Lecture 5 Continuing Fossil Fuels & Renewable Resources May 4, 2016 Oil Like coal, most of the oil on Earth was formed millions of years ago Certain warm shallow seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and Tethys Sea were so ideal for life that organic material was formed faster than it could decompose Large masses of organic material became buried at the sea bottom, were heated and pressurized, forming oil. The present day distribution of oil lines up with these ancient shallow seas Majority of oil reserves are in Middle Eastern countries In elemental composition, oil is similar to coal Mostly carbon, but also hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur As a liquid, oil can be distilled (separated) into other fuels such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel Oil Extraction As a liquid, oil can be pumped directly out of the ground. This eliminates the need for mining. A long drill is used to bore deep into the Earth to reach the deposit. The hole is lined with a steel pipe and cement. The top is outfitted with a collection of pipes and valves The ease of transporting oil has enabled drilling at very remote locations At its peak, Alaska accounted for about 25% of the U.S. oil production It is transported to the southern ports of the state through the Alaska Oil Pipeline. As a liquid, oil can also escape more easily, forming an oil spill Oil spills are devastating to marine life Penetrates through the fur and feathers of animals, reducing their ability to fly, float, and insulate themselves Benthic organisms, living at the bottom of the sea, can be suffocated Entire populations of krill and plankton can be wiped out Oil Reserves Of the fossil fuels, oil has been the most quickly depleted Peak oil is defined as the point at which all known oil reserves have been tapped and production will begin declining in the following years. The U.S. reached its peak production in the 1970s The estimated date of worldwide peak oil is unknown OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is comprised of 13 countries. Members: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. In 2010, OPEC holds about 77% of the entire world’s crude oil reserves. The U.S. has only about 2% of the world’s proven oil reserves. China has 1.1% and India has 0.4%. Japan as none It will be necessary to find alternatives to or other sources of crude oil to sustain the today’s usage. Natural Gas Natural gas is actually a mixtures of gases 50-90% methane Smaller amounts of propane and butane As a gas, it is the most difficult fossil fuel to transport A supply of natural gas exists above most oil wells, however, if no pipelines are nearby, it will often simply be burned off. Natural gas has a relatively small amount of pollution produced by burning it (Only two waste products-CO2 & Water vapor) Natural Gas Extraction Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking-a controversial technique used ...

1. Lecture 5
Continuing Fossil Fuels & Renewable Resources
May 4, 2016
Oil
Like coal, most of the oil on Earth was formed millions of years
ago
Certain warm shallow seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and
Tethys Sea were so ideal for life that organic material was
formed faster than it could decompose
Large masses of organic material became buried at the sea
bottom, were heated and pressurized, forming oil.
The present day distribution of oil lines up with these ancient
shallow seas
Majority of oil reserves are in Middle Eastern countries
In elemental composition, oil is similar to coal
Mostly carbon, but also hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur
As a liquid, oil can be distilled (separated) into other fuels such
as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel
Oil Extraction
As a liquid, oil can be pumped directly out of the ground. This
eliminates the need for mining.

2. A long drill is used to bore deep into the Earth to reach the
deposit.
The hole is lined with a steel pipe and cement.
The top is outfitted with a collection of pipes and valves
The ease of transporting oil has enabled drilling at very remote
locations
At its peak, Alaska accounted for about 25% of the U.S. oil
production
It is transported to the southern ports of the state through the
Alaska Oil Pipeline.
As a liquid, oil can also escape more easily, forming an oil spill
Oil spills are devastating to marine life
Penetrates through the fur and feathers of animals, reducing
their ability to fly, float, and insulate themselves
Benthic organisms, living at the bottom of the sea, can be
suffocated
Entire populations of krill and plankton can be wiped out
Oil Reserves
Of the fossil fuels, oil has been the most quickly depleted
Peak oil is defined as the point at which all known oil reserves
have been tapped and production will begin declining in the
following years.
The U.S. reached its peak production in the 1970s
The estimated date of worldwide peak oil is unknown

3. OPEC
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is
comprised of 13 countries.
Members: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, and Venezuela.
In 2010, OPEC holds about 77% of the entire world’s crude oil
reserves.
The U.S. has only about 2% of the world’s proven oil reserves.
China has 1.1% and India has 0.4%. Japan as none
It will be necessary to find alternatives to or other sources of
crude oil to sustain the today’s usage.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is actually a mixtures of gases
50-90% methane
Smaller amounts of propane and butane
As a gas, it is the most difficult fossil fuel to transport
A supply of natural gas exists above most oil wells, however, if
no pipelines are nearby, it will often simply be burned off.
Natural gas has a relatively small amount of pollution produced
by burning it (Only two waste products-CO2 & Water vapor)
Natural Gas Extraction
Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking-a controversial technique used
to extract natural gas from rock formations (such as shale) that
are not very permeable.
Fracturing has become an increasingly popular tool for
extracting natural gas, especially with the discovery of the
methane-rich Marcellus Shale

