Lecture 19: Energy and Fossil Fuels

Learning Objectives: What are the different types of energy resources? How does energy use in the developed countries compare to the developing countries? What is coal and how does it form? What is petroleum and natural gas and how does it form? Where are fossil fuel resources found? What kinds of energy do we use in the electricity and transportation sectors? Where does the U.S. get oil from? What is the future of fossil fuels? This is the last lecture!

What are the Different Types of Energy Resources?

Non-renewable: resources produced by slow geologic processes Used faster than replaced Includes fossil fuels: coal, oil, natural gas Biogenic remains transformed into coal (solid), oil (liquid), and gas by geologic processes over millions of years Burning fossil fuels releases solar energy trapped as carboncarbon bonds in organic matter by photosynthesis

What are the Different Types of Energy Resources?

Alternative: resources currently under-used and capable of supplying more of our energy needs Large non-renewables: nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, geothermal Supply large relative to demand Renewables: hydropower, wind power, solar power, biomass replenished at rates > consumption rate
Alternative Non-renewable but underused Renewable Nuclear fission Biomass Geothermal Hydropower Nuclear fusion Wind power Solar power

Fossil (nonrenewable) Coal Oil Nat. Gas

World Energy Resource Base

What Types of Energy Resources Are We Currently Using?

Fossil fuels: 80% of global energy use Mostly used by people in developed countries

What are the Differences in Energy Use Between the Developed and the Developing Countries?
Developing countries non-commercial biomass fuels Firewood, charcoal, animal waste, crop residues Cooking and space heