Chapter 16

Nonrenewable Energy Resources

 Energy resources
99% of energy used to heat the earth
and all the buildings comes from the
sun

The sun also creates renewable energy

resources – wind, flowing water,
biomass
 The rest
 The last 1% comes from fuel resources

 Fossil fuels make up the vast majority

 Petroleum, coal, and natural gas

 A small portion also comes from nuclear sources

 Is it getting hot in here?
Which energy source has the highest
net energy ratio for space heating?
Passive solar, yes, just letting in sunlight to
warm a room is the most efficient

 Which energy source has the highest net

energy ratio for high-temperature industrial
uses?
 coal
 Beep, Beep
The highest net energy ratio for
transportation
Natural gas

Unfortunately, current NG cars have

limited driving ranges and limited fueling
sites.
 Oil and Natural Gas Coal Geothermal Energy
Contour Hot water
Floating oil drilling Oil storage strip mining storage
platform
Geothermal
Oil drilling power plant
platform Pipeline Area strip
on legs Oil well mining Pipeline
Mined coal Drilling
tower
Gas well Valves Water
Pump
Underground penetrates
coal mine down
Water is heated through
and brought up the
Impervious rock as dry steam or rock
wet steam
Natural gas Coal seam
Oil Hot rock
Water Water
Magma

Fig. 14.11, p. 332

 What is this stuff?
 Petroleum is a gooey liquid consisting of
primarily hydrocarbons
 Also called crude oil (or just oil)
 Oil is widely used because it is cheap, easily
transported and has a high net energy yield
 Through distillation we produce many
products - asphalt, heating oil, diesel,
gasoline, grease, wax, natural gas
 Shifts in energy usage
worldwide
During the 20th century

Coal use dropped from 55 to 22%

Oil increased from 2 to 30%
Natural gas rose from 1 to 23%
Nuclear rose from 0 to 6%
Renewable (wood and water ) dropped
from 42 to 19%
 Way to go US
 The U.S. is the world’s largest energy consumer
 We use 25% of the world’s energy (even though we
only have 4.5% of the total population)
 India with 17% of the population only uses 3% of
the world’s commercial energy
 91% of the U.S.’s energy in nonrenewable
 Energy
 Net energy refers to the amount of useful
energy minus the energy needed to find,
extract, process, concentrate, and transport
to the users

 Nuclear energy has a low net energy ratio

because it is expensive to extract and process
uranium, convert it into a fuel, build and
operate the plant, and dismantle and deal
with radioactive plants and waste
 Oil, Oil everywhere and not a
drop to drink

Extracted as crude oil or petroleum, a

thick liquid consisting of hydrocarbons,
and some sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen
impurities

Produced from decayed plant and

animal material over millions of years
 Oil continued
Normally crude oil is not found in
underground pools, but is spread out in
the pores and cracks within rock deep
beneath the ground

Primary recovery – drill a hole and

pump out the light weight crude that
fills the hole
 Oil continued
 Secondary recovery – pumping water into the
well to force oil out of the pores
 The oil and water mixture is separated after
pumping

 Only about 35% of the oil is removed by

primary and secondary recovery
 Oil continued
Tertiary recovery – either a heated gas
or a liquid detergent is pumped into the
well to help remove more oil

Tertiary is expensive
 Oil continued
 At the refinery oil is converted into petrochemicals
and used as a resource to create industrial organic
chemicals, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fibers,
paints, medicines and more.

 OPEC – organization of petroleum exporting

countries control 67% of the worlds oil and maintain
control over pricing
 Ticket to Ride
Most oil in the US is used for
transportation
Gasoline
Diesel
Lubricant oil and grease
Some as LNG
 Gases

Gasoline

Aviation fuel

Heating oil

Heated
crude oil

Diesel oil

Naphtha
Grease
Furnace and wax
Fig. 14.16, p. 337
Asphalt
 Advantages Disadvantages

Ample supply for Need to find

42–93 years substitute within
50 years
Low cost (with
huge subsidies) Artificially low
price encourages
waste and
High net discourages
energy yield search for
alternatives
Easily transported
within and
Air pollution
between countries
when burned

Low land use Releases CO2

when burned

Moderate water
pollution
Fig. 14.21, p. 340
 Oil continued
 Oil shale is a fine grained sedimentary rock containing solid
combustible organic material (waxy hydrocarbons) called
kerogen

 Shale oil is made from heating oil shale

 Tar sand contains bitumen (a high sulfur heavy oil) another

combustible organic material
 Both are more expensive than crude recovery because it
requires more energy, land disruption, and are more difficult to
extract, produce roughly the same oil but with lower net energy
yield
 Oh, Canada
 There is a lot of shale oil and tar sands in North
America, particularly in Canada.

