Natural Resources

Natural resources

◼ Renewable resources like sunlight cannot

be depleted.
◼ Nonrenewable resources like oil CAN be
depleted.
Natural Resources and their Uses
 RESOURCES

A nonrenewable resource is a natural

resource that cannot be re-made or
re-grown at a scale comparable to its
consumption.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Nuclear fission uses
uranium to create
energy.
Nuclear energy is a
nonrenewable
resource because once
the uranium is used, it
is gone!
 COAL, PETROLEUM, AND GAS
Coal, petroleum, and
natural gas are
considered
nonrenewable because
they can not be
replenished in a short
period of time. These
are called fossil fuels.
HOW IS COAL MADE ???
HOW ARE OIL AND GAS MADE ???
 RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Renewable resources are
natural resources that can
be replenished in a short
period of time.

● Solar ● Geothermal
● Wind ● Biomass
● Water
SOLAR

Energy from the

sun.
GEOTHERMAL

Energy from
Earth’s heat.
 Energy from
WIND
the wind.
 BIOMASS

Energy from
burning organic
or living matter.
WATER or HYDROELECTRIC
Energy from the
flow of water.
World Population Growth
11.9
9.8

7.9

High Growth
Medium Growth
Low Growth
2%

1%
Population in Crisis

◼ Pandemics and food

shortages are
beginning to decrease
population growth

◼ Contamination and
global warming will
only exacerbate the
problem
Overuse of Resources

◼ 1.7 billion are joining the “consumer class”

and the environment can’t sustain this
standard of living. (Worldwatch Institute, 2004)

◼ Emissions of Greenhouse gasses is

accelerating global warming

◼ Climate change is accelerating melting of

glaciers and driving mass extinctions
(The Centre of Biodiversity and Conservation,
Leeds University, UK)
Global Oil Production to Peak

◼ Once oil production peaks extraction

will become increasingly expensive.

◼ Alternative sources
◼ Coal (emissions?)
◼ Nuclear (waste?)
◼ Renewable (lagging
technology?)
 Greenhouse Gasses and
Global Warming
◼ Global Warming
lags CO2 spikes

◼ CO2 concentration
is higher than all
maximums during
the past 500,000
years

◼ And still increasing!

Effects
◼ Melting of Polar ice
◼ Opening of new arctic shipping routes in a
few decades
◼ Melting Permafrost
◼ Increasingly severe storms
◼ Sea level rise (~6m in a few decades)
◼ Increased erosion
◼ Flooding
◼ Submerged infrastructure
Water Resources
Use of fresh water from the water cycle

◼ Surface water
◼ Lakes
◼ Streams

◼ Groundwater
◼ Springs
◼ Aquifers
(extracted by
pumping wells)
Geological Resources

◼ The Cradle of
Civilization (Fertile
Crescent)
◼ Development
limited by
availability, e.g.,
soil, water, energy
◼ Conflicts based on
resources, e.g.,
water, minerals, oil,
energy…
Geologic Resources
◼ Mineral Resources:
metals, fertilizers,
minerals, petroleum,
construction
Geologic Resources
◼ Mineral Resources:
metals, fertilizers,
minerals, petroleum,
construction
◼ Water resources:
Lakes, Rivers, Springs,
Groundwater
Geologic Resources
◼ Mineral Resources:
e.g., Metals, fertilizers,
minerals, petroleum,
construction
◼ Water resources:
e.g., Lakes, Rivers,
Springs, Groundwater
◼ Energy:
e.g., Oil, natural gas, coal,
nuclear, silicon,
hydroelectric (dams),
hydrothermal (Earth’s heat)
Geologic Resources
◼ Mineral Resources:
metals, fertilizers,
minerals, petroleum,
construction
 Geologic Resources
◼ Locating and
Characterizing
quantity and quality of
geologic resources
◼ Extracting geologic
resources efficiently
◼ Assessing
environmental effects
of extraction and use
 Land Resources
❖ In India per capita land availability has declined
from 0.89 ha in 1951 to 0.3 ha in 2001. The per
capita availability of agriculture land has declined
from 0.48 ha in 1951 to 0.14 ha in 2001
(Source: Care for Earth Foundation, 05-06)

❖ More than 40% of the farmers in India were found

to be reporting poor yields not due to sub-
standard seeds, irrigation problems etc. but due to
degrading land quality
(Source: Centre for science and Environment)

