Nonrenewable Energy

Ch. 17.1: Energy Resources and Fossil Fuels

What does it mean to be “nonrenewable?”

• Forms at a slower rate than the rate that it is consumed

• Ex: – Minerals– Fossil Fuels• Coal• Oil• Natural gas

Fossil Fuels

• Fossil Fuels- remains of ancient organisms that changed into coal, oil, or natural gas

• They are natural resources– Used to run cars, ships, planes, and factories– Produce electricity

2 Main Problems with Fossil Fuels

• 1. Fossil fuel supply is limited

• 2. Obtaining and using them has environmental consequences

Fuels for Different Uses

• Used for 4 main Purposes:– Transportation– Manufacturing– Heating/cooling– Generating electricity

• Determining which fuel to use for which purpose depends on: – Fuel’s energy content, cost, availability, safety, and

byproducts

Electricity

• Energy in fuels is often converted into electrical energy– More convenient– Transported great distances(across state) or tiny

distances (computer chip)

• 2 disadvantages:– Difficult to store– Other energy sources have to be used to generate it

How is electricity generated?

• Electric generator- converts mechanical energy (motion) into electrical energy

How Fossil-Fuel Deposits Form

• Coal Formation:– Forms from the remains of plants that lived in

swamps hundreds of millions of years ago– ~300 mill years ago– Ocean levels rose and fell & swamps were covered

with sediment– Sediment compressed the remains– Heat and pressure from Earth caused coal to form

Oil & Natural Gas formation

• Result from the decay of tiny marine organisms that accumulated on the bottom of the ocean

• Remains buried by sediment• Heated until they became carbon molecules• Carbon molecules migrated into porous rock

Coal

• Most of the world’s fossil-fuel reserves are made up of coal

• 2 advantages: – Relatively inexpensive– Needs little refining after it has been mined

• More than half of the electricity generated in the US comes from coal-fired power plants

Coal Mining Impact

• Impact on the environment:– Underground mines have minimal effect – Surface coal-mining can remove top an entire

mountains– waste rock/toxic chemicals can leach into nearby

water sources– Produces air pollution

Petroleum

• Petroleum (crude oil)-oil that is pumped from the ground

• Used to make fuels, chemicals, and plastics– This is called petroleum product

• 45% of world’s commercial energy use

Locating Oil Deposits• Most of world’s oil reserves are in the Middle East– Oil reserve- oil deposits that can be extracted profitably at

current prices using current technology.

• Other places: – US– Venezuela– North Sea– Siberia– Nigeria

• After petroleum is removed-transported to refinery to be converted into fuels and other products

Environmental Effects of Using Oil

• Petroleum fuels are burned-releases pollutants– Smog– Health

• Oil spills

Effects of oil spills…