Nonrenewable Energy Resources (FOSSIL FUELS):

1. Nonrenewable Energy Resources (FOSSIL FUELS): • 78% of the commercial energy we use comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels • Burning fossil fuels causes more than 80% of US air pollution and more than 80% CO2 emissions, plus all of the major criteria air pollutants!

2. 1. COAL • Coal is the most abundant and cheapest energy resource that is burned mostly to produce electricity and steel. • Coal is very energy dense: 1 gallon of American gasoline corresponds to 40 acres of plant matter in terms of energy • Mostly in USA (25%), Russia (16%), and China (12%). The US has the largest coal resources on Earth • US coal reserves could last up to 250 years, but an increase of just 4% per year could reduce that to 64 years!

3. China and India are increasing in coal consumption as their population grows • Though China is investing in renewables, fossil fuel consumption is still increasing. This contributes to the increase in soot, ash particulates, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide air pollutants in China.

4. COAL FORMATION occurs in stages as the heat and pressure is increased on the plant material after about 250 million years

5. RANKS OF COAL IN ORDER OF FORMATION AND DENSITY • Lignite makes up the largest portion of the world’s coal reserves. • Both the carbon and energy content increases as the coal develops. Anthracite is the hardest coal and gives off the greatest amount of heat energy when burned

6. different types of coal have different amounts of sulfur • Sulfur becomes sulfur dioxide in air and then sulfuric acid in rain water (acid rain). Bituminous coal is highest in sulfur content. • All coals formed from a salt water environment have high sulfur content. Substituting anthracite coal for bituminous coal in a power plant could reduce the amount of acid precipitation.

7. Advantages of Coal • Plentiful world reserves (250 years at current world consumption rate) • High (33%) Net Energy Yield (efficiency) • US subsidies keep prices low. Relatively cheap fuel. • Well developed technology and infrastructure already exists to burn coal for generating electricity • Provides employment for thousands

8. Disadvantages of Coal as a fuel • High land (habitat) disturbanceto get it- 60 % surface must mined by bulldozers that clear vegetation and level mountains • Health hazards to get it- include “black lung disease” from breathing coal dust, underground fires from coal dust and methane gas and mine collapse. Health hazards to burn it- particulates released into the air= asthma, emphysema • High CO2, SOx, NOx, PM emissions when burned results in climate change, acid deposition, photochemical smog, reduced photosynthesis and heavy metal pollutants (like mercury) contaminating water and soil, and the health risks described above

9. Environmental impacts ofmining coal • LAND DISTURBANCE: • Destruction of forests causing wildlife and plants to become more vulnerable to predation • Valley fills have buried or silted 1200 miles of streams. Increased sedimentation lowers productivity and increases stream temps • The loss of vegetation also cause flood hazards and soil erosion • Land subsidence or mine collapse of underground mines • WATER POLLUTION: rain that flows over mine tailings can create Acid Mine Drainage • Coal Dust particulates cause AIR and water pollution

10. Coal must be mined • Mountain Top Removal: • Trees are clear cut and entire tops of mountains removed with explosives • Huge shovels dig into the topsoil and trucks start hauling it away • The topsoil, OVERBURDEN and mine tailings are dumped into low areas called valley fills, often near rivers and streams • A dragline digs into the rock to expose the coal seam

11. Other mining techniques • Strip mining • Used when coal is close to the surface • Removal of ‘strips’ of soil and rock (overburden) to expose the coal • The overburden or tailings is returned to the hole to reclaim the area • Open pit mining • Creation of LARGE pit visible from space • SUBSURFACE MINING • used when coal is vey deep • Underground. A tunnel is dug into the side of the mountain, shafts and elevators bring miners down to the coal. More expensive but less surface impacts

12. Habitat disruption • More than 500 million mountains and 560,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) of forest have been damaged or destroyed in Appalachia since mountain top removal began in the 1970s. • More than 200 species are impacted by the practice; 40 or more are already rare or endangered by the habitat destruction • Construction of roads can result in soil erosion (decreasing light penetration in streams and lakes) and habitat fragmentation (preventing access to more food/water/mates)

13. Effects of Acid Mine Drainage AMD forms when sulfur bearing minerals in the coal react with water to form sulfuric acid • Metals such as Al3+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the soil are leached by acids, reducing productivity and increasing the toxicity of the water • Species vary in their ability to tolerate low pH levels, disrupting food chains and lowering biodiversity • Shelled species, such as corals do not grow well as their carbonate shells react with the acid pH of AMD lowers to around 4 (natural rain is 5.6)

14. Mitigations during mining • DUST can be reduced by sprinkling with water • Seedlings can be saved for replanting after the mining is complete • LAND SUBSIDENCE can be prevented by stabilizing pits • AMD can be prevented by covering the mine tailings or diverting the runoff from streams to special lagoons • COAL FIRES can be controlled by sealing the mine

15. Remediating polluted soil • Acid mine drainage lowers soil pH so adding lime to the soil should raise the pH. Alkaline soils do not leach heavy metals. • Soil that can’t be remediated will have to be extracted and landfilled (dig and dump) or treated • 3. Phytoremediation- using plants to remove heavy metals such as mercury, from the soil: sunflowers, indian mustard and several grasses are good at bioaccumulating heavy metals in their shoots. The plants cannot be eaten afterwards.

