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Chapter 16

Chapter 16. Nonrenewable Energy. Chapter Overview Questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of conventional oil and nonconventional heavy oils? What are the advantages and disadvantages of natural gas?

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Chapter 16

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  1. Chapter 16 Nonrenewable Energy

  2. Chapter Overview Questions • What are the advantages and disadvantages of conventional oil and nonconventional heavy oils? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of natural gas? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of coal and the conversion of coal to gaseous and liquid fuels?

  3. Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) • What are the advantages and disadvantages of conventional nuclear fission, breeder nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion?

  4. Core Case Study: How Long Will the Oil Party Last? • Saudi Arabia - 10 year oil supply • Alaska’s North Slope - 6 months (U.S.: 3 years). • Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) - 1-5 months (U.S.: 7-25 months).

  5. Core Case Study: How Long Will the Oil Party Last? • Three options: • Look for more • Use or waste less • Use something else. Figure 16-1

  6. TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES • 99% of the energy warms us comes from the sun and the other 1% comes mostly from burning fossil fuels. • Solar energy indirectly supports wind power, hydropower, and biomass. • 76% of commercial energy comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) • The remainder comes from renewable

  7. TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES • Nonrenewable energy resources and geothermal energy in the earth’s crust.

  8. TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES • Commercial energy use by source for the world and the U.S.

  9. Animation: Energy Use PLAY ANIMATION

  10. TYPES OF ENERGY RESOURCES Net energy = the amount of high-quality usable energy available from a resource (minus) the energy needed to make it available

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

  12. OIL • Crude oil (petroleum): • thick liquid containing hydrocarbons • extracted from underground deposits • separated through FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION • Only 35-50% can be economically recovered from a deposit. • About 10-25% more can be recovered from expensive secondary extraction techniques. • This lowers the net energy yield. • Only done when prices rise

  13. OIL • Refining crude oil: • Based on boiling points • The most volatile components with the lowest boiling points are removed at the top. • Fractional Distillation

  14. OIL • Eleven OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) have 78% of the world’s proven oil reserves and most of the world’s unproven reserves. • After global production peaks and begins to decline, oil prices will rise and could threaten the economies of countries that have not shifted to new energy alternatives.

  15. OIL • Inflation-adjusted price of oil, 1950-2006. Figure 16-6

  16. Case Study: U.S. Oil Supplies • U.S. – 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 goes through refineries in hurricane-prone regions of the Gulf Coast.

  17. OIL • Burning oil for transportation accounts for 43% of global CO2 emissions. Figure 16-7

  18. CO2 Emissions • CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced for various energy resources. Figure 16-8

  19. Heavy Oils from Oil Sand and Oil Shale: Will Sticky Black Gold Save Us? • Oil sand and oil shale could supplement conventional oil • Environmental problems. • High sulfur content. • Extracting and processing: • Toxic sludge • Uses and contaminates larges volumes of water • Requires large inputs of natural gas (reduces net energy yield)

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

  21. Heavy Oils • It takes about 1.8 metric tons of oil sand to produce one barrel of oil.

  22. NATURAL GAS • Natural gas (mostly methane), is often found above reservoirs of crude oil. • When a natural gas-field is tapped, gasses are liquefied and removed as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). • Coal beds and bubbles of methane trapped in ice crystals deep under the arctic permafrost and beneath deep-ocean sediments are unconventional sources of natural gas.

  23. NATURAL GAS • Russia and Iran • Almost half of the world’s reserves of conventional gas • Global reserves should last 62-125 years. • Natural gas: • Versatile and clean-burning fuel • Releases the carbon dioxide (when burned) and methane (from leaks) into the troposphere.

  24. NATURAL GAS • Best fuel to help make the transition to improved energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energy.

  25. COAL • Solid fossil fuel • Formed in several stages • Buried remains of land plants (300-400mya)

  26. The largest coal-burning power plant in the United States in Indiana burns 23 metric tons (25 tons) of coal per minute or three 100-car trainloads of coal per day and produces 50% more electric power than the Hoover Dam. Waste heat Cooling tower transfers waste heat to atmosphere Coal bunker Turbine Generator Cooling loop Stack Pulverizing mill Condenser Filter Boiler Toxic ash disposal Fig. 16-13, p. 369

  27. COAL • Coal reserves in the US, Russia, and China • Hundreds to over a thousand years • Proven coal reserves: • U.S. (27%) • Russia (17%) • China (13%) • 2005, China & U.S. = 53% global coal consumption

  28. COAL • Most abundant fossil fuel • Compared to oil and natural gas it is not as versatile • High environmental impact • Releases much more CO2 into the troposphere.

