Chapter 11 Energy Resources

1
Chapter 11 Energy Resources
2
Energy Addiction

• Canada is the 5th largest energy producer in the
  world
• 98 of our total energy production is exported to
  the US
• Canadians consume as much as the entire continent
  of Africa

3
Addiction to Oil

• Huge oil addiction!
• Oil drilling is hazardous
• Bad for the environment
• Releases pollutants
• Oil spills

4
Energy Consumption

• We depend on energy
• What do we use energy for?
• Developed vs. developing countries

• Where is consumption increasing the most?
• Projected consumption

5
Nonrenewable and Renewable

• Nonrenewable
• Natural resources that are present in limited
  supplies and depleted once used
• Renewable
• Resources that are replaced by natural processes
  and can be used forever if used sustainably

6
Canadas Total Energy Consumption
7
World Coal Production
8
Coal

• Most abundant fossil fuel
• Found mostly in N. Hemisphere
• Could last 200 years
• What do we use it for?
• Use on the increase

9
Coal Surface Mining

• Strip mining
• Dig trench to extract mineral
• Dig parallel trench
• Cover old trench with new overburden
• Spoil bank

10
Coal Subsurface Mining

• Minerals deep in ground
• Less land disturbance
• More expensive
• More hazardous

11
Environmental Impacts Of Coal

• Abandoned mines
• Acid mine drainage
• Dangerous materials wash into streams, lakes
• Landslides

12
Environmental Impacts Of Coal

• Acid deposition
• Leads to forest decline
• Mountaintop removal
• Valleys filled with tailings and debris
• CO2 released

13
Making Coal Cleaner

• Scrubbers
• Desulfurization systems
• Clean power plant exhaust
• Fluidized-bed combustion
• Mix coal with limestone
• Produces less pollution
• Produces more heat

14
Oil and Natural Gas

• Supply approx. 55 of the energy used in Canada
• In 2007, Canada consumed 69.6 of its yearly
  total energy production
• Globally, they supply close to 61.5 of the
  worlds energy

15
Oil

• Petroleum
• Crude oil
• Refined into different products
• Used in petrochemicals
• Plastics
• Fertilizers
• Synthetic fibers
• Transportation

16
TransCanada Pipeline

• Originally constructed in 1958
• Alaska Pipeline Project will be difficult to
  construct

17
Oil Reserves

• Unevenly distributed
• Much in Middle East

• Continental shelves
• Underwater areas
• Surround continents
• Gulf of Mexico
• Spills problematic
• Canada has significant oil reserves
• Global oil production will peak in 2050-2100

18
Environmental Impacts Of Oil

• CO2 released
• Acid deposition
• Photochemical smog
• Spills

19
The BP Oil Spill

• April 20, 2010, well head blow out explosion
  occurred killing 11 workers and injuring 17
  others
• Considered largest spill in US history
• Environmental disaster
• Containment effort struggles

20
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

• Alaskan coast, 1989
• Largest in U.S.
• 10.9 million gallons
• Many birds, otters died
• Cleanup?
• Oil Pollution Act passed

21
Earths Largest Oil Spill

• 1991 Persian Gulf War
• 250 million gallons
• Persian Gulf
• Oil wells set on fire
• 2001 Kuwait begins remediation
• Long recovery time

22
Natural Gas

• More plentiful than oil
• Over half in Russia and Iran
• Use is on the increase
• Methane, ethane, propane, butane
• Liquefied petroleum gas
• Propane and butane
• Heating, cooking
• Cogeneration
• Make electricity and steam

23
Natural Gas

• Transportation
• Less pollution emitted
• U.S. 100,000 vehicles
• Disadvantages
• Deposits located far from usage points
• Transporting is difficult
• Explosive

24
Nuclear Energy

• All atoms composed of protons, electrons,
  neutrons
• Nuclear energy
• Energy released by nuclear fission or fusion
• Change the nuclei of atoms

25
Fission vs. Fusion

• Fission
• Splitting an atomic nucleus
• Releases lots of energy
• Used in nuclear power plants
• Fusion
• Two small atoms combined
• Powers the sun

26
Nuclear Fission
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Conventional Nuclear Fission

• Uranium ore
• Nonrenewable resource
• Must first be refined enrichment
• Made into pellets uranium dioxide

