Energy Resources

Geopressurized natural gas is gas

Dissolved in deep pore waters.

The United States presently

Imports more than half of the oil it uses.

Enhanced oil recovery methods are necessary because

Only about one third of the liquid petroleum within a field can be recovered by initial pumping.

Sedimentary rocks that contain a semisolid, tarlike petroleum that is quite thick and is also referred to as tar sands is called

Bitumen.

Gas hydrates are pools of water saturated with natural gas, found on the deep-sea floor and in polar regions.

False

Primary oil recovery

Refers to extraction of oil principally under its own pressure.

The two principal sources of artificial oil spills are tanker accidents and

Spills from offshore drilling activity.

The United States imports most of its oil from these countries

Canada, Mexico, Nigeria and Venezuela.

In a petroleum trap,

Gas and oil may both be found, contained by impermeable rocks above.

Petroleum consists of a variety of liquid compounds which are accurately referred to as

Hydrocarbons

Research into in situ (underground) coal gasification is in progress, but there is concern about subsidence over the gasified coal beds.

True

The United States exports some of the oil that it produces.

True

Enhanced oil recovery methods include all of the following except

Underground mining of oil bearing rock.

The arguments for drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) include all of the following except

ANWR oil will increase U.S. dependence on imported oil.

The formation of coal generally requires conditions that are

Anaerobic.

A recent evidence regarding one of the health hazards for miners include

Breathing radon that is radioactive which may increase the incidence of cancer.

The first of the fossil fuels to be widely used was

Coal.

Oil shale

Contains a waxy solid called kerogen.

The process of gasification

Converts coal to natural gas.

Ash that is produced as a result of burning of coal contains nontoxic metals and silicate minerals.

False

Coal and oil are termed "nonrenewable" resources because the processes by which they formed are no longer taking place.

False

Coal is in limited supply because most of it was formed early in earth's history, billions of years ago, before the atmosphere contained free oxygen; it cannot form today.

False

Except for the problems of sulfur, coal, like oil and natural gas is a very clean fuel, which is why it is popular for commercial uses.

False

Exploration techniques are now so efficient that approximately one out of every two exploratory wells drilled strikes a commercially valuable deposit of oil or natural gas.

False

Once an oil spill occurs, it persists, virtually unchanged, for months.

False

Strip mining is as hazardous to the miners as underground mining, because of the danger of acid drainage from strip mines.

False

The Exxon Valdez oil spill provided a demonstration of the efficiency of "skimmer" ships, which successfully collected most of the spilled oil.

False

To promote national security, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is increased as necessary to maintain a one-year supply of oil.

False

At present, most of the energy used in the United States is supplied by

Fossil fuels.

Concern about exploiting these is that disturbing the material by mining may release potent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Gas hydrates

Which of the following is estimated to be the largest potential fuel resource?

Gas in gas hydrates

Each of the following might, in part, be strip-mined except

Geopressurized natural gas.

Oil extraction may cause

Land subsidence.

Formation of coal also results in the production of quantities of gases that are rich in

Methane.

Dangers to underground coal miners include all of the following except

Respiratory illness due to breathing silica.

Most oil and natural gas is found in

Sedimentary rocks.

Which of the following techniques for cleaning up an oil spill has been most successful?

Seeding the oil with microorganisms or adding limiting nutrients to stimulate natural microorganisms that degrade the oil

The original source of energy contained in fossil fuels is

Solar energy.

The source of sulfur in coal is from all of the following except

Sulfurous fumes from volcanism.

A fossil-fuel source that may either be an immature petroleum deposit or a petroleum deposit that has lost its lighter hydrocarbons is

Tar sand.

Canada's principal petroleum resources occur as

Tar sand.

Oil shale and tar sand share each of the following environmental problems except

The production of quantities of ash when the fuel is burned.

Coal is formed from

The remains of land plants.

Which of the following statements is not true?

There is sulfur in coal but not in oil or natural gas.

As sediments rich in marine microorganisms undergo deeper burial, the organic molecules are broken down into simpler and simpler hydrocarbons, progressing from heavy oils to natural gas.

True

Coal strip mines can be difficult to revegetate because of the acidity resulting from weathering of sulfur in spoils.

True

Deep, hot pore waters containing geopressurized natural gas may themselves be a source of heat energy.

True

If global warming destabilizes methane hydrates in polar regions, this might lead to increased greenhouse-effect heating.

True

Low-permeability sandstones and shales in the United States may contain significant natural gas reserves that could be extracted by artificial fracturing.

True

Natural oil seeps are a source of pollution and occur when no impermeable rocks trap migrating oil.

True

Oil shale is not necessarily shale and does not contain oil.

True

One approach to cleaning up oil spills may be to use microorganisms that "eat" oil.

True

Process of liquefaction and gasification results in a cleaner burning coal.

True