Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson 017 Non-Renewable Ch 15 Environment & Ecology

Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson

017 Non-Renewable Ch 15

Environment & Ecology


Central Case: Oil or wilderness on Alaska’s North Slope?

To Drill or Not to Drill in the ANWR


Alaska’s North Slope


Fossil fuels provide most of our energy


Resources are renewable or non-renewable

• Renewable energy: supplies 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

- They cannot be replaced in any time span useful to our civilization.


Fossil fuels are created from fossils

• They were formed from organisms that lived 100-500 million years ago.

• Produced when organic material is broken down in an anaerobic environment- Bottoms of deep lakes, swamps, and shallow

seas

diatoms


Petroleum & Natural Gas Formation


Fossil fuel reserves are unevenly distributed

• 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 country.

- Russia contains the most natural gas.


Global fossil fuel reserves


It takes energy to make energy

• To harness, extract, process, and deliver energy requires substantial inputs of energy.

- Roads, wells, vehicles, storage tanks


Energy returned on investment (EROI)

• Energy returned on investment (EROI): calculated as: energy returned ÷ energy invested

- Higher ratios mean we receive more energy than we invest.

• Fossil fuels have high EROI, however…

• Ratios decline when we extract the easiest deposits first and now must work harder to extract the remaining reserves.

• i.e., the EROI for petroleum: 1940s = 100:1, today = 5:1


Coal

• The world’s most abundant fossil fuel

• Coal: organic matter (woody plant material) that was compressed millions of years ago under very high pressure to form dense, solid carbon structures

- Very little decomposition occurred


Coal contains impurities

• Sulfur, mercury, arsenic, and other trace metals

• Sulfur content depends on whether coal was formed in salt water or freshwater.


Coal is mined using two methods• Strip mining: for deposits near the surface

• Subsurface mining: underground deposits

• First uses of coal were for direct heating and running steam engines

- Today, coal is burned to produce electricity.

- Coal combustion turns water to steam, which turns a turbine.


Top producers and consumers of coal

Fossil fuel use is unevenly distributed


Natural gas

• The fastest growing fossil fuel in use today

- 25% of global commercial energy consumption

• Natural gas: consists of methane (CH4) and other volatile hydrocarbons

• Biogenic gas: created at shallow depths by bacterial anaerobic decomposition of organic matter

- “Swamp gas”

• Thermogenic gas: results from compression and heat deep underground

- Found above coal or crude oil


Top producers and consumers of natural gas


Natural gas extraction becomes more challenging

• The first gas fields simply required an opening and the gas moved upward.

- Most remaining fields require pumping.

• Most accessible reserves have been depleted.

- Extraction today uses sophisticated techniques such as fracturing, which pumps high-pressure salt water into rocks to crack them.


Offshore drilling produces much of our gas

Deepwater Horizon

April 2010


Heat and pressure underground form petroleum

• Oil is the world’s most used fuel.

• Its worldwide use over the past decade has risen 17%.

• Crude oil (petroleum): 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.


Top producers and consumers of oil


Petroleum geologists infer deposit location and size

• Estimates for ANWR’s oil deposits = 11.6–31.5 (average = 20.7) billion barrels, enough for 33 months at current consumption rates

• But only 4.3–11.8 (average = 7.7) billion barrels are technically recoverable, equivalent to 1 year of consumption


Not all oil can be extracted

• Some oil would be so hard to extract, it is not worth the cost.

- As prices rise, economically recoverable amounts approach technically recoverable amounts.

• Proven recoverable reserve: the amount of oil (or any other fossil fuel) that is technically and economically feasible to remove under current conditions

- Technology limits what can be extracted.

- Economics determines what will be extracted.


We drill to extract oil, which has many uses

• Exploratory drilling: small, deep holes to determine whether extraction should be done

• Oil is under pressure and often rises to the surface.

- Once pressure is relieved, pumping is required.

• Once extracted, oil is refined.

- Separates the hydrocarbons (i.e., gasoline from tar)


A petroleum refinery


Petroleum products have many usesOil is refined to create many products, so we should be concerned as we continue depleting it.


We may have already depleted half our reserves• Some people calculate that we have used up about

1.1 trillion barrels of oil — ½ of the world’s reserves

• 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.