4. First, a mixture of water and other chemicals is pumped into a
narrow hole drilled into the rock formation.
The pressure created from this fluid causes the rock formation
to crack.
Sand is injected afterwards to fill the cracks, because it is more
permeable and allows the methane to seep out.
There are two big issues that make hydraulic fracturing
controversial
Millions of gallons of water are needed to “frack” the well
The water that returns back to the surface called, flow-back
water, is contaminated with minerals, fracturing fluid chemicals
and natural gas itself.
The disposal of flow-back water has been a major source of
contamination
Due to an exemption given to gas drillers in a 2006 law, they do
not have to disclose the full list of chemicals injected into a
well.
These chemicals include carcinogens and endocrine disruptors
Water collected from a well in rural Bradford County,
Pennsylvania.
Energy Consumption
Fossil fuels currently provide about 85% of all commercial

5. energy in the world.
Other renewable sources (wind, solar, hydroelectric) make up
7% of commercial power
Nuclear power makes up 8% of commercial power
The richest 20 countries consume nearly 80% of natural gas,
65% of oil, and 50% of coal production annually
On average, each person in the U.S. & Canada uses more than
300 GJ of energy annually
In the poorest countries of the world, each person generally
consumes less than one GJ annually.
Energy & Renewable Resources
“The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil
industry does not own the sun.” Ralph Nadar
Chapter 13
Net Energy
only energy that counts
The usable amount of high-quality energy available from a
given quantity of an energy resource is its net energy yield: the
total amount of useful energy available from an energy resource
minus the energy (or cost) needed to make it available to
consumers.
We can express net energy as the ratio of energy produced to
the energy used to produce it. As the ratio increases, the net
energy also rises. When the ratio is less than 1, there is a net
energy loss.
Net energy ratios for various energy systems over their

6. estimated lifetimes differ widely (see graphs)
Nonrenewable Energy
As we have learned, nonrenewable energy (including fossil
fuels and nuclear power) make up the majority of the U.S.
energy portfolio.
In the long-term, there are two major issues with this reliance:
Dwindling supplies
Environmental pollution
Nonrenewable-are finite and will eventually be used up (most of
our sources of coal, oil & natural gas have already been tapped)
As supplies of these resources tighten, they will become more
expensive to extract and the price will increase.
Pollution
The extraction, transport and burning of fossil fuels is also a
highly polluting process.
CO2 emissions vary with different energy resources
Types of Energy
Fossil fuels have a lot of modern applications, that we use in
our everyday lives and the strategies for replacing them is going
to vary for each.
Electricity (hydroelectricity, wind energy, geothermal, and solar

7. energy)
Fuel for Transportation (oil, gasoline, petroleum)
Heat (biomass, solar heating, and geothermal heating)
Nuclear Energy
Electricity
Electricity works by passing electrons from a power source
through a series of wires, called a circuit.
Within the circuit there are devices that use the energy released
by the electrons to do work (as light, heat, etc.)
Electric power is measured in watts, the rate at which electrons
moving through a circuit are doing work
Standard incandescent light bulb consumes 60 W of power
A medium-sized car will consume about 100,000 W
Renewable Electricity
The greatest renewable source of electricity production
currently in use is hydroelectricity
Hydropower
Hydroelectric power plants use running water to spin a turbine
and generate electricity
Hydroelectricity is very economical, with costs per kwh similar
to coal
Wind Energy
Wind energy is similar to hydroelectricity, except that moving
air provides the force to spin the generator.
Wind turbines are able to orient themselves to face the

8. oncoming wind
As the air passes through, the blades rotate
These are attached to a shaft, which connects to the turbine.
A single wind turbine can generate 1-7 megawatts of energy per
year, not enough for a large population.
Wind farms are large numbers of wind turbines clustered
together
The Gansu Wind Farm in China produces 6 billion kilowatt-
hours of electricity per year.
Wind power is comparable in cost to coal
Possible negative impacts of wind turbines include:
Disruption of bird and bat migration pathways, Noise and
Disruption of scenery
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal power, like nuclear and coal, works by boiling
water to steam.
Naturally-occurring
heat from the Earth
is used in place of
fuel.
At a geothermal plant, two wells are drilled.
One injects cold water towards the
underground heat.
The second directs steam to the turbine

