Nonrenewable Energy Resources

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Nonrenewable Energy Resources
G. Tyler Millers Living in the Environment 14th
Edition Chapter 17
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Key Concepts

• Available energy alternatives

• Oil resources

• Natural gas resources

• Coal resources

• Nuclear fission and fusion

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Evaluating Energy Resources

• Renewable energy

• Non-renewable energy

• Future availability

• Net energy yield

• Costs

• Environmental effects

Fig. 17-3b p. 352
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Important Nonrenewable Energy Sources
Fig. 17-2 p. 351
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North American Energy Resources
Fig. 17-9 p. 357
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Oil

• Petroleum (crude oil)

• Recovery

• Petrochemicals

• Refining

• Transporting

Fig. 17-8 p. 356
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Conventional Oil Advantages

• Relatively low cost

• High net energy yield

• Efficient distribution system

Refer to Fig. 17-15 p. 360
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Conventional Oil Disadvantages

• Running out

• Low prices encourage waste

• Air pollution and Greenhouse gases

• Water pollution

Refer to Fig. 17-15 p. 360
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Controversy
Trade-offs

• Would create jobs

• Oil resources are uncertain

• Uncertain environmental impacts

• Drilling controversies

Refer to Fig. 17-14 p. 360
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Oil Shale and Tar Sands

• Oil shale

• Tar sand

• Bitumen

• Kerogen

Fig. 17-18 p. 362
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Natural Gas

• 50-90 methane

• Conventional gas

• Unconventional gas

• Methane hydrate-located in
• Bubbles of artic permafrost
• and ocean sediment

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

• Liquefied natural gas (LNG)

• Approximate 200 year supply

Fig. 17-19 p. 363
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Coal

• Stages of coal formation

• Primarily strip-mined may remove
• Mountains and dump into valley below

• Used mostly for generating electricity

• Enough coal for about 1000 years

• High environmental impact

• Coal gasification and liquefaction

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Coal Formation and Types
Fig. 17-20 p. 364
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Coal Trade-offs
Fig. 17-21 p. 365
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Synthetic Fuels Trade-offs
Fig. 17-22 p. 365
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Nuclear Energy

• Fission reactors

• Uranium-235

• Potentially dangerous

• Radioactive wastes

Refer to Introductory Essay p. 350
Fig. 17-23 p. 367
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Locations of U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
Fig. 17-25 p. 369
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The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Fig. 17-24 p. 368
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Conventional Nuclear Power Trade-offs
Fig. 17-26 p. 370
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Serious Nuclear Accidents

• Three Mile Island (1979)
• Chernobyl (1986) p. 350

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Dealing with Nuclear Waste

• High- and low-level wastes

• Terrorist threats

• Underground burial

• Disposal in space

• Burial in ice sheets

• Dumping into subduction zones

• Burial in ocean mud

• Conversion into harmless materials

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Yucca Mountain Controversy

• Wastes stored and guarded in one place
• Possible long-term groundwater contamination
• Security and safety concerns during waste
  transport to the site

Refer to Fig. 17-29 p. 374
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Permanent Underground Disposal of Nuclear Wastes
Storage Containers
Fuel rod
Primary canister
Ground Level
Overpack container sealed
Personnel elevator
Unloaded from train
Air shaft
Nuclear waste shaft
Underground
Buried and capped
Lowered down shaft
Fig. 17-28 p. 373
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Nuclear Alternatives

• New reactor designs

• Breeder nuclear fission reactors

• Nuclear fusion