Energy Resources
and Consumption
Unit
APES UNIT 5
MRS. PERKINS 2013-2014
January
st
21
2014
Learning Goals:
By the end of this lesson Students will be able to:
• explain the rock cycle.
• Identify mineral resources, environmental effects of using them, and explain how
we can use them more sustainably.
Agenda:
Since it has been a while since we discussed the geological processes of the Earth and
we have had some new students added since that time….
1. Mineral Resource Notes
2. Discussion of Solar House Lab
3. Homework earth’s processes assessment questions
14-3 What Are Mineral Resources, and
what are their Environmental Effects?

Concept 14-3A Some naturally occurring materials in the earth’s
crust can be extracted and made into useful products in processes
that provide economic benefits and jobs.

Concept 14-3B Extracting and using mineral resources can disturb
the land, erode soils, produce large amounts of solid waste, and
pollute the air, water, and soil.
What is a Mineral Resource?

Mineral Resource:

A concentration of naturally occurring material from the earth’s crust
that can be extracted and processed into useful products and raw
materials at an affordable cost.

We know how to extract more than 100 minerals from the earths crust

Due to their formation time these are nonrenewable resources.
We Use a Variety of Nonrenewable
Mineral Resources

Mineral resource
 Fossil
fuels
 Coal
 Metallic
minerals
 Aluminum,
 Nonmetallic
 Sand,
iron and copper
minerals
gravel, and limestone
We Use a Variety of Nonrenewable
Mineral Resources

Ore is a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a
particular mineral-often metal-to make it profitable for mining and
processing.

High grade ore


Contains a fairly large amount of the desired nonrenewable mineral
resource.
Low grade Ore

Contains a smaller amount
Nonrenewable Metal and Nonmetal mineral
resources are an important part of our lives.

Aluminum (Al)


Steel is an essential alloy of iron (Fe) and other elements that give it the ability to
be a good building material.


Widely used in the electric industry due to its conductibility
Platinum (Pt)


Manganese(Mn), Cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo) and Chromium (Cr) are all steel
alloys used in things such as light bulbs, computers, oil drilling equipment
Copper (Cu)


Packaging, Beverage cans, Structural material (cars, planes, buildings)
Catalyst (helps to speed up reactions) in electrical equipment also found in car
pollution converters
Gold (Au)

Used in jewelry, coils, and electrical equipment. It can also be used as a catalyst.
Nonrenewable Metal and Nonmetal mineral
resources are an important part of our lives.


Sand

Mostly silicon dioxide (SiO2)

Used to make glass, brick and concrete
Gravel


Used for roadbeds to make concrete
Limestone

Mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3)

Crushed to make road rock, concrete and cement
Mineral Use Has Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages
Disadvantages

Generates significant income

Take great amounts of energy

Local state and national revenues

Can disturb land

Provides employment in a variety
of jobs

Erode soil

Produce solid waste

Pollute air water and soil
The Life Cycle of a Metal Resource
Each step in this process uses larges amounts of energy and produces
some pollution and waste.
Extracting, Processing, Using Nonrenewable
Mineral and Energy Resources
Question:
What are three mineral
resources that you used
today? Which of these
harmful environmental
effects might have
resulted from obtaining
and using these
resources?
There Are Several Ways to Remove Mineral
Deposits
After suitable mineral deposits are located several different mining
techniques are used to remove them depending on location and type.


Surface mining

Remove shallow deposits

Large equipment strips away overburden which is the soil and rock overlying
a useful mineral deposit.

Overburden is then discarded as waste called spoils

It is used to extract about 90% of nonfuel mineral and rock resources

60% of the coal is used in the United States
Subsurface mining

Remove deep deposits
Types of Surface Mining
1.
Open-Pit Mining


2.
Machines dig holes to remove ores (iron, copper, and gold)
sand gravel and stone (limestone and marble)
Strip Mining

Useful and economical for extracting mineral deposits that lie close to the
earth’s surface in large horizontal beds.

Area Strip Mining is used where the terrain is fairly flat, gigantic earthmovers
strip away the overburden and power shovels

Some as large as a 20 story building

Resulting trenches are filled with overburden

A new cut is made parallel to the previous one and the process is repeated over
the entire site
Types of Surface Mining

3.
Contour strip mining

Used mostly to mine coal on a hilly mountainous terrain.

Huge power shovel cuts a series of terraces into the side of a hill

Earthmover removes the overburden and a power shovel extracts the coal and
overburden from each new terrace is dumped on the the one below.

