ENV 101 Ch13 lecture ppt_a

13-1
Environmental
Geology
James Reichard
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

13-2
Chapter 13
Conventional Fossil Fuel Resources
U.S. Coast Guard

13-3
Human Use of Energy
• Electrical
• Chemical
• Thermal
• Kinetic
• Potential
• Nuclear
• Radiant

13-4
Energy Conversions (1)
Jump to long description

13-5
Energy Conversions (2)
a: © PhotoLink/Getty Images; b: © PhotoLink/Photodisc/Getty Images

13-6
Energy
Conversions (3)
• First Law of
Thermodynamics
• Energy efficiency
TABLE 13.1 Efficiency of some of the most common
energy conversations used in modern societies.
Equipment
Desired
Conversion
Efficiency
(Percentage
Undergoing the
Desired
Conversion)
Incandescent light
club
Electrical to
radiant
5%
Compact fluorescent
light bulb
Electrical to
radiant
20%
LED light bulb Electrical to
radiant
80%
Gasoline engine Chemical to
kinetic
25%
Diesel engine Chemical to
kinetic
35%
Electric engine
(motor)
Electrical to
kinetic
70%
Coal-burning power
plant
Chemical to
electrical
30%
Home gas furnace Chemical to
electrical
90%
Electrical heating Chemical to
thermal
100%
Source: Data from Alternate Energy Guide and International Panel on
Fissile Materials.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or display.

13-7
Renewable vs. Nonrenewable
Renewable
• solar
Nonrenewable
• Fossil fuels
Secondary
• electricity

13-8
Historical Energy Use

13-9
Coal
© Fred Rich, Georgia Southern University

13-10
Coal formation (1)

13-11
Coal formation (2)

13-12
Environmental Impacts of Coal
• Subsidence
• Ecosystem destruction
• Acid rain
• Carbon dioxide
• Acid mine drainage
USGS

13-13
Underground coal mining

13-14
Mountaintop removal
(top-bottom): © Don Alexander/Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

13-15
Petroleum
Oil and natural gas

13-16
Petroleum Deposits (1)
• Petroleum trap
• Petroleum reservoir
• Cap rock
© IntraSearch

13-17
Petroleum Deposits (2)

13-18
Exploration and drilling
a: © BP Oil

13-19
Deep-water oil and gas deposits

13-20
Deep-water drilling (1)

13-21
Deep-water drilling (2)

13-22
Petroleum Refining
Distillation tower
• Heavy crude
• Light crude
b: © BP Oil

13-23
Environmental Impacts of
Petroleum
Air pollution
• Carbon dioxides
• Nitrous oxides
Oil spills
• Land
• Water
Blowouts a: NASA; b: USGS

13-24
Exxon Valdez spill in 1989
(right): © Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

13-25
Economic Development & Energy
Demand

13-26
Types of Energy We Consume (1)

13-27

13-28

13-29
Proven
Reserves

13-30
Crude oil prices

13-31
Energy Crisis
Peak Oil Theory
• Hubbert’s Peak
Past the oil peak

13-32
Hubbert curve (1)

13-33
Hubbert curve (2)

13-34
Hubbert curve (3)

13-35
Hubbert curve (4)

13-36
Hubbert curve (5)

13-37
Solving the Energy Crisis
• Replacements for oil
• Increase supply by reducing demand
• Increase exploration and development
• Make gasoline and diesel from coal and
heavy oils
• Biofuels
• Replace with renewable energy

13-38
Average fuel efficiency (U.S.)
b: © Jim Reichard

13-39
Hydraulic fracturing of oil-rich
shales

Appendix of Image Long
Descriptions

Energy Conversions (1) Long Description
Humans constantly make use of energy conversions to fulfill their needs. Consider the number of energy
conversions involved in cooking and growing food, which provides chemical energy.
Jump back to slide containing original image

Energy Conversions (2) Long Description
Prior to steam engines, wind and water mills were the dominant means of generating mechanized power. The
kinetic energy from wind or falling water was used to turn shafts that provided power to perform tasks such as
grinding grain, cutting lumber, and making textiles.

Historical Energy Use Long Description
Plot showing annual U.S. consumption of different energy sources since the Industrial Revolution. Coal usage
declined after 1945 as some applications switched to oil and gas, but then increased again after 1960 due to a
greater demand for electricity. Note the relatively small contribution of renewable sources compared to the
nation’s overall energy needs.

Coal Long Description
Coal is a sedimentary rock that originates in the back swamps of large river deltas where dead plant material
accumulates, eventually compacting into layers of peat. Because large deltas typically undergo subsidence, thick
accumulations of peat can develop and become buried by shifting stream channels or rising sea level. If peat
becomes deeply buried, the increased heat and pressure can turn it into coal.

