Energy to Power the World: I What is Energy Photosynthesis Fossil Fuels

Energy to Power the World: I

What is Energy

Photosynthesis

Fossil Fuels

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Energy is the ability to do work Kinetic Energy

Energy contained in moving objects

Examples include your notebook falling down the stairs, your brother falling off the couch, water over a waterfall

Potential Energy Stored energy Two types: Physical and

Chemical Physical: examples

include your brother teetering on the edge of the couch, water about to go over waterfall

Chemical: Energy stored in chemical bonds. In the foods you eat, gas you burn

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What you need to know about the Universe Energy and matter are conserved! Implications:

matter is recycled on Earth (a carbon atom that was once in a Tyrannosaurus Rex could be in your little pinky)

Energy can change forms (potential to kinetic), but will not magnify or diminish itself

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Energy is spread around as it is converted from one form to another – get less useful energy out than is put in

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

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What you need to know about Energy on the EarthThe Earth’s energy comes from

The sun The Earth’s internal and gravitational

energyThe Sun’s energy powers

the weather the ocean waves and currents most living things your car!

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CS Fig. 3.7

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Photosynthesis Net chemical reaction:

6H2O + 6 CO2 + solar energy (enabled by chlorophyll)

C6H12O6 (sugar) +6O2

Photosynthesis stores solar energy in chemical bonds

Energy can be used immediately for cellular respiration C6H12O6 (sugar) +6O2

6H2O + 6 CO2 + released energy Energy can be stored for millions of years in

organic deposits (fossil fuels)

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Fossil FuelsCoalOilNatural Gas

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Peat deposit in Ireland

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Peat bog in US

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Increasing depth of burial decreases moisture content and improves quality of coal

www.coaleducation.org

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Decreasing moisture, increasing amount of fixed carbon

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The Earth 350 Million Years ago

Coal forming regions

14Plant Fossils of West Virginia Web site: http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/Article1.html

Vegetation 300 million years ago

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US Coal Deposits

Note: Few high quality (anthracite) deposits

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CS Fig. 21.6

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Today’s oil is yesterday’s plankton Small marine and lake organisms live in

surface waters They die, fall to the bottom and get buried into

an organic rich sedimentary layer If geologic processes heat and squeeze

these rocks sufficiently, they will create crude oil and natural gas from the fossils

Crude oil and natural gas will migrate toward the surface

Geologic traps must exist to create an oil field

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Examples of geologic traps

“pumping oil out is like sucking liquid out of a sponge”

2020

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CS Fig. 21.9

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What it has taken the Earth millions of years to form, we will use up in <1,000 years

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That pesky second law of thermodynamics! 1/2 of all the energy in

primary fuels is lost during conversion to useable forms

2/3 of energy in coal is lost in power plant conversion to electricity

3/4 of energy in crude oil is lost by the time you finish burning it as gas in your car

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Energy to Power the World: II

How it’s used, who uses itHow long will it last?

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2727CS Fig. 21.3

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CS Fig. 21.4

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Demographics of Energy Use The 20 richest countries consume

80% of natural gas 65% of oil 50% of coal

US and Canada have 5% of world population, use 25% of available energy Each person in US and Canada uses 60 barrels of

oil per year – more than an Ethiopian would use in a year

Developed countries that import a large proportion of their fuel have better conservation methods

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CS Fig. 21.4

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HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

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Similar toCS Fig. 21.10

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Similar toCS Fig. 21.13

The End of Cheap Oil

Campbell and Laherrere

Scientific American, 1998

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Early steady growth in US oil production

C & L, p. 78

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What oil companies would have you believe

1,020 billion barrels of oil in reserve that will be just as cheap as it is today

Production can continue at today’s levels for many decades to come

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What Campbell and Laherrere would have you believe

Amount of oil in reserve has been distorted

Production will not remain constant for very long

The last bucket of oil is not as easy to remove as the first

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Why distort reserves? Looks good, nobody

checks When countries

increase their reserves, they are allowed to export more oil

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Hubbert Curve Flow of oil starts to

fall when ~1/2 of crude oil is gone

In 1956, M. King Hubbert of Shell Oil used this curve to successfully predict US peak in production in 1970 C & L, p. 80

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Global discovery peaked in 1960

Industry has found 90% of oil that exists

C & L, p. 82

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How long will it last?

