Energy Resources
Fossil fuels: use the remains of once living organisms
Alternative energy: uses other than fossil fuels
Fossil Fuel Energy Resources:
A) Oil and Natural Gas: most abundant fluid in crust after water.
Formation: Formed from remains of marine organisms under heat and pressure.
Migration: oil and gas traps.
Exploration: many methods, little environmental impact.
Production: drilling, transporting, refining: serious environmental threats
Primary recovery
Enhanced Recovery
Environmental Problems: subsidence, brines, spills, leaks to groundwater
Other: tar sands, oil shales
B) Coal:
Formation: remains of land organisms under heat and pressure
Exploration: little environmental impact.
Production: Mining: either underground or strip.
Underground Mining: Room and Pillar or Longwall methods
Effects: little environmental impact on surface, area localized, may have some subsidence. Expensive and safety issues. Removes less coal than strip mining.
Strip Mining: Contour Mining or Area Mining
Effects: very large spread environmental impact. Waste piles, clear cutting, loss of topsoil. Very inexpensive. Newer more environmentally friendly methods can be beneficial in rare instances.
Processing: little environmental impact
Transportation: little environmental impact
Alternative Energy Resources/Generation:
1) Solar: active or passive, active heats water to steam to turn turbine solar panels solar panel
Production: little impact
Transportation: no impact
Usage: no impact
Wastes: none
Pros: cheap and limitless, relatively inexpensive and price is dropping
Cons: must be in a sunny area, large scale production requires lots of space
2) Hydroelectric: flowing water turns turbine
glenn canyon dam
Production: small scale or large scale projects, dams a river (see notes)
Transportation: none
Usage: no impact
Wastes: none
Pros: cheap once built, renewable and steady, creates recreational lakes and reservoirs
Cons: must have proper site, dams affect the environment by changing the temperature of the water down-dam, silting behind dam and no silt down-dam, flooding habitats. Each of these have implications
3) Ocean Resources:
Production: ocean thermal or tidal
Transportation: none
Usage: no impact
Wastes: none
Pros: cheap, easily renewable and steady
Cons: must have tidal or temperature characteristics to support energy production. Concerns with leaks from ocean thermal process (ammonia), tidal process disrupts migration patterns of some organisms by blocking inlets
4) Nuclear: uses heat from nuclear fission to create steam to turn turbine
Production: concerns with radioactivity through every step!!!
Transportation: fuel and wastes
Usage: complex, concern with safety
Wastes: must be stored for up to 7,000 years, concern with theft of radioactive material and leakage
Pros: once built it is cheap, reliable energy source.
Cons: radioactivity is the biggest concern. Wastes hard to handle and expensive. Spent fuel could be dangerous if stolen and used by terrorists.
5) Geothermal: uses the heat from a magma to create steam
Production: little impact
Transportation: none
Usage: requires water for heat exchange
Wastes: little
Pros: cheap, reliable, can be used for large scale power production or by individual
Cons: must be in the right geologic setting, cultural considerations, impact on nearby geysers
6) Biomass: involves any organic material including: wood, methane, refuse, dung biomass digester
Production: if process involves burning then concern with air quality degradation
Transportation: little impact
Usage: problem with odor and burning issues
Waste: very little, no impact
Pros: waste is always available, reduces waste needing disposal, recover recyclables
Cons: odor, air degradation from burning, cultural aversion to sewage wastes
7) Wind: wind turns turbine wind mill Windmill farm
Production: large and small scale, no impact
Transportation: none
Usage: little impact
Waste: none
Pros: cheap
Cons: wind must be relatively steady, takes up lots of space and some think the windmills are unsightly
