Earth, Moon and Mars: How They Work

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Earth, Moon and Mars How They Work
Professor Michael Wysession Department of Earth
and Planetary Sciences Washington University, St.
Louis, MO Lecture 6 Earths Resources
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Every year gt 25,000 pounds (11.3 metric tons) of
new non-fuel minerals must be provided for you,
and each person in the US, to make the items that
each of us use every day.
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Human History Stone age, Copper Age, Bronze Age,
Iron Age. 7 metals of antiquity Gold (8000 ya)
copper (6200 ya) silver (6000 ya) lead (5500
ya) tin (3750 ya) iron (3500 yra) mercury
(2750 ya)
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Indium (liquid crystal displays in cell phones).
No substitute for this.
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Copper humans use 15 million metric tons each
year!! 1.6 billion tons geologically
available 100 years left ?? Ex/ Bingham copper
mine in Utah
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Europium used for red phospor in color TVs and
LCD screens. No substitute, though prices gt
2000/kg
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Erbium used in all fiber-optic cables because
of unique optical properties. No substitute.
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Cerium used to polish almost all mirrors and
lenses because of unique chemical and physical
properties.
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Platinum diesel catalytic converters. No
substitute. Rhodium removing NOx emissions. No
substitute.
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Rare Earth elements like neodymium, samarium,
gadolinium, dysprosium, and praseodymium Used
for high-performance permanent magnets in
electronics, video games, military devices, disk
drives, DVDs. No substitutes. We import 100 of
these! (75 from China)
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U. S. Consumption of Minerals, as a of world
use.
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U.S. Imports of Minerals
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Minerals need to be naturally concentrated by
geologic processes to be economically mined.
Ex/ gold 3 parts per billion (0.0000003) of
Earths crust 1 wedding band 3000 TONS of
crust!
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Why is all the copper along the western
coast? Why is there gold in California and
Alaska, but not in Florida?
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Mid-Ocean Ridge Thermal Vents
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Hydrothermal circulation concentrates certain
minerals and ores.
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Erosion can also help concentrate minerals to
economic levels
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Diamonds Only form naturally more than 150 km
beneath the surface! Kimberlite explosions dont
happen any more!
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Some Mineral Resources are plentiful e.g., salt
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Morton Salt Mine, Utah
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Water Resources
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• Per capita per day water use, USA
• 100 gallons personal (2 bathtubs)
• (1000 gallons total)
• Food production
• Pound of rice
• 250-600 gallons
• ¼ pound hamburger meat
• 3000 gallons
• 1 liter of water
• 27 liters (1 26 for production of bottle!)
• And 1 liter of gasoline
• And 0.5 kg CO2

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• 1/6 1/3 worlds population
• No clean drinking water
• 3.3 million deaths/yr
• Major rivers dont make it to ocean
• Colorado, Rio Grande
• UN In 2050, 2 - 7 billion human beings chronic
  water shortages
• If the wars of this (20th) century were fought
  over oil, the wars of the next century will be
  fought over water (Ismail Seregeddin, vice
  president, World Bank 1995)

