APES Unit 6

Energy Usage
● 99% of the energy comes from the Sun.
● sun drives other indirect forms of solar energy:
○ wind
○ hydropower
○ biomass
● Nonrenewable energy source: An energy source with a finite supply. Ex. Fossil Fuels
(coal, oil, natural gas) & Nuclear Fuels
● Renewable energy source: an energy source that is either potentially renewable or
nondepletable (cannot be used up)
● 20th-century trends
○ Coal use dropped by half
○ Oil increased
○ Natural gas increased
○ Nuclear increased (though still a small contributor)
○ Renewables decreased (mostly biomass and hydropower)
● Fossil fuels constitute 84% of global energy consumption.
● Fossil fuels constitute 79% of US energy usage.
● 12% of energy comes from renewable sources.
● Industry and transportation make up the majority of energy use in the US.
● The US is the second largest user of total energy (1st is China), and consumes the most
energy per capita.
○ As countries become more industrialized → demand for energy increases.
○ In developing countries, the primary source of energy is biomass
○ As countries become more developed → demand for fossil fuels rises.
Energy Efficiency: Refers to the ability to perform given tasks with less energy required
● Passive Solar Heating: Construction designed to take advantage of solar radiation
without active technology.
● Recycling reduces the need for new construction materials which reduces the amount
of energy needed to construct the building
Energy Conservation
● Ways to conserve energy (individual)
○ Properly insulating homes
○ Reduce hot water use
○ Walk/bike/carpool/public transit as opposed to personal cars
○ Unplug appliances when not in use
○ Turn down the thermostat in winter & up in summer
● Government Incentives
○ Higher taxes on fuels to encourage the use of alternative transportation options
○ Offering tax credits or rebates for upgrades that conserve energy
Tiered Rate System: Customers pay higher rates as their use increases.
Peak Demand: The greatest quantity of energy used at one time
Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROEI)
● Higher number → Higher efficiency
● Does not include hidden costs, like environmental impacts (externality)
● No resource can give 100% energy (2nd law of Thermodynamics)
Generating Electricity
● Electricity accounts for 40% of our energy use
● Regardless of the fuel source, all thermal power plants work in the same basic way.
 ○ They convert the potential energy of a fuel into electricity
● combusted fuel is transferred to water which becomes steam → transferred to the blades
of the turbine →Turbine turns the generator producing electricity
Non-Renewable Sources
Fossil Fuel: A fuel derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years
ago
● Coal: A solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant
materials preserved 280-360 million years ago
○ Most abundant
○ Dirtiest fossil fuel (most emissions)
○ Harvested through mining
○ Types ranked by age- Older coal has more water expunged (more pure)
○ The largest coal reserves are found in the US, Russia, China, and Australia
● Petroleum: A widely-used fossil fuel that occurs in underground deposits, composted
of a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur. Liquid petroleum removed from
the ground is known as crude oil
○ Extracted using wells
■ A mixture is injected into deposits at high pressure which forces the oil
upwards to be extracted
○ oil is distilled to separate different products. Each product has a different
condensing point
○ The US uses more petroleum than any other fuel
○ Top oil producers are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the US, Iran, China, Canada, and
Iraq.
○ 4 billion gallons per day and the US is responsible for using 21% of that.
○ oil underneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska→debate
about allowing oil extraction there.
○ Petroleum has other uses outside of energy production for transportation.
■ raw material for
● Plastics
● Lubricants (ex. vaseline)
● Pharmaceuticals
● Cleaning Solvents
● The Hubbert Curve: Bell-shaped curve representing oil use and projecting when
oil will reach a maximum and when the world will run out of oil.
● Peak Oil: The point at which half the total known oil supply is used up.
○ Assuming no new oil sources are found and accessible, we may run out of
conventional oil supplies in the next 50 years!
● Natural Gas
○ Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels (least emissions)
○ Natural gas is associated with petroleum and can be found within petroleum or
separately in deposits.
○ Natural gas is 80-95% methane (CH4) and 5-20% ethane.
○ The biggest uses for Natural Gas in the US are electricity production and
industrial processes.
■ Used in fertilizer production, to heat homes, and run clothes dryers and
water heaters.
■ Can also be liquified which is used for portable BBQ grills
○ Natural gas is lighter than oil so it sits on top of it in deposits and is extracted
through wells like oil.
 ○ With standard extraction processes, not all of the oil/gas is extracted from a
deposit
○ Fracking: Hydraulic fracturing is a method of oil and gas extraction that uses
high-pressure fluids to force open cracks in rocks deep underground.
● Oil sands and Liquified Coal
○ Oil Sands: Slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water,
and clay.
○ Bitumen: A degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the
surface of the Earth and is modified by bacteria.
○ CTL (Coal to liquid): The technology to convert solid coal to liquid fuel.
■ CTL has the potential to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil… but
emissions from liquified coal would be more than 2x that of oil.
○ Of the 3 major fossil fuels, the coal supply stands to last the longest (around 200
years) followed by natural gas and then oil.

Pro Con

● Infrastructure in place ● Non-renewable.