16. STEPS: Contouring of the land to prevent soil erosion replacement of topsoil or an approved substitute on the graded areas Reseeding with native grasses, groundcover or trees to encourage secondary succession of flora and fauna Years of careful monitoring to ensure success http://youtu.be/tlNNxTIEMzk good wrap up of the SMCRA and mitigations MINED LAND MUST BE RECLAIMED, that is, restored to pre-mining use: SMCRA (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act) The SMCRA also prohibits mining on agricultural land

17. Pros and Cons of phytoremediation • PROS • Low cost, solar driven • Most useful for shallow contaminants, within reach of roots • Useful for a wide variety of contaminants in both soil and water • Treatment is ‘in situ’, no need to remove the soil • CONS • Ineffective against deep contaminants or heavily contaminated soil • plants bioaccumulate toxins so are inedible and must be landfilled • Slow process

18. Coal is used to generate electricity • Coal fired power plants use the chemical energy from burning coal to create the mechanical energy of the steam to turn the turbine that spins the generator and creates electrical energy • STILL the cheapest and most widely used (worldwide) fuel for generating electricity • BUT a single 500MW plant can use about 2.2 billion gallons of water per year in the creation of the steam and the cooling tower

19. THE STORY SO FAR • https://youtu.be/UOu1hVVewzw

20. NONRENEWABLE ENERGY (FOSSIL FUEL)-2: OIL AND NATURAL GAS • Oil is what we have left of tiny marine plants (phytoplankton) that lived in oceans millions of years ago. • They died and were buried about 3 miles under great heat and pressure to transform them into liquid. Deeper than 3 miles transforms them into natural gas

21. FOSSIL FUELS AND ROCKS • Oil and natural gas are found in SEDIMENTARY ROCKS because these rocks have the pore spaces to collect and store them • IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS involve too much heat and pressure to allow for the biological conversion of plants.

22. Different plate boundaries • Produce different types of rocks • Because the energy from the core moves the mantle and the plates, earth’s internal energy (not solar) drives the rock cycle

23. Each rock type is determined by the way it was formed • IGNEOUS ROCKS are found where volcanic activity is found • SEDIMENTARY ROCKS are away from plate boundaries • METAMORPHIC ROCKS are found in areas where pressure +/- heat from collisions took place

24. IGNEOUS ROCKS • VOLCANIC ACTIVITY at divergent and convergent boundaries and hot spots produce igneous rocks • Magma is called lava when it reaches the surface of the earth

25. Plate tectonics • Divergent boundaries occur at mid-ocean ridges as plates spread apart • Convergent boundaries occur where oceans and continents collide • Transform boundaries occur where plates slide past each other

26. SEDIMENTARY ROCKS • Form from processes at the surface of the earth that create and cement sediments together

27. The processes are…

28. 1. WEATHERING • Any action that results in the breaking of an existing rock into smaller fragments • The fragments are the sediment parts of soil: gravel, sand, silt and clay

29. Wind, rain, water and the action of plants or animals • Cause fragments to break off the parent rock. Animals that burrow or climb over the rocks and plant roots that grow into and widen cracks in the rocks help in this process called WEATHERING (this is the same process that creates soil)

30. METAMORPHIC rocks are made from pre-existing rocks but… Only if they are put under tremendous heat and pressure or “cooked and squeezed” at active plate boundaries or near magma plumes

31. This means the original rocks have to be buried deep within the earth • Magma from the mantle provides the heat • Pressure comes from the weight of overlying rocks or compression at convergent boundaries

32. The rock cycle • Rocks are created and changed because of plate tectonics and processes happening at the surface of the Earth.

33. OIL (aka crude oil and petroleum) • Oil is a fossil fuel produced by decomposition of deeply buried organic material, plants, under high temperatures and pressures for millions of years. • Crude oil is a thick liquid mixture containing hydrocarbons that once extracted, are separated into products through fractional distillation (gasoline, aviation fuel, heating oil, diesel oil, asphalt).