  29. How Would You Vote? Should coal use be phased out over the next 20 years? • a. No. Coal is an abundant energy source and we should continue to develop clean ways to use it. • b. Yes. Mining and combusting coal create serious environmental impacts.

  30. COAL • Can be converted into synthetic natural gas (SNG or syngas) and liquid fuels (methanol or synthetic gasoline) that burn cleaner than coal. • Costs are high. • They add more CO2 to the troposphere than burning coal.

  31. 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

  32. NUCLEAR ENERGY • Isotopes of uranium and plutonium undergo controlled nuclear fission • Resulting heat produces steam that spins turbines to generate electricity. • The uranium oxide consists of about 97% nonfissionable uranium-238 and 3% fissionable uranium-235. • The concentration of uranium-235 is increased through an enrichment process.

  33. Small amounts of radioactive gases Uranium fuel input (reactor core) Control rods Containment shell Heat exchanger Turbine Steam Generator Electric power Waste heat Hot coolant Useful energy 25%–30% Hot water output Pump Pump Coolant Pump Pump Waste heat Cool water input Moderator Coolant passage Pressure vessel Shielding Water Condenser Periodic removal and storage of radioactive wastes and spent fuel assemblies Periodic removal and storage of radioactive liquid wastes Water source (river, lake, ocean) Fig. 16-16, p. 372

  34. NUCLEAR ENERGY • After 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.

  35. NUCLEAR ENERGY • After spent fuel rods are cooled, they are sometimes moved to dry-storage containers made of steel or concrete. Figure 16-17

  36. Decommissioning of reactor Fuel assemblies Reactor Enrichment 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 UF6Plutonium-239 as PuO2 Spent fuel reprocessing Low-level radiation with long half-life Geologic disposal of moderate & high-level radioactive wastes Open fuel cycle today “Closed” end fuel cycle Fig. 16-18, p. 373

  37. What Happened to Nuclear Power? • More than 50 years of development • Enormous government subsidies • Still not lived up to its promise • Multi billion-dollar construction costs. • Higher operation costs and more malfunctions than expected. • Poor management. • Public concerns about safety and stricter government safety regulations.

  38. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident • World’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurred in 1986 in Ukraine. • Caused by poor reactor design and human error. • By 2005, 56 people had died from radiation released. • 4,000 more are expected from thyroid cancer and leukemia.

  39. Animation: Chernobyl Fallout PLAY ANIMATION

  40. NUCLEAR ENERGY • World Bank (‘95) 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

  41. 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

  42. NUCLEAR ENERGY • Terrorists • could attack nuclear power plants (especially poorly protected pools and casks that store spent nuclear fuel rods.) • could wrap explosives around small amounts of radioactive materials that are fairly easy to get, detonate such bombs, and contaminate large areas for decades.

  43. NUCLEAR ENERGY • Decommissioning – • When a nuclear reactor reaches the end of its useful life • 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 applying to extend 40-yr license to 60 yrs • Aging reactors - embrittlement and corrosion.

  44. NUCLEAR ENERGY • Does not lessen dependence on imported oil • Will not reduce CO2 emissions as much as others • The nuclear fuel cycle contributes to CO2 emissions. • Wind turbines, solar cells, geothermal energy, and hydrogen contributes much less to CO2 emissions.

  45. NUCLEAR ENERGY • Scientists disagree about the best methods for long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste: • 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.

  46. New and Safer Reactors • Pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) are smaller reactors that minimize the chances of runaway chain reactions. Figure 16-21

  47. New and Safer Reactors • Some oppose the pebble reactor due to : • A crack in the reactor could release radioactivity. • The design has been rejected by UK and Germany for safety reasons. • Lack of containment shell would make it easier for terrorists to blow it up or steal radioactive material. • Creates higher amount of nuclear waste and increases waste storage expenses.

  48. NUCLEAR ENERGY • 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. • There is a disagreement over whether to phase out nuclear power or keep this option open in case other alternatives do not pan out.

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