


How much electricity do you think you
use? (Avg., above avg. or below avg.)
Why?
Where does your energy come from?
What impacts does energy production
have?


http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/pop
/energy/
Though accounting for only 5 percent of the
world's population, Americans consume 26
percent of the world's energy. (American
Almanac)

In 1997, U.S. residents consumed an average
of 12,133 kilowatt-hours of electricity each,
almost nine times greater than the average
for the rest of the world. (Grist Magazine)
60%
50%
Coal 56%
Nuclear 37%
Natural gas 3.3%
Petroleum 1.3%
Renewables 1.3%
Hydro <1%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Energy Source
Efficiency: A
conventional coal
generation facility
is about 40%
efficient, which
means that 60% of
the energy is lost
before leaving the
plant.
Our School: By the time electricity gets to your school,
nearly 2/3 of the energy is lost. Keep in mind, that most
schools in PA could stand to improve energy efficiency by
30%.
Transmission &
Distribution: In the
U.S. approximately
7% of electricity is
lost moving
electricity through
the wires to your
home or schools
o
Energy consumption in
the US
•
•
Industries (production) use
the most
Heating, cooling, and
illuminating building is 1/3

How do fossil fuels form?

List three fossil fuels.

Where are there abundant resources of fossil
fuels? (Region or countries)

Combustible deposits in the Earth’s crust
◦ Composed of the remnants (fossils) of prehistoric
organisms that existed millions of years ago
◦ Includes coal, oil (petroleum) and natural gas

Non-renewable resource
◦ Fossil fuels are created too slowly to replace the
reserves we use

300 million years ago
◦ Climate was mild
◦ Vast swamps covered much of the land
◦ Dead plant material decayed slowly in the swamp
environment


Over time, layers of sediment accumulated
over the dead plant material
Coal
◦ Heat, pressure and time turned the plant material
into carbon-rich rock (coal)

Oil
◦ Sediment deposited over microscopic plants
◦ Heat pressure and time turned them into
hydrocarbons (oil)

Natural Gas
◦ Formed the same way as oil, but at temperatures
higher than 100 °C
Coal is America’s most abundant fossil
fuel and we have an estimated 250
year supply.
America produces about 1 billion tons
of coal each year -- 90% is used for
electricity generation.
Coal generated electricity provides 51% of
all electricity in America.
America’s electricity demand is
expected to increase 36% by 2020
Statistics from www.learnaboutcoal.org
PA Geologic Survey Map
Worlds largest oil reserves:
Country
Millions of Barrels
Percent World
Reserve
Saudi Arabia
259,400
21.83%
Iran
125,800
10.59%
Iraq
115,000
9.68%
Kuwait
99,000
8.33%
Venezuela
77,800
6.55%
United Arab
Emirates
55,210
4.65%
Rest of World
456,090
38.37
Chart edited from www.factsonfuel.org
2004 Crude Oil Consumption by Region.
26%
25%
USA
Asia Pacific
Western
Europe
Rest of World
19%
30%
Edited from, Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2005

Brainstorm 5 ideas with a partner






1. Combustion of fossil fuels creates air
pollution
2. Excess CO2 gas released to atmosphere
3. Increase global climate- due to increase of
greenhouse gases
4. Melting of the polar ice caps, rise in sea
level due to climate change
5. Coal- acid mine drainage, ash etc.
6. Acid deposition- acid rain from sulfur and
nitrogen compounds released when burned
From Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/
From Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/
Coal plants produce one-third of America’s
CO2 emissions—about the same amount as all
our cars, SUVs, trucks, buses, planes, ships,
and trains combined.
A 500-megawatt (MW) plant produces the
annual global warming emission
equivalent of roughly 600,000 cars, but
operates on average for 40 to 50 years(or
longer).
Statistics from Union of Concerned Scientists “Gambling with Coal”
In 2005, Pennsylvania coal-fired power plants
pumped almost 120 million tons of carbon dioxide,
more than 985,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and more
than 171,000 tons of nitrogen oxide into our air.
Over the last several decades, this noxious mix of
pollutants has seared Pennsylvania forests with
the nation's highest levels of acid rain.… On the
ridges of the Allegheny National Forest… 30 to 40
percent of the trees on some slopes are dead or
dying…
PennFuture Facts, Vol. 8, No. 20 -- October 4, 2006


