World Energy Sources
and Fossil Fuel Power
Production
Evan Mair, Chris Ulrich, Adam Eckhart,
Andrew McGillivary, Patrick Lussenhop
World Energy Sources: Non-Renewable
•
•
•
•
•
•Z=Zetta=10^21
•A non-renewable energy source is a natural resource which cannot be
produced, grown, or naturally generated on a scale which it can sustain its
consumption rate. Once depleted, there is no more left.
•Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel, with about 19 ZJ of energy left in
accessible reserves. The most common use for coal is generating
electricity. Coal can also be made into diesel and jet fuel.
•Oil is nearly always used to power automobiles, ships, and plans. There is
about 8 ZJ of energy left in accessible reserves, but developing technology
has the potential to tap into new reserves.
•Gas is used to generate electricity and power automobiles. There is about
8 ZJ of energy left in accessible reserves, but developing technology has
the potential to tap into new reserves.
Nuclear Fission
•
•
•Most people consider Fission power to be a non-renewable energy source
because uranium can eventually be depleted, but the remaining uranium
deposits can provide 2500 ZJ of energy, provided breeder reactors are
being used. That amount of energy could easily outlast human kind, so in a
practical standpoint, Fission power is renewable.
•Breeder reactors get the most energy out of uranium by using the uranium
over and over again in different processes. This also makes it so the left
over fuel rods have low radioactivity. The problem is that at some point
during its use, the uranium becomes weapons grade. Because different
processes are needed to use different types of uranium, it must be shipped
to different reactors, and there is a chance terrorists will try and take the
uranium while it is in transit.
Nuclear Fusion
• •Nuclear Fusion is the process driving the sun. Two light atomic nuclei fuse
together to form a heavier nucleus. In doing do, they release a large amount
of energy arising from the binding energy due to the strong nuclear force
which is manifested as an increase in temperature of the reactants. The
only ingredient needed is hydrogen, and helium is the product.
•The problem with Nuclear Fusion is it only starts at incredibly high
temperatures, and it generates very high pressure.
There is so much hydrogen in the world that for practical purposes, we can
consider Fusion a renewable energy source, but officially it is non-renewable.
•
•
World Energy Sources: Renewable
•
•
•
•
•A renewable energy source is energy that comes from natural resources
like sunlight and wind, which naturally replenish and occur.
•Solar energy catches rays from the sun. Solar energy is the most abundant
and has the most promise. We would only need to catch .02% of the
sunlight hitting the earth to meet our current energy demands.
•Wind power catches naturally occurring wind currents. It is most efficient at
high elevations and on open fields. 5% of the worlds wind energy could
meet our current energy needs.
•Geothermal uses heat generated by the earth to warm water. The water
can go directly to homes, or can be heated to steam and used to power a
generator. The problem is that to get to a hot spot, you usually need to go
deep down, and the earths crust can easily crumble at that point, destroying
the installation.
World Energy Sources: Renewable
• •Wave and tidal power is produced by the pull
of the moon and sun, and the rotation of the
earth. It is hard to harness this energy and it
does not show much promise.
• Hydropower catches river currents to produce
energy. Water is 800 times denser than air,
so even a slow moving river can produce
significant amounts of energy. The problem is
that there are limited places where you can
use hydropower.
World Energy Sources: Renewable
• •Biomass energy is the burning of plants so
•
they release the energy they have stored
from the sun. The plants can act as a natural
battery, and then be burned when their
energy is needed.
•Biofuel is fuel obtained from plants. By
fermenting sugary components, ethanol can
be created. The plants used are mainly sugar
and starch crops. The ethanol produced is
usually used as a gasoline additive to
Energy Density of Fuels
•
•The energy density of a fuel is the amount of energy stored in a given
system per unit of volume.
Storage Material
Energy Type
MJ per Kilogram
Uranium-235
Nuclear
79,500,000
Hydrogen compressed
at 10,000 psi
Chemical
123
Gasoline (Petrol)
Chemical
47.2
Diesel
Chemical
45.4
Jet fuel, Kerosene
Fat (Animal)
Chemical
43
Coal
Chemical
24
Fuel and Energy Density
•
Energy density is a term used to represent the amount of
energy in a certain volume. It is used with fuels to
compare the amount of energy that can be gained from
using a volume of each fuel. It refers to the amount of
energy that can be gained from a set volume of fuel, like
a tank in a car. For example, although hydrogen has a
higher specific energy, in liquid form it has a much lower
energy density. This would influence the choice of fuel
because in all real world situations, you would want a
fuel with high energy density, because you can only
have so much fuel in your tank at one time.