9. Solar Energy
An enormous amount of energy (over 1,000 watts per square
meter) hits the Earth every day.
This energy is very diffuse, spread out across the entire surface
area of the planet.
Two separate technologies have been developed to convert solar
energy into electricity.
Parabolic solar collection involves using curved reflective
surfaces that collect light and focus it onto a concentrated point.
The heat is absorbed and used to boil water into steam, which
spins a turbine.
Photovoltaic cells capture solar energy and convert it directly to
electrical current.
Solar electricity tends to be 1.5-2 times the cost of electricity
from coal or other renewable sources.
Not available on overcast days or at night.
Geography
Electricity generation by solar, wind, hydrokinetic, or
geothermal plants is restricted by the natural geography of the
United States.
The Great Plains have the highest average wind speeds and the
greatest potential for wind power.
Areas with significant elevation differences and river courses

10. are ideal for hydroelectricity generation.
The western states are the most favorable for geothermal energy
production.
The deserts of the southwest are ideal for solar electricity
generation.
Heat
Besides electricity, significant amounts of fossil fuels are
burned for heat, especially natural gas.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, awards
certificates to buildings that are designed to reduce heat loss
and waste, through proper insulation.
Biomass
Traditionally, humans have relied on burning biomass, such as
wood, charcoal, and dung as a source of heat.
These fuels will replenish, but produce similar levels of
pollution to fossil fuels.
Excess demand can also lead to deforestation.
Solar Heating
Energy from the sun can also be gathered to use as a source of

11. heat.
Passive solar heat structures have no moving parts, but use
south-facing windows to gather and absorb as much solar heat
as possible.
Active solar heat structures pump water or another liquid
through a collector.
Can be used for household radiant heating, or as a source of hot
water for showers and cooking.
Geothermal Heating
Using heat stored in the soil, underground rocks and fluids in
the earth’s mantle.
A geothermal heat pump system can heat and cool a house by
exploiting the temperature differences between the surface and
underground
Transportation
The third major energy needed is fuel for transportation.
Most of the cars, planes, and ships of the world run on
petroleum products – gasoline, diesel, etc.
Alternative Fuels
Vehicles can be run on other fuels besides petroleum-based
ones.
Biofuels, like ethanol, are generated from using bacteria or
yeast to ferment plant matter.
Currently, the biggest source of this plant matter is corn which
can influence food prices.

12. Hydrogen fuel cells use a chemical reaction between hydrogen
and oxygen gas to generate an electric current.
H2 + O2 → H2O
Refueling is difficult, as pure hydrogen is a gas and difficult to
store and transport safely.
No waste products are produced, except for water vapor.
Cars could be indirectly run on renewable energy if they had
powerful enough batteries to store a charge needed to run the
car for long periods of time.
Lead-acid batteries, currently in use, are too large and do not
hold enough energy.
Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries, used in early generation hybrid
cars, have a higher storage capacity, but will quickly lose a
stored charge when not in use.
Lithium-ion batteries are the smallest and have the best storage
capacity, but are also expensive to produce.
The Tesla Model S runs on lithium-ion batteries, with a range of
265 miles.
Nuclear Energy
“Nuclear power is a hell of a way to boil water.” Albert Einstein
Nuclear power plant is a highly complex and costly system
designed to perform a relatively simple task: to boil water to
produce steam that spins a turbine and generates electricity.
A controlled nuclear fission reaction (splitting of nucleus) is
used to provide the heat.
Control rods are moved in and out of the reactor core to

13. regulate the amount of power produced.
Mining for and processing and enriching of the uranium to make
fuel.
Uranium-235 has an extremely large nucleus that can be split
when it is hit with a high-speed neutron.
This is the splitting of the nucleus into two smaller fragments.
44
A coolant, usually water, circulates through the reactor’s core to
remove heat, which keeps fuel rods and other materials from
melting and releasing massive amounts of radioactivity into the
environment.
One big advantage to nuclear power is that, under normal
conditions, it does not release any air pollution, only steam.
Energy Conversion Efficiencies
In addition to finding alternative, renewable energy sources, it
is also important to reduce energy consumption.
Energy Efficiency is a measure of the percentage of energy
consumed that actually performs the desired work.
Incandescent light bulbs: 5-10% efficient
Compact fluorescent: 20-33% efficient
LED: 40-60% efficient
Commercial Energy wasted 84%
46