Perhaps more importantly, when will it become expensive?

C & L, p. 81

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Major conclusionsUS oil production peaked in 1970Norway peaking about nowWorld production will peak this decade!By 2002, Mid-East will have control over

major part of supply

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Oil will get expensive!1,000 billion barrels leftAt 20 billion barrels/year, will last ~50

yearsWill start to decline in production within

10 yearsOil shales and tar sands may help ease

pain, but will have environmental consequences

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"The fundamental driver of the 20th Century's economic prosperity has been an abundant supply of cheap oil.... Middle East share ... is now about 30%. Unlike in the 1970s, this time it is set to continue to rise.... Share will likely reach 35% by 2002 and 50% by 2009. By then, the Middle East too will be close to its depletion midpoint, and unable to sustain production much longer irrespective of investment or desire."

C. J. CampbellOil and Gas Journal, March 20, 2000

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The USGS estimates thateconomically recoverable oil is just 152 days of supply

“We are most fortunate to be living in a brief, bright interval of human history made possible by an inheritance from half-a-billion years of oil-forming Earth processes. We rarely give thought to the greatly depleted balance in the oil account we are leaving to future generations. When checks can no longer be written against that inheritance, world economies and lifestyles will undergo great changes. Life will go on, but it will be quite different from the present. Most people living today will see the beginning of thosetimes.”

Dr. Walter Youngquist, Geotimes, 1998

Energy to Power the World: III

Alternative Energy sourcesCan they make up for declining oil production?

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Alternative EnergyNuclearSustainable

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Nuclear Energy FISSION (splitting)

How do reactors work?

Reactor models and safety

Waste issues True costs?

FUSION (fusing) How would it work? Prospects?

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Nuclear Waste Staggering amount of damage already done

(1 curie=40 billion decays/sec.): US, Europe, Japan didn’t stop dumping in ocean

until 1970 (1.25 billion curies) Soviet/Russia didn’t stop until 1993 (2.5 billion

curies; 18 reactor cores at bottom of ocean!)

Where to put it now? In temporary storage waiting for permanent

storage Yucca Mountain $1 billion so far; $10 to $35 billion

by completion (2010?)

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True costs? Environmental damage: tailings, runoff, health

issues from U mining (200 million tons of tailings today) $billions

Storage of reactor waste $35+ billion

Decommissioning (tearing down, disposing of old plants – last only 30 years) $200 billion to $1 trillion

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FusionHeavy hydrogen + EXTREME heat,

pressure = fused nuclei + energy 0.1 billion degrees C, millions X our

atmospheric pressureMuch less radioactive waste produced$25 billion invested worldwide, but not

viable yet

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Sustainable Energy

ConservationSolar EnergyEnergy from BiomassEnergy from the Earth’s ForcesResearch in Renewables

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Conservation Like in water resources movie, where every

gallon of water conserved is equivalent to a new water source, every kilowatt of energy conserved is the same as a new energy source

Utility companies have found that conservation costs $350/kW; new coal plant $1000/kW

Superinsulated houses (i.e. Sweden) need 90% less energy

Fuel cell technology

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Fuel Cells The GE HomeGen 7000

fuel processor extracts the hydrogen from the gas or propane.

fuel cell changes the hydrogen to electricity.

power conditioner converts the fuel cell electricity to the type and quality of power that you use today.

To be available 2001

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Solar Power

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Biomass

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Hydro Power

Trend to big dams Issues as described in in-class movie

Advantages of small turbines Submerged in stream; do not block navigation Can operate under low-flow conditions Don’t interfere with fish movement If stream runs year round, cheaper than solar or

wind

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Wind PowerPlayed big role in settling Great PlainsSmall role now, but World Energy

Council says could replace 1-2 billion barrels of oil by 2020

Usually located in places impractical for residential use

Drawbacks: Affects scenery

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Researching RenewablesMoney declined sharply in early 80’s

(Reagan Administration)Money slowly rising, especially in

private industryAffected by oil prices?

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Scenario for the future

Lundgren, p. 316