❖ It is estimated that 5 million tonnes of topsoil is

eroded every year and 20 % of such land is so
damaged that it is categorized as wasteland
(Source: TERI Year Book 2004-05)
 Land Resources
Status of our land
❖ 23% of usable land degraded

Causes
❖ Deforestation
❖ Agricultural mismanagement
❖ Urbanization
❖ Implications
❖ Soil erosion
❖ Pollution
❖ Disturbed natural cycles
 Land Resources

Other problems
❖ Water logging
❖ Soil salinity
❖ Desertification
❖ In Egypt – 90%farms affected by
waterlogging
❖ In Pakistan – 66% irrigated land salinized
❖ In India – 12-25%
 Land Resources

Desertification – ‘Skin disease’

❖ 1/3 of world land affected
❖ 1/5 of world’s population threatened
❖ Measures to check it
❖ UN convention (1994) – 180 countries signed

Can be controlled through

❖ Aero-seeding over shifting sand dunes
❖ Introduction of salinity tolerant species
❖ Early warning system
 SOIL EROSION AND DEGRADATION

• Soil erosion lowers soil fertility and can

overload nearby bodies of water with
eroded sediment.
– Sheet erosion: surface water or wind peel off
thin layers of soil.
– Rill erosion: fast-flowing little rivulets of
surface water make small channels.
– Gully erosion: fast-flowing water join together
to cut wider and deeper ditches or gullies.
 LANDSLIDES
NATURAL PHENOMENA THAT
OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT
HUMAN ACTIVITY
 LANDSLIDE HAZARD

• Landslides encompass all

categories of gravity-related
slope failures in Earth
materials.
 SLOPES
• Material is constantly moving
on slopes at rates varying from
imperceptible creep to
thundering avalanches and
rock falls moving at high
velocities.
 LANDSLIDES
• Gravity slope failures are triggered
by earthquake ground shaking or
excess precipitation
• The slope does not need to be very
steep for a landslide to occur.
SOIL EROSION AND DEGRADATION

• Soil erosion is the

movement of soil
components,
especially surface
litter and topsoil,
by wind or water.
⚫ Soil erosion increases through activities such
as farming, logging, construction, overgrazing,
and off-road vehicles.
 Global Outlook: Soil Erosion

• Soil is eroding faster than it is forming on more

than one-third of the world’s cropland.
 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
THROUGH SOIL CONSERVATION

• Modern farm machinery can plant crops

without disturbing soil (no-till and minimum
tillage.
– Conservation-tillage farming:
• Increases crop yield.
• Raises soil carbon content.
• Lowers water use.
• Lowers pesticides.
• Uses less tractor fuel.
 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
THROUGH SOIL CONSERVATION
• Terracing, contour
planting, strip
cropping, alley
cropping, and
windbreaks can
reduce soil
erosion.
 Desertification:
is the process by which
land becomes desert
 Desertification: Degrading
Drylands

• About one-third of the world’s land has lost

some of its productivity because of drought
and human activities that reduce or degrade
topsoil.
 Climate
• Drought: low rainfall since 1968.

• Soils become dry and there is

no water left in wells.

• Trees die, grass withers and is

replaced by poor desert scrub.

• Crops fail and cattle feed on

poor pasture.
The Sun

• Less roots to protect the

topsoil, less humus; soils
become more sandy and dry.

• Wind erosion removes the soil,

causing dust storms, leaving
bare rock.
 Human activity
• Population is high and
increasing fast.

• To increase food supplies more

crops are grown and more
cattle kept leading to over-
cultivation and over-grazing.

• Yields decline and cattle are

undernourished and die.

• Demand increases for water as

population grows.

• Trees are cut down for fuel

supplies.

• Less vegetation; more dry, bare

soil; more wind erosion.
 Salinization
and
Waterlogging
• Repeated
irrigation can
reduce crop yields
by causing salt
buildup in the soil
and waterlogging
of crop plants.
 Solutions

Soil Salinization

Prevention Cleanup

Reduce Flush soil

irrigation (expensive and
wastes water)
Stop growing
Switch to
crops for 2–5
salt-
years
tolerant
crops (such Install
as barley, underground
cotton, drainage systems
sugarbeet) (expensive)
Salinization and Waterlogging of
Soils: A Downside of Irrigation
• Example of
high
evaporation,
poor drainage,
and severe
salinization.
• White alkaline
salts have
displaced
crops.
 Forest Resources

Types of timber harvesting &

sustainable management
What types of forests are there?