U.S. oil production has already peaked

We are facing an oil shortage


Global oil production is peaking

Discoveries of new oil fields peaked 30 years ago, and since then we’ve been extracting and consuming more than discovering.


Oil sands can be mined and processed

• 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

• Specialized refineries upgrade it into synthetic crude oil

• Primarily found in Venezuela and Alberta, Canada


Oil shale is abundant in the U.S. west

• Oil shale: sedimentary rock filled with kerogen (organic matter) that can be processed to produce liquid petroleum

• More than 40% is found in the U.S., mostly on federally owned land in the west

- Supplies may equal 600 billion barrels of oil


Methane hydrate shows potential

• Methane hydrate: molecules of methane in a crystal lattice of water ice molecules

• Found in seafloor sediments below 300m• Abundant sources, but undeveloped

technology will limit extraction- This resource will likely remain inefficient

and expensive.


These alternative fossil fuels have downsides

• Their net energy values are low because they are expensive to extract and process.

- They have low EROI ratios: about 3:1 compared to the 5:1 ratio on crude oil.

• Extraction processes devastate the landscape and pollute waterways.

• Combustion pollutes the atmosphere just as much as crude oil, coal, and gas.

- Will contribute to climate change


Fossil fuel emissions pollute the air

Carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion have increased sharply.


Fossil fuel use pollutes water

• Leaking underground storage tanks can pollute groundwater.

• Non-point source oil pollution ultimately ends up in oceans.

• Catastrophic tanker oil spills impact marine environments.

• Coal mining causes acid mine drainage and habitat destruction.

• Drilling requires new roads and infrastructure, which fragment habitats.


Scientists anticipate negative impacts in ANWR • Some scientists anticipate

damage if ANWR is drilled.

- Vegetation killed

- Degraded air and water quality

• Other scientists say little harm will be done.

- ANWR will be developed with environmentally sensitive technology and approaches.


Drilling in ANWR will not fill U.S. oil demand

ANWR’s estimated 7.7 billion barrels represents just one year’s supply for the U.S at current consumption rates.


Nations can become dependent on foreign energy

• We are vulnerable to supplies becoming unavailable or expensive.

• The U.S. imports 67% of its crude oil, meaning other nations control our energy supplies.


The oil embargo of the 1970s caused panic

• OPEC’s (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil embargo caused widespread panic, skyrocketing prices, and spurred inflation.


Oil supply and prices affect nation’s economies

• Because the politically volatile Middle East has the majority of oil reserves, crises are a constant concern for the U.S.

- Despite political disagreements, the U.S. has a close relationship with Saudi Arabia because Saudi Arabia owns 22% of the world’s oil reserves.


Residents may or may not benefit from reserves• Extraction can benefit

residents of the area with:

- Increased job opportunities

- Residents in Alaska are paid dividends by the government

• But residents are not always compensated for pollution and displacement.

- Profits go to oil companies and governments.

Nigeria


How much longer can we depend on fossil fuels? Because they are fossil fuels they DO

have a life expectancy “Oil has 40 – 50 years left” In 1960 they said this too! – what has

happened is that we have found new reserves of oil and new technology has made the oil we use last longer


US Power Reactors• 104 commercial reactors

generating 20% of electric power

• The US is the world’s largest supplier of nuclear power

• No new power reactor has been built in the US since 1978

Nuclear Power


Nuclear Power• Conflict.

- Less air pollution

- Less env. damage for extracting

- But there are issues of nuclear weaponry, radioactive waste disposal, and previous accidents.

• The U.S. generates the most electricity from nuclear power.

- 20% of U.S. electricity

- Other nations rely more heavily on nuclear power (i.e., France gets 78% of its electricity from nuclear power).


Fission releases nuclear energy

• Nuclear energy: the energy that holds together protons and neutrons within the nucleus of an atom


Coal versus nuclear power


Spent fuel rods must be stored• Nuclear waste will remain radioactive for

thousands of years.- Is currently held in temporary storage

at nuclear power plants across the U.S. and the world

• Spent fuel rods are sunk in pools of cooling water to minimize radiation leakage.