Proportionate Uses of Fuel
•
•
•
•
This map shows the proportionate uses of fossil fuels in
the world. The bigger the country, the more it uses.
http://www.worldmapper.org/images/largepng/119.png
Proportionate Uses of Fuel Worldwide
•
•
•
•
11,567,000,000,000 kg of fuel is used each
year around the world.
Of this, the United States uses about
20,975,074,200 kg of oil per year.
The next country only uses 1,305,276,000
(China), despite having almost 4.5 times
more citizens than the U.S.
The U.S. uses about 25% of the world's
fossil fuels per year.
Wind Power
• Wind power harnesses wind to spin a turbine,
creating energy. Wind farms are made all
around the world with massive fans that the
wind blows to turn. Some advantages to this
source of power is that is is renewable, and
will never run out. It is also very clean. A
disadvantage however, would be that there
might not always be enough wind to power
the turbine, making it not very useful. Wind
farms are also very expensive to run.
Nuclear Power
• Nuclear power is a form of power that uses
sustained nuclear fission to generate heat
and electricity. An advantage to this source
is that, while not totally renewable, has a very
long life cycle ,and could last for years
without ever having to be replaced.
Unfortunately, nuclear power requires lots of
highly trained technicians, and can be very
dangerous, as seen about a year ago in
Japan.
Water and Wave Power
• Water power (also called hydropower), is a
form of energy where water is used to turn a
turbine to make energy. An advantage to this
is that it is renewable as long as there is
running water, but the disadvantage is that it
is an expensive process, and not very
efficient to power a larger area.
Solar Power
• Solar power is a source of energy that uses
the power from the sun and turns it into heat
and electricity. An advantage is that the
energy is very renewable, as the sun is
shining most of the time. A disadvantage is
that it is not very efficient, and is very
expensive to install.
World Energy Sources: History of
Fossil Fuels
•
•
•
fossil fuels have been formed over millions
of years by decomposing plant and animal
remains under incredible amounts of heat
and pressure
fossil fuels are used so readily because they
are the most economically available sources
of energy
in 2005 3/4 of the worlds consumed energy
was through fossil fuels. and north America
is one of the largest consumers using over
25% of the worlds resources
World Energy Sources: History of
Fossil Fuels
•
•
fossil fuels began to make an appearance in
the late 18th century with the introduction of
the steam engine, which gave rise to faster
shipping and transportation, it was the
begining of the end of manual labor and the
introduction of coal-driven engines.
by 1900 the engines were 30 times as
powerful as the ones in the 1800, carriages
began being replaced with steam powered
cars, this is also when oil started taking off.
World Energy Sources: History of
Fossil Fuels
•
Coal
o
o
o
the earliest known use of coal was in china. mined
from the Fu-Shun mine and used to smelt copper as
long as 3000 years ago
coal can be found in almost all of the lower 48 states
which is reason for its abundant usage
there are many different methods to extracting coal
from the ground such as sinking vertical or
horizontal shafts deep underground and miners take
elevators down
World Energy Sources: History of
Fossil Fuels
•
Oil
o oil has been used around the world for over 5000
years, the ancient Babylonians used crude oil as
asphalt retrieved from large seeps of oil on the
Euphrates river
o a "seep" is a place on the surface where oil leaks up
from below ground
o on August 27 1859, Edwin L. Drake struck oil near
Titusville, Pennsylvania. he discovered large
deposits of oil under the earth and the method of
pumping it to the surface that is still in use today
World Energy Sources: History of
Fossil Fuels
•
Natural Gas
the first discovery of natural gas seeps was in Iran
between 5000 and 6000 BC. many writers of the
time described the seeps especially in what is now
modern day Azerbaijan. the gas seeps are what
most likely caused the "Eternal Fires" that the
ancient Persians worshipped.