A highwall is left in front of a highly erodible back of soil and rock, unless the land is
restored.
Mountain top removal

Prominent in the Appalachian mountain area

Uses explosives, large power shovels, and huge machines called draglines are
used to remove the top of a mountain and expose seams of coal.
Subsurface Mining

Used to remove coal and metal ores that are too deep to be
extracted by surface mining

Miners dig a deep vertical shaft blast open subsurface tunnels and
chambers to reach the deposit.

Machinery is used to remove ore or coal and transport it to the
surface.
Open Pit Mine Located In Australia is the worlds largest gold
mine.
Banks of waste or spoils left behind by area strip mining in
Colorado
Undisturbed Land
Overburden
Ar
Contour Strip Mining of Coal
as used in hilly or
mountainous terrain
Soil Banks
Mountain Top Mining in West Virginia
Are you for or against mountain top mining? Explain your answer.
Mining Has Harmful Environmental
Effects

Strip top mining


Often leaves hill top waves of rubble called spoils banks

Very susceptible to chemical weathering

Erosion by water and wind.

Regrowth of vegetation on these banks is slow because of lack of topsoil

Primary ecological succession is the regrowth option.
Mountain Top Removal

Large machines are used to plow great volumes of waste rock and dirt into
valleys below the mountaintops

Destroys forests, burying mountain streams and increasing flood hazards

Toxic wastewater produced when the coal is processed is often stored in valleys
behind coal waste sludge dams
Mining Has Harmful Environmental
Effects


According to the EPA about 1900 kilometers of Appalachia's rivers and
streams have been buried

470 of its largest mountains have disappeared leaving behind barren land
and gigantic pits, some as large as Manhattan Island

In 2007 the U.S Department of the Interior issued a rule that allows Mountain
tope removal mining to continue with expanded dumping of mine waste
into streams and valleys.

Within a few years of an area the size of Delaware!
Since the 1980’s have entered into tropical areas including forests
looking for gold.

Use destructive techniques to dig large pits by hand and dredge sediments
from rivers.

They also use hydraulic mining techniques in which water cannons wash
entire sections into collect boxes.
Mining Has Harmful Environmental
Effects

Subsurface mining disturbs less than one tenth as much land as
surface mining disturbs, and usually produces less waste.

It does leave much of the resource in the ground and is more
dangerous and expensive than surface mining is.

Hazards include:

Cave-ins

Explosions

Fires

Disease such as black lung from inhaling mining dust
Mining Has Harmful Environmental
Effects


Mining operation also produce large amounts of solid waste

Three fourth’s of the solid waste in US is from mining operations

One example is the huge amounts of solid waste left behind from
mining gold.
Mining causes major pollution of air and water

Due to wind and water erosion causing toxin laced mining wasted to be
deposited in areas other than the mining site

X
Acid mine drainage occurs when rainwater seeping through a mine or a
mine waste pile carries sulfuric acid (H2SO4) which is produced when aerobic
bacteria act on iron sulfide minerals in spoils.
The following video shows how pollution
can be caused by mining during the video
please write down at least 10 facts.
2 from the beginning
5 from the middle
3 from towards the end
Wrap Up

Homework-Read through the solar house lab which is posted online
come up with a preliminary sketch and plan for your solar house
(Due Friday January 24th )

Read the information about mountain top removal
http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/


write a 4 paragraph reflection of the article (introductory paragraph,
pros of mining, cons of mining closing paragraph) (Due Thursday
January 23rd )
Start SGQ’s for chapter 14.
January
th
27
2014
Unit Goal
Students will be able to explain how the earth’s geological
cycles over millions of years produced many resources that are
excavated with several mining techniques. They will also be
able to explain the positive and negative effects of the various
techniques of surface and subsurface mining by analyzing the
methods and materials used for each type.
Agenda
1.
Go over cookie mining lab with students
2.
Go over scale sheet with students
3.
Start Chapter 14 Section 4
How Long Will Supplies of Nonrenewable
Mineral Resources Last?

Concept 14-4A All nonrenewable mineral resources exist in finite
amounts, and as we get closer to depleting any mineral resource,
the environmental impacts of extracting it generally become more
harmful.

Concept 14-4B An increase in the price of a scarce mineral
resource can lead to increased supplies and more efficient use of
the mineral, but there are limits to this effect.
Mineral Resources are Distributed
Unevenly

Some substances in the earth are fairly abundant such as iron and
aluminum however other substances such as manganese chromium
cobalt and platinum are fairly scarce.