 As the price of crude oil goes up, the value of this

heavy oil also goes up and becomes economically
profitable to extract.
 Unfortunately, almost all vegetation above the
reserves must be removed to obtain these resources,
so the environmental cost is very high
 Domestic Oil
US extraction of oil has decreased since
1985, thus increasing our reliance on
other countries

Switching to alternative fuels sources

helps maintain our economic
independence
 Advantages Disadvantages

Moderate existing High costs

supplies
Low net energy
Large potential yield
supplies
Large amount of
water needed to
process

Severe land
disruption from
surface mining

Water pollution
from mining
residues

Air pollution
when burned

CO2 emissions Fig. 14.25, p. 342

when burned
 Natural Gas
Mostly CH4 methane with some ethane,
propane and butane and small amounts
of hydrogen sulfide (toxic)

LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) the

propane and butane are removed from
natural gas and stored under pressure
 How long will it last?
Natural gas should last about 125 years
worldwide

About 75 years in the US

Overall about 200-300 years with rising

prices, better technology, and more
discoveries
 Advantages Disadvantages
Ample supplies Releases CO2
(125 years) when burned

High net energy Methane

yield (a greenhouse
gas) can leak
Low cost (with from pipelines
huge subsidies)
Shipped across
Less air pollution ocean as highly
than other explosive LNG
fossil fuels
Sometimes
Lower CO2 burned off and
wasted at wells
emissions than
because of low
other fossil fuels
price

Moderate environ-
mental impact

Easily transported
by pipeline

Low land use

Good fuel for

fuel cells and Fig. 14.26, p. 342
gas turbines
 The future of power plants
There is currently being developed a
combined cycle natural gas electric
power plant with 60% efficiency

This is much better than 32-40%

efficiency of others (coal, oil, nuke)

What other reasons make it better?

 Coal
Solid fuel of combustible carbon, most
formed 285-360 million years ago
Peat – 1st, low heat content
Lignite – 2nd, low heat and low sulfur
Bituminous Coal – 3rd, high heat and
abundant supply, high sulfur
Anthracite – 4th, high heat, low sulfur,
limited supply
 Increasing heat and carbon content

Increasing moisture content

Peat Lignite Bituminous Coal Anthracite

(not a coal) (brown coal) (soft coal) (hard coal)

Heat Heat Heat

Pressure Pressure Pressure

Partially decayed Low heat content; Extensively used Highly desirable fuel
plant matter in swamps low sulfur content; as a fuel because because of its high
and bogs; low heat limited supplies in of its high heat content heat content and
content most areas and large supplies; low sulfur content;
normally has a supplies are limited
high sulfur content in most areas

Fig. 14.27, p. 344

 Coal for energy
Coal provides about 22% of the
commercial energy in the world

It is used to create 62% of the worlds

electricity
75% of the worlds steel
China is the largest user followed by US
US creates 52% of energy with coal
 Advantages Disadvantages

Ample supplies Very high

(225–900 years) environmental
impact
High net energy
yield Severe land
disturbance, air
Low cost (with pollution, and
huge subsidies) water pollution

High land use

(including mining)

Severe threat to
human health

High CO2
emissions
when burned

Releases
radioactive
particles and Fig. 14.28, p. 344
mercury into air
 The cost of coal
 Land disturbance
 Air pollution (especially sulfur dioxide)
 Co2 emissions
 Water pollution

 Electricity production (coal) is the second largest

producer of toxic emissions

 The most deadly emission is mercury

 Wonderful coal
 60,000 babies annually are born with brain
damage due to mercury exposure, typically
from pregnant mothers eating mercury in fish

 Coal also releases more radioactive particles

into the atmosphere than nuclear power
plants

 Also, acid rain and methane release

 Coal in the US
Air pollutants kill thousands (estimates
are from 60,000 – 200,000)
Cause at least 50,000 cases of
respiratory disease
Cost several billion dollars in property
damage
 The good news
Fluidized bed combustion is reducing
the amount of pollution

Hot air is blown under a mix of crushed

limestone and coal while it is burnt
This removes most sulfur dioxide,
reduces Nox and burns the coal more
efficiently and cheaply
 Flue gases

Coal Limestone

Steam

Fluidized bed
Water

Air nozzles

Air
Calcium sulfate Fig. 14.29, p. 345
and ash
 Coal gasification
Solid coal can be converted into
synthetic natural gas (SNG)

It can also be made into synfuels

(liquids) through coal liquefaction

Neither is expected to play a major role

in our future energy needs
Raw coal
Remove dust,
Air or tar, water, sulfur Recover
oxygen sulfur

Steam Raw gases Clean

2C + O2 2CO Methane
Pulverizer Coal gas
Recycle unreacted
carbon (char)
CO + 3H2 CH4 + H2O
Methane
(natural gas)
Slag removal
Pulverized coal

Fig. 14.30, p. 345

 Advantages Disadvantages

Large potential Low to moderate

supply net energy yield

Higher cost than

Vehicle fuel coal

High
environmental
impact

Increased surface
mining of coal

High water use

Higher CO2
emissions than
coal

Fig. 14.31, p. 346

 Nuclear Energy
Uranium 235 and plutonium 239 are
split (nucleus) to release energy
The reaction rate is controlled
The energy heats water and turns it to
steam
Steam spins turbines connected to
generators which create electricity
 LWR light water reactors
All US reactors are of this type, so know
it
 Small amounts of Radioactive gases
Uranium fuel input
(reactor core)