Coal formation (1) Long Description
As peat becomes more deeply buried, the higher temperatures and pressures drive off progressively greater
amounts of water and other volatiles, leaving behind a deposit more concentrated in carbon. Higher grades of
coal are generally the most desirable as they are more energy-dense and thus release greater amounts of energy.

Coal formation (2) Long Description
Major coal deposits in the United States. Although western coals generally have lower energy content than
eastern coals, they also contain less sulfur, which reduces the acid rain problem associated with smokestack
emissions. This has resulted in a mining boom for western coals and a more depressed market for eastern coals.

Environmental Impacts of Coal Long Description
Underground coal mining creates large voids that can slowly close or suddenly collapse, causing land at the
surface to sag or develop pits. Subsidence is more common in areas where the layers of coal lie close to the
surface and where the mining leaves the roof of the mine too weak to support the weight of the overburden
material. Photo showing pits due to collapsing voids in a Wyoming coal mine.

Underground coal mining Long Description
Underground coal mining leaves large void spaces that tend to collapse due to the overburden pressure created
by the overlying rocks. Longwall mining (A) is an efficient method where the roof is supported by jacks as a
cutting machine removes coal in long strips. The jacks are then removed as the machine moves down the coal
bed, allowing the roof to collapse. In room-and-pillar mining (B) columns of coal are left behind in order to
support the roof. Collapse can occur when too few pillars are left for support.

Mountaintop removal Long Description
Mountaintop removal is a controversial form of strip mining that has been replacing underground coal mining.
Here successive coal seams are extracted by removing massive amounts of overburden, causing large-scale
disruptions to the land surface. Reclamation efforts can make the area usable for such things as housing
developments and parks, but the original mountain streams and ecosystems are permanently lost.

Petroleum Long Description
a) Petroleum consists of natural gas and crude oil, both of which are composed of hydrocarbon molecules. The
refining process produces various petroleum products by separating the gaseous and liquid molecules based
on their differences in density. Note that refining produces many more products than those shown here.
b) For oil and gas to form, the source rock must lie within a relatively narrow depth (and temperature) range in
the subsurface. Beyond a depth of about 15,000 feet (4,600 m) the temperature reaches the point where oil
begins to break down into gas. At 40,000 feet, the temperature is high enough to cause the gas molecules to
transform into the mineral graphite.

Petroleum Deposits (1) Long Description
Petroleum forms when organic-rich source rocks reach the oil and gas windows where higher temperatures
transform the organic matter into hydrocarbon molecules. The molecules rise until encountering a permeable
reservoir rock, then flow laterally with the groundwater until reaching a trap where the lighter hydrocarbons
accumulate. Petroleum that remains in the source rock can also be extracted using directional drilling and
hydraulic fracturing. Aerial photo shows the characteristic pattern that a dome trap makes at the surface. Note
the individual wells extracting petroleum trapped in the rocks below.

Petroleum Deposits (2) Long Description
In addition to domes or arches formed by anticlines, there are other common types of petroleum traps and
reservoirs. All traps must be overlain by lowpermeability cap rock in order to keep oil and gas from escaping over
time. Conventional reservoir rocks must be fairly porous in order to store significant quantities of petroleum, and
also permeable enough to allow the petroleum to be extracted.

Exploration and drilling Long Description
a) Seismic exploration techniques use an energy source to generate vibrational waves that are reflected and
refracted (not shown) by rock layers of different densities. Based on data obtained by instruments that record
the waves that return to the surface, threedimensional views can be constructed that reveal subsurface rock
structures that may contain oil and gas.
b) Depending on water depth, large production platforms (A) are towed out to sea and then placed on the
seabed where oil reserves have been confirmed by exploration wells. Modern land and offshore operations
utilize directional drilling technology to install multiple production wells (B) from a single platform.

Deep-water oil and gas deposits Long Description
Map (A) showing deep-water oil and gas deposits now being extracted due to the development of floating drill
ships .

Deep-water drilling (1) Long Description
(B). These ships can hold their position thousands of feet above the sea floor via global positioning system (GPS)
satellites

Deep-water drilling (2) Long Description
Simulated production decline curves for conventional and tight gas wells.
Although hydraulic fracturing of tight wells causes initial production to be quite high, these wells also have higher
depletion rates.

Petroleum Refining Long Description
Refining of crude oil into various products (A) begins by heating the crude, then sending the vapors into a
distillation tower. At the bottom of the tower, where temperatures are highest, the heaviest hydrocarbon
molecules are able to condense, at which point they are collected. As the temperature in the tower gets cooler
toward the top, progressively lighter and more volatile molecules condense. Shown here are just a few of the
more common types of products obtained from crude oil. Aerial view (B) of the British Petroleum refinery in Texas
City, Texas. Note the numerous distillation towers and storage tanks.