34. Formation of Oil and Natural gas

35. Oil and gas migrate upwards because they are less dense • They migrate into reservoir rocks which have pores large enough to hold fluids. • If nothing stops the migration they may reach the surface and escape through seeps • If they encounter a layer of impermeable rock, they become trapped. This layer is called the cap rock

36. Reasons for burning fossil fuels • HEATING • Natural gas (methane, propane, butane) • Measured in BTU (British Thermal Unit) • TRANSPORTATION • Liquid fuels (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel) • Measured as mpg • ELECTRICITY • Oil and coal and natural gas • Measured in KWh

37. Environmental Impacts From burningCoal starts with air pollutants • Releases CO into atmosphere • Contributes 35% of all CO2 into atmosphere (global warming) • Contributes 70 % of all SO2 (acid deposition) • Contributes 30% of all NO andNO2 (acid deposition and photochemical smog) • Produces more fly ash, toxic metals such as mercury and lead, and particulate matter (PM)

38. Air Pollution From burning Fossil Fuels Mobile Point Source Stationary Point Source

39. THE CLEAN AIR ACT identified 6 criteria pollutants all associated with burning fossil fuels (memorize these) 1. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) 2. Oxides of Sulfur (SOx) 3. Carbon Monoxide (CO) 4. Lead (Pb) 5. Particulate Matter (PM) 6. Ozone (O3)

40. Particulate Matter • PM10 is made of solid or liquid aerosols less than 10 micrometers in diameter • Often visible as smoke, soot or dust • Includes asbestos particles or small particles of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic or sulfates and nitrates • Very fine particles contribute to heart disease and strokes and respiratory problems like asthma; interferes with photosynthesis by blocking sunlight

41. LEAD • Constituent of gasoline in some LEDC, but not in USA. Lead emissions from car exhaust can enter the air as particulates, get carried by wind, then deposit in the soil and surface water • Transported as particulates • Can be bioaccumulated and biomagnifies up the food chain • Leads to lower IQ, learning and behavior problems in children; strong neurotoxin

42. CO • Comes from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels • The carbon in the fuel combines with limited oxygen to produce CO • Highly toxic: combines with hemoglobin in the blood and causes asphyxiation; also associated with heart disease and birth defects

43. NOx • Primary pollutant Formed when nitrogen from the air combines with oxygen during the combustion of fossil fuels in car engines and power plants. forms NITRIC ACID when it combines with water in the air and fall as acid rain or contributes to OZONE in smog as secondary pollutants • Irritates eyesand lungs; forms brown smog which reduces photosynthesis

44. Acid Deposition NOx • Anthropogenic sources of nitrogen oxides include combustion of gasoline, coal, oil, but forest fires, denitrifying bacterial action in soil, and volcanic gases also emit Nox naturally • Nitrogen dioxide reacts with water vapor in the atmosphere to produce hydrogen nitrate particulates or NITRIC ACID • MITIGATION: Reducing the amount of NOx from cars requires a 3 way catalytic converter. Reducing it from power plants requires other methods described below.

45. SOx • Sulfur dioxide is produced by coal burning power plants but also diesel fuel in trucks and cars • Primary pollutant but also forms SULFURIC ACID RAIN when it combines with water vapor and oxygen in the air. • Also causes severe lung damage and forms grey smog, a mix of sulfate particles and acid fog. Both bleach leaves of plants, lowering primary productivity

46. CLASSIFYING POLLUTANTS ACID RAIN IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PRIMARY POLLUTANT (sulfur dioxide) becoming a SECONDARY POLLUTANT (sulfuric acid) Secondary pollutants are formed by the reaction of the primary pollutant with chemicals in the environment

47. Effects of Acid Deposition on Aquatic Ecosystems are similar to those of AMD • Below a pH of 4.5, most fish cannot survive as their enzymes become denatured • Acid deposition releases heavy metals like Al3+ ions attached to soil particles into nearby lakes. These ions asphyxiate many fish, causing excess mucous formation which clogs their gills • Norway, Sweden, Canada and Northeastern USA have 1000’s of “fishless” lakes because they are downwind of coal burning plants.

48. Effects of Acid Deposition on terrestrial ecosystems • Forests and crops are harmed by leaching essential plant nutrients such as calcium and magnesium salts from soils. This reduces the plants primary productivity and makes the soil less able to buffer future acid inputs. • Acid deposition weakens trees and makes them more susceptible to other stresses such as severe cold, diseases, insect attacks, drought, and harmful mosses. • Cloud forests are hardest hit from sitting in acid clouds. These areas often have thin soils with little buffering capacity.

49. Effects of Acid Deposition on Human Health and Economy • Inhaling acid particulates contributes to human respiratory disease (aggravating asthma) • Contributes to toxic metal leaching such as lead from water pipes impacting neurological health of children • Damages statues, national monuments, buildings, car finishes, water pipes and grave headstones, which are costly to repair

50. Nox from fossil fuels create photochemical smog, increasing asthma rates and reducing photosynthesis Smog in highest around noon Sunlight is required to create photochemical smog UV rays from strong sunlight split NOx into NO and O The free O binds with O2 gas and creates OZONE, O3 Ozone irritates lungs and contributes to respiratory illnesses Burns plant tissue reducing photosynthesis