution, potential oil leaks, adverse human health effects, spills.
Natural gas advantages
Less air pollution, cleanest fossil fuel, convenient, no mercury.
Natural gas disadvantages
Unburned is a potent greenhouse gas (methane), large amounts of water and chemicals needed.
Oil sands
Slow flowing, viscous, deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water, and clay.
Bitumen
A degraded type of petroleum formed when a petroleum deposit isn’t capped with nonporous rock.
Coal formation
First it is peat, then compacted into lignite, then bituminous, anthracite.
What does coal release?
Lead, mercury, arsenic, sulfur, and nitrogen oxides.
Fracking
Used to extract natural gas. Well is drilled into sedimentary rock laterally, then turns horizontally into the rock layer.
Fracking disadvantages
Habitat loss, methane release, water intensive.