o natural gas is usually found near petroleum
underground and is extracted and shipped in the
same way
o
World Energy Sources: Energy
Density
Fossil Fuels
Energy Density (MJ/kg)
coal, anthracite
31.4
coal, bituminous
23.9
coal, sub-bituminous
17.4-23.8
coal, lignite
17.43
diesel
45.3
automotive gasoline
45.8
aviation gasoline
43.1
jet a
43.3
jet b
43.5
kerosene
46.3
petroleum
41.9
heating oil
42.5
World Energy Sources: Energy
Demands of Power Stations
ANNUAL WASTE PRODUCED BY A 1000 MW PLANT
TYPE OF
PLANT
ELECTRICITY
PRODUCED
(MWh)
NUCLEAR
USED FUEL
(TONS)
COAL ASH
(TONS)
SULFUR
DIOXIDE
(TONS)
NUCLEAR
7,971,600
27
0
0
COAL
6,683,880
0
400,000
20,000
NATURAL GAS
998,640
0
0
2
PETROLEUM
1,173,840
0
0
2,248
World Energy Sources: Energy
Demands of Power Stations
ANNUAL WASTE PRODUCED BY A 1000 MW PLANT
TYPE OF
PLANT
NITROGEN
OXIDE (TONS)
CARBON
DIOXIDE
(TONS)
SMALL
PARTICULATES
(TONS)
CARBON
MONOXIDE
(TONS)
NUCLEAR
0
0
0
0
COAL
20,400
7,400,000
100
1,440
NATURAL GAS
157
199,472
12
68
PETROLEUM
898
328,655
168
66
World Energy Sources: Energy
Demands of Power Stations
ANNUAL WASTE PRODUCED BY A 1000 MW PLANT
TYPE OF PLANT
TOTAL ANNUAL WASTE
(TONS)
WASTE PER kWh (lbs)
NUCLEAR
27
.007
COAL
7,841,940
2,347
NATURAL GAS
199,711
400
PETROLEUM
332,036
566
CONCLUSION:
nuclear power plants produce the most energy with
the least amount of waste.
Advantages and Disadvantages
of
•The
Transportation
and Storage of
Fossil Fuels
Oil: Maritime Transport
• Advantages
• 99.99% of oil transported by sea arrives
•
•
safely, without a problem.
Maritime transport is quick and efficient
It is the standard way of oil transportation
and is favored by the petroleum industry
because of the flexibility and low cost that is
associated with the transport.
Oil: Maritime Transport
• Disadvantages
• Risk of environmental harm (even if only
•
.01% of oil transported is spilled, the effects
are still catostrophic)
Discharge of polluting products from the tank
and bilge (Residue)
Oil: Land Transport (by pipeline)
• Advantages
• Limits pollution (or possibility of it)
• - Flow of oil can be shut off if there is a leak
•
to minimize and almost stop the pollution.
Compare this to a tanker where if there is a
leak, not much if anything can be done.
Can be transported far distances that aren't
accessible by boat (land)
Oil: Land Transport (by pipeline)
• Disadvantages
• The pipeline must be kept under constant
•
•
surveillance at all times (in case of leak, and
in case of abnormal erosion)
Costs of replacing or fixing deteriorated
pipeline
Construction of pipeline across countries can
require negotiations and are hard to
accomplish
Oil: Storage (Tanks)
• Advantages
• Easy to store
• Safe to store, cheap and convienient
• Disadvantages
• Oil can cause erosion in tanks, and without
Inspection, this erosion could lead to a leak.
Coal: Railroad Transportation
• Advantages
• Rail cars have a long life so they can be
•
used over and over again without much
maintenance, therefore moving more coal for
its cost compared to a vehicle.
Trains can handle a large volume, transport
it a long distance, and do it efficiently
Coal: Railroad Transportation
• Disadvantages
• At the start, there is a large initial investment
•
for rail cars, tracks, etc. (compared to trucks
of vehicles)
Trains burn coal to move, so in reality you
use the thing you are transporting so that
you can transport it.
