NONRENEWABLE

ENERGY RESOURCES
Chapter 12
Nonrenewable Energy
Nonrenewable
a. once used up, cannot be replenished
b. supplies are finite
 2 main categories
a. fossil fuels
- coal, oil, and natural gas

b. nuclear fuels
- derived from radioactive materials
that give off energy
 Worldwide Patterns
a. US greatest energy consumption

b. reasons for patterns

1. developed countries
* fossil fuels through electricity
2. developing
* wood, charcoal, animal waste

c. commercial v. subsistence energy

 Patterns of Use in US
a. 1st was wood, then coal, and then oil
and natural gas

b. majority of energy used in US (in

order of importance)
1. oil, coal, and natural gas

c. inputs and outputs

1. inputs oil, water
2. output work and waste

d. produces 70% of energy used, 30%

Reminder of Energy
Calculations
Energy = Power X Time

Energy kWh
Power W or kW

BTU usually has been replaced by J

- amount of heat required to raise
the
temperature of 1 1b of water by 1
degree F.
 Electricity
Primary sources of energy coal, oil, and
natural gas

Secondary source of energy

Energy carrier
a. moves and delivers energy in a convenient
and usable
form
 Generation of Electricity
a. example coal burning power plant
1. fuel is delivered to boiler
2. steam is produced
3. KE within steam transferred to turbine
4. turbine turns generator creating electricity
5. electricity transported along electrical grid
6. steam is cooled or discharged to nearby
water
 Efficiency of Generation of Electricity
a. capacity factor
1. the fraction of the time a plant is
operating

Cogeneration
a. use of a fuel to generate electricity AND
heat
b. used by steam users to create greater
efficiency
Fossil Fuels
Provide MOST of the energy in both
developed and developing countries

Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas

 Coal
a. solid fuel
b. four types ranked from lesser to greater age, exposure
to pressure, and energy content
1. lignite subbituminous bituminous and anthracite
2. precursor peat
c. largest reserves
1. United States, Russia, China, and India
d. greatest production
1. China, United States, India, and Australia
e. advantages of coal use
1. generates electricity
2. steel production
3. easy to obtain (surface mining)
4. low economic costs
f. disadvantages of coal use
1. releases sulfur when burned
2. mercury, lead, and arsenic
3. increases CO2 concentrations in atmosphere
 Petroleum
a. fluid mixture
b. occurs in underground deposits
c. oil and gasoline (ideal for vehicles)
d. contains natural gas
e. crude oil liquid petroleum from the ground
f. top use
1. Saudi Arabia, Russia, US, Iran, China,
Canada, and Mexico
f. advantages
1. easy to transport and use
2. energy dense
3. cleaner-burning than coal

g. disadvantages
1. releases carbon dioxide
2. contains sulfur, mercury, lead and arsenic
3. potential for oil leak/spill or runoff
 Natural Gas
a. 80-95% methane
b. electricity generation and industrial processes
c. nitrogen fertilizers, fuel for cooking, water heaters
d. advantages
1. contains fewer impurities
e. disadvantages
1. methane escapes from unburned natural gas
2. groundwater contamination
 Other fossil fuels
a. oil sands
1. bitumen (tar)
2. extracted through surface mining
3. extend petroleum supply
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Reactors
a. Uranium-235 fuel source
b. undergoes fission
c. product heat
* used to generate
steam
 Nuclear Reactor Structure
 Advantages of Nuclear
a. no air pollution
b. achieve independence from imported oil

Disadvantages
a. potential accidents (Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl)
b. disposal of radioactive waste
Nuclear Accidents
Three Mile Island
a. March 28 1979
b. closed cooling water valve
c. lack of cooling water around reactor
core, led to
partial meltdown
 Chernobyl
a. April 26, 1986
b. violation of safety precautions
c. disconnected emergency cooling systems
d. removed control rods
e. led to explosion
f. winds blew radiation across most of Europe
g. increase counts of cancer afterwards
(Thyroid)
Radioactive Waste
Emitted radioactivity after enough heat is
produced
High-level, low-level, uranium mine tailings
Uranium-235 half-life: 704 million years

Disposal of waste
a. required to store spent fuel at the plant itself
b. cannot be incinerated, destroyed by chemicals,
dumped in ocean
Half-Life Example
Strontium-90 is a radioactive waste
product from nuclear reactors. It has a
half-life of 29 years. How many years
will it take for a quantity of strontium-90
to decay to 1/16 of its original mass?
 Nonrenewable Energy
Resource Recap

Oil Mobile Potential oil Second highest

combustion spill emitter of CO2
Coal No refining Large Highest emitter
necessary contributor to of CO2 among
acid rain in US energy sources
Natural Gas Efficient for Risk of Methane
cooking leaks/explosion Hydrocarbons
Fewer s
impurities than
coal or oil
Nuclear Emits no CO2 Generates Radioactive
Energy once plant is protests wastes hangs
operational Possible around for
meltdowns hundreds-
thousands of
years
 Renewable Energy
Nonrenewable Refresher
a. petroleum, natural gas, coal, and
uranium

Renewable Energy
a. biomass potentially renewable
b. solar, wind, geothermal,
hydroelectric, and tidal
- nondepletable

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/friedlandapes/#668210__690868_
 Facts about Renewable Energy
a. 13% of energy used worldwide
b. biomass most widely used today
c. 7% of energy use in US (biomass and
hydroelectricity)
d. more sustainable than nonrenewable, but
still has
environmental impacts
Using Energy Less
Energy Conservation and Efficiency
a. conservation ways to use the source less
1. locally
- turning down thermostat when out of house
- turning off lights when not in the room
2. government
- taxing electricity, oil, and natural gas
- offer rebates or tax credits
3. can increase efficiency by conserving
- get the same amount of work from using less
energy
 b. sustainable design
1. passive solar heating
- solar radiation maintaining building
temperatures
- carefully placed windows (heating and
lighting)
- dark-colored roofs v. light-colored roofs
2. green roofs
3. recycled denim insulation in walls and ceilings

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/green-rooftop.htm
Biomass
Fuel Types
a. wood, charcoal, animal wastes, plant
remains,
and municipal solid waste (MSW)
b. ethanol and biodiesel (biofuels)

United States
a. 2/3 wood
b. 1/3 MSW and biofuels
 Solid Biomass
a. wood
1. heating, pulp and paper industries, power plants
2. sustainable if forest growth is able to keep up
b. charcoal
1. contains more energy than wood
2. produces less smoke
c. manure
1. indoor heating and cooking
2. reduces risk of disease transmission, but does give
off pollutants causing respiratory illnesses
 Biofuels
a. ethanol
1. derived from mostly corn products
2. sugarcane, wood chips, crop waste, or switchgrass
3. US world leader in production of ethanol, Brazil
second
4. Gasohol
- ethanol mixed with gasoline
- produces less air pollutants
- reduces gas
 b. biodiesel
1. derived from soybean oil or
processed
vegetable oil
2. typically diluted to B-20
3. lower emissions of CO compared to
petroleum diesel

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/27/benefuel-flint-hill-resources-to-develop-us-
biodiesel-projects/