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1. 16-1

2. Housekeeping Items • Was the role play last Wednesday a worthwhile exercise? • Do read the slides on climate change. You will need to know them for the final exam. • Today we’ll deal with fossil fuels, and we’ll probably do a mix of lecture and participation. • A reminder that the life-cycle analyses are due on November 13th. • I saw the film Watermark on the weekend, and I highly recommend it.

3. Housekeeping Items • This Friday is the 8th Annual Urban Issues Film Festival in Building 356, Room 109 from 3 to 9:30. The broad theme is “Water in the City.” (see the poster) • We will have a variety of long and short films, with free pizza, popcorn, sushi and beverages. However, registration is essential so we know how much food to order. To register, e-mail pamelathejackal@gmail.com.

4. Upon successfully completing this chapter, you will be able to • Identify the principal energy sources that we use • Describe the nature and origin of coal and evaluate its extraction and use • Describe the nature and origin of natural gas and evaluate its extraction and use • Describe the nature and origin of oil and evaluate its extraction, use, and future availability • Describe the nature, origin, and potential of alternative fossil fuel types and technologies • Outline and assess environmental impacts of fossil fuel use • Evaluate political, social, and economic impacts of fossil fuel use • Specify strategies for conserving energy and enhancing efficiency

5. Central Case: On, Off, On Again? The MacKenzie Valley Natural Gas Pipeline • Proposal to develop three major natural gas fields • Delayed 10 years because of deep opposition • Many who opposed the pipeline became supporters • Potential effects: fragmentation of habitat, damage breeding areas, deforestation, increase GHG emissions • Natural gas from the region may go straight into the production of oil from Alberta’s tar sands “We’ve embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil.” – Mike Bowlin, Chair, ARCO

6. Sources of Energy 16-6

7. Renewable energy = supplies of energy will not be depleted by our use Sunlight, geothermal energy, and tidal energy Nonrenewable energy = at our current rates of consumption we will use up Earth’s accessible store of these sources in a matter of decades to centuries Oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear energy To replenish the fossil fuels we have depleted so far would take millions of years (we use about a million years worth a day!) We use a variety of energy sources

8. Fossil fuels = highly combustible substances formed from remains of organisms from past geologic ages Electricity = a secondary form of energy that is easier to transfer and apply to a variety of uses We use a variety of energy sources (cont’d)

9. Nonrenewable Crude oil Natural gas Coal Nuclear energy Renewable Biomass energy Hydropower Solar energy Wind Energy Geothermal energy Tidal and wave energy Chemical fuels We use a variety of energy sources (cont’d)

10. Fossil fuels we burn today were formed from the tissues of organisms that lived 100-500 million years ago Fossil fuels are produced only when organic materials is broken down in an anaerobic environment = one that has little or no oxygen Bottoms of deep lakes, swamps, and shallow seas Organic matter is eventually converted into crude oil, natural gas, or coal. Fossil fuels are indeed created from fossils Fossil fuels were formed from plants and animals that lived 300 million years ago in primordial swamps and oceans (top). Over time the plants and animals died and decomposed under tons of rock and ancient seas (middle). Eventually, many of the seas receded and left dry land with fossil fuels like coal buried underneath it (bottom). Ten feet of prehistoric plant debris was needed to make one foot of coal.

11. Fossil fuel reserves are unevenly distributed • Some regions have substantial reserves, whereas others have very few • How long a nation’s reserves will last depends on: • How much the nation extracts, consumes • How much it imports from and exports to other nations • Nearly 67% of the world’s proven reserves of crude oil lie in the Middle East • The U.S. possesses more coal than any other nation

12. Developed nations consume more energy than developing nations • Industrialized nations • Use energy for transportation, industry, other • Developing nations • Use energy for subsistence activities • Agriculture, food preparation, and home heating • Manual or animal energy instead of fossil fuels

13. Regions vary greatly in energy consumption

14. It takes energy to make energy • Net energy = the difference between energy returned and energy invested • Net energy = energy returned – energy invested • Energy returned on investment (EROI) = energy returned/energy invested • Higher ratios mean we receive more energy than we invest • Ratios decline when we extract the easiest deposits first and now must work harder to extract the remaining reserves

15. Coal, Natural Gas, and Oil 16-15

16. Coal is the world’s most abundant fossil fuel • Coal = organic matter (woody plant material) that was compressed under very high pressure to form dense, solid carbon structures