Scrubbers
Fluidized Bed Combustion (below)
Annual world oil consumption has been
exceeding additions for a long time.
Most experts are predicting that oil production
will peak in the next 5-10 years.
Prices will continue to increase due to costs
of extraction and transportation
Proposed federal laws limiting global
warming (also see Northeast Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative
http://www.rggi.org/)
In PA, electric rate caps are
being removed by 2010.
School Districts pay energy bills
out of the same budget which
pays salaries, books, supplies, etc.
Increases in fuel cost must =
decrease other budget items (or
increases in taxes)
The least efficient schools use 3 times as
much energy as the best performers.

What do you know of the current Nuclear
crisis in Japan?

How about any past nuclear issues?

Is nuclear power safe? Why or why not?

Japan update

http://www.cnn.com/
 What
is it?
◦Splitting of uranium
atoms in a “reactor” to
release energy to create
heat to make steam to
make electricity

Nuclear Fuel Cycle
◦ processes involved in
producing the fuel
used in nuclear
reactors and in
disposing of
radioactive (nuclear)
wastes

Pros
◦ No air pollution
◦ Small amounts of
fuel = large
amounts of
energy
◦ U.S. has
technology

Cons
◦ Expensive to build
and maintain Nuclear
power plant
◦ Radioactive fuel,
dangerous waste to
dispose of

Meltdown
◦ At high temperatures the metal encasing the
uranium fuel can melt, releasing radiation



Probability of meltdown or other accident is
low
Public perception is that nuclear power is not
safe
Sites of major accidents:
◦ Three Mile Island
◦ Chornobyl (Ukraine)


1979- most serious reactor accident in US
50% meltdown of reactor core
◦ Containment building kept radiation from escaping
◦ No substantial environmental damage
◦ No human casualties

Elevated public apprehension of nuclear
energy
◦ Led to cancellation of many new plants in US


1986- worst accident
in history
1 or 2 explosions
destroyed the nuclear
reactor
◦ Large amounts of
radiation escaped into
atmosphere

Spread across large
portions of Europe



Radiation
spread was
unpredictable
Radiation
fallout was
dumped
unevenly
Death toll is
10,000100,000

Phila Inq. ArticleVisiting Chernobyl


Life after people series
on History Channel
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=A62au7Av
q1E&safety_mode=true
&persist_safety_mode=
1

Three Mile Island

Pgs. 464-468
questions 1-13.

Low-level radioactive waste-

High-level radioactive waste-
◦ Radioactive solids, liquids, or gasses that give off
small amounts of ionizing radiation
◦ Radioactive solids, liquids, or gasses that give off
large amounts of ionizing radiation

Long term solution to waste
◦ Deep geologic burial –Yucca Mountain
◦ As of 2004, site must meet EPA million year
standard (compared to previous 10,000 year
standard)
◦ Possibilities:
 Above ground mausoleums
 Arctic ice sheets
 Beneath ocean floor

Temporary storage solutions
◦ In nuclear plant facility (require high security)
 Under water storage
 Above ground concrete and steel casks

Need approved permanent options soon.


70,000 tons of highlevel radioactive waste
Tectonic issues have
been identified
Pros



Safer than fission
No air pollution
Renewable energy
Cons


Technology very
difficult
Requires unrealistic
high temp, pressure
and concentration

Biofuel – Any fuel derived from recently-living
biomass
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Corn/grains
Soybeans
Wood (forestry residue, mill waste, C&D waste)
Sugarcane
Switchgrass
Food waste
Algae

Ethanol
◦ Starches (corn)
◦ Cellulosic materials

Biodiesel
◦ Waste vegetable oils/greases
◦ Soybean oil
◦ Canola

Pros
◦ Renewable
◦ Good use of
“waste”
◦ Ethanol less
polluting than
gas

Cons
◦ Does produce
CO2 (global
warming) and
smoke
◦ More grain for
ethanol, less for
food