14. Reducing energy waste is the most efficient way to provide
more energy, reduce pollution and environmental degradation
and slow climate change.
A nuclear power plant, wastes about 65% of the energy in its
nuclear fuel
A coal-fired plant, wastes about 66% of its energy
How commercial energy flows through the U.S. economy
Promoting Renewable Energy
Distributional surcharges are small charges levied on all utility
customers to help finance research and development of
renewable energy.
A renewable portfolio is a state mandated minimum percentage
of energy that utilities must get from renewable sources.
Green pricing is the practice of some electricity suppliers
offering plans (at a premium) that only use renewable sources
for electricity.
California has enacted a 33% renewable portfolio standard set
for 2020.
Promoting Renewable Energy
The energy star program is a federal initiative to promote and
provide incentives for purchasing more efficient devices and
appliances.
Energy conservation tends to be highly tied to consumer prices.
In response to 1970’s oil prices, average U.S. automobile gas-

15. mileage increased from 13 mpg in 1975 to 28.8 mpg in 1988.
Falling fuel prices in the 1980s-early 2000s discouraged further
improvements in fuel economy.
The recent popularity of smaller cars, hybrid cars, and electric
cars has improved average MPG again.
Politics and Economics play a big role
Governments can use three strategies to help stimulate or reduce
the short-term and long-term use of a particular energy
resource.
Keep the prices of selected energy resources artificially low to
encourage their use
Keep the prices of the others artificially high to discourage their
use
Emphasize consumer education and information
Next week’s assignments
Journal # 2-Due 05/11/16
Lecture Worksheets #5 & #6 Due by end of class
Reading Assignments: Readings: Chap. 11 (pgs. 254-271);
Chap. 15 (pgs. 376-388); Chap. 16 (pgs. (412-427)
Journal # 2
Congratulations!! YOU are now the leader of the entire world.
List the four most important features of your energy policy and

16. explain why each of them is important and how they relate to
each other.
(Use your lecture notes, textbook and personal thoughts to
answer)
Unit 2-Lecture 4
Agriculture, Aquaculture & Non-renewable Resources
April 27, 2016
Agriculture
• About 10,000 years ago, humans began to shift from hunting
for and gathering
their food to growing it and raising animals for food and labor.
• Today, three systems supply most of our food.
• Croplands produce mostly grains.
• Rangelands, pastures, and feedlots produce meat.
• Fisheries and aquaculture provide us with seafood.
• About 66% of the world’s people survive primarily on plant
crops.
• Only a few species of mammals and fish provide most of the
world’s meat and seafood.
Food Production has increased dramatically
• Since 1960, there has been an increase in global food

17. production from all
three of the major food production systems because of
technological
advances.
• Tractors, farm machinery and high-tech fishing equipment.
• Irrigation.
• Inorganic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, high-yield grain
varieties, and
industrialized production of livestock and fish.
Staple Crops
• 2/3 of human
food consumption
is comprised of
just three staple
crops-Wheat,
Corn and Rice.
Rank Commodity Production (metric tons)
1 Sugar Cane 1.8 Billion
2 Maize 88.5 Million
3 Rice 722 Million
4 Wheat 701 Million
5 Milk (cow) 614 Million

18. 6 Potatoes 373 Million
7 Sugar Beet 273 Million
Most of the major world food staples are plants.
• Why? In an ecological pyramid, only about 10%
of the energy in one trophic level will be
incorporated into the next.
• Consuming plants directly is more efficient than
raising animals
• 7-12 pounds of grain is required to produce a
single pound of beef
Simplified
rock cycle
• The rock cycle is the
interaction of physical
and or chemical
processes that change
rock from one form to
another
• It takes millions of
years for this cycle to
happen

19. Three Major Types of Rocks
• A mineral -an element or inorganic compound that occurs
naturally in the earth’s crust
as a solid with a regular internal crystalline structure.
• Rock is a solid combination of one or more minerals found in
the earth's crust.
• Some rocks, such as limestone and quartzite contain only one
mineral while most consist of two or
more minerals
• Three broad classes:
• Sedimentary rock (limestone, sandstone)
• Igneous rock (granite)
• Metamorphic rock (slate, marble)
Soil
-Soil is a mixture of minerals and partially
decomposed organic matter
-Soil begins as rock, but is gradually broken
down through erosion.
• Mechanical erosion: physically breaking
down of rock by wind and water