• U.S. power plants store 56,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste, as well as much more low-level radioactive waste.- Waste is held at 125 sites in over 39

states.- Over 161 million U.S. citizens live

within 125 km (75 mi) of temporarily stored waste.


Waste Storage Alternatives• Leave It Where It Is• Deep Geologic Disposal

- Yucca Mountain, Nevada• Salt Cave Disposal

- WIPP near Carlsbad, New Mexico• Very Deep Holes (6 miles)• Ice-Sheet Disposal• Space Disposal• Sub-Seabed Disposal• Island Geologic Disposal• Deep-Well Injection Disposal• Vitrification (Glass Waste)• Reprocessing


U.S. storage of high-level radioactive waste


Waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Nuclear waste managers want to send all waste to a central repository that can be heavily guarded

With final approval, Yucca Mountain will begin receiving wastes by 2017.


Why Yucca Mountain?• It is remote and unpopulated.

• It has minimal risk of earthquakes.

• Its dry climate minimizes groundwater contamination.

• The water table is deep underground, on top of an isolated aquifer.

• Its location on federal land can be protected from sabotage.

• However, nuclear waste will need to be from 120 current storage areas, nuclear plants, and military installations.

- Shipments by rail and truck across hundreds of public highways through all the states cause a high risk of accident or sabotage.


Dilemmas have slowed nuclear power’s growth

• Public anxiety makes utilities less willing to invest in new plants.

• It is enormously expensive to build, maintain, operate, and ensure the safety of nuclear facilities.- Shutting down plants can be more expensive than

construction. • A plant’s lifetime is often only ½ of what is expected.• Electricity is more expensive than from coal and other

sources. - Governments still subsidize nuclear power.

• But nuclear power is one of the few viable alternatives to fossil fuels for generating electricity.- New reactors are safer and less expensive.


Nuclear power poses small risks of large accidents• Three Mile Island (1979): the most serious accident in the

U.S.

– Cooling pump failed and core overheated (while off) causing partial meltdown


The Chernobyl accident (1986)

The destroyed reactor was encased in a massive concrete sarcophagus to contain leakage — but a new, larger sarcophagus must be built.


Fukushima Nuclear plant accident

April 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami, Reactor Melts


Energy conservation

• Energy conservation: the practice of reducing energy use to:

- Extend the life of our nonrenewable energy supplies

- Be less wasteful

- Reduce our environmental impact


CAFE standards

Finally, in 2007, Congress passed legislation to raise average fuel efficiency to 35 mpg by 2020, but this is still far lower than in other developed nations.

2011-70mpg


Emissions reduction: Inefficient autos

• Cars use energy very inefficiently. We could do better.


Personal choice and efficiency• Individuals can choose to reduce energy

consumption.

- Driving less, turning off lights, turning down thermostats, buying efficient machines

• Society can make more efficient devices.

- Fuel efficient cars, electric or hybrid vehicles


Efficiency among consumer products

• Cogeneration: excess heat produced during electrical generation is used to heat buildings and produce other types of power


Efficiency among consumer products

summer winter

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Why recycle? What can be recycled? Where do we recycle?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Alternative Energy

• Hydroelectric• Geothermal• Wave energy• Solar• Wind• Biofuels• Clean coal• Tidal energy• OTEC deep water cooling

Transportation

• Foot/Pedal power• Cars• Hybrid• Public

Hybrid electric

Lighting

• Sunlight• Compact fluorescence• LED• Solar lights• Piping light in through fiber optics or other

lighting technologies

Water

• Shorter shower and low-flow shower head

• Shower better than bath• Water plants in morning or

night• Plant drought-tolerant

native plants• Skip bottled water• Take

E-Waste

Food: eating smart

• Reduce amt of meat you eat each week• Buy from local farmers• Choose sustainable seafood products• Organic is best• Bring your own bag shopping

Make your own cleaning supplies.• The big secret: All you need are a few simple

ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap.

• Making your own cleaning products saves money, time, and packaging-not to mention your indoor air quality.

Compost

• Animal manure • Cardboard rolls • Clean paper • Coffee grounds and filters • Eggshells • Fireplace ashes • Fruits and vegetables • Grass clippings • Hair and fur • Hay and straw • Houseplants • Leaves • Nut shells • Sawdust • Shredded newspaper • Tea bags • Wood chips • Wool rags • Yard trimmings

Do compost• Black walnut tree leaves or twigs (Releases

substances that might be harmful to plants) • Coal or charcoal ash (Might contain

substances harmful to plants)• Dairy products (e.g., butter, egg yolks, milk,

sour cream, yogurt) (Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies)

• Diseased or insect-ridden plants (Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants)

• Fats, grease, lard, oils, meat or fish bones and scraps (Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies)

• Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter) (Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans)

• Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides (Might kill beneficial composting organisms)

Do not compost

Compost

Worm bin

FuneralsEco-burials• Preservation:

Embalming slows the decomposition process. • Cremation: toxins in the env.• Coffins:

Cardboard, bamboo, or jute coffins; shrouds; or biodegradable urns are all dignified ways to unite with nature more rapidly.

• Leave a living marker• Mooring ball


Eco-Friendly?

Whale disposal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vmnq5dBF7Y


Population

• Later• Longer • Fewer


Green building

Ford Island NOAA


What could we change right now?• Room• Building• Home• Community


What is Stewardship?

http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/czm/initiative/community_based/CommunityStewardshipDirectory.pdf

1.Duty of service2.Responsibility3.Management

Earth Day Apr 22


QUESTION: ReviewA fuel which is highly combustible and formed from the remains of organisms from past geologic ages is:

a) Fossil fuelb) Solar energyc) Geothermal energyd) Nuclear energye) All of the above are highly combustible and

were formed from prehistoric organisms.


QUESTION: Review

Which energy source is the most abundant but the dirtiest to extract?

a) Natural gasb) Petroleumc) Coald) Nuclear energye) None of the above


QUESTION: Review

Natural gas that has been formed thermogenically was:

a) Created in shallow waterb) Created by bacteriac) Also called swamp gasd) Created deep undergrounde) Concentrated around Pangea


QUESTION: Review

_____ contains the most oil in the world, while ______ consumes the most.

a) Mexico, Japanb) Kuwait, Francec) Saudi Arabia, the U.S.d) The U.S., the U.S.e) The U.S., Saudi Arabia


QUESTION: ReviewAt current rates of consumption, if the U.S. used only its own reserves, about how long would these reserves last?

a) Less than 5 yearsb) About 10 yearsc) 50 to 100 yearsd) Well over 100 yearse) The U.S. has an infinite supply of oil, since

new supplies are being made.


QUESTION: Review

How are oil sands extracted?

a) By strip miningb) By drillingc) By burningd) By chemical extractione) By burning coal and natural gas


QUESTION: Review

Leaking underground storage tanks have what effect?

a) Contributing to climate changeb) Polluting groundwaterc) Damaging infrastructured) Showing the damage of strip mininge) None of these. Underground storage tanks

don’t usually leak.


QUESTION: Review

Which of the following statements about energy conservation is FALSE?

a) Government research increases when fossil fuel prices are high.

b) The public is enthusiastic about conservation mainly during election years.

c) The public is enthusiastic about conservation mainly during times of high fuel prices and shortages.

d) Individual choices to reduce energy consumption really work.

e) Energy consumption could save millions of barrels of oil.


QUESTION: ReviewWhy have nuclear power plants not been supported in the U.S.?

a) Fears about accidentsb) Nuclear waste issuesc) High costs of building and maintaining plantsd) Fear about possible sabotagee) All of the above are issues regarding nuclear

energy.


QUESTION: ReviewYucca Mountain, Nevada, is the site selected for permanent radioactive waste disposal. Which of the following is NOT a reason for selecting this site?

a) It is remote and unpopulated.b) Its wet climate minimizes water contamination.c) The water table is deep underground.d) It has minimal risk of earthquakes.e) It can be protected against sabotage.


QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data

According to this graph, the contribution of oil from ANWR will be:

a) Extremely significantb) Extremely

insignificantc) Very highd) Worth drilling fore) Exported to other

countries


QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data

According to this graph, which area has already peaked in oil production?

a) Polar oilb) Deep-water oilc) Lower 48 U.S.

statesd) All have peakede) None have

peaked

Documents

Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson 017 Non-Renewable Ch 15 Environment & Ecology