28
Conventional Nuclear Fission

• Pellets placed in fuel rods
• Rods grouped into fuel assemblies
• Fission in rods releases
• heat
• Heat transforms liquid
• water to steam
• Steam generates
• electricity

29
Nuclear Power Plant

• Reactor core where fission occurs
• Steam generator steam produced
• Turbine generates electricity
• Condenser cools steam back to liquid

30
Nuclear Power Plant
31
Canadas Nuclear EnergyProduction

• 22 nuclear reactors in Canada
• CANDU reactors
• Developed in Canada
• Most efficient of all reactors
• Uses 15 less uranium
• Worlds largest exporter of uranium

32
Nuclear Energy vs. Coal
33
Nuclear Energy Foreign Oil

• Nuclear energy used for electricity
• Most oil used for transportation
• Technological advances could change this
• Electric heat pumps
• Electric vehicles

34
Is Nuclear Power Safe?

• Accidents can happen
• Dangerous radiation released
• Meltdown
• Metals encasing uranium fuel melt
• Radiation released

35
Chernobyl

• Worlds worst nuclear power
• plant accident
• Soviet Union, 1986
• Nuclear reactor
• exploded
• Large quantities of
• radiation released

36
Chernobyl

• 170,000 permanently moved from homes
• Long-term effects still being felt
• Farmland and forests unusable
• Mothers cannot nurse
• children
• High rates of certain
• cancers, birth defects

37
Radioactive Wastes

• Low-level
• Solids, liquids, gases
• Give off small amounts of radiation
• High-level
• Solids, liquids, gases
• Give off large amounts of radiation
• Fuel rods, assemblies
• Highly dangerous

38
Radioactive Waste

• Spent fuel
• Used fuel elements
• Very dangerous, extremely toxic
• Must be handled and stored properly

39
Yucca Mountain

• 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act
• Federal government responsible for radioactive
  wastes
• Must find safe location(s)
• Yucca Mountain, Nevada
• Billions spent studying geology
• Permanent, underground storage

40
Yucca Mountain

• Transporting waste is a major concern
• Nevada does not want the waste
• Decision pending

41
Old Nuclear Power Plants

• Cannot simply be abandoned or demolished
• Three options
• Storage guard it, dismantle later
• Entombment encase in concrete
• Dismantle immediate teardown and permanent
  storage

42
Direct Solar Energy

• Energy directly from the sun
• Tremendous amount
• Always available
• Must be collected

43
Active Solar Heating

• Collectors absorb solar energy
• Pumps or fans distribute heat
• Primarily for heating water

44
Passive Solar Heating

• No mechanical devices to distribute heat
• New home design
• Room temperature
  
• is steady
• Convection
• Save on heating!

45
A Passive Solar Home
46
Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Cells

• Convert sunlight into electricity
• Thin wafers or films
• No pollution
• Minimal maintenance

47
Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Cells

• Can be used in remote areas
• Good choice for developing countries why?
• School, home use

48
Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Cells

• Can look like conventional roofing
• Prices are coming down
• Future progress is critical

49
Solar Thermal Electric Generation

• Backup system needed
• Very efficient
• No pollution produced
• Must be cost-competitive

50
Solar Thermal Electric Generation

• Suns energy concentrated by mirrors, lenses
• Heat a working fluid
• Fluid is circulated to boil water
• Steam generates electricity

51
Hydrogen As A Fuel Source

• Could be the fuel of the future
• Where does the hydrogen come from?
• Electrolysis
• Must use renewable fuel source to obtain the
  hydrogen!
• Few pollutants produced when burned
• Can be used for transportation

52
Electrical Generation Costs
53
Solar-Generated Hydrogen

• Use PV cells for electrolysis of water
• Currently not very efficient
• Still expensive
• Would need new distribution system for
  transportation
• Future development is critical

54
Solar-Generated Hydrogen

• Fuel cells
• Electrochemical cell
• Like a battery
• Major carmakers working on it

55
Indirect Solar Energy

• Indirect use of suns energy
• Biomass, wind power, hydroelectricity

56
Biomass Energy

• Wood, plants, animal wastes
• Potentially renewable why?
• Burned to release energy
• Half of human population relies on
• Cooking, heating

