CHAPTER 16

Nonrenewable Energy

Core Case Study: How Long Will the Oil Party Last?

Saudi Arabia could supply the world with oil for about 10 years.

The Alaska’s North Slope could meet the world oil demand for 6 months (U.S.: 3 years).

Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would meet the world demand for 1-5 months (U.S.: 7-25 months).

Core Case Study: How Long Will the Oil Party Last?

We have three options:Look for more oil.Use or waste less oil.Use something else.

Figure 16-1

TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES

About 99% of the energy we use for heat comes from the sun and the other 1% comes mostly from burning fossil fuels.Solar energy indirectly supports wind power,

hydropower, and biomass. About 76% of the commercial energy we

use comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) with the remainder coming from renewable sources.

TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES

Nonrenewable energy resources and geothermal energy in the earth’s crust.

Figure 16-2

TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES

Commercial energy use by source for the world (left) and the U.S. (right).

Figure 16-3

TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES

Net energy is the amount of high-quality usable energy available from a resource after subtracting the energy needed to make it available.

Remember the second law of thermodynamics!

Net energy ratio – useful energy produced/energy used to produce it

Net Energy Ratios

The higher the net energy ratio, the greater the net energy available. Ratios < 1 indicate a net energy loss.

Figure 16-4

OIL Crude oil (petroleum) is a thick liquid containing

hydrocarbons that we extract from underground deposits and separate into products such as gasoline, heating oil and asphalt.Only 35-50% can be economically recovered from a

deposit.As prices rise, about 10-25% more can be recovered

from expensive secondary extraction techniques.○ This lowers the net energy yield.

OIL Refining crude oil:

Based on boiling points, components are removed at various layers in a giant distillation column.

The most volatile components with the lowest boiling points are removed at the top.

Figure 16-5

OIL World’s largest business Eleven OPEC (Organization of

Petroleum Exporting Countries) have 78% of the world’s proven oil reserves and most of the world’s unproven reserves.

An oil reserve is an identified deposit from which crude oil can be extracted profitably at current prices and current technology.

2007 World Proved Reserves

After global production peaks and begins a slow decline, oil prices will rise and could threaten the economies of countries that have not shifted to new energy alternatives.

Top three oil consuming nations U.S. (60%) China (33%) Japan (100%)

Source: U.S Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration

Oil Refining Capabilities

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries control most oil refining.

Supply and demand economics are therefore interrupted by a multi-stage process dictating the supply.

Historic Oil Prices

Source: Lindstrom, Kirk. Inflation adjusted oil prices fall on strong USD. Seeking Alpha. 19 Oct, 2008. Retrieved 26 Mar, 2009 from http://seekingalpha.com/article/100560-inflation-adjusted-oil-prices-fall-on-strong-usd

As Oil Prices Rise… Prices of food and products produced from

petrochemicals will rise. People will necessary move down the food

chain. Food production may become more localized. More land will be used to produce renewable

biomass crops. Air travel and air freight may decline. Re-urbanization

Case Study: U.S. Oil Supplies The U.S. – the world’s largest oil user –

has only 2.9% of the world’s proven oil reserves.

U.S oil production peaked in 1974 (halfway production point).

About 60% of U.S oil imports go through refineries in hurricane-prone regions of the Gulf Coast.

Alaskan Oil Pipeline

Carries 2 million barrels a day of crude oil from the Prudhoe Bay oil field 789 miles south to Southern Alaska to be loaded onto tankers destined for refineries. Represents 25% of the U.S. crude oil reserves.

OIL Burning oil for

transportation accounts for 43% of global CO2 emissions.

Figure 16-7

CO2 Emissions

CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced for various energy resources.

Figure 16-8

Heavy Oils Heavy and tarlike oils from oil sand and oil

shale could supplement conventional oil, but there are environmental problems.High sulfur content.Extracting and processing produces:

○ Toxic sludge○ Uses and contaminates larges volumes of water○ Requires large inputs of natural gas which

reduces net energy yield.○ Deforestation

Oil Sands Bitumen can be extracted Athabascan Oil Sands

deposits equal in area to U.S. states of MD and VA.

Supply 1/5 of Canadian energy needs.

Production costs high ($13/barrel vs. $1-2 for conventional production.

1.8 mt of oil sand = 1 barrel of oil.