Coal: Truck Transportation
• Advantages
• If there is a smaller volume that needs to be
•
transported, trucks are not only more
efficient but preferred
Trucks can get more places (like small towns
or rural areas) because they are not
connected to railroad tracks, but rather to
roads
Coal: Slurry Pipeline
Transportation
• Slurry: Mix of crushed coal and oil/water
• Advantages
• Cost efficient to transport long distance
• - Also, the cost of transportation does not rise
with inflation, but it would via truck
Coal: Slurry Pipeline
Transportation
• Disadvantages
• Potential economic problems (more than that
•
•
of an oil pipeline due to the mixture)
Lots of wasted water in transport
- 1 ton of water is used to transport 1 ton of
coal
Coal: Storage (Stockpile)
• Advantages
• Easy to stockpile coal, and is the most
•
common and widely known way of storage
Easy extraction of coal
Coal: Storage (Stockpile)
• Disadvantages
• Use of land area for the stockpiles
• If you try to confront the first disadvantage
and stack the coal higher to use less land,
there is a reduced rate of heat loss, so the
chance of spontaneous combustion
increases dramatically compared to a spread
out stockpile
Natural Gas: Pipeline
Transportation
• Advantages
• Less costly than trucks (by about 600x),
•
because natural gas occupies 600x more
space than gas or oil
Easily transported to close places
Natural Gas: Pipeline
Transportation
• Disadvantages
• Hard to transport far places via pipeline, also
•
very expensive
If there is a leak or problem, it is hard to get
to the pipeline, because it is underground or
underwater due to safety and convenience
Natural Gas: Storage (Underground Reservoir)
• Advantages
• Safe and cheap
• Easy to put in/ extract gas
• Almost no gas is lost in storage
• Disadvantages
• Limited storage
• limited storage areas (reservoirs)
Overall efficiency of
•Power stations
fueled by
different fossil
fuels
Table of Efficiency of Fossil Fuels vs Other popular Methods
•
•
•
Efficiency %
Type of power plant
Solar Power
14%
Diesel Engine
20%
Nuclear
33%
Natural Gas Turbine
39%
Coal Fired
45%
Coal Boilers (Pulverised)
47%
Natural Gas Fired
58%
Hydro
94%
(Bottom 33%)
( Middle 33%)
Overall
• Overall, the most efficient fossil fuel in power
stations is Natural gas, the second is coal,
and third is gasoline. It is easiest to transport
and store gasoline, yet it is the least efficient
and pollutes the earth the 2nd most. The 2nd
easiest to transport and store is coal, but it
pollutes the environment the most. The least
polluting Fossil Fuel, Natural gas, is the
hardest to transport and store. Therefore,
there is no overall winner on the "best fossil
fuel".
World Energy Sources: Energy
Demands of Power Stations
•Did You Know?
• A mile long coal train barely powers a large
power plant for a single day.
Fossil Fuels: Recovery process
•
•
The recovery of fossil fuels is very important
in many countries including our own. It is
the first step in producing efficient fuels that
millions of Americans use everyday.
Different methods used to reach many types
of fuel
Coal: Mined in underground or open cut mines
o Oil: Large drilling operations cut into earth and
extract oil
o Natural Gas: Process used is similar to that used for
getting oil
o
Fossil Fuels: Problems with
Methods of recovery
•
Hydraulic Lift:
Used to recover oil
o Most dangerous to wild animals
o Wild animals get caught in the Surface pump
o Environmental problems also occur when production
tube tears making recovery inefficient due to the
wasted energy
o Also can contaminate the underground water supply
o
Fossil Fuels: Problems with
recovery
•
Natural Gas Recovery:
o
o
o
•
First step of process is separating Salt from other
parts such as Saline water and other pollutants
Process is very Difficult
Also very expensive
Coal Recovery:
Destroys natural habitat
o Efficiency of recovery of coal is very low
o Coal is it's best when concentration of Oil present is
low
o
Fossil Fuels: Environmental impact
•
•
•
•
Recovery of fuels is relatively safe, incidents
do occur but are very rare
The incidents that occur are often serious
and effect thousands of animals annually
The Most serious problems faced in the
recovery process include Oil Spills and
destruction of natural habitat
Fossil Fuels: Environmental issues
•
•
An oil Spill although rare causes serious
problems that are often hard if not
impossible to deal with.
Deepwater Horizon spill of March 2010
Largest in history for petroleum industry
o Flowed continuously for 3 months
o Killed 11 and injured 17 men working on oil rig
o Total of 4.9 million gallons released into the ocean
o resulted in thousands of dead marine creatures
o
Fossil Fuels: Environmental issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fossil fuels are burned to keep our power plants
running
When fossil fuels are burned they produce pollution
Most of this pollution produced are greenhouse gases
The most common pollutants are Sulfur Dioxide,
Nitrogen Oxide, and Carbon Dioxide
These pollutants accelerate the greenhouse effect and
contribute to acid rain
Another environmental effect is the depletion of Nonrenewable energy sources that could run out in the near
future
30 years for Oil, 100 for natural gas, and 200 for coal
World Energy Sources: Energy flow
diagrams (Sankey Diagram)
•
•
•
•
•
A type of flow diagram, shows energy
transfers between processes
Most common use is energy transfer
Can also show material or cost transfers
Used to emphasize on major flow changes in
a system
These flow changes are where energy is
degraded
World energy sources: Sankey
Diagram example
•
World Energy Sources: Sankey
Diagram