humaneco.l14.web.html

Energy Sources
Chapter 9

1. Non-renewable Energy Sources

Fossil fuels

Oil
Coal
Natural gas

Formation slow
No significant amount formed over course of human history

2. Renewable Energy Sources

Types

Biomass: plant, animal, fungus, algal
Solar
Geothermal
Tidal energy
Wind
Hydropower

Constantly being produced via the energy of the sun or stored in the Earth’s core

3. Role of Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Energy Consumption in US, 2002

Petroleum - 39%
natural gas -24%
coal - 23%
Nuclear Electric Power - 8%
renewable energy - 6%

biomass - 47%
hydroelectric - 45%
geothermal - 5%
wind - 2%
solar - 1%

4. World Total Primary Energy Supply 2003: percent of 10,579 Mtoe

similar to figure 9.1

from: www.optimumpopulation.org/worldenergysup.2003.JPG

5. World Renewable Energy

Supply Sources 2003
Data from: www.optimumpopulation.org
% of World energy Supply Graph - chart with data

combustible	hydro	geothermal	solar	wind	tidal
10.6	2.2	0.416	0.039	0.051	0.005

6. Resources and Reserves

Resource

Naturally occurring substance
Of use to humans
Potentially be extracted using current technology

Reserve

Known deposits
Can be extracted profitably with existing technology
Is profitable under prevailing economic conditions

Reserves smaller than resources. Why?

7. Common petroleum hydrocarbons

Petroleum Hydrocarbon	Empirical Formula	Principal Product
methane	CH4	natural gas
ethane	C2H6	component of natural gas
propane	C3H8	liquified petroleum gas (LPG)
n-pentane	C5H12	component of naphtha
n-hexane	C6H14	component of gasoline
iso-octane	C8H18	high-octane gasoline additive
n-dodecane	C12H26	component of kerosene
n-eicosane	C20H42	component of fuel oil
n-tetracontane	C40H82	component of paraffin wax

8. History of Petroleum Use

1859: 1st successful oil well, Titusville, PA
Early 1900s: first autos, burn gasoline
1929: oil supplies 1/3 total US energy demand
1939: 1/2 US needs met by oil
1945: petroleum and natural gas meet 2/3 needs of US
1999: US need averages 19 million barrels/day
2006: US imported 13.7 mb/d, + produced 5.1 mb/d = 18.8 million barrels/day (www.tonto.eia.doe.gov)

9. Oil

crude oil

fossil fuel, organic remains of plants and animals after millions of years of heat and pressure within the earth’s crust
mixture of gases (propane, butane, natural gas) liquids (gasoline, AV fuel, heating and diesel oils) and solids (grease, wax and asphalt)

often occurs with natural gas
extracted by drilling

primary - flows into well and pumped out
secondary - pump in water, oil floats to top, pumped out

use imbalance: US has 2.3 % of reserve, uses 30%
how long will it last?

known US reserves 80% depleted in 24 years
new oil reserves? another 24 years
World-wide: estimates = 35 - 84 years

Other sources: tar sands and shale

10. Refining Crude Oil - diagram
11. Fig. 9.14. Separation of crude oil into useful product fractions

12. Natural Gas

Composition

methane (CH4) - 50 - 90%
other petrochemicals: ethane, propane, butane
toxic components: hydrogen sulfide (H2S)

LPG - liquefied under pressure, used in areas w/o pipelines
LNG - (-184oC, -300oF) - shipped in refrigerated tankers
tag chemical added to sense leaks (NASTY sulfur like smell, humans can detect just a few molecules of the tag)
often burned at refinery instead of used
reserves

Russia + Kazakhstan - 40% reserves
Iran = 15%
Qatar - 5%
Saudi Arabia - 4% . . . . .
US? - 3%

Pros and cons

Fear: explosive, toxic gas
Easier to process = less expensive
US reserves will last 65 - 85 years, world wide maybe 200 years
Produces less CO2 than oil
Extraction less environmentally damaging than coal or uranium

13. Oil Reserves (billion barrels)
graphic from: lugar.senate.gov/.../Worldwide_Oil_Reserves.gif

14. Natural Gas reserves (trillion cubic feet)
graphic from: lugar.senate.gov/.../Worldwide_Oil_Reserves.gif

15. Worldwide Proven Oil Reserves (Estimated by API)
graphic from: www.peakoil.net/uhdsg/weo2004/BPreserves.jpg

16. Coal-review

a. peat (not yet coal!) - low heat, high moisture
b. lignite (brown) - low heat, low sulfur, limited supplies
c. bituminous (soft) - high heat, high sulfur
d. anthracite (hard) -- high heat, low sulfur, supplies limited

16. Formation of coal

http://www.princeton.edu/~jarigoni/CHEMGOOD/Coal%20Mining_clip_image002.gif

17. Coal

Extraction

a. subsurface - labor intensive, dangerous
b. surface mining - overburden removed: strip mining, open pit

a. direct: now rare
b. electricity generation - 64% worldwide
c. steel manufacturing - 75% of energy

Reserves -

a. 66% of proven reserves in US, former Soviet Union, China
b. 45% high sulfur bituminous

18. Coal
Major problem: 65,000 to 200,000 human deaths/yr due to pollution

19. North American Coal Reserves: graphic from: www.geography.vt.edu

20. CO2 Emissions/Unit of Energy Produced

Source	%
coal-fired electricity	286
synthetic oil and gas produced from oil	150
coal	100
oil	86
natural gas	58
nuclear power	17

21. Can we live without our use of Fossil Fuels?
Can we live with our use of Fossil Fuels?

Transportation: rely on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel

Cars
Trucks
Airplanes

Manufacturing: raw materials & energy?

