Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Low quality energy is useless most of time we use only the high quality
energy and most energy is lost through heat and such.
Energy Efficiency
•low 1st law efficiency: means a little of energy used goes twoards goal.
Calculating efficiency
•Incandescent light bulb delivers 1 unit of light energy for each 20 unit of
energy delivered to bulb. (1/20)*100= 5%
5% of the energy used goes twoards its purprose - lighting the bulb.
Where does the rest go? LT Heat.
Human body 20%-25% Fluorescent light: 20% Car engine: 20% -25%
•LOW 2nd law efficiency: Using High quality energy for task to do low
quality work.
•Electric space heating uses High quality electricity to produce low quality
heat.
•Minimum work needed to heat house = 1 unit use electricity with 10 units
work potential
Fossil Fuel
•Global primary energy supply 80% is from 3 fossil fuels. All the other
energy for renewable contributes for less than 1%.
Coal
•old days coal seams mined by hand now mining process mechanized.
•fires: coal dust, flammable gases ignite lamps for light (old days), sparks
from machinery.
1962 - Trash fire in mine pit spreads to coal seam. Fire spreads through old
coal mines. It did
•gases: cause explosions, toxic when inhaled methane, CO, low oxygen,
smoke
"Canary in a coal mine." (when birds die in the mine shaft means it is
time for the miner to get out)
Mine Flooding
Cave In
•Cave ins: "five miners were rescued from the Rochesters and Pittsburgh
Coal company Kent Number 2 mine, located in McIntyre. They were
trapped in for 18 hours, 250 feet underground and four miles back
inside the entrance. Rescue crews tunneled through a ream of coal to
reach the men. A 70 foot fall of slate and rock temporarily imprisoned
them. None of the men were injured. The president of the coal
company said he believed the crash was caused by the collapse of
timbers in the entry where the men were working."
Black Lung
•The damages from the coal causes the cells in the lung to die. The cells
turn black after it dies.
Strip Mining
•Acidic mine drainage - drainage patterns altered. The water interacts with
pyrite, pollutants, and rust. LONG LASTING EFFECTS!!!!!
Oil - uses - gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, jet fuel, plastics.
Natural Gas
•"Transitional fossil fuel" as oil gets to expensive natural gas use will raise
until whatever renewable energy comes to replace oil next.
•Can only be transported through pipelines it cannot be stored.
•Oregon was the first state to mandate each city to identify a boundary to
perserve farm and farm uses.
•They used the city highway fund to build a railline where people can
leave their cars at home.