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Nonrenewable Resources. Section 4.1. Nonrenewable Resource. Takes millions of years to form and accumulate Fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are nonrenewable resources Nonrenewable metals include iron, copper, uranium, and gold
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Nonrenewable Resources Section 4.1
Nonrenewable Resource • Takes millions of years to form and accumulate • Fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are nonrenewable resources • Nonrenewable metals include iron, copper, uranium, and gold • Fun Fact: 6% of the world’s population lives in the US, but we use 30% of the world’s annual production of mineral and energy resources
Fossil Fuels • A fossil fuel is any hydrocarbon that may be used as a source of energy • Fossil Fuels include coal, oil and natural gas
Fossil Fuel: Coal • Coal forms when heat and pressure transform plant material over millions of years • Coal goes through 4 stages of development: • Peat, partially decayed plant material • Peat becomes lignite (brown coal), a sedimentary rock • Lignite becomes bituminous coal (soft coal), a sedimentary rock • Bituminous coal becomes anthracite (hard coal), a metamorphic rock
Fossil Fuel: Coal continued… • Even though coal is abundant, the recovery and use present problems • Surface mining scars the land • Underground mining has costly health problems and can cause death • Burning coal creates air pollution, that can lead to acid rain
Fossil Fuel: Oil and Natural Gas • Oil (petroleum) and natural gas form from the remains of plants and animals that were buried underwater • Oil formation begins when large amounts of plant and animal remains become buried in ocean floor sediments, protecting the remains from decay and oxidation • Over millions of years, chemical reactions transform the organic remains into the liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons
A drill punctures rock, pressure is released, the oil and gas move toward the drill hole. A pump lifts the petroleum out.
Nuclear Energy • Nuclear fission uses uranium to create energy • In nuclear fission, the nuclei of heavy atoms, such as uranium-235, are bombarded with neutrons • The uranium nuclei split into smaller nuclei and emit neutrons and heat energy • Nuclear energy is a nonrenewable resource, because once the uranium is used, it is gone