20. • Chemical Erosion: changes in the molecular
structures
• Forest soil has an O horizon, which is mostly
non-decomposed plant litter.
• Grasslands have a much deeper A horizon, which
contains a lot of organic matter mixed with some
minerals (also called topsoil).
• Both grasslands and forests have a layer of clay,
mostly made of minerals with little organic
matter, B horizon.
• The last layer in both ecosystems is parent
material or C horizon, which is the bedrock
from which the soil was formed.
Topsoil erosion is a serious problem in parts of the
world
• Soil erosion is the movement of soil components, especially
surface litter
and topsoil from one place to another by the actions of wind
and water.
• Erosion of topsoil has two major harmful effects.
• Loss of soil fertility through depletion of plant nutrients in
topsoil.
• Water pollution in nearby surface waters, where eroded

21. topsoil ends up as
sediment. This can kill fish and shellfish and clog irrigation
ditches, boat channels,
reservoirs, and lakes.
Erosion from Water
• Mechanical erosion from rainfall takes four forms
ranked by severity:
• Splash erosion: tiny crater caused by the impact of a
single drop of water
• Sheet erosion: transportation of loose soil particles
along a flow of runoff water
• Rill erosion: occurs when the flowing water merges into
small channels.
• Gully erosion: the most severe-caused by rapidly flowing
water creating deep channels in the ground.
Wind Erosion
• In arid regions, wind is the
major cause of erosion
• One of the worst storms of
the Dust Bowl dumped 12
million pounds of eroded
topsoil on Chicago.

22. Topsoil
erosion:
world-wide
Soil Conservation
• Soil conservation involves using a variety of ways to reduce
soil
erosion and restore soil fertility, mostly by keeping the soil
covered with
vegetation.
• Contour plowing: reduces water erosion by planting crops
along the slope of
the land rather than straight up and down.
• Terracing: converts steeply sloped
land into a series of flattened
terraces
• The stair-like terracing slows the
downward runoff of water,
reducing erosion
• Windbreaks: Farmers can establish
windbreaks, or shelterbelts, of trees

23. around crop fields to reduce wind
erosion.
Alley Cropping -involves one or
more crops planted together in strips
or alleys between trees and shrubs,
which provide shade.
Strip cropping involves planting
alternating strips of a row crop and
another crop that completely covers
the soil, called a cover crop.
• The cover crops trap any soil that
erodes from the row crops
Agricultural Water Usage
• Irrigation, the application of water to soil, accounts for
largest single share of
global water use
• Irrigation systems are compared with efficiency, a percentage
of the amount of
water withdrawn that actually makes it to the roots of target
plants.
• Most irrigation systems are inefficient, with only about 40%
of the applied water
actually reaching the crops.

24. Furrow or Gravity Flow Irrigation: works by delivering large
amounts of water through small, parallel channels that run
through
the field.
-Water usually comes
from an aqueduct system
or nearby river.
(40-60% efficient)
If surge valves are
used-80%
Drip Irrigation: uses porous tubes above or below ground that
gradually deliver water to the roots of individual plants.
-Above or below ground pipes
or tubes deliver water to
individual plant roots.
90-95% efficient
Center-pivot irrigation: involves a piece of equipment that
rotates
around a single point, creating a circle shaped irrigation field.
-Water usually pumped
from underground and
sprayed from mobile

25. boom with sprinklers.
80% efficient
-95% with LEPA
system
Fertilizer
• Lack of three nutrients can slow plant growth:
• Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium
• These nutrients are depleted during each growing
season and must be replenished
• Inorganic Fertilizer: synthetically made from
mined minerals
• Use has grown nine-fold worldwide since the 50s
Organic fertilizer: derived from
plant and animal matter
• Animal manure-is the dung and
urine of livestock
• Compost is organic matter that
has been decomposed by
bacteria, fungi, and other
microorganisms

26. Animal
Agriculture
Domestication
• As with plants, each of the animals we now raise as a source
of food once lived in
the wild.
• Generations of breeding and artificial selection, has resulted
in domesticated animals
growing larger and producing more food, but are now dependent
on us to survive.
• Also similar to plants, animals are grown in more crowded
conditions to
maximize production for each farm
• These operations are called Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFO)
Meat production has grown steadily
• ~Half the world’s meat comes from livestock grazing on
grass in unfenced rangelands
and enclosed pastures.
• The other half is produced through an industrialized system
in which animals are
raised mostly in densely packed feedlots and CAFOs, where