Plastics
Pharmaceuticals
Food packaging

Mining: raw materials and energy?
Housing: raw materials and energy?

22. Fig.9.11. Projected Energy demands

23. What are the best energy solutions?

improve energy efficiency

<>increase fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles, buildings and appliances
mandate government purchases of efficient vehicles and other devices
provide tax credits for buying efficient cars, houses and appliances
offer tax credits for investments in efficiency
offer tax credits for investments in efficiency
reward utilities for reducing demand (megawatt revolution)
encourage independent power producers
increase efficiency through research and development

more renewable energy

increase renewable energy to 40% by 2020
provide subsidies and tax credits for renewable energy
use full-cost accounting and least-cost analysis for comparing all energy alternatives
encourage government purchase of renewable energy devices
increase renewable energy research and development

reduce pollution and health risk

cut coal use 50% by 2020
phase out coal subsidies
levy taxes on coal and oil use
phase out nuclear power or put in on hold until 2020
phase out nuclear power subsidies

24. Drilling for Oil: North Slope Alaska

First strike: 1968 at Prudhoe Bay
1969: 30 producing wells
Estimates of 12 billion barrels of oil +30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
What is left: 4 billion barrels in 2000-------> 7.3 years and current strike will run dry
As the current field runs dry --> Pressure to drill in ANWR’s 1002.
How do you move all that oil: Trans Alaska Pipeline

25. Arctic Region Geology (see fig.9.5)

wells up to 2 miles deep
natural gas and water reinjected to maintain pressure

26. Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)

Valdez best port: ice free all year
Well placed for shipping to US pacific coast refineries
3rd round EIS finally approved in 1972
Pipeline elevated to allow for animal migration and protect the permafrost
Facts: 800 miles long, could transport
2 million barrels of oil/day

27. TAPS Infrastructure

579 km (360 mi) Haul Road
11 airfields + 15 access roads
19 construction camps: house 28,000 workers
Bridges across major waterways
100s of oil wells + feeder pipelines
Central electric power generating station
10 oil pumping stations
Oil tanker storage + loading facility at the Port of Valdez
18 oil storage tanks (each holds 500,000 barrels)

28. Potential Environmental Problems Planned (?) for

Elevated pipeline: 2.1 m (6.9 ft) above ground

Allows for caribou to migrate underneath
Protects the permafrost (not melted) because the oil is heated to maintain flow

Earthquakes

Built with ability to shift vertically and horizontally on support structures to relieve stress
Models predict can withstand 8.5 Richter scale quake (they had a 7 last week)

Spills: there was a plan - but it didn’t work => Exxon Valdez spill

29. Exxon Valdez spill map (www.conservationgiscenter.org/maps/images/spill.jpg)

30. EV spill facts

March 24, 1989, just after midnight
Supertanker Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef
11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound
Damage (USFWS: 20 - 70 yrs to recover)

Intertidal and subtidal habitats saturated
1500 miles of shoreline damaged
Wildlife killed (estimates)

250,000 sea birds
2,800 sea otters
250 bald eagles
300 harbor seals
200 harlequin ducks

31. EV Spill: The clean-up

Alyeska Pipeline Service: should have been in charge --> didn’t have the gear, the plan was “only” on paper
Technology - too little, too late

Dispersants: detergent like, helps the crude to dissolve in water: components of crude are toxic
Booms: barrier to “corral” the slick --> helped to protect the salmon hatcheries
Skimmers: suck up corralled oil, transferred to land fills
High-pressure spray of hot water on shoreline: more harm than good?

32. EV Spill: the Cost

Fisherman: salmon went from $2.40/# to $.70/#
1991: US District Court in Anchorage set a $1.05 billion penalty against Exxon
+ Exxon voluntarily spent

$2.2 billion in clean-up costs
$1.1 billion in litigation settlements
$300,000 on damage claims

33. How does government react?
1990 Oil Pollution Control Act

Spills dealt with through cooperative agreements: spiller, state government, federal agencies
USCG may direct on-site actions if prudent
If spill big-> USCG in charge
Spill response fund set up: $1 billion/spill
Vessel operating license holders: drug & alcohol testing
Double hulled oil tankers in US waters by 2015

34. Prince William Sound Today

Most species have recovered: fish, deer, duck, seals, sea lions
Shellfish still contaminated
Jobs in the area still suffer: fishing, subsistence harvesting, tourism, recreation
Much of the shoreline is still oiled beneath the surface