Nonrenewable Energy SourcesNonrenewable Energy Sources

Oil drillingplatformon legs

Mined coal

Pipeline

Pump

Oil well

Gas well

Oil storage

CoalCoalOil and Natural GasOil and Natural Gas Geothermal EnergyGeothermal Energy

Hot waterstorage

Contourstrip mining

PipelineDrillingtower

Magma

Hot rock

Natural gasOil

Impervious rock

Water Water

Floating oil drillingplatform

Valves

Undergroundcoal mine

Water is heatedand brought upas dry steam or

wet steam

Waterpenetratesdownthroughtherock

Area stripmining

Geothermalpower plant

Coal seam

Nature and Formation of Mineral ResourcesNature and Formation of Mineral Resources

ExistenceExistence

Decreasing certaintyDecreasing certainty KnownKnown

Dec

reas

ing

co

st

of

extr

acti

on

Dec

reas

ing

co

st

of

extr

acti

on

OtherOtherresourcesresources

ReservesReserves

Undiscovered Identified

No

t ec

on

om

ical

No

t ec

on

om

ical

Eco

no

mic

alE

con

om

ical

Primitive

Hunter–gatherer

Earlyagricultural

Advancedagricultural

Earlyindustrial

Modern industrial(other developed

nations)

Modern industrial(United States)

Society Kilocalories per Person per Day

260,000

130,000

60,000

20,000

12,000

5,000

2,000

Evaluating Energy ResourcesEvaluating Energy Resources

Renewable energy Renewable energy

Non-renewable energy Non-renewable energy

Future availability Future availability

Net energy yield Net energy yield

Cost Cost

Environmental effects Environmental effectsWorld

NaturalGas23%

Coal22%

Biomass12%

Oil30%

Nuclear power6%

Hydropower,geothermal,Solar, wind

7%

North American Energy ResourcesNorth American Energy Resources

CoalCoal

GasGas

OilOil

High potentialHigh potentialareasareas

MEXICO

UNITED STATES

CANADA

PacificOcean

AtlanticOcean

GrandBanks

Gulf ofAlaska

Valdez

ALASKABeaufort

Sea

Prudhoe Bay

ArcticOcean

PrinceWilliam Sound

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Trans Alaskaoil pipeline

Year

210020251950187518000

20

40

60

80

100C

ontr

ibut

ion

to t

otal

ene

rgy

cons

umpt

ion

(per

cent

)Wood

Coal

Oil

Nuclear

HydrogenSolar

Natural gas

Coal FormationCoal Formation

Removing Nonrenewable Mineral ResourcesRemoving Nonrenewable Mineral Resources

Surface miningSurface mining Subsurface miningSubsurface mining

Open-pitOpen-pit

Strip miningStrip mining

Mountain Top Removal

Underground Coal Mine

Burning Coal More CleanlyBurning Coal More Cleanly

Fluidized-Bed Combustion

Fluidized-Bed Combustion

Calcium sulfateand ash

Air

Air nozzles

WaterFluidized bed

Steam

Flue gases

Coal Limestone

OilOil

Petroleum (crude oil)Petroleum (crude oil)

Petrochemicals Petrochemicals Refining Refining TransportingTransporting

Diesel oil

Asphalt

Greaseand wax

Naphtha

Heating oil

Aviation fuel

Gasoline

Gases

Furnace

Heatedcrude oil

Opec countriesSaudi Arabia (11.9%), Iran (5.1%), Venezuela (4.7%), Iraq (3.6%), United Arab Emirates (3.2%), Nigeria (2.9), Libya (2%), Indonesia (2%), Algeria (1.6%), Qatar (1%)Non-Opec countriesUnited States (10.3%), Russia (8.8%), Mexico (4.8%), China (4.6%), Norway (4.3%), UK (4%), Canada (3.5%)(Percentages of world oil output)

World

Year1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 2075 21000

10

20

30

40A

nnua

l pro

duct

ion

(x 1

09 ba

rrel

s pe

r ye

ar)

2,000 x 109

barrels total

Low land use

Easily transportedwithin and between countries

High netenergy yield

Low cost (withhuge subsidies)

Ample supply for42–93 years

Advantages

Moderate waterpollution

Releases CO2 when burned

Air pollutionwhen burned

Artificially low price encourageswaste and discourages search for alternatives

Need to findsubstitute within50 years

Disadvantages

Oil ShaleOil Shale

Above Ground

Conveyor

Conveyor

Spent shale

Pipeline

Retort

Mined oil shale

Aircompressors

Shale oilstorage

Impuritiesremoved

Hydrogenadded

Crude oil Refinery

AirAirinjectioninjection

Shale layerShale layer

UndergroundUnderground

Sulfur and nitrogencompounds

Shale oil pumped to surfaceShale oil pumped to surface

Shale heated to vaporized kerogen, which is condensed to provide shale oilShale heated to vaporized kerogen, which is condensed to provide shale oil

Hydrogenadded

Impuritiesremoved

Syntheticcrude oil

Refinery

Pipeline

Tar sand is mined. Tar sand is heateduntil bitumen floats

to the top.