▪ Old-growth forest:
Original forests that have
not been disturbed for
logging, road building, or
development
• Sometimes called primary,
ancient, virgin, or primeval
forests
• 36% of world’s forest
• High biodiversity
Forests Vary in Their Make-up, Age, and Origins

Second-growth forest:

▪ Area which has re-grown after

a major disturbance such as
fire, insect, or timber harvest

▪ 60% of world’s forest

▪ Happens by natural
“succession” -small shrubs and
trees followed by the larger trees
Forests Vary in Their Make-up, Age, and Origins

▪ Tree plantation (tree farm):

Planted stands of a particular tree species that are
maintained, harvested, and replanted
• Typically used for paper or particle board
What are forests good for?

Estimated
annual value:
Economic services
$1.8 trillion
Ecological services
$4.7 trillion
 How are trees cut?

▪ Three major tree harvesting

methods:
• Selective cutting
• Clear-cutting
• Strip cutting
• Seed tree/shelterwood
 Selective cutting
▪ Selective Cutting:
• Mature trees are
harvested individually
from diverse forests
• Younger trees left to
harvest later

• Reduces crowding
• Removes diseased trees
• Encourages growth of
younger trees
 Clear-cutting

Clear-cutting:
• Removing all trees
in a single pass.
Clear-cutting

Clear-cutting
Strip-cutting

▪ Strip-cutting:
• A type of clear cutting that
involves clear trees along
the contours of the land.
• Less erosion
Other ways forests can be destroyed

▪ Forest fire

▪ Insect damage (mountain pine beetle in BC)

▪ Disease (Dutch elm disease in Ottawa)

 Fire Can Threaten Forest Ecosystems

▪ Forest fires can either benefit or harm forests

• Burn away flammable ground material
• Prevent larger, more destructive fires
• Release valuable mineral nutrients
• Stimulate new forest growth
 Forest fires continued

▪ Surface fires
• Usually burn leaf litter and undergrowth
• May provide food in the form of vegetation that sprouts after fire
▪ Crown fires
• Extremely hot, burns whole trees, jump from treetop to treetop
• Fierce and hard to control
Insect damage
 Issues in forestry
▪ Human activities have reduced the earth’s forest cover
by as much as half.

▪ Deforestation – temporary or permanent removal

of large areas of forests
• Results from unsustainable cutting of trees

▪ Where is deforestation an issue?

▪ Developing countries – used for fuel, wood in tropical
forests used by international logging companies

▪ Developed countries – boreal forests used for timber and

paper
Unsustainable Logging is a Major Threat to
Forest Ecosystems

▪ Building roads into previously inaccessible forests

paves the way for increased erosion, habitat
fragmentation, loss of biodiversity, and invasion by
non-native species.
• For this reason, many federal wilderness areas do
not allow the construction of roads.
We Have Cut Down Almost Half
of the World’s Forests
Tropical Forests Are Disappearing Rapidly

▪ Poor soil in tropical forests

▪ Run-off

▪ Not much can grow after gain

Are there solutions?

▪ We can use forests

more sustainably by
emphasizing:
• Economic value of
ecological services
• Harvesting trees no
faster than they are
replenished
• Protecting old-growth
and vulnerable areas
Water resources
 Global Overview
⚫ While 67% of Earth’s surface is covered by
water, only less than 2.7% of global water is
freshwater. Most of the freshwater (2.05%)
are locked in ice caps and glaciers. Only
less than 0.7% is available for human use.
Over two thirds of the
earth's surface is covered
with water, 97.2% of which
is contained in the five
oceans. The Antarctic ice
sheet, containing 90% of all
fresh water on the planet, is
visible at the bottom.
Atmospheric water vapour
can be seen as clouds,
contributing to the earth's
albedo.
Iceberg and Polar cap store most of the fresh water
on Earth
 Volume of water stored in
the water cycle's reservoirs
Reservoir Volume of water Percent
(106 km³) of total
Ocean 1370 97.25
Ice caps & glaciers 29 2.05
Groundwater 9.5 0.68
Lakes 0.125 0.01
Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005
Atmosphere 0.013 0.001
Streams & rivers 0.0017 0.0001
Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004
 Scarcity of fresh water
⚫ On a global basis, fresh water is a
increasingly scarce resource. It is partially
caused by increasing population coupled by
change of consumption pattern and climate
changes.
 Water consumption for food
production (I)
⚫ Meat production use a lot of water when
compared to growing food crops.
⚫ A shift in food consumption pattern toward
more meat consumption will cause a
substantial increase in water consumption.
Water consumption for food
production (II)
Competing water uses (I)
 Competing water uses (II)
⚫ Industrialized / developed countries tend to
use more water in their industrial
production.
⚫ Other countries tend to use more water for
agricultural uses.
Fresh Water supply
 Problems related to Water crisis
⚫ Inadequate access to safe drinking water by
over 1.1 billion people
⚫ Groundwater overdrafting leading to
diminished agricultural yields
⚫ Overuse and pollution of water resources
harming biodiversity
⚫ Regional conflicts over scarce water
resources sometimes resulting in warfare.
Threats to fresh water resources