China invested heavily.

Canadian Oil Sand Pit Mine

Athabascan River Surface Water Allocations

Oil Shales

Oil shales contain a solid combustible mixture of hydrocarbons called kerogen.

Figure 16-9

Figure 16-10

When Does the Oil Party End?

60 minutes video re: Shalieonaires http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?

id=7054210n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

NATURAL GAS Natural gas consists mostly of methane and

other gaseous hydrocarbons.Conventional natural gas

○ found above reservoirs of crude oil.○ When a natural gas-field is tapped, gasses are

liquefied and removed as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Unconventional natural gas○ Coal bed methane gas○ Methane hydrate

bubbles of methane trapped in ice crystals deep under the arctic permafrost and beneath deep-ocean sediments

Natu

ral G

as

Pro

cess

ing

Natural Gas Production

NATURAL GAS Some analysts see

natural gas as the best fuel to help us make the transition to improved energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energy.

Figure 16-11

COAL

Coal is a solid fossil fuel that is formed in several stages as the buried remains of land plants that lived 300-400 million years ago.

Figure 16-12

COAL

Most abundant fossil fuel Generates 62% of world’s electricity and is used to

make 75% of its steel Anthracite (98% carbon) is most desirable but

least common. Lower grades of coal have increasing traces of

sulfur, toxic mercury, and radioactive materials that are released upon burning.

Extraction by subsurface mining, area strip mining, contour strip mining, and mountaintop removal are environmentally damaging.

Fig. 16-13, p. 369

Waste heat

Coal bunker TurbineCooling tower

transfers waste heat to

atmosphere

Generator

Cooling loop

Stack

Pulverizing mill

Condenser Filter

Boiler

Toxic ash disposal

COAL

Coal reserves in the United States (27%), Russia (17%), and China (13%) could last hundreds to over a thousand years.In 2005, China and

the U.S. accounted for 53% of the global coal consumption.

COAL Coal is the most

abundant fossil fuel, but compared to oil and natural gas it is not as versatile, has a high environmental impact, and releases much more CO2 into the troposphere.

Figure 16-14

COAL Synfuels

Coal can be converted into synthetic natural gas (SNG or syngas) and liquid fuels (such as methanol or synthetic gasoline) that burn cleaner than coal.Requires mining 50% more coalCosts are high.Burning them adds more CO2 to the

troposphere than burning coal.

COAL

Since CO2 is not regulated as an air pollutant and costs are high, U.S. coal-burning plants are unlikely to invest in coal gasification.

Figure 16-15

Clean Coal Technology

Multiple technologies aimed at cleaning coal and containing its emissions

• Coal washing• Wet scrubbers (flue gas desulfurization systems)

• Low-NOx burners

• Electrostatic precipitators• Oxy-fuel combustion

• Pre-combustion capture

Clean Coal Technology Regardless of method, the CO2 must be sequestered –

either in a commercially viable product or stored deep underground or in the oceans.

1. CO2 pumped into disused coal fields displaces methane which can be used as fuel2. CO2 can be pumped into and stored safely in saline aquifers3. CO2 pumped into oil fields helps maintain pressure, making extraction easier

NUCLEAR ENERGY

When isotopes of uranium and plutonium undergo controlled nuclear fission, the resulting heat produces steam that spins turbines to generate electricity.The uranium (V, VI) oxide (U3O8) consists of

about 97% nonfissionable uranium-238 and 3% fissionable uranium-235.

The concentration of uranium-235 is increased through an enrichment process.

Fig. 16-16, p. 372

Small amounts of radioactive gases

Uranium fuel input (reactor core)

Control rodsContainment shell

Heat exchanger

Steam Turbine Generator

Waste heat

Electric power

Hot coolant

Useful energy 25%–30%Hot

water outputPumpPump

Coolant Pump Pump

Moderator

Cool water input

Waste heat

Shielding Pressure vessel

Coolant passage

Water CondenserPeriodic removal and storage of radioactive wastes and spent fuel assemblies

Periodic removal and storage of radioactive liquid wastes

Water source (river, lake, ocean)

Nuclear energy

There are currently 435 nuclear reactors in the world.

Why is nuclear power considered nonrenewable?

What are its advantages over coal, oil, and natural gas as an energy source?

What are its disadvantages?

