Chapter 12 Module 35
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.
