material (carboniferous 286-360 mya) - mostly carbon with small amts of sulfur, mercury and radioactive material - Peat (not really coal) decayed plant matter in swamps/bogs - Lignite (brown coal): low heat content, low sulfur content - Bituminous Coal (soft coal): widely used, has high heat content, large supplies! High sulfur content - Anthracite (hard coal): highly desirable high heat and low sulfur, but limited supplies **Most abundant fossil fuel 10 X the energy of oil and natural gas reserves combined. - Supply could last 215-1,125 years - U.S. has proven coal reserves
- petroleum or crude oil is a thick, dark liquid consisting of
hundreds of combustible hydrocarbons (with some sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities) made in a similar fashion to coalfossilized microorganisms Crude oil is converted into a number of petroleum products through a refining process (distillation process-cracking tower)-energy intensive process *(8% of all US energy use)
- underground gas 50-90% methane by volume.
Also some ethane, propane, and butane (trace amounts of toxic hydrogen sulfide) - formed in similar way to coal and oil. (microorg) - Conventional natural gas: above oil reserves (much is viewed as unwanted byproduct and is burned offwhat a waste!!) - Unconventional natural gas: methane hydrate (bubbles of natural gas trapped in ice crystals) globally, the amount of methane hydrate energy is 2X coal, oil and natural gas combined. Currently too expensive to extract
Acquisition
-Underground mining (very dangerous but
less environmental impact) -Area strip mining: remove surface soil to expose shallow coal reserves (very damaging to environment)
Use
- used mostly to produce electricity and steel.
(62% worlds electric)
Problems
Benefits
air pollution: high CO2, SO2, mercury,
radioactive material, particulates, lead very high env. Impact (land disturbance)
11 OPEC nations control 78% of proven reserve Saudi Arabia 25% of reserve, Canada 15% US, 2.9% world reserve ANWR: 20% chance to meet US oil demand for 7-24 months - oil is trapped in pores and cracks deep in the earth )often in sandstone/limestone). Wells are dug into the rock to pump it out. - Typically, only 35-50% of usable oil is extracted from an oil deposit. Too expensive to extract the remainder (inject water/steam) *Net energy ratio declining - most widely used energy resource in world provides about 1/3 of energy we use for heating homes and running vehicles - also used to create fertilizers, pesticides, plastics - U.S. uses 26% of extracted crude oil - Oil still abundant and cheap, but the end is in sight. 40-100 yrs. Consequences? **Hubbert Curve - oil drilling has limited env. impact (angle drilling) but oil spills can be devastating. - Gone in 50 years, CO2 release, air pollution,subsidized price means resource is wasted (not true env. cost) - similar to coal, but easily transported and distributed.
Most in Russia and Middle East.
Current supplies could last world 60-120 years at current use and up to 200 yrs with unconventional supplies.
- if a gas pipeline exists, it is pumped directly
from petroleum reserves. - propane and butane are liquefied and removed. Remaining methane dried, cleansed of hydrogen sulfide, and pumped into pressurized pipelines for distribution. - burned to heat space and water, generate electricity and propel vehicles.
- release of methane itself (greenhouse gas) in
transport and CO2 when burned, difficult to transport internationally, requires construction of pipelines. High energy efficiency (50-60%), low CO2 emissions compared to oil/coal. , easily transported by pipeline.