Containment shell

Waste heat Electrical power

Emergency core
Cooling system

Steam
Control
rods Useful energy
Turbine Generator
Heat 25 to 30%
exchanger

Hot coolant Hot water output

Condenser Pump
Pump
Coolant
Cool water input
Black Pump Waste
Moderator heat
Water
Coolant
passage

Pressure
vessel Waste
Water source heat
Shielding (river, lake, ocean)

Periodic removal Periodic removal

and storage of and storage of Fig. 14.32, p. 346
radioactive wastes radioactive liquid wastes
and spent fuel assemblies
 Nuclear is out of favor (unless
you ask Bush)
 The US has not ordered a new nuclear facility
since 1978, and 120 ordered since 1973 were
cancelled
 Most countries are phasing out nuclear plants
or are not continuing to expand their
programs, except China who is trying to move
away from dependence on coal
 Why is nuclear not meeting
expectations?
 Multi-billion dollar cost of construction
 Strict govt. safety regulations
 High operating costs
 More malfunctions than expected
 Poor management
 Public concern after Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island
 Investor concern about economic feasibility
 Advantages Disadvantages

Large fuel High cost (even

supply with large
subsidies)
Low
environmental Low net
impact (without energy yield
accidents)
High
Emits 1/6 as environmental
much CO2 as coal impact (with major
accidents)
Moderate land
disruption and Catastrophic
water pollution accidents can
(without happen
accidents) (Chernobyl)

Moderate land use No acceptable

solution for
long-term storage
Low risk of
of radioactive
accidents
wastes and
because of
decommissioning
multiple
worn-out plants
safety systems
(except in 35
poorly designed Spreads
and run reactors knowledge and
in former Soviet technology for
Union and building nuclear
weapons Fig. 14.35, p. 349
Eastern Europe)
 Coal Nuclear
Ample supply Ample supply
of uranium
High net energy
yield Low net energy
yield

Very high air Low air pollution

pollution (mostly from fuel
reprocessing)
High CO2
emissions Low CO2
emissions
(mostly from fuel
65,000 to 200,000
reprocessing)
deaths per year
in U.S.
About 6,000
deaths per
High land year in U.S.
disruption from
surface mining Much lower land
disruption from
High land use surface mining

Moderate land
Low cost (with use
huge subsidies)
High cost (with Fig. 14.36, p. 349
huge subsidies)
 Chernobyl
 In the former Soviet Union, April 26, 1986 the reactor
core went out of control and exploded sending a
cloud of radioactive dust into the atmosphere
 3,576 – 32,000 people died
 400,000 forced to evacuate
 62,000 square miles still contaminated
 More than 500,000 people exposed to high level
radiation
 Cost the govt. $385 billion
 Three Mile Island
March 29, 1979 in Harrisburg, Penn.
Coolant failed and core melted
Radioactive material escaped into air
50,000 people evacuated
Luckily the radiation release was
believed to be too low to cause death
or cancer
Cleanup has cost $1.2 billion so far
 What do we do with the
waste?
 Low level radioactive waste must be stored for 100-
500 years until it reaches a safe level (does not give
off harmful ionizing radiation)
 This was done by sealing the waste in steel drums
and dumping it in the ocean
 Today some countries (US) stores the waste at govt.
run landfills, but no one wants to live anywhere near
them
 Waste container
2 meters wide
2–5 meters high

Several
steel drums
holding waste

Steel wall
Fig. 14.38a, p. 351
Steel wall Lead shielding
Up to 60 As many as 20 Barrels are stacked
deep trenches flatbed trucks and surrounded
dug into clay. deliver waste with sand. Covering
containers daily. is mounded to aid
rain runoff.

Clay bottom

Fig. 14.38b, p. 351

 And the bad stuff?
High level radioactive waste must be
stored for 10,000 to 240,000 years until
it reaches a safe level
Currently most is stored at the reactor
site, sealed in drums, in pools of water
 Proposed methods of disposal
 Bury deep underground – this is the leading strategy
currently
 Shoot it into space/Sun
 Bury it deep in the Antarctic ice sheet
 Dump it into descending subduction zones
 Bury in deep mud deposits on ocean floor
 Convert into less harmful isotopes (currently we do
not have the technology)
 Storage Containers

Fuel rod

2,500 ft.
(760 m)
Personnel elevator
deep Primary canister
Air shaft

Nuclear waste shaft

Overpack container
sealed

Fig. 14.39b, p. 352 Fig. 14.39c, p. 352

Slide 52 Slide 53

Fig.
 Radioactive contamination
The EPA suggests that there are 45,000
sites in the US (20,000 belong to the
DOE)
It is expected to cost over $230 billion
over the next 75 years
More than 144 highly contaminated
weapons construction sites will never be
completely cleaned