Chapter 12 Module 35

Pataasin ang iyong marka sa homework at exams ngayon gamit ang Quizwiz!

Which type of coal has the highest energy density?

anthracite

Advantages of Petroleum

convenient to transport and use, relatively energy dense, cleaner burning than coal

Advantages of coal

energy-dense, plentiful, easy to exploit by surface mining, technological demands are small, economic costs are low, easy to handle and transport, and needs little refining

Disadvantages of natural gas

natural gas releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent than C02, the "fracking" extraction method chemically contaminates groundwater, impacts large amounts of land

Three types of coal from youngest and least energy content to oldest and most energy content

Lignite, Bituminous, Antracite

Crude oil

Liquid petroleum removed from the ground

Natural gas is primarily made up of

Methane

Oil transportation

Pipelines, railway, ships. All have caused oil spills and loss of animal and even human life at some point.

Hubbert Curve

A bell-shaped curve representing oil use and projecting both when world oil production will reach a maximum and when we will run out of oil

Bitumen

A degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the surface of Earth and is modified by bacteria.

Bitumen is

A form of liquid coal

Peat

A precursor to coal made up of partly decomposed organic material including mosses

Oil spills

A release of liquid petroleum into the environment due to human activity, a form of pollution. Can be devastating to plant and animal life. Famous examples: Deepwater Horizon in 2010, Exxon Valdez in 1989

Coal

A solid fossil fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant materials that were preserved 280 million to 360 million years ago. It is available in many areas of the world and often is relatively easy to extract, handle, and process. It is the second-most commonly used fuel for electricity generation in the US

Petroleum

A widely-used fossil fuel that occurs in underground deposits, composed of a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur

Worldwide petroleum consumption

Almost 15 billion liters (4 billion gallons) per day. The US is responsible for about 21% of this total.

What is the dirtiest AND most abundant fossil fuel?

Coal

Advantages of natural gas

Contains fewer impurities and therefore emits almost no sulfur dioxide or particulates Emits only 60% as much carbon dioxide as coal

Two largest uses of natural gas in the US

Electricity generation and industrial processes

Disadvantages of coal

Environmental consequences of surface mining are significant, subsurface mining is dangerous and costly, contains many impurities, releases greenhouse gases when burned, chemicals used to wash coal of impurities are also toxic and can leak into the environment.

Petroleum vs coal

Petroleum is cleaner than coal. Coal is ideal for stationary combustion applications like power plants and industry. The fluid nature of petroleum products like oil and gasoline makes them more suitable for mobile combustion applications like vehicles.

Most of the commercial energy in the world comes from

Fossil fuels

Formation of petroleum

Petroleum is formed from the remains of ocean-dwelling phytoplankton (microscopic algae) that died 50 million to 150 million years ago.

Energy intensity in the US

In recent decades, energy intensity in the United States has been steadily decreasing which means we are using energy more efficiently. But because the population has grown, and we are doing more things that use energy, our overall energy use has leveled off but not decreased. Prior to that, it had been growing steadily for about two centuries.

What makes petroleum convenient to use as a fuel for transportation?

Its high energy density and its liquid state

The Hubbert curve predicts that

Peak oil will occur once half the supply is used up

Disadvantages of petroleum

Releases carbon dioxide into the air, contains sulfur, mercury, lead and arsenic, and there is potential for oil leak/spill or runoff, and it also contains toxic chemicals.

Oil sands

Slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water, and clay

Liquefied coal

Synthetic liquid fuel produced from coal, very expensive to produce

Use of petroleum in the US

The US uses more petroleum than any other fuel - roughly 3.1 billion liters (816 million gallons) per day. Gasoline accounts for about half of that amount, but petroleum is also used for producing materials like plastic, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and cleaning solvents.

Natural gas

The cleanest of fossil fuels. Mostly methane and a little bit of ethane. Can be found in petroleum and extracted from it. Recently though, efforts to specifically explore for natural gas alone.

Energy intensity

The energy use per unit of gross domestic product.

Peak oil

The point at which half the total known oil supply is used up

Oil refining

The process of separating oil so it can be made into other, useful products. Very expensive and dangerous. Compounds like tar, asphalt, gasoline, diesel, and kerosene are burned off out of the crude oil in order to create a more refined oil.

CTL (coal to liquid)

The technology to convert solid coal into liquid fuel.


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