17. Coal use has a long history • The Romans used coal for heating in the second and third centuries in Britain • The Chinese have used coal for 2,000 - 3,000 years • Commercial mining began in the 1700s • The invention of the steam engine expanded coal’s market • Coal helped drive the Industrial Revolution and the steel industry • In the 1880s, people used coal to generate electricity

18. Coal is mined from the surface and from below ground • Subsurface mining = underground deposits are reached by digging networks of tunnels deep underground • Strip mining = heavy machinery removes huge amounts of earth to expose and extract the coal • Mountaintop removal = in some cases, entire mountaintops are cut off to obtain the coal

19. Coal varies in its qualities • Coal varies from place to place • Peat = organic material that is broken down anaerobically but remains wet, near the surface and not well compressed • Widely used as a fuel in Britain • Four types of coal • Lignite = least compressed • Sub-bituminous and bituminous • Anthracite = most compressed; has the most energy

20. Coal varies in its qualities (cont’d) • Coal contains impurities • Sulfur, mercury, arsenic, and other trace metals • Sulfur content depends on whether coal was formed in salt water or freshwater • Coal in eastern Canada (and China) is high in sulfur because it was formed in marine sediments • When high-sulfur coal is burned, it released sulfate air pollutants, which contribute to smog and acidic deposition • Mercury can bioaccumulate • Ways to reduce pollution must be found

21. Natural gas is the fastest-growing fossil fuel in use today • Natural gas consists primarily of methane, CH4, and varying amounts of other volatile hydrocarbons • Can be liquid at ambient pressures and temperatures in subsurface reservoirs • Provides 25% of global commercial energy consumption • World supplies are projected to last about 60 more years, but we already increasingly relying on “fracking” to get the gas out.

22. Natural gas is formed in two ways • Biogenic gas = created at shallow depths by bacterial anaerobic decomposition of organic matter • “swamp gas” • Thermogenic gas = results from compression and heat deep underground • Kerogen = organic matter that results when carbon bonds begin breaking • Source material for natural gas and crude oil • Coalbed methane = methane from coal seams, leaks to the atmosphere during mining

23. Natural gas has only recently been widely used • The first commercial extraction occurred in 1821 but was only used locally, because it could not be transferred safely • First used to light street lamps, then for heating and cooking • After thousands of miles of pipes were laid, natural gas transport became safer and more economical • Liquefied natural gas (LNG) = liquid gas that can be shipped long distances in refrigerated tankers; BC is betting its economic and financial future on LNG exports • Canada is the world’s third-largest producer of natural gas

24. Natural gas extraction becomes more challenging with time • The first gas fields simply required an opening and the gas moved upward • Most remaining fields require pumping by horsehead pumps • Gas is accessed by sophisticated techniques such as fracturing technique, which pumps high-pressure salt water and toxic chemicals into rocks to crack them • Fracking – extensive environmental impacts, including potentially on local water tables

25. Fracking is controversial as with the recent confrontations in New Brunswick between Mi kmaq and the police over the issue

26. Offshore drilling produces much of our gas and oil • Drilling takes place on land and in the seafloor on the continental shelves • Platforms are either strong fixed platforms or floating platforms

27. Oil is the world’s most-used fuel • People have used solid forms of oil (i.e., tar) for thousands of years • Modern extraction and use began in the 1850s • First bottled and sold as a healing aid, but it is carcinogenic • This “rock oil” could be used lamps and as a lubricant • Edwin Drake drilled the world’s first oil well, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859 • Canadians – less than 0.005% of the world’s population – consume 2.5% of the oil – 500 times the global average

28. Heat and pressure underground form petroleum • Oil, crude oil, or petroleum (oil and natural gas) • Crude oil = a mixture of hundreds of different types of hydrocarbon molecules • Formed 1.5 - 3 km (1 - 2 mi) underground • Dead organic material was buried in marine sediments and transformed by time, heat, and pressure • Refineries separate crude oil into components such as gas, tar, and asphalt

29. Petroleum geologists infer the location and size of deposits • Geologists map underground rock formations • Technically recoverable oil reveals the oil that could be extracted with current technology • Economically recoverable oil recognizes the balance between the costs of extraction, transportation and current price of oil • Proven recoverable reserve = oil that is technologically and economically feasible to remove under current conditions

30. We drill to extract oil • Exploratory drilling = small, deep holes to determine whether extraction should be done • Oil is under pressure and often rises to the surface • Primary extraction = the initial drilling and pumping of available oil • Secondary extraction = solvents, water, or stream is used to remove additional oil; expensive • We lack the technology to remove every bit of oil • As prices rise, it becomes economical to reopen a well