⚫ Climate change causes change in

frequencies of droughts and floods.
⚫ Depletion of aquifers caused by over-
consumption as a result of population
growth.
⚫ Pollution and contamination by sewage,
agricultural and industrial runoff.
Distribution of population and
water resources
Pressure of freshwater ecosystem
 Fresh Water Outlook
⚫ Estimated from existing data, some
countries are going to experience serious
shortage of fresh water supply in the
coming 20 years time.
⚫ China, India and South Africa and Middle
East countries may among the most
adversely affected countries.
 Desalination of sea water as
fresh water supply
⚫ Desalination of sea water can be done either
via distillation or membrane process.
⚫ Both process requires large amount of
energy and thus costly, which means
desalination remains an expensive option
for providing reliable fresh water supply,
restricted to only economically well-off
countries.
WATER CONFLICTS
“The wars of the next century will be about
water" World Bank vice-president Ismail
Serageldin(quoted in New York Times, 10
August 1995).

“Fierce competition for fresh water may

well become a source of conflict and wars
in the future.”
Kofi Annan, March 2001
WATER- A MAJOR CONCERN

● Only about one percent of the world’s total freshwater supply is

readily available for consumption by humans, animals and for
irrigation.

● Water security is emerging as an increasingly important

● Population growth continues to surge, the demand for water is
increasing substantially, without a concomitant increase in water
resources

● In South Asia, conflict over freshwater has strained relations

between India and Bangladesh, as well as India and Pakistan.
CAUVERY DISPUTE

NARMADA(SARDAR SAROVAR)

TEHRI

RAVI-BEAS PROJECT
INDUS RIVER
BASIN
CAUVERY RIVER
THE POTENTIAL CAUSES

Contending Water Uses

 Contending Water Uses:

■ Water is a common pool resource

■ Contention between different kinds of uses

■ The issue is one of rapidly decreasing water supply amidst a

growing number of users who require larger quantities with every
passing year

■ Case of Keoladeo National Park,

■ Case of Vadali village of Gujarat and

■ The Majuli island case.

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES

Contending Water Uses

Population Growth and

Demand
 Population Growth and Demand

Growing population and changing values have increased

pressure on existing water supplies

Urban needs often conflict with agricultural needs, as well as

with increased demand for water for endangered species,
recreation, and scenic enjoyment

Conflict in the Bhavani

The Palkhed canal system of upper Godavari project

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES

Contending Water Uses:

Population Growth and

Demand
Pollution
 Pollution

⚫ Almost 70% of its surface water resources

⚫ A growing number of its groundwater reserves are
already contaminated by biological, toxic organic and
inorganic pollutants
⚫ Unsafe for human consumption as well as for other
activities such as irrigation and industrial needs.