● Relatively cheap
● Currently reliable
● Increasing efficiency &
energy conservation could
help supplies last longer
● Many environmental impacts
○ High water usage
○ Degrades water quality
○ Habitat fragmentation
○ Air Pollution
● Negative Human Health Impact
○ Air pollution
○ Heavy metals emitted →
bioaccumulate/biomagnif
y
● Foreign dependence

Future of Fossil Fuels

● If our plans involve changing to a new energy source we need to budget time and
money to adjust our infrastructure to support that.
● Some estimates say it would take 50 years to make the necessary infrastructure
changes.
Nuclear Energy Sources
● Nuclear Reactors use fission to generate electricity
● Fission: A nuclear reaction in which a neutron strikes a relatively large atomic nucleus,
which splits into two or more parts, releasing additional neutrons and energy in heat.
● Few emissions in comparison to fossil fuels
○ other factors to consider including
■ EROEI
■ Env. Impacts of mining uranium
■ Disposal of nuclear waste
■ Non-renewable resource
● Nuclear Fusion: A reaction that occurs when lighter nuclei are forced together to
produce heavier nuclei.
○ potentially be an unlimited source of energy with little waste
○ powers the sun
 Three Mile Island Chornobyl Fukushima

● PA March 1979 ● 1986 Ukraine ● Japan March 2011.

● A minor cooling malfunction led to a
shutdown and caused damage to
the reactor core.
● the cause was deficient control
room instrumentation and
inadequate emergency response
training.
● No significant enviro damage or
human health impacts.
● led to changes in how facilities are
constructed but also heightened
public fear and led to a slowdown in
nuclear facility construction.
● Flawed reactor design and
inadequately trained personnel
● The explosion released at least 5%
of the core and led to radioactive
fallout spreading through many
parts of Europe.
● Dozens of workers (operators &
firemen) died, 134 cases of acute
radiation syndrome, and 350,000
people were evacuated. Thyroid
cancers.
● The earthquake led to a 15m
tsunami that disabled the power
and cooling of 3 reactors.
● Long incident--2 weeks to stabilize.
The facility shut down in December
2011.
● No deaths or radiation sickness but
100,000 evacuated as a precaution.
● people died during the evacuation
process (ex. Hospital
patients/elderly) and some cancer
cases

Pro Con

● No CO2 emissions once the ● Non-renewable

plant is operational ● very expensive to build
● Independence from foreign oil ● Meltdown or terrorist attack
● High energy density, ample could be catastrophic
supply for a large power grid ○ Could lead to many
environmental and
human health impacts
● Environmental damage from
mining uranium
● Hazardous waste
○ No long-term plan
● Water Use & Thermal Pollution

Renewable Sources
Potentially renewable: an energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as it is
not overharvested. (Ex. biomass)
Non-Depletable: an energy source that cannot be used up. (Ex. solar)
Carbon Neutral: An activity that does not change atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Biomass Energy: Includes a wide range of fuel types including wood, charcoal, animal products
& manure, plant remains, municipal solid waste, and biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel.
all over the world because it is inexpensive and abundant.
● Worldwide accounts for about 10% of energy consumption
○ Higher in developing countries
○ US, just under ½ comes from wood and most of the rest from liquid biofuels
○ Like fossil fuels, biomass contains a great deal of carbon so burning it releases
CO2 into the atmosphere.
Hydroelectricity: electricity generated by the kinetic energy of moving water.
● 2nd most commonly used renewable energy source (US & worldwide)
 ● 6.5% of US energy is generated by hydroelectric
● China produces the most hydroelectric power, Three Gorges Dam
Water Impoundment Systems: When water is stored behind a dam in a reservoir, most
common method
Run-of-the-river: hydroelectric system in which water is retained behind a low dam or there is no
dam.
Tidal Energy Systems: power comes from the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull
of the moon (tides).
Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell: An electrical-chemical device that converts fuel, such as hydrogen, into an electrical
current.
Operate much like batteries.
● Battery--> There is a closed chemical reaction (within a container) and the reactants are
eventually used up.
● Fuel cell--> The reactants are added continuously
Hydrogen gas is rare in nature and also explosive
● energy-intensive process that involves burning natural gas to extract hydrogen
● Electrolysis is another way to get hydrogen gas.
● An electrical current is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Solar Energy
Active Solar Energy: energy captured from sunlight with advanced technologies (ex. Solar
panels)
● Renewable/non-depletable resource
● The amount of energy available varies with cloud cover, time of day, and season.
● Geographic patterns in effectiveness
● Photovoltaic solar cells are used in solar panels to convert energy from solar radiation
into electricity.
○ photovoltaic solar cells are 12-20% efficient
● Most systems are hooked up to the local electrical grid and feed the entire system
○ Otherwise, you need a battery
Concentrating Solar Thermal Energy: CST systems are large-scale applications of solar
energy to electricity generation.
● lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus sunlight into a small beam.
● heat from this beam is used to produce steam, turn a turbine, and generate electricity
● Solar energy can also be used to heat water called Solar Water Heating Systems
Wind Energy
● Generated by the kinetic energy of moving air--a wind turbine converts wind energy into
electricity.
● Like solar energy, wind energy is a clean, free, and non-depletable resource.
● Fastest-growing major source of energy worldwide
● China is the largest wind-energy generating capacity followed by the US, Germany, India
& Spain.
● Despite having a large generating capacity. The US obtains less than 6% of its
electricity from wind.
● The largest amounts are generated in Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, California, & Kansas
● Denmark generates 46.8 % of its electricity from wind
● Typically installed in rural locations away from buildings and population centers-
concentrated in wind farms
 ● Offshore wind farms are even more desirable as they have higher capacity
Geothermal
Geothermal Energy: Heat energy that comes from the natural radioactive decay of elements
deep within the earth.
● Geothermal energy can be used as a direct source of heat.
● Geothermal energy can be used to generate electricity.
● The heat itself is a non-depletable resource, though the groundwater being used to
transfer the heat can be depleted.
● In 2016, 65% of the energy in Iceland was generated using geothermal energy, and 85%
of homes were heated that way.
● In the US, geothermal accounts for less than 1%.
● Geothermal energy has less growth potential than wind or solar energy because it is not
easily accessible everywhere