31. Primary and secondary oil extraction

32. Petroleum products have many uses

33. We may have already depleted half our oil reserves • Some people calculate that we have used up about 1.1 trillion barrels of oil • Reserves-to-production ratio (R/P ratio) = the amount of total remaining reserves divided by the annual rate of production (extraction and processing) • At current levels of production (30 billion barrels/year), we have about 40 years of oil left • We will face a crisis not when we run out of oil, but when the rate of production begins to decline (i.e. ‘peak oil’)

34. Peak Oil crunch time peak oil demand production

35. Hubbard’s peak = Geologist M. King Hubbard predicted that U.S. oil production would peak around 1970 (it did)

36. Geologist Kenneth Deffeyes contends that we already passed peak global production in 2005

37. The end of oil weighingtheissues • How do you think your life would be affected if our society were to suffer a 50% decrease in oil avail-ability over the next 10 years, as some observers have predicted? • What steps would you take to adapt to these changes? • What steps should our society take to deal with the coming depletion of oil? • Do you think the recent surges in the price of oil and gasoline are an indication that such changes are beginning?

38. “Unconventional” Fossil Fuels 16-38

39. Canada owns massive deposits of oil sands • Oil sands (tar sands) = sand deposits with 1 - 20% bitumen, a thick form of petroleum rich in carbon, poor in hydrogen • Degraded and chemically altered crude oil deposits • Removed by strip mining • Requires special extraction and refining processes to become useful

40. Oil shale is abundant in the American West • Oil shale = sedimentary rock filled with kerogen (organic matter) that can be processed to produce liquid petroleum • Can be burned like coal or baked in hydrogen (called prylosis) to produce liquid petroleum • More than 40% is found in the U.S., mostly on federally owned land in the west • Low prices for crude oil have kept investors away • As oil prices increase, oil shale is attracting attention

41. Methane hydrate is another form of natural gas • Methane hydrate(methane ice) = molecules of methane in a crystal lattice of water ice molecules • Occurs in arctic locations and under the seafloor • Formed by bacterial decomposition in anaerobic environments • Immense amounts could be present, from twice to 20 times the amount of natural gas • Extraction could destablize marine ecosystems • Landslides and tsunamis release of large amounts of methane (a greenhouse gas)

42. Alternative fossil fuels have significant environmental impacts • Low Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROI) ratios: about 3:1 compared to the 5:1 ratio on crude oil • These fuels exert severe environmental impacts • Devastate landscapes • Pollute waterways • Combustion pollutes the atmosphere just as much as crude oil, coal, and gas

43. Environmental Impact of Fossil Fuel Use 16-43

44. Fossil fuel emissions cause pollution and drive climate change • Alter flux rates in Earth’s carbon cycle • Release more carbon dioxide then they burn • Pollutants and hydrocarbons cause severe health problems • Mercury from coal-fired power plants • Contaminates water supplies and freshwater ecosystems • Run-off into water supplies, enter groundwater supplies FIGURE 15.15

45. Some emissions from fossil fuel burning can be “captured” • Carbon capture and storage (CCS) • Sequestration = storage of materials in geologic reservoirs on a long timescale • Many environmentalists are skeptical about CCS • Technology unproven • True impacts are not known • Increase acidification of ocean water FIGURE 15.15

46. Coal mining affects the environment • Strip mining causes severe soil erosion and chemical runoff • Acid drainage = sulfide minerals on exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulfuric acid • Mountaintop removal causes enormous damage • Material slides downhill, destroying immense areas of habitat

47. Coal mining affects the environment (cont’d) • Subsurface mining is harmful to human health • Inhalation of coal dust can lead to fatal black lung disease • Mining companies must restore landscapes, but the impacts are still severe • Costs to repair damages of mining are very high • These costs are not included in the market prices of fossil fuels, which are kept inexpensive by government subsidies

48. Oil and gas extraction can alter the environment • Road networks • Extensive infrastructure • Housing for workers • Access roads • Transport pipelines • Waste piles for removed soil • Ponds constructed for collecting toxic sludge that remains after oil removed

49. Political, Social, and Economic Aspects 16-49

50. Oil supply and prices affect the economies of nations • Our economies are utterly tied to fossil fuels • We are vulnerable to supplies becoming suddenly unavailable or extremely costly • Gives seller nations control • In Canada, imports outweigh exports 16-50