FSN 1500 Week 5

1. FSN 1500 Week 5 Energy and Mineral Resources (Part 1: Fossil Fuels)

2. Introduction • As societies evolve from primitive to agricultural to industrial/technological, and population increases, the per-capita consumption of energy increases (see figure)

3. Energy Resources – Fossil Fuels • The cost of energy (e.g., gasoline, electricity, heat) significantly impacts all of us and influences national and foreign policy • In the U.S., and industrial societies worldwide, most of the required energy is derived via combustion of fossil fuels (see slide)

4. U.S. Energy Consumption Profile (2011) • Oil ~36.2% • Natural Gas ~25.5% • Coal ~20.4% • Nuclear ~8.0% • Biomass ~4.1% • Hydroelectric ~3.5% • Wind ~1.1% • Geothermal ~0.24% • Solar ~0.12% Traditional Fossil Fuels (~82%) Renewable Fuels (9.0%) Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics

5. Annual per capita consumption of the traditional fossil fuels in the United States (oil) What’s the U.S. population?

6. Fossil Fuels • Note that the U.S. derives about 82% of its energy via combustion of three traditional (conventional) fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) • The ultimate origin of the fossil fuels is the photosynthetic process utilized by plants

7. Photosynthesis • Photo (light); synthesis (to combine); process whereby living plants combine water, light energy and carbon dioxide gas to produce carbohydrates and oxygen gas (see figure) • Carbohydrates - family of chemical compounds consisting of 1:2:1 (or close) ratio of C, H, and O atoms (e.g., C6 H12O6 = glucose)

8. Fossil Fuel Formation • Fossil fuels - remains of plants and animals, trapped in sediments and rocks, that have been converted to a combustible form • Without photosynthesis there would be no surface plant life and therefore no animal life, so photosynthesis is necessary for the creation of fossil fuels.

9. Fossil Fuel Formation • For fossil fuel formation, organic matter must be buried relatively rapidly to minimize its degradation by oxidation • Both land plants and animals and sea plants and animals (e.g., phytoplankton, zooplankton) are apparently converted to fossil fuels under the appropriate conditions • Coal - combustible rock containing at least 60% carbon

10. Coal • Typical coal-forming environments presumed to be stagnant, low dissolved oxygen water basins (e.g., marshes, tidal flats, bayous, bogs) (see figure)

11. Coal • Microscopic examination of coal reveals that coal is almost exclusively derived from the transformation of land plants (see figure)

12. Coal • The photomicrographs on the right show the cell walls of plants (top) and compressed spore cases (bottom) typically visible when coal is viewed using a high magnification power microscope

13. Coal • The coalification process involves a series of microbial, physical and chemical processes that concentrate the element carbon (see figure)

14. The Coalification Process

16. Coal • Peat is considered a precursor to coal; the commonly recognized coal types include lignite (> or = 70% C), bituminous (> or = 80% C) and anthracite (> or = 95% C) • Laboratory and field studies suggest it may take tens of thousands to millions of years for significant amounts of coal to form

17. Coal • The U.S. hosts about 30% of the world’s coal reserves (verified quantities). This amount could fuel our economy, at the current rate, for close to 200 years! (see figure) • Why doesn’t the U.S. derive a higher proportion of its energy from coal?

19. Modern Underground Coal Mining

20. Coal • About 42% (2011) of U.S. electricity is generated by burning coal – the resultant pollution and significant carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions concerns many • Another concern: due to the abundant supplies of coal, many utility companies wish to build large numbers of additional coal-fired electricity plants to meet our increasing electricity demand

21. Coal • A relatively new technology, Integrated Gasification Combustion Cycle, can drastically reduce the pollution and greenhouse gases released by coal combustion during electricity production, but this technology adds significant startup costs to the plant and is not being embraced by U.S. utility companies

22. Coal • Carbon gas (e.g., carbon dioxide) sequestration technologies (e.g., capturing the combustion gases and pumping them into porous rock layers far below the surface) are also being investigated (expensive) • Current estimates (see figures) suggest that coal will play a significant role in U.S. (and world) electricity production for decades

23. Coal

24. Petroleum • Petroleum - any naturally occurring, solid, liquid, or gaseous hydrocarbon compound • Hydrocarbons - chemical compounds composed of various ratios of C and H • Examples of petroleum: natural gas (CH4), oil (a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons), and asphalt (a mixture of solid hydrocarbons) • Petroleum is considered a byproduct of organic matter decomposition partially because of its chemistry

25. Petroleum • Most oils contain porphyrins; these substances are derived from chlorophyll and chlorophyll in nature is only found in plants • Chemical studies suggest the primary organic matter source for oil and natural gas is microscopic sea plants (phytoplankton) and sea animals (zooplankton) • The organic matter conversion requires similar processes to that required for coal to form (see figure)