Some countries have rich mineral deposits and some have very few
or none.

During the 1950’s South Korea exported large amounts of Iron and
copper. Since the 1960’s they do not have enough to support their
growth.

Five Countries: United States, Canada, Russia, South Africa, and
Australia supply most of the nonrenewable key mineral resources
used by modern society.
Mineral Resources are Distributed
Unevenly


South Africa

Self Sufficient in Key Mineral Resources

Worlds largest gold chromium and platinum supplier
United States, Germany, and Russia


Consume about 75% of the most widely used metals
China

Rapidly increasing in its usage of key metals
Mineral Resources are Distributed
Unevenly: United States Usage

Since the 1950’s sharp per capita use of nonrenewable mineral
resources.

They have depleted some of its once rich deposits of metal mineral
resources such as lead, aluminum, and iron.

It depends on imports of 50% or more of 24 of its most important non
renewable mineral resources.

Most U.S imports of nonrenewable metal resources come from
reliable and politically stable countries.

Availability of four strategic metal resources-manganese, cobalt,
chromium, and platinum is concerning they are essential for military
operations and economic strength.
Supplies of Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
Can Be Economically Depleted

Future supply of nonrenewable minerals depends on two things
1.
The actual or potential supply of the mineral
2.
The rate at which we use it
We never completely run out however a mineral becomes
economically depleted when it costs more to find than it is worth.
 At that point there are six choices:

1.
Recycle
2.
Reuse
3.
Waste less
4.
Use less
5.
Find a substitute
6.
Do without
Mineral Resources are Distributed
Unevenly


Depletion time is the time it
takes to use to use up a certain
proportion-usually 80%-of the
reserves of a mineral at a given
rate of use.
When experts disagree when
they are using different
assumptions about supplies
and rates of use
Production
A
Mine, use, throw
away; no new
discoveries; rising
prices
B
Recycle; increase
reserves by improved
mining technology,
higher prices, and
new discoveries
C
Present
Depletion
time A
Depletion
time B
Time
Recycle, reuse, reduce
consumption; increase
reserves by improved
mining technology,
higher prices, and new
discoveries
Depletion
time C
January
 Unit
th
28
2014
Goal
Students will be able to explain how the earth’s geological cycles over
millions of years produced many resources that are excavated with
several mining techniques. They will also be able to explain the
positive and negative effects of the various techniques of surface and
subsurface mining by analyzing the methods and materials used for
each type.
 Agenda
1.
Collect Cookie Mining Lab / Students do Goal and Scale Check
2.
Finish Chapter 14 Section 4 with students
3.
Talk about SGQ’s for Chapter 14
4.
Discuss AP exam Prep for Wednesdays
Market Prices Affect Supplies of
Nonrenewable Minerals

Geological Processes determine the quantity and location of a
mineral resource in the earth’s crust.

Economics determines what part of the known supply is extracted
and used

An increase in the price of a scarce mineral resource can lead to
increased supplies and can encourage more efficient use

There are limits to this process
Market Prices Affect Supplies of
Nonrenewable Minerals






According to the standard economic theory in a competitive market
system a plentiful mineral resource is cheap when its supply exceeds
demand
When a resource becomes scarce, its price rises.
This can encourage exploration for new deposits and stimulate
development of better mining technology and make it profitable to
mine lower grade ores
It can also encourage the search for substitutes and conservation.
Some economists say this price effect may not longer apply very well in
most developed countries.
Industry and government in such countries often use subsidies taxes
regulations and import tariffs to control the supplies, demands and
prices of minerals to such an extent that truly competitive markets do
not exist.
Science Focus-The
Nanotechnology revolution

Read the science focus
now.
 Answer
the critical
thinking question:
How might the
development of
nanotechnology affect
the mining of gold? Refer
to the Core Case Study
Page 344 to help you.
Case Study: The U.S. General Mining
Law of 1872

Encouraged mineral exploration and mining of hard-rock minerals
on U.S. public lands

Developed to encourage settling the West (1800s)

Until 1995, land could be bought for 1872 prices

Companies must pay for clean-up now
Is Mining Lower Grade Ores the
Answer?


Factors that limit the mining of lower-grade ores

Increased cost of mining and processing larger volumes of ore

Availability of freshwater

Environmental impact
Improve mining technology

Use microorganisms, in situ

Slow process

What about genetic engineering of the microbes?
Can We Extend Supplies by Getting
More Minerals from the Ocean?