Kolleru wildlife sanctuary

The case of khari river

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES
Contending Water Uses:

Population Growth and

Demand
Pollution

Micro level dispute

 MICRO LEVEL DISPUTE

⚫ Conflicts on a truly micro scale – within a village, a community or

around a small tank

⚫ Monitoring failure at Kanpur

⚫ Shapin River Basin in Jharkhand

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES
Contending Water Uses:

Population Growth and

Demand
Pollution

Micro level dispute

Dams and Displacement

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES
Contending Water Uses:
Population Growth and
Demand
Pollution

Micro level dispute

Dams and Displacement

Transboundary dispute
 TRANSBOUNDARY DISPUTE

⚫ Disputes over shared water resources have a long history

⚫ Inter-state and inter-country dispute

⚫ Access to water has been a source of dispute and contention

– Baglihar hydropower project (BHP)

– Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal

THE POTENTIAL CAUSES
Contending Water Uses:

Population Growth and

Demand
Pollution

Micro level dispute

Dams and Displacement

Transboundary dispute

Privatisation
 PRIVATISATION

⚫ Inviting private sector participation in dam and

reservoir projects

⚫ Opposition to the idea of `privatisation of water'

⚫ Privatisation poses a threat to that commitment

because once privatised, water will no longer be
provided on the basis of need but on the ability to pay
 DAMS AND DISPLACEMENT
⚫ India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has
over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under
construction.
⚫ The displacement caused by large scale irrigation and
hydro-projects

⚫ Displacement and resettlement of people is the least

concern of large dam builders

⚫ Sardar Sarovar Dam

⚫ Haripad Project In Madhya Pradesh

⚫ Tehri Dam
 Displacing populations
Estimate: 40-80M displaced by dams.
(10M reported in China; 1.5M for Three Gorges)
Usually poor/indigenous people who leave behind
productive farms and ancestral homes. They
rarely receive benefits of the project.
Results in conflicts, social problems, cultural loss,
economic disaster
 Although people starting building dams thousands of years ago,
technology for large dams didn’t evolve until the 19th century

Today….
⚫ 60% of the world’s rivers are dammed
⚫ There are ~ 45,000 large dams (>15m high) and
over 1500 under construction
⚫ There are ~ 800,000 smaller dams
⚫ Volume: 10,000 km3 (5x vol of all river water)
 Have Dams Achieved their purpose?
⚫ Dams have saved countless millions of lives
from floods
⚫ 30%-40% of 271 million hectares of irrigated
lands worldwide rely on dams
⚫ Dams contribute water to 12-16% of the world’s
food production
⚫ India has been self-sufficient in food production
since 1974 due to irrigation from reservoirs
 Have Dams Achieved their purpose?
Hydropower provides 19% of world’s electric supply
(low greenhouse gas emissions)
– 13% in US (92,000 MW= 500 barrels oil or 150 coal plants;
prevents 200 million tons of CO2;
85-90% efficient compared to 50% for gas turbines)
– 99% in Norway
– 75% in New Zealand
– 70% in Latin America
 But there are serious objections to dams
and problems to overcome
⚫ Large populations need to be resettled
⚫ Economic benefits are often not achieved
⚫ Dams harm the environment
⚫ Water is lost through evaporation and seepage
⚫ Dams fill with sediment and change the
geomorphology of the river
⚫ Dams have a life that ends… then what?
⚫ Dams can be unsafe; have killed thousands
 Environmental Issues

Dams change the chemical, physical and bilogical

processes of river ecosystems. They alter free-
flowing systems by reducing river levels and
downstream ecosystems, blocking the flow of
nutrients, changing water temperature and oxygen
levels, and impeding or preventing fish and
wildlife migration.
 Environmental effects of dams
⚫ Cuts off water from floodplains and wetlands that are habitats to
fish, birds and other species.
⚫ Cuts off migration of fish, even with fish ladders
⚫ Interrupt natural high-low flow patterns that many species need
for normal reproduction cycles
⚫ Cuts off sediment flow to d.s. habitats; clear water further scours
in-place sediments
⚫ Reduces fresh water supplies to estuaries and costal areas, often
destroying fish industries
⚫ Promotes reproduction of mosquitos and other disease-
producing organisms.
 Environmental effects of dams
⚫ Reservoirs trap nutrient-ladened sediments which accelerates
cycle of eutrophication (O2 depletion); lower layers of water often
lack DO.
⚫ Methane production due to decaying biomass is high in tropical
reservoirs; this greenhouse gas is worse than CO2 and counters the
greenhouse gas savings of hydropower.
⚫ Releases from lower levels of reservoir alter temperature and DO
levels of river (affect water’s ability capacity to process waste)
⚫ Construction of dams and associated transmission lines and roads
often destroy pristine wilderness
Negative influences of the dam

- ecological problems

- social and cultural problems

- financial problems
DEVASTATING FLOODS IN ASSAM
STATE, INDIA

June 28, 2012

 The Brahmaputra River
overflowed during monsoon
rains over the past week,
flooding more than 2,000
villages and destroying homes
in the northeast of the country
FLOOD: ASSAM STATE;
JUNE 28, 2012
WILD BUFFALO GOING TO HIGHER
GROUND; JUNE 28
HOMELESS BULUT VILLAGE
FAMILY: JUNE 30
 What is drought?
⚫ One definition:

A deficiency of precipitation over an

extended period that causes water
shortage for some group or activity.