26. Petroleum • Most oils contain porphyrins; these substances are derived from chlorophyll and chlorophyll in nature is only found in plants • Chemical studies suggest the primary organic matter source for oil and natural gas is microscopic sea plants (phytoplankton) and sea animals (zooplankton) • The organic matter conversion requires similar processes to that required for coal to form (see figure)

27. The “petroleum formation window”

28. Conventional Petroleum Oil and gas typically accumulate in rocks like water does in a sponge - as pore space fillings; the term “oil pool” is misleading For oil and/or gas to accumulate in valuable amounts, certain conditions need to be met: Example of Petroleum Trap

29. Conventional Petroleum Formation • 1) A source rock containing trapped organic matter must undergo the required reactions to generate the oil and/or gas; some shales are good source rocks • If the source rock becomes fractured the oil and/or gas will migrate

30. Conventional Petroleum Formation • Based on laboratory and field studies, scientists estimate it may take hundreds of thousands or millions of years for significant amounts of petroleum to form • 2) A reservoir rock must accumulate the oil and/or gas; the best reservoir rocks are both porous and permeable (define); 99% of the world’s oil is extracted from sandstone and limestone reservoir rocks (see figure)

32. Conventional Petroleum Formation • 3) A cap (roof) rock must be present to restrict the vertical migration of the oil/gas from the reservoir; shale makes a good roof rock • 4) A trap must be present to restrict the lateral migration of the oil/gas from the reservoir • 5) Once the petroleum has accumulated, no subsequent deformation (e.g., earthquakes) is desired because this could break the trap and allow oil migration (see figure)

33. Example of Petroleum Trap

34. Conventional Petroleum • The U.S. consumes about 7.3 billion barrels of oil per year and has domestic reserves of about 25 billion barrels; worldwide, the known conventional oil reserves are projected to be exhausted by 2065 • Political controversy rages over proposed drilling in the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) (see figure)

36. Conventional Petroleum • However, as exploration and drilling technology advances, more oil could be recovered from previously undrilled regions, as suggested by Chevron’s discovery in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico (see slide) Promising ocean petroleum exploration technique used by some companies

38. Conventional Petroleum • The massive oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico in spring 2010 when BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig collapsed casts doubts on our ability to safely produce petroleum from deep waters

39. Conventional Petroleum • The future outlook in the U.S. for traditional (conventional) natural gas supplies is also problematic – we have less than a 10 year domestic supply at the current consumption rate, assuming no large discoveries are made • We consume about 24 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually

40. A Possible Radical Transformation is Underway 2/12/13 • Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have the potential to radically reshape energy production and consumption in the United States within the next decade! • Significant petroleum (gas and oil) production, from both conventional and unconventional sources, is likely from these techniques!

41. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Methane from Impermeable Rocks/Sediments • The most economic unconventional fossil fuel in the U.S. – “shale gas” • Produced from highly impermeable shale deposits by the controversial technique: hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” • Estimates suggest 50 – 75 years of this resource in the U.S. • In “shale gas” and “shale oil” the petroleum is extracted from the source rock, not a conventional reservoir rock

42. Shale Gas • In the U.S., the Haynesville Shale (east Texas and Louisiana) and the Marcellus Shale (portions of PA, NY, OH, WV) are current producers • This technique has been proposed for Michigan’s Antrim and Utica Shale gas deposits Source: National Geographic, Dec. 2012

43. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Methane from Impermeable Rocks/Sediments(Shale Gas) Controversy: 1) potential contamination of groundwater from “leaked” methane or injection fluid chemicals; 2) possible earthquakes caused by the injection of “flowback” (production well waste fluids) into the subsurface for disposal (see figures) Source: National Geographic, 12/2012

44. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Methane from Impermeable Rocks/Sediments Wall Street Journal 7/26/2011 National Geographic: Dec., 2012

45. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Methane from Impermeable Rocks/Sediments • These findings may slow the development of this resource • Don’t confuse “shale oil” with “oil shale”!

46. A Radical Transformation is Underway • If the frequency of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing continues to increase, the trend shown in the adjacent figure should continue

47. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Oil Shale • Oil Shale - a nontraditional fossil fuel; a sedimentary rock (not always shale) that contains no liquid oil but disseminated, fine-grained particles of a wax-like hydrocarbon called kerogen that may be converted by chemical and physical treatment into an oil-like liquid

48. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Oil Shale • The U.S. hosts most of the world’s reserves of oil shale; the richest deposits lie beneath portions of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah (see figure)

49. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Oil Shale • The energy (perhaps as much as 800 billion barrels of oil equivalent) contained in U.S. oil shale probably significantly exceeds all our other traditional fossil fuel sources combined • Because of the disseminated, fine-sized kerogen particles these deposits would need to be bulk mined

50. Nontraditional (Unconventional) Fossil Fuels: Oil Shale • Environmental legislation now limits the amount of airborne dust that can be generated during mining and requires reclamation of the mine site lands; the kerogen conversion process also requires large volumes of water • The areas with the richest kerogen deposits lack the necessary water to meet the mining regulations and conversion process needs