Fig. 16-18, p. 373

Decommissioning of reactorFuel assemblies

ReactorEnrichment of UF6 Fuel fabrication

(conversion of enriched UF6 to UO2 and fabrication of fuel assemblies) Temporary storage of

spent fuel assemblies underwater or in dry casks

Conversion of U3O8 to UF6

Uranium-235 as UF6 Plutonium-239 as PuO2

Spent fuel reprocessing

Low-level radiation with long half-life

Geologic disposal of moderate &

high-level radioactive

wastesOpen fuel cycle today

“Closed” end fuel cycle

Uranium Surface Mining

Uranium Mining – Injection Wells

Nuclear Fuel CycleAfter three or four years in a reactor, spent fuel rods are removed and stored in a deep pool of water contained in a steel-lined concrete container.

Figure 16-17

After spent fuel rods are cooled considerably, they are sometimes moved to dry-storage containers made of steel or concrete.

Radioactive Waste Wastes must be safely stored for 10,000 to

240,000 years. Options:

Bury it deep underground. Shoot it into space.Bury it in the Antarctic ice sheet.Bury it in the deep-ocean floor that is geologically

stable.Change it into harmless or less harmful isotopes.

In 2009, Obama pulled funding for Yucca Mountain, the only existing U.S. facility designed for long term highly-radioactive waste storage.

Decommissioning When a nuclear reactor reaches the end

of its useful life, its highly radioactive materials must be kept from reaching the environment for thousands of years.

At least 228 large commercial reactors worldwide (20 in the U.S.) are scheduled for retirement by 2012.Many reactors are applying to extend their

40-year license to 60 years.Aging reactors are subject to embrittlement

and corrosion.

NUCLEAR ENERGY In 1995, the World

Bank said nuclear power is too costly and risky.

In 2006, it was found that several U.S. reactors were leaking radioactive tritium into groundwater.

Figure 16-19

NUCLEAR ENERGY A 1,000 megawatt

nuclear plant is refueled once a year, whereas a coal plant requires 80 rail cars a day.

Figure 16-20

What Happened to Nuclear Power? After more than 50 years of

development and enormous government subsidies, nuclear power has not lived up to its promise because:Multi billion-dollar construction costs.Higher operation costs and more

malfunctions than expected.Poor management.Public concerns about safety and stricter

government safety regulations.

Case Study: The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident The world’s worst nuclear

power plant accident occurred in 1986 in Ukraine.

The disaster was caused by poor reactor design and human error. Resulted in an 18-mile (30 km)

Exclusion Zone By 2005, 56 people had died

from radiation related illnesses. 4,000 more are expected from

thyroid cancer and leukemia. Over 600,000 clean up workers

exposed to some elevated levels of radiation.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Chernobyl Disaster

Risks from Terrorism

Attack nuclear power plants Especially poorly protected pools that

store spent nuclear fuel rods.

Dirty bombs Explosives wrapped around small

amounts of radioactive materials Radioactive material is easy to get Cause minimal loss of life, but could

contaminate areas for decades resulting in environmental damage and economic losses.

Are Reactors the Answer to Oil Independence? Yes.

Nuclear power can be developed domestically to generate electricity rather than using foreign oil.

Nuclear power is clean and does not contribute to global warming.

No. Oil only generates 2-3% of U.S. electricity. When the entire nuclear fuel cycle is considered, the cycle

does contribute to CO2 emissions. Wind turbines, solar cells, geothermal energy, and

hydrogen contributes much less to CO2 emissions.

New and Safer Reactors

Pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) are smaller reactors that minimize the chances of runaway chain reactions. no need for a core cooling

system or airtight containment dome

fuel can be rearranged while operating

security concerns generates more waste more expensive

Figure 16-21

Fig. 16-21, p. 380

Each pebble contains about 10,000 uranium dioxide particles the size of a pencil point.

Pebble detailSilicon carbide

Pyrolytic carbon

Porous buffer

Uranium dioxide

Graphite shell Helium

TurbineGenerator

Pebble

Core Hot water output

RecuperatorReactor vessel Water

cooler

Cool water input

NUCLEAR FUSION Nuclear fusion is a nuclear change in which two isotopes are forced

together.

No risk of meltdown or radioactive releases. May also be used to breakdown toxic material. Still in laboratory stages.

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