27. they are fed grain, fish
meal, or fish oil, and typically doctored with growth hormones
and antibiotics.
• Feedlots and CAFOs and the animal wastes and runoff
associated with them, create
serious environmental impacts on the air and water.
Types of Cattle
Beef Cattle
• Open pasture or rangeland
• Cattle is moved to feedlots to be
“finished.”
• The process of finishing involves
minimizing the movement of the cattle
and providing them a much more energy
intensive diet
Dairy Cattle
• Cows are raised indoors
• Dairy cows are bred every 12-14 months in
order to collect their milk.
• ~80% of milk is produced in factory farms
• They are grouped and herded into milking
stations twice a day
• Large producers are able to schedule their cows so
there are constantly milking one part of the herd

28. Chickens
• The domestic chicken are omnivorous,
feeding on insects, fruit and seeds
• Two Main Types of Domesticated chickens
• Laying hens: have been bred for high levels of
egg production (~250/yr)
• Broiler hens: have been bred to grow large
and quickly
Chickens
Laying hens
• Over 90% are raised in rows and
columns of small identical battery cages
• Female chicks are placed in cages and
spend their entire lives there
• Each hen gets a space of ~a sheet of paper
• Light levels are near constant at least 17
hours/day

29. Broiler hens
• Have much larger thighs and breasts
than other breeds of chicks
• Reach full slaughter weight in 2 months
• Raised in pens instead of cages to
prevent bruising of the meat
Pigs
• Adult males live alone, while females and
offspring travel in large groups
• Boars are omnivores, feeding on mostly plant
matter but also insects, worms, eggs and even
small mammals
• Typically raised indoors in temperature-
controlled batch pens
• Tails are often cut off at birth to prevent biting
Health Issues
• Intensive factory farming of animals has created a lot of
secondary health effects in
both animals and humans
• Antibiotics are administered to all animals in large operation
to reduce the amount of

30. illness and maximize their growth rate
• ~70-80% of the antibiotics manufactured in the US are used
on animals
• Food recalls: E.coli and Salmonella are common in large
animal operations due to the
amount of manure and overall health of the animal
• Manure is collected and stored and can runoff into nearby
water sources
Alternative animal agriculture
• Cage-free: animals are not kept in battery cages. Confined
pens may still be
used
• Certified Humane: animals “must be able to perform natural
behaviors
such as nesting.”
• Free range: animals receive a certain minimum amount of
outdoor access
• Organic: animals were raised with organic feed and not given
antibiotics
Fisheries & Aquaculture
• One of the earliest forms of large-scale fishing is pole

31. fishing, where a line is
attached to a baited hook, which can catch and pull in the fish.
• Of all the fishing
methods, pole
fishing has the
lowest rate of
bycatch; species
of fish that are
unwanted and
accidentally
caught.
Pole Fishing
Pole fishing in the Maldives. Photo by Greenpeace.
• As the world population grew, so did the demand for seafood.
• 15% of the world uses seafood as a primary source of
protein.
• Other methods
began to take
the place of pole
fishing to meet the
demand.
• Longline fishing is a
commercial fishing
technique where baited
hooks are attached to a

32. single, long fishing line that
trails behind a ship.
Long Line Fishing
• Compared to pole fishing, longline
fishing has a much higher rate of
bycatch.
• Sea birds are highly vulnerable
during setting of the line.
• Sea turtles, sharks, and other fish
are also accidentally caught.
• Fishing practices began to be exploited fully starting with the
arrival of the
Fairtry.
• First ship to be fully-equipped with a trawler, processing
plant, and storage freezers.
• The fastest and most efficient way to catch fish is by
trawling, where a
large net is dragged behind a ship.
• If the net actually drags along the bottom, it is called bottom
trawling.
Trawling

33. • Trawling has the highest rates of bycatch, since any species
big enough to be caught in
the net will be trapped.
• Bottom-trawling has the added side effect of damaging any
habitat at the bottom of the
sea floor, such as coral reefs.
• The large commercial trawlers were incredibly successful in
Newfoundland, harvesting
over 800,000 tons of cod in 1968.
• In following years, harvests began to decrease.
• Canada evicted the fishing
fleets of other countries
from its waters, but
harvests continued to
decline.
• In 1988, fisheries managers
called for a 50% reduction in
allowable catch. Officials
only reduced it by 10%.
• The majority of the world’s fisheries are at their maximum
sustainable yield.