⚫ Elements of the definition:

– deficiency of precipitation
– extended period (how long is "extended"?)
– water shortage for some user ("group or activity")
 Drought depends on the user

Crops rely on stored soil water. Soil water can

be rapidly depleted, so that monthly droughts
may affect crops.
Energy Resources
Energy Resources

• Supplementing free solar energy

– 99% of heat comes from the sun
– Without the sun, the earth would be –240
0C (-400 0F)

• We supplement the other 1% with

primarily non-renewable energy sources
Energy Resources
• Renewable (16%) • Non-renewable (84%)
– Solar – Oil
– Wind – Coal
– Falling, flowing water – Natural gas
– Biomass – Nuclear power
World Energy Supply
Oil-34.3%
Coal-25.1%
Natural Gas-20.9%
Nuclear-6.9%
Biomass(wood)-10.6%
Solar, wind, hydroelectric,-2.4%
Geothermal
Energy sources and uses
Country wise
Country Population
• Energy uses
Consumption
– Industrial-28% US 4.6% 17.8%
– Domestic-34% China 20% 22.4%
– Transportation-28%India 16% 4.7%

• Note: Electricity is not an energy source, converted from

another source (coal, hydro, nuclear, etc.).
• 1st Law of Thermodynamics - You can’t get more energy
out of something than you put in
• 2ond Law – In any conversion of heat energy to useful
work, some energy is always degraded to a lower quality
energy
Each type of power project needs to be evaluated
for the benefits and costs
The environmental costs of hydroelectricity are much
different than windpower, for example
Important Nonrenewable Energy
Sources
OIL and NATURAL GAS

• Accumulations of dead marine organisms

on the ocean floor were covered by
sediments.
• Muddy rock gradually formed rock (shale)
containing dispersed oil.
• Sandstone formed on top of shale, thus oil
pools began to form.
• Natural gas often forms on top of oil.
• Primary component of natural gas is methane
 Based on boiling points
Oil

• Petroleum (crude oil)

• Costs:
• Recovery
• Refining
• Transporting
• Environmental
• Highest risks are in transportation
• Refining yields many products
• Asphalt
• Heating oil
• Diesel
• Petrochemicals
• Gasoline
Conventional Oil

Advantages Disadvantages
• Relatively low • Running out
cost • 42-93 years

• High net energy • Low prices

encourage waste
yield
• Air pollution and
• Efficient greenhouse
distribution gases
system • Water pollution
Oil Shale and Tar Sands
Tar Sand: Oil Shale:
Mixture of clay, sand Oily rocks that
water and bitumen - contain a solid
a thick and sticky mix of hydro-
heavy oil. carbons.

Extracted by large Global supplies

electric shovels, ~ 240 times
mixed with hot water conventional oil
and steam to extract supplies.
the bitumen.

Bitumen heated to
convert to synthetic
crude oil.
Natural Gas
• 50-90% methane
• Cleanest of fossil fuels
• Approximate 200 year
supply
• Advantages and
disadvantages
Coal – What is it?

• Solid fossil fuel formed in several stages

• Land plants that lived 300-400 million
years ago
• Subjected to intense heat and pressure
over many millions of years
• Mostly carbon, small amounts of sulfur
Coal Formation and Types
Coal – what do we use it for?

• Stages of coal formation

• 300 million year old forests
• peat > lignite > bituminous > anthracite
• Primarily strip-mined
• Used mostly for generating electricity
• Used to generate 62% of the world’s electricity
• Used to generate 52% of the U.S. electricity
• Enough coal for about 200-1000 years
• U.S. has 25% of world’s reserves
• High environmental impact
• Coal gasification and liquefaction
Coal: Trade-offs
World’s most abundant fossil fuel
Mining and burning coal has a
severe environmental impact
Accounts for over 1/3 of the
world’s CO2 emissions
Nuclear Energy – What is it?

• A nuclear change in which nuclei of certain isotopes with large

mass numbers are split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by
neutrons.
– Nuclei – center of an atom, making up most of the atom’s
mass
– Isotopes – two or more forms of a chemical element that
have the same number of protons but different mass
numbers because they have different numbers of neutrons in
their nuclei.
– Neutron – elementary particle in all atoms.
– Radioactivity – Unstable nuclei of atoms shoot out “chunks”
of mass and energy.
 Great danger of
Nuclear Energy
losing coolant!
• Fission reactors
• Uranium-235
• Fission
• Resulting heat
used to produce
steam that spins
turbines to
generate electricity
• Produces
radioactive
fission fragments
Light water generator – used in
all U.S. and 85% world wide.
The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Produces highly radioactive

materials that must be stored
safely for 10,000-240,000 years.
Conventional Nuclear Power: Trade-offs

No new plants in U.S.

since 1978.

All 120 plants ordered

in 1973 have been
cancelled.

Cost over-runs
High operating costs
Three Mile Island
Chernobyl
Dealing with Nuclear Waste

• High- and low-level wastes

• Terrorist threats – storage casks hold 5-10 X
more ling-lived radioactivity than the nuclear
power plant
• Disposal proposals
• Underground burial
• Disposal in space (illegal under international law)
• Burial in ice sheets (“ “)
• Dumping into subduction zones (“ “)
• Burial in ocean mud (“ “)
• Conversion into harmless materials (no way to do this
with current technology)
Permanent Underground
Disposal of Nuclear Wastes
Storage Containers

Fuel rod

Primary canister
Ground Level
Personnel Overpack
Unloaded from train container
elevator
sealed
Air shaft
Nuclear waste
shaft Underground
Buried and capped
Lowered down shaft
Ways to Improve Energy Efficiency

• Cogeneration – combines heat and power

• Two forms of energy (ex. steam and electricity) are
provided from the same fuel source. Used in Western
Europe, U.S. produces 9% of electricity using
cogeneration plants)
• Efficient electric motors
• High-efficiency lighting
• Increasing fuel economy
• Alternative vehicles
• Insulation
• Plug leaks
Hybrid and Fuel Cell Cars
• Hybrid cars still use traditional fossil fuels
– Energy otherwise wasted charges battery which assists
acceleration and hill climbing
– More efficient than internal combustion engine alone,
but still uses non-renewable resources
• Fuel cell cars not yet available
– Hydrogen gas is fuel
– Very efficient
– Low pollution
– Major infrastructure change
needed for fueling stations
Renewable energy sources

• Solar
• Flowing water
• Wind
• Biomass
• Geothermal
• Hydrogen
Using Solar Energy to Provide Heat

Passive solar heating Active solar heating

Using Solar Energy to Provide High-
Temperature Heat and Electricity
• Solar thermal systems
• Photovoltaic (PV) cells
Producing Electricity
from Moving Water
• Large-scale
hydropower
• Small-scale
hydropower
• Tidal power plant
• Wave power plant
Producing Electricity from Wind
Producing Energy from Biomass

• Biomass and biofuels

• Biomass plantations
• Crop residues
• Animal manure
• Biogas
• Ethanol
• Methanol
Geothermal Energy

• Geothermal heat pumps

• Geothermal exchange
• Dry and wet steam
• Hot water
• Molten rock (magma)
• Hot dry-rock zones
The Hydrogen Revolution

• Environmentally friendly
• Extracting hydrogen efficiently
• Storing hydrogen
• Fuel cells
Hydrogen
Trade-offs
Solutions: A Sustainable Energy
Strategy
 What Can You Do?

Energy Use and Waste

• Drive a car that gets at least 15 kilometers per liter (35 miles per
gallon) and join a carpool.
• Use mass transit, walking, and bicycling.
• Super-insulate your house and plug all air leaks.
• Turn off lights, TV sets, computers, and other electronic
equipment when they are not in use.
• Wash laundry in warm or cold water.
• Use passive solar heating.
• For cooling, open windows and use ceiling fans or whole-
house attic or window fans.
• Turn thermostats down in winter and up in summer.
• Buy the most energy-efficient homes, lights, cars, and
appliances available.
• Turn down the thermostat on water heaters to 43-49ºC (110-
120ºF) and insulate hot water heaters and pipes.