GETTING ENERGY TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY

There Are Nonrenewable And Renewable Sources Of Energy

• NONRENEWABLE• Coal• Oil• Natural gas• Nuclear• Tar (oil) sands• Oil shale

• RENEWABLE• Solar• Wind• Wave or tidal• Biomass• Hydrothermal• geothermal

Producing Electricity1. An energy source provides

power to heat water2. The steam rising (kinetic

energy) turns a turbine (mechanical energy)

3. The turbine is connected to a generator which has copper coils and magnets – with each spin electrons flow through the wire – this is electricity

http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_4951187_heat-can-produce-electricity.html

Producing Electricity

• 3 main sources for global production of electricity– Fossil Fuels (64% electricity – 80% world energy)– Nuclear Energy (17%)– Renewable Energy (19%)

HOW DO WE USE ENERGY IN OUR HOMES?

In Georgia… 74% of our electricity comes from the burning of

COAL 19% of our electricity comes from NUCLEAR

POWER 6% of our electricity comes from NATURAL GAS

AND OIL 1% of our electricity comes from HYDROELECTRIC

POWER

• Based on cost of electricity, Georgia ranks #25 in the nation in energy affordability, according to EIA. Georgia ranks #9 in the nation in coal use.

• In Nov. 2012, electricity averaged 10.8₵ per kWh, while the national average was 12.7 ₵. The cost in Hawaii is about 30 ₵ per kWh.

COAL• Georgia had 46 coal-fired

generating stations in 2006.• In 2006, Georgia's coal-

fired power plants

produced 82.0 million tons of CO2, 619,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 109,000 tons ofnitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants

were responsible for 48.8% of the state's total CO2 emissions. In 2005, Georgia emitted 18.5 tons of CO2 per person, slightly less than the U.S. average.

• Georgia was the most coal dependent state in the country, spending $2.6 billion on coal imports in 2008.[5]

NUCLEAR POWER IN GEORGIA

There are two nuclear power plants in Georgia. One in Baxley (Hatch Nuclear Plant) and one in Waynesboro (Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant).

OIL AND NATURAL GAS IN GEORGIA

Oil and natural gas are piped into Georgia. Georgia has no natural supplies of these fossil fuels.

HYDROELECTRIC POWER IN GEORGIA

LAKE LANIER IS OWNED BY THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND PRODUCES ELECTRICITY FOR THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES.

GETTING ELECTRICITY TO YOUR HOUSE!

FOSSIL FUELSOil, coal, natural gas, oil

sands and shale oil

• Solid fuel formed from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant material preserved 280-360 mya

• 3 types of coal

COAL

• Time and pressure produce successively denser coal with more carbon molecules, and more energy potential.

• The most widely used fuel for electricity in the US and world.

• Primary methods of mining:– Open pit– Subsurface – Mountain top

COAL

A bucket wheel excavator

Coal Is a Plentiful but Dirty Fuel• World’s most abundant fossil fuel

– U.S. has 25%

• Environmental costs of burning coal:– Severe pollution – water and air are

affected– Sulfur released as SO2 can lead to acid rain

which can harm trees and streams– Large amount of soot and other wastes are

produced– Creates CO2 - a greenhouse gas– Wildlife and habitats are disrupted/destroyed– Trace amounts of mercury, arsenic and

radioactive materials which poison fish, plants and humans

– Human health harmed from breathing air, drinking water, eating fish and mining

• Petroleum (crude oil)- a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons that can be refined into various oils and gasoline

• Formed from the remains of ocean dwelling phytoplankton 50-150 mya

• Forms in porous sedimentary rock that is capped by a nonporous rock. Because the petroleum is less dense than the rock, the petroleum migrates upward where it is trapped.

OIL

Refining Crude Oil

Components of petroleum are

removed at various levels, depending on boiling points, in a

giant distillation column.

• Product list

Products Which Are Made From Petroleum Products

• Is a component of petroleum.• Is mostly methane (CH4) with some ethane,

propane and butane.• Natural gas is less dense than petroleum so it

is found above petroleum• Controversial method is hydraulic fracturing

(fracking). (gasland video)

NATURAL GAS

• Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Mts.

• Fracking song

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?• What is the world’s most used fossil fuel?• COAL• Natural Gas is mainly _____ gas.• METHANE (CH4)• Which fossil fuel is made from the remains of plants?• COAL• What is the controversial method of removing natural gas

from the ground?• FRACKING• List 3 environmental pollutants produced by burning coal.• RELEASE OF CO2 SULFUR DIOXIDE AND TOXIC HEAVY METALS

LIKE MERCURY AND ARSENIC

• List 3 environmental effects of coal mining• WATER POLLUTION, HABITAT DESTRUCTION,

FLOODING FROM MOUNTAIN TOP MINING, HUMAN HEALTH/ACCIDENTS

• What fossil fuel is found along with petroleum?• NATURAL GAS• What are 2 advantages and disadvantages of

using natural gas?(see the slide)

• Slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water and clay

• bitumen- tar or pitch- is a degraded type of petroleum that forms when a petroleum deposit is not capped with nonporous rock. The petroleum migrates close to the surface where bacteria metabolize some of the hydrocarbons. The remaining mix cannot flow and can be extracted by surface mining.

OIL (TAR) SANDS

• ¾ of world’s reserves are in Alberta, Canada under a huge area of remote boreal forest. Equal to 7x that of oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

• Can be easily transported

• Video on Canadian tar sands• Keystone pipeline

TAR SANDS

ADVANTAGES OF TAR SANDS

• Economically recoverable at today’s oil prices.

• Technology is there for transportation.• Will help keep oil prices relatively low.• Big economic driver in Alberta.

• Mining is very energy intensive• Uses lots of water• Overall efficiency is lower and releases more

CO2 than conventional oil.• Water pollution. Roughly 3 million gallons of

toxic runoff per day. • Destructive to major boreal forest, an important

carbon sink• Widespread habitat destruction, both on land

and water• Requires expensive and risky pipeline to reach

faraway markets

DISADVANTAGES OF TAR SANDS

There are not a lot of species of plants in the taiga because of the

harsh conditions. Not many plants can survive the extreme cold of

the taiga winter. There are some lichens and mosses, but most

plants are coniferous trees like pine, white spruce, hemlock and

douglas fir.

• Animals of the taiga tend to be predators like the lynx , wolverines, bobcat, minks and ermine. They hunt herbivores like snowshoe rabbits, red squirrels and voles. Red deer, elk, and moose can be found in regions of the taiga where more deciduous trees grow.

• Many insect eating birds come to the taiga to breed. They leave when the breeding season is over. Seed eaters like finches and sparrows, and omnivorous birds like crows stay all year long.

• Some rocks contain a solid combustible mixture of hydrocarbons called kerogen. It is extracted from crushed oil shale after being heated in a large container.

• 72% of world’s estimated reserves are in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.

• It is believed these deposits contain an amount of potentially recoverable oil equal to almost 4x the size of Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.

• Can be easily transported within countries

OIL SHALE

Advantages of oil shale

• Price of oil would decrease• Easily transported• Large supply that could decrease our energy

dependence.

What do you remember?

Fig. 15-8, p. 380