57
Biogas

• Mixture of gases
• Similar to natural gas
• Animal wastes
• Biogas digesters
• Decompose wastes
• Use gas for cooking, lighting
• Solid remains are fertilizer
• Can also be used to power fuel cells

58
Biomass As A Liquid Fuel

• Methanol, ethanol
• Gasohol mix gasoline and ethanol
• Biodiesel
• Plant or animal oils
• Becoming more popular
• Burns cleaner than regular diesel

59
Wind Energy

• Fastest growing energy source
• No waste, emissions
• Electricity
• Costs are declining
• Denmark generates 21 of its electricity
• Need steady winds
• Prairie Provinces of Canada

60
Wind Power Is On The Rise!
61
Wind Energy Problems

• Birds and bats killed by turbines
• Avoid migration routes
• Operate only at certain times
• Monitor the project
• Visual pollution
• Maple Ridge, NY
• Innisfil, Ontario

62
Hydropower

• Flowing or falling water spins turbines
• Most efficient way to produce electricity
• 19 worlds electricity
• In Canada reservoirs and dams produce 60 of the
  countries electricity

63
Hydropower Problems

• Damages ecosystem, species
• Displaces people Three Gorges Dam
• High construction cost
• Reduces downstream flow
• Reservoirs eventually fill in
• Danger of collapse
• Degrades river
• Increase in waterborne disease Schistosomiasis

64
James Bay Project

• Largest hydroelectric power development in Canada
• Project received significant opposition
• Why?

65
Geothermal Energy

• Use energy from Earths interior
• Big potential source
• Electricity
• Hydrothermal reservoir hot fluid
• Bring fluid to surface to generate electricity

66
Geothermal Energy
67
Geothermal Energy

• Emits very few pollutants
• Is it truly renewable?
• Land may subside

68
Geothermal Heat Pumps

• Used for heating and cooling
• Ground temperature relatively constant
• Underground pipes carry water
• Fluids circulate
• Expensive to install
• Use is on the increase why?
• Very efficient!

69
Tidal Energy

• Use power of the tides to generate electricity
• France, Russia, China, Canada
• Very few ideal locations
• May be damaging to ecosystems

70
Conservation Efficiency

• Energy conservation
• Using less energy
• Reduce use, waste
• Carpooling
• Energy efficiency
• Using less energy for a task
• More fuel-efficient cars
• Both very important!

71
Energy Consumption Trends

• Use is on the increase
• Greatest increase in developing countries why?

72
Energy-Efficient Technologies

• Appliances, automobiles, light bulbs, furnaces,
  etc
• Superinsulated buildings
• May cost more, but will save money!

73
Automobile Efficiency

• Fuel efficiency doubled between mid 1970s mid
  1980s
• Sales of compact and subcompact cars increased
• Sales of truck SUVs dropped

74
Cogeneration

• Combined heat and power (CHP)
• Recycling waste heat
• Generate electricity, use steam before cooling it
  back down

75
Electric Companies Energy Efficiency

• Make more money, generate less electricity
• Incentives for conservation
• Help consumers save electricity
• Light bulbs, furnaces
• Company doesnt have to invest in new power
  generation

76
Electric Companies Energy Efficiency

• Use cogeneration to save energy
• Improve electricity grids
• Some energy lost in transmission
• Plan for future use

77
Energy Conservation At Home

• Average household 1500/year on utilities
• Use energy-efficient technologies
• Better insulation, windows
• Seal cracks
• Replace inefficient appliances

78
Energy Conservation At Home
79
Eco Canada Career Focus

• Consider a career as an Energy Auditor
• Measure, record, and evaluate the flow of energy
  in homes, buildings and plants
• Look for ways energy can be used more efficiently

80
Case Study Hydrogen Economy

• Hydrogen as an energy source
• Environmentally cleaner source of energy
• Potential solution to the worlds reliance on oil
• Implementation across globe will not be easy
• Have to separate hydrogen from parent compounds
• Store and transport the hydrogen
• Massive investment of money for pipelines,
  plants, distribution networks, automobile
  development and production

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Case Study Hydrogen Economy