Fossil fuels

Briefly explain, using the diagram to the right, how hydraulic fracturing allows gas drillers to extract methane from impermeable rock formations.

A mixture of water and other chemicals is pumped into a narrow hole drilled into the rock. Pressure created from this fluid causes the rock formation to crack. Sand is injected and allows the methane to seep out.

What element makes up the majority of coal?

Carbon

What are the four main pollutants that are released from burning coal?

Carbon Dioxide. CO2 Sulfur Dioxide, SO2 Nitrogen Oxides, NOx Fine black particles of carbon (soot

Strip mining

Carving away horizontal beds of coal deposit close to the surface

What happens to the coal before it is fed into the boiler? Why?

Coal is pulverized into a powder, then blown into the boiler.

Where in this diagram would all of the air pollution be coming from?

Cooling tower

How is the heat generated from burning the coal in the boiler captured?

Heat from the boiler converts water into steam

Explain the relationship between working in a coal mine and developing Black Lung disease.

If a worker was in the coal mines for long periods of time, there is a possibility that they can produce black lung disease.

Open-Pit mining

Large holes are dug into the earth and the minerals removed

Where are most of the world's oil supplies located?

Majority of oil reserves are in the middle eastern countries. Canada, Russia, USA, China, venezuela and Brazil.

List two ways that hydraulic fracturing can place water source at risk.

Millions of gallons of water are needed to "frack" the well. The water that returns back to the surface, called flowback water, is contaminated with minerals, fracturing fluid chemicals and natural gas itself.

What is eventually done with the waste ash from the boiler?

Mixed in with water and then pumped into a temporary storage pond. 70-80% of the ash is disposed of in landfills. The rest of it is in concrete asphalt.

How is the energy in steam converted into electricity?

Pressure from the steam causes a giant set of turbine blades to spin

Explain how the Earth's climate was different during the Carboniferous period, and how this created ideal conditions for creating what would become today's coal deposits.

The Carboniferous period was 350 - 300 millions years ago. 50 million years of accumulated plant matter became buried under swamps. The heat tuned the plants and materials into coal.

The graph to the right shows U.S. oil production up through 2010. Approximately when did the United States hit "peak oil"?

The point at which known all known oil reserves have been tapped and production will begin declining in the following years. 1970s

Why is it important for power plants like this to be built next to sources of fresh water?

The shaft of the turbine is connected to a generator, where magnets spin within wire coils to generate electricity

What continents have the largest deposits of coal now, as a result of the swamps present during the Carboniferous period?

United States Canada Europe Russia

Natural gas is considered the cleanest-burning of all the fossil fuels. What two waste products are given off by burning it?

carbon dioxide and water vapor

Mountaintop removal

machines and explosives to expose seams of coal underneath entire mountain tops

Where did the organic matter that formed crude oil come from?

warm shallow seas Gulf of Mexico/Tethys Sea