34. • This is the maximum that can be harvested without
diminishing the population for future years.
• Overexploited fisheries are being harvested at unsustainable
levels.
• Over time, these can
become depleted
fisheries with stocks
so low that fishing
cannot be supported.
• The Marine-Trophic Index is a measurement of the average
trophic level of the total catch
from a fishery.
• With the loss of the cod, fishermen began pursuing herring,
capelin, crabs, and other lower
trophic-level organisms.
• Up to the 1960s, the only regulations on fishing were
territorial waters; exclusive
fishing zones that reached 12 miles off each coastline.
Fishing Regulations
• The advent of long-range industrial fishing vessels, like the
Fairtry, led to the creation of

35. exclusive economic zones, which extended 200 miles from each
nation’s coastline.
• Each nation has exclusive rights over all marine resources
discovered within these zones.
• Many countries now establish restrictions on the amount of
fish that can be
harvested within their waters.
• In the United States, annual catch limits have been
established and enforced by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
since 2012.
• These catch limits
are lower than the
maximum sustainable
yield, meaning the
stocks are able to
recover each year.
• Fully-protected marine reserves, where no living organisms
can be legally harvested,
have also been established to protect areas especially high in
biodiversity.
• As the limits of wild seafood harvesting have become
increasingly clear, industries are

36. now beginning use aquaculture; the process of farming aquatic
organisms.
Aquaculture
• The farming of saltwater organisms is called mariculture.
• Most mariculture operations work by taking eggs or immature
fish and raising them in
long, rectangular nets called fish pens.
• Feed and other
supplements are added
to the top of the pen.
• Wastes drop out the
bottom of the pen to
the sea floor.
• These operations are
vulnerable to many of the
same issues as large animal farms, including antibiotic
overuse and manure.
• Fish farming can be combined with hydroponics to create
aquaponics.
• Waste water from fish farming is circulated through plants,
which absorb the waste as
nutrients and clean the water.

37. • Any fish labeled as farmed was raised in a mariculture or
aquaponics facility.
• Wild caught fish is just that – it was caught from a body of
water.
Consumer Labels
• MSC Certification is a label attached to any seafood that
follows sustainable fishing
practices, as established the Marine Stewardship Council.
Geology
Geologic Earth
• Three Major Zones:
• The core: innermost zone-
extremely hot, with a solid inner
part surrounded by liquid core of
molten material
• The mantle: surrounds the core
and is thick solid rock, but under
its rigid outermost layer is a zone
of hot, partly melted rock that
flows

38. • The Crust: the outermost and thinnest zone
of the earth.
• Continental crust-underlies the continents
• Oceanic crust-underlies the ocean basins and
71% of the earth’s crust
Plate Tectonics
• From the deepest ocean trench to the tallest mountain, plate
tectonics explains the
features and movement of Earth's surface in the present and the
past.
• Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided
into several plates that
glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. The
plates act like a hard
and rigid shell compared to Earth’s mantle. This strong outer
layer is called the
lithosphere.
• Continents have split apart and joined as the plates shifted.
How It Works
• The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the
mantle. Hot material near the
Earth's core rises, and colder mantle rock sinks.
• The convection drive plates tectonics through a combination

39. of pushing and spreading apart
at mid-ocean ridges and pulling and sinking downward at
subduction zones.
• There are 3 types of plate boundaries.
• Subduction Zones/Convergent Margins-two tectonic plates
meet and one slides beneath the
other back into the mantle, the layer underneath the crust. The
cold, sinking plate pulls the crust
behind it downward.
• Divergent Margins-two plates are spreading apart, at seafloor-
spreading ridges or continental
rift zones
• Transform Margins-slip-sliding plates that grind past each
other with a mostly horizontal
motion.
Transform Divergent Subduction
Plate Tectonics
Plate Margins and Ring of Fire

40. Formation and Breakup of Pangea
The Carboniferous Period
• During the Carboniferous
period, (350-300 million years
ago), much of the Earth was
ideal for plant growth
• The overall climate was warm
and the glaciers retreated
• Much of the land mass was
near the equator
• The dominant plants during this time were
fern-like trees
• The trees evolved a new carbon-based
chemical compound called lignin-formed the
basis of their bark.
• No bacteria, fungus, or insect had yet evolved
the ability to decompose lignin.
• The forest, with few limiting factors, grew
massive and numerous
• The surplus of photosynthesis drove oxygen
levels up, reaching concentrations of 35% in
the atmosphere

41. • A short, intense ice age eventually led to the demise of the
these forests.
• Nearly 50 million years of accumulated plant matter (lignin)
became buried under
swamps.
• As the plant material was exposed to greater amounts of
pressure and heat , it became coal.
• Today, the countries with the
greatest coal deposits line up
with the locations of largest
carboniferous swamps-North
America, Northern Europe, and
Asia.
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
• A mineral resource is a concentration of naturally occurring
material from the earth’s
crust that can be extracted and processed into useful products
and raw materials at an
affordable cost
• Minerals are classified as nonrenewable resources
• An ore is rock that contains a large enough concentration of a
particular mineral-often
metal-to make it profitable for mining and processing.