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Most of the western US gets very little
rainfall.
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.. and is in a worsening drought.
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Soil Resources Soil Loss
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Soil Conservation
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ENERGY RESOURCES
Transitioning from Fossil sources to Renewable
sources. Need ALL sources in the short
term How quickly? How smoothly? How much
intervention?
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gt85 of energy sources are Fossil Fuels
gt90 of energy sources are Non-Renewable
Energy Sources
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OIL NATURAL GAS
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Petroleum burial and recovery.
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World uses 84 million barrels/day World reserves
1 trillion barrels
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U.S. uses 21 million barrels/day (25 of
World) (7.7 billion/year) U.S. reserves 21
billion barrels (2 - 2.7 years) TOTAL U.S.
Off-limits Offshore Oil in all areas? 18
billion barrels (2.3 years) (Est. by U.S. Dept of
Interior Minerals Management Service) Total
Amount of Oil taken out of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
(North Americas Largest oil field)? 13 billion
barrels in 28 years. 3 billion barrels
left Total Oil in Alaska National Wildlife
Refuge? 10.4 billion barrels (1.4 years) (mean
USGS est.) TOTAL U.S. possible reserves and
resources (high-end guess by DOI MMS)? 96
billion barrels (12.5 years)
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COAL
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COAL
World reserves of coal 1 trillion short
tons World use of coal 7 billion short tons
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World reserves of coal 1 trillion short
tons World use of coal 7 billion short tons 1
trillion / 7 billion 143 years
(and.resources are much larger) BUT.Large
Carbon Footprint!
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METHANE GAS HYDRATES
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Methane
ICE
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Sep, 2008 Carbon Sequestration Vattenfall
energy company, Germany
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NUCLEAR FISSION
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Uranium Reserves World Reserves 3.5 million
tons of uranium oxide World Resources 10
million tons World Use 60 thousand
tons/yr Outlook 150-200 years BUT.more from
seawater extraction?
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A critical issue is water usage for electric
power generation.
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Total Rate of World Energy Use 18 Terawatts ?
85 is from Fossil Fuels Total Power from the
Sun at Earths Surface 125,000 Terawatts!! ?
7000x Total Human Energy Use!! ? 1 Hour of
Sunlight 1 Year of Human Energy Use!
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SOLAR POWER
Commercial Panels 12 Efficiency Experimental
Panels 22 Efficiency Nanotech Cells gt40
Efficiency Direct electric conversion with
several materials Mirrors easier/cheaper than
panels
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For Large-Scale Production, Mirrors
Easier/Cheaper Than Panels
Average Solar Power Potential (factoring in
atmosphere, clouds nighttime) 250 W/m2
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With current 10 efficiency 150 Mw Solar Farm
2.5 km x 2.5 km ! (Cost 0.25/kW/hr)
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Example Kramer Junction solar power plants,
Mojave Desert, CA 150 MW
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Increase in Solar Photovoltaic Power
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BIOMASS
An efficient way to use agricultural waste. Ex/
Belcogen Cogeneration plant in Belize 28 MW of
power connected to national sugar cane plant
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BIOFUELS
But.35 of Earths surface not covered with ice
is now used to grow or raise food to feed
humans. Do we grow crops to feed cars?
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WIND POWER
(Altamont Pass, California)
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Cost Non-linearly Connected to Wind Speed
(usually at 80 m)
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Wind turbines, Copenhagen
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HYDROELECTRIC POWER
Supplies 20 of the Worlds Electricity Some
countries (Canada, Norway, Austria, etc.) get
most of their electricity from hydro power
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Itaipu Dam (Brazil/Paraguay) is the worlds
largest hydro power plant, generating 14 GW)
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Wave Energy Ex/ Pelamis Machine
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Tidal Energy
The 240 MW tidal barrage installed at the Rance
Estuary in France
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Geothermal
US 2 GW Global potential 100 GW Great
potential as single-family winter/summer house
heat pump
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Energy Budgets will be a combination of several
different sources
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HYDROGEN
Not a Source, but a means of Distribution Maybe a
better way --gt New Battery Technology (Electric
Cars)
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Electric Cars
Number of Cars
Percentage Increase
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Example of 75 watt-hour/kilogram lithium ion
polymer batteries. Newer Li-ion cells can
provide up to 130 Wh/kg and last through
thousands of charging cycles.
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Tesla Roadster
Percentage Increase
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Fiskar Karma
Percentage Increase
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Chevy Volt
First 40 miles run off batteries. Small
engine extends distance if needed, at gt100 mpg
Plugs into any 120-240VAC outlet Aims to sell
in mid-30Ks
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Electricity costs, by state
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Technology Will Provide New Solutions
HIGH-ALTITUDE WIND POWER
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SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER
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NUCLEAR FUSION
Helium-3 from Lunar Regolith? (0.01 ppm)
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DYSON SPHERE?