Environmental Impacts of Petroleum Long Description
Satellite image (A) showing the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico approximately a month after the Deepwater Horizon
lost control of the well it was drilling. The ruptured well on the seafloor (B) continued to discharge large volumes
of crude oil for 86 days after the accident before finally being brought under control.

Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 Long Description
In 1989 an oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound in Alaska, polluting beaches and killing wildlife along a
vast stretch of Alaska’s irregular shoreline. Despite years of cleanup efforts, beaches still contain buried oil that
continues to be a source of low-level pollution.

Economic Development & Energy Demand Long Description
Plot showing the top 10 energy users in terms of their percentages of consumption of the world energy supply;
also shown for each country is its percentage of the world population. Considering population size, the United
States and other developed nations use a disproportionate amount of energy compared to developing countries
such as China and India.

Types of Energy We Consume (1) Long Description
Breakdown of U.S. energy consumption in 2014 by sector (A) and by source (B).

Electricity in the United States is produced by burning coal or natural gas or using nuclear fuel. These energy
sources are transformed into heat and used to produce steam, which then spins a turbine and electrical
generator. Electricity is also produced by using water or wind to spin a generator or by using solar panels.

Countries rely on different combinations of fossil, nuclear, and hydro and other renewable resources to meet their
energy needs. China and the United States depend heavily on fossils fuels, whereas Canada, France, and Sweden
make greater use of nuclear and hydro and other renewable sources. Norway’s geologic terrain allows it to utilize
hydro power to a much greater degree than most countries.

Proven Reserves Long Description
Proven reserves of fossil fuels are not evenly distributed around the globe because economic deposits form only
under favorable geologic conditions. Note that the locations of large oil and gas reserves do not necessarily
correspond to those of major reserves of coal.

Crude oil prices Long Description
Crude oil prices have changed dramatically in response to changes in supply and to world events. The major price
increases of 1973 and 1979 sent shock waves through the economies of developed nations. Additional production
caused prices to fall and eventually stabilize at a lower level until 2000. Prices then rose dramatically until the
2008 recession greatly reduced demand. Recently, additional new supplies and lower economic growth have
caused prices to tumble.

Energy Crisis Long Description
Hubbert’s 1956 model (A) used a statistical approach based on the idea that discoveries of new fields would
eventually peak, causing production to peak about 30 years later. Using this statistical model, Hubbert predicted
the United States would reach peak production in 1970. A graph from a 2004 study (B) showing that U.S.
production peaked around 1970, followed by production peaks in other oil-producing countries.

Hubbert curve (1) Long Description
Based on world production trends and estimated total reserves, Hubbert used his model to project peak world
production, with the larger reserve estimate placing the peak at the year 2000. Note how production will reach a
plateau before beginning a permanent decline.

Graph showing the historic rate of world oil production along with possible future trends. Production rate will
increase (green) if new production can be added faster than older fields are being depleted. Flat or no-growth
production (blue) occurs if production keeps pace with depletion, but the rate declines (red) if new production
cannot keep pace with depletion.

Traditional oil reserve discoveries worldwide based on 10-year intervals. Discoveries peaked in the 1960s and
have been in decline ever since despite intense exploration efforts.

Graph showing total U.S. crude oil production, which peaked around 1970. Note how the major contribution of oil
from Alaska created a second peak and delayed the overall production decline. Significant new production from
North Dakota and the lower 48 states has dramatically increased overall production, which is projected to create
yet another peak at about 14 million barrels per day in 2018.

After the 2008 recession total energy consumption in the United States leveled off due to increased conservation
and efficiency and slower economic growth. Oil presently makes up nearly 35% of U.S. energy consumption,
representing a large amount of energy that will be difficult to replace.

Average fuel efficiency (U.S.) Long Description
A) After the oil crises of the 1970s the U.S. government mandated efficiency standards for cars and light trucks,
resulting in a dramatic 56% increase in overall fuel efficiency by 1990. Efficiency actually fell in the 1990s largely
due to Americans switching from cars to SUVs (B). New standards have again caused efficiency to improve.

Hydraulic fracturing of oil-rich shales Long Description
a) Map showing the locations in North America of organic-rich shales and other fine-grained rocks with the
greatest potential for producing oil and natural gas.
b) Illustration showing how directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing are used to extract petroleum from
organic-rich shales and other fine-grained rocks. The low-permeability rock is fractured by injecting a mixture
of water, chemicals, and fine sand, which then allows hydrocarbons to enter along the length of the well.
Contamination of shallow aquifers by fracking fluids and natural gas can occur along improperly sealed well
casings or through abandoned oil and gas wells. Wastewater from fracking operations is normally disposed of
by deep-well injection.

ENV 101 Ch13 lecture ppt_a

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ENV 101 Ch13 lecture ppt_a