42. Applications of Coal
• Coal was first widely used in China
• Europeans were astonished at its ability to produce heat
• The demand for coal increased tremendously during the
industrial revolution of the late 19th century as the steam
engine was developed.
• Today, it is almost exclusively used for electricity
generation
• Today, the largest coal-fired power plant in the world is the
Taichung Power
Plant, located in Taiwan.
• The plant uses a total of nearly 15 million tons of coal per
year
• One open hopper train car
holds 100-125 tons of coal
• A coal train will have
100-125 cars
• Taichung uses over 1,100
train loads of coal per year,
just over 3 per day.

43. Coal Extraction
• Shallow deposits of coal can be
removed by surface mining
• This process requires the removal of
all vegetation and topsoil before the
deposit can be accessed
• Open-pit mining is where large
holes are dug into the earth and the
minerals removed
• Strip mining-actually carves
away horizontal beds of
coal deposit close to the
surface
• Mountaintop removal-
method that uses machines
and explosives to expose
seams of coal underneath
entire mountain tops
• Subsurface-underground mining,
removes coal through deep
tunnels and shafts

44. • Most of the removal is done by
machine and conveyor belt
• The mining machines generate
high amounts of explosive dust
• Coal dust can build up in the lungs over long periods of time,
causing Black lung disease
Coal-Generated Electricity
• Once the coal is extracted, its potential energy is converted to
electricity in a
power plant.
• The coal is pulverized into a powder, then blown into the
boiler
• The heat from the boiler converts water into steam
• Pressure from the steam causes a giant set of turbine blades
to spin
• The shaft of the turbine is connected to a generator, where
magnets spin within
wire coils to generate electricity
Coal
• Coal is ~90% carbon, 4% hydrogen,
3% oxygen and 1% sulfur
• This is similar to the chemical composition of

45. plants
• When coal is burned for fuel, it combines
with oxygen in the air to form several air
pollutants:
• Carbon Dioxide
• Sulfur Dioxide
• Nitrogen Oxides
• Soot (fine black particulates)
• Burning coal also produces a great deal of leftover ash
• The ash contains toxins and heavy metals including arsenic,
cadmium, chromium,
lead, mercury and radioactive radium
• The ash is usually mixed with
water, to minimize dust, then
pumped into a temporary storage
pond
• Eventually, 70-80% of this ash is
disposed of in landfills. The rest is
used in concrete, asphalt, and
other applications
Oil
• Like coal, most of the oil on Earth was formed millions

46. of years ago
• Certain warm shallow seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico
and Tethys Sea were so ideal for life that organic
material was formed faster than it could decompose
• Large masses of organic material became buried at the
sea bottom, were heated and pressurized, forming oil.
• The present day distribution of oil lines up with these ancient
shallow seas
• Majority of oil reserves are in Middle Eastern countries
• In elemental composition, oil is
similar to coal
• Mostly carbon, but also hydrogen,
nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur
• As a liquid, oil can be distilled
(separated) into other fuels such
as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel
fuel
Oil Extraction
• As a liquid, oil can be pumped directly out of
the ground. This eliminates the need for mining.
• A long drill is used to bore deep into the Earth

47. to reach the deposit.
• The hole is lined with a steel pipe and cement.
• The top is outfitted with a collection of pipes
and valves
• The ease of transporting oil has enabled drilling at very
remote locations
• At its peak, Alaska accounted for about 25% of the U.S. oil
production
• It is transported to the southern ports of the state through the
Alaska Oil Pipeline.
• As a liquid, oil can also escape more easily,
forming an oil spill
• Oil spills are devastating to marine life
• Penetrates through the fur and feathers of
animals, reducing their ability to fly, float,
and insulate themselves
• Benthic organisms, living at the bottom of
the sea, can be suffocated
• Entire populations of krill and plankton can
be wiped out
The End

48. Next Week’s Assignments Due: Lecture Worksheet #5
Readings: Chapter 6 (pgs. 95-101; 104-118) & Chapter 12
STUDY FOR EXAM I