Bitumen vaporIs cooled andcondensed.

Tar Sands

Natural GasNatural Gas

50-90% methane50-90% methane

Approximate 200 year supplyApproximate 200 year supply

Advantages Disadvantages

Good fuel forfuel cells andgas turbines

Low land use

Easily transportedby pipeline

Moderate environ-mental impact

Lower CO2 emissions thanother fossil fuels

Less air pollutionthan otherfossil fuels

Low cost (withhuge subsidies)

High net energyyield

Ample supplies(125 years)

Sometimes burned off andwasted at wellsbecause of lowprice

Shipped acrossocean as highlyexplosive LNG

Methane(a greenhouse gas) can leakfrom pipelines

Releases CO2

when burned

Nuclear EnergyNuclear Energy

Fission reactors

Fission reactors

Uranium-235Uranium-235

Potentially dangerous

Potentially dangerous

Radioactive wastes

Radioactive wastes

Uranium fuel input(reactor core)

Periodic removaland storage of

radioactive wastesand spent fuel assemblies

Periodic removaland storage of

radioactive liquid wastes

Pump

Steam

Small amounts of Radioactive gases

Water

Black

Turbine Generator

Waste heat Electrical power

Hot water output

Condenser

Cool water input

Pump

PumpWasteheat

Useful energy25 to 30%

Wasteheat

Water source(river, lake, ocean)

Heatexchanger

Containment shell

Emergency coreCooling system

Controlrods

Moderator

Pressurevessel

Shielding

Coolantpassage

CoolantCoolant

Hot coolantHot coolant

The Nuclear Fuel CycleThe Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Front end Back end

Uranium mines and millsOre and ore concentrate (U3O8)

Geologic disposalof moderate-and high-levelradioactive wastes

High-levelradioactivewaste orspent fuelassemblies

Uranium tailings(low level but long half-life)

Conversion of U3O8

to UF6

Processeduranium ore

Uranium-235 as UF6

Enrichment UF6

EnrichedUF6

Fuel fabrication

Spent fuelreprocessing

Plutonium-239as PuO2

(conversion of enriched UF6 to UO2

and fabrication of fuel assemblies)

Fuel assemblies Reactor Spent fuel assemblies

Interim storageUnder water

Open fuel cycle today

Prospective “closed” end fuel cycle

Decommissioningof reactor

Decommissioningof reactor

Spent fuelassembliesSpent fuelassemblies

Low risk of accidents because of multiplesafety systems(except in 35 poorly designed and run reactors in former SovietUnion and Eastern Europe)

Moderate land use

Moderate landdisruption andwater pollution(without accidents)

Emits 1/6 asmuch CO2 as coal

Lowenvironmentalimpact (withoutaccidents)

Large fuelsupply

Spreads knowledge and technology for building nuclear weapons

No acceptable solution for long-term storage of radioactive wastes and decommissioning worn-out plants

Catastrophic accidents can happen (Chernobyl)

High environmental impact (with major accidents)

Low net energy yield

High cost (even with large subsidies)

Advantages Disadvantages

Dealing with Nuclear WasteDealing with Nuclear Waste

Low-level wasteLow-level wasteHigh-level wasteHigh-level wasteUnderground burialUnderground burialDisposal in spaceDisposal in spaceBurial in ice sheetsBurial in ice sheetsDumping into subduction zonesDumping into subduction zonesBurial in ocean mudBurial in ocean mud

Clay bottom

Up to 60deep trenchesdug into clay.

As many as 20flatbed trucksdeliver wastecontainers daily.

Barrels are stackedand surroundedwith sand. Coveringis mounded to aidrain runoff.

Fig. 14.38b, p. 351

Steamgenerator

Waterpumps

Crane formoving fuel rods

TurbinesTurbines

ReactorReactor

Coolingpond

Coolingpond

Reactor power output was lowered too much, making it too difficult to control.

Additional water pump to cool reactor was turned on. But with low power output and extra drain on system, water didn’t actually reach reactor.

Automatic safety devices that shut down the reactor when water and steam levels fall below normal and turbine stops were shut off because engineers didn’t want systems to “spoil” experiment.

Radiation shieldsRadiation shields

Almost all control rods were removed from the core during experiment.

Emergency cooling system was turned off to conduct an experiment.

Fig. 14.37, p. 350