Mineral resources dissolved in the ocean-low concentrations


Deposits of minerals in sediments along the shallow continental shelf
and near shorelines


Significant sources of sand, gravel, phosphates, sulfur, tin, copper, iron,
tungsten, silver, titanium, platinum, and diamonds
Hydrothermal ore deposits


Recovering them would take more energy and money than they are worth.
Super heated water mixing with magma metal compounds precipitate out
and deposit around the vents. It costs too much money to extract these
deposits
Metals from the ocean floor: manganese nodules (Cover 25%-50% of
the pacific ocean floor)

Effect of mining on aquatic life-could affect marine food webs.

Environmental impact-could be less of an impact than on land.
Wrap Up

Homework-Remember your sketches are due tomorrow for the solar
house lab. You need to have the following:

A Sketch that is to scale showing the dimensions that your house is going
to be

A list of martials that you will use to construct your house

Why you feel your house will be efficient and save on energy based on
your design
January
th
24
 Learning

2014
Goals:
By the end of this lesson Students will be able to:
•
Identify mineral resources, environmental effects of using them,
and explain how we can use them more sustainably.
 Agenda:
1.
Collect Solar House Lab Preliminary Sketch
2.
Finish Chapter 14 with Section 5
3.
Homework-For Monday Read Chapter 15
14-5 How Can We Use Mineral
Resources More Sustainability?

Concept 14-5 We can try to find substitutes for scarce resources,
reduce resource waste, and recycle and reuse minerals.
We Can Find Substitutes for Some
Scarce Mineral Resources

Experts point to the current materials revolution in which silicon and
new materials like ceramics and plastics are being used as
replacements that can serve as substitutes for various minerals.

2005 builders began using house made of Styrofoam with a ceramic
spray called Grancrete.

Affordable and twice as strong as structural concrete

Will not leak or crack

Reduces house frame construction to 1/15th of the cost

Reduces need for timber saving trees

These blocks are also being used to pave bridges.
We Can Find Substitutes for Some
Scarce Mineral Resources

Plastic has replaced copper, steel and lead in piping

Fiber-optic glass cables are replacing copper and aluminum telephone
cables

In the future nanowires may replace the optic glass cables

High-strength plastics and composite materials strengthened by
lightweight carbon and glass fibers are beginning to transform the
automobile and aerospace industry.

They cost less to produce (Less energy usage)

They do not need painting (Reduces pollution)

They can be molded into any shape

Superinsulation is being developed by plastics and gels
Replacement is not always the answer substitutions may not always work.
Platinum is unrivaled as an industrial catalyst and chromium is an essential
ingredient of stainless steel.
We Can Recycle and Reuse
Valuable Metals

After a pure metal is produced by smelting or chemical extraction it
is usually melted or molded into the shapes to make products that
are used and discarded or recycled.

Recycling is a valuable way to reuse valuable or scarce
nonrenewable mineral resources


For example valuable and scarce metals such as gold silver iron copper
steel aluminum and platinum
Recycling has a lower environmental impact that that of mining and
processing metals from ores.

Recycling aluminum scrap or beverage cans produces 95% less air
pollution and 97% less water pollution.

Less energy is also used when recycling compared to mining and
processing aluminum ore.
There Are Many Ways to Use Mineral
Resources More Sustainability

In 1975 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) began
a pollution prevention pays (3P) program.

Redesigned equipment and processes

Used Fewer hazardous raw materials

Identified toxic chemical outputs


Recycled or sold them as raw materials to other companies
Began making non polluting products

By 1998 3M’s overall waste production was down 1/3rd and its air
pollution and emissions per unit were lowered by 70%

The company saved 750 million in waste disposal and material cost!
Sustainable use of Nonrenewable
Minerals
Case Study: Industrial Ecosystems:
Copying Nature

Mimic nature: recycle and reuse most minerals and chemicals

Resource exchange webs

Eco-industrial parks

Industrial forms of bio-mimicry

Benefits
An industrial
ecosystem in
Denmark
reduces waste
production by
mimicking a
food web in
natural
ecosystems.
The waste of
one business
become the
raw materials
for another.
Think about where and how such a system could be set up here in Orlando.
Wrap Up

Read Chapter 15 Over the weekend

Monday we will review this material and prepare for a quiz.

Chapter 14 Study guide is due on Tuesday January 28th which is the
day we will have a quiz on Chapter 14 sections 3-5