Energy Sources: Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, and Deep Sea Vent Communities, Lecture notes of History

Download Energy Sources: Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, and Deep Sea Vent Communities and more Lecture notes History in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Fossil Fuels, Chemistry of Fuels Energy sources • Wood—chemical energy stored by plants • Kinetic energy— – Water power to grind grain – Wind to pump water • Fossil fuels http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Sc ience/Physics-and-Chemistry/Sound-and- Light/Light-Waves/Light-Waves-018.html http://www.urbex.50megs.com/Spain/Cordob a/Cordoba.html http://www.adamandlyn.co.uk/country/greecewindmill.shtml Sun’s Energy • Radiant energy – Released by fusion – Hydrogen fused into Helium • 1.73 x 1017 watts received by Earth from Sun • 99+% of Earth’s energy • Converted by plants into chemical energy Photosynthesis 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + sun energy C6H12O6 + 3 O2 – Converts CO2 and H2O to sugar and O2 – Created the level of oxygen present in today’s atmosphere – Ancient algae in Archean and Proterozoic oceans released O2 by photosynthesis Energy and Chemical Reactions • Heat released or consumed in chemical reactions • Measured in calories – Food ‘calorie’ is a kilocalorie (kcal) – 1 Joule = 0.24 calories • Energy shown in equation • C3H8 + 5 O2 3 CO2 + 4 H2O + 526 kcal Reaction energy EXOTHERMIC heats up environment ENDOTHERMIC absorbs heat from environment Conservation of Energy • Energy is not created or destroyed • First Law of Thermodynamics Heat Flow • From objects with higher temperature to those with lower temperature • Second law of thermodynamics Implications of laws • Change form from high quality to lower quality – Chemical energy to heat energy – Friction: mechanical to heat • Energy wasted as frictional heat • Need to put energy in to ‘make’ cold 2 Fossil fuels • Burn readily • Reaction is oxidation • Release heat energy Fossil fuels • Coal • Petroleum • Natural Gas First law of thermodynamics • Conservation of energy • Cannot create or destroy energy • (But we can convert to less-useful form) Fossil fuels • Non renewable • From ancient organisms • Extracted from Earth Carboniferous Period Forest http://palaeos.com/Paleozoic/Carboniferous/Carboniferous.htm Coal formation 1 Coal formation 2 Coal formation 3 Coal formation 4 5 UNCONFORMITY TRAP • Reservoir rock tilted and eroded • Impermeable rock deposited above erosion surface Plummer, McGeary Physical Geology, 2nd, Wm. C. Brown Co., 1979 Natural Gas • Mostly methane CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2 H2O + heat • Excellent, clean-burning fuel • Raw material for plastics and other chemicals Petroleum • Replaced coal by about 1950 • Complex hydrocarbon molecules • Derived from fats • Combustion products are carbon dioxide and water Petroleum 2C8H18 + 25 O2 16 CO2 + 18 H2O • Also contains some sulfur compounds • Fuel oil is fairly clean • Burning gasoline results in smog – Internal combustion engines inefficient Petroleum Requirements • Source • Cooking • Reservoir • Trap American Oil Fields MAJOR OIL FIELDS IN NORTH AMERICA Plummer, McGeary Physical Geology, 2nd, Wm. C. Brown Co., 1979 TITUSVILLE, PA • Oil Creek Valley in the 1860s • Phillips well (rt) 4000 bbl/day • Woodford well (lt) 1500 bbl/day http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/pennsylvania/tarr_farm.html Texas Oil • Lucas Gusher, 1901 • Initial production 100,000 bbl/day • Salt dome traps http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/spindletop/spindletop.html Spindletop Salt Dome http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/geology/publications/bul/845/contents.htm 6 Boiler Avenue On Spindletop salt dome at Beaumont, Texas http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/spindletop/spindletop.html Signal Hill, Long Beach, CA 1932 http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/signal_hill/signal_hill2.html Drilling on the North Slope Plummer, McGeary Physical Geology, 2nd, Wm. C. Brown Co., 1979 Drilling in the North Sea Rocks and Fossils, Busbey, Doenraads, Willis and Roots, Fog City Press, 1997 Top 10 Countries— Oil Statistics • Reserves • http://www.nationmaster.com/graph- T/ene_oil_res&int=10 • Comsumption • http://www.nationmaster.com/graph- T/ene_oil_con&int=10 Source of energy not from Sun • Rare deep sea vent communities • Sulfurous hotsprings supports bacteria • Other organisms subsist on bacteria • Larger creatures can survive on the bacteria-eating organisms Black Smoker http://www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/Biology/ Vent community http://www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/Biology/ Tube worm and crab http://www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/Biology/