COAL
NATURAL GAS
FOSSIL FUELS
85% of the world’s
commercial energy
OIL
The 20 richest countries consume:
• 50% of coal
• 80% of natural gas
• 65% of oil
COAL
Fossilized, condensed
carbon-rich fuel
10 X reserves of oil/gas,
last 200 years at present rate
Coal Mines
Surface (strip) mine,
Western U.S.
SURFACE MINING: Strip mining, open-pit
mining, and mountain top blasting. In general,
the three processes include breaking up soil and
rocks via explosives and then removing debris
until coal seams are exposed.
Underground (shaft) mine,
Eastern U.S.
Energy Lost from Coal
65% lost in power plants
10% lost on
transmission lines
(stray voltage)
By the time energy is
delivered to us in a usable
form, it has typically
undergone several
conversions. Every time
energy changes forms,
some portion is “lost.” It
doesn't disappear, of course.
Effects on Health
• Black Lung Disease
(miners)
• Respiratory
illnesses
(public)
Effects on Land
• Coal sludge releases
– Liquid coal waste released
from mining
• Hardpan at strip mines
– Hard clay soil
• Mountaintop removal
• Huge water use
– Slurry pipelines – water
and crushed coal moved
from place to place
through pipelines.
Effects on Air
• Greenhouse gases
– 3/4 sulfur dioxide
– 1/3 nitrogen oxides
– 1/2 carbon dioxide
• Toxics
– Mercury
– Uranium
Acid Rain
Acidity of Rain
Nitrogen and Sulfur
dioxides from
greenhouse gases mix
with water vapor in the
atmosphere to form
acid precipitation.
• Acidification of lakes
• Kills Forests (N fixing Bacteria)
• Eats away rock
• pH of 6.0
– Kills insects,
crabs
• pH < 5.0
– Kills fish, trees
The taller the
smokestack,
the farther the
pollution
travels
Coal Scrubbers
NATURAL GAS
Methane, other
Gases in bedrock
Advantages of natural gas:
• Cleaner to burn
– Half as much CO2 as coal
• More efficient
– 10% energy lost
• 60-year supply at current rates
Disadvantages of Natural Gas
• Difficult to transport
– Pipelines
– Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
tankers
• Can be polluting, dangerous when extracted
• Methane bed drilling pollutes
• 60 year supply?
OIL (PETROLEUM)
Buried organic matter
rich in hydrocarbons
Proven oil reserves
• 465 billion barrels consumed
• 1 trillion barrels left
• 22 billion consumed a year
• 45 years to go! Party now!
Global trends in oil
• Growing use in China (+10%/year)
• Japan, Europe depend on Mideast
• New reserves around Caspian Sea
– Nearly size of Saudi Arabia
• Increasing source of major wars,
human rights abuses
Persian Gulf
and Caspian Sea
U.S. trends in oil
• Diverse sources (not Mideast)
– Venezuela, Nigeria, etc.
• Opening domestic sources
– Alaska controversy
• Polluting technologies?
– Oil shale extraction
– Synthetic fuels (coal-to-oil)
Opposition to oil
companies
• Construction of roads,
pipelines
• Displacement of Indians
• Deforestation
• Oil leaks into rivers larger
thanValdez spill
• Pollution
Exxon Valdez, Alaska 1989
Attempts to
contain spill
Clean-up efforts
Prince William Sound fishing
industry damaged
BP Gulf Oil Spill of 2010
Websites on oil industry
and global opposition
Rainforest Action Network
http://www.ran.org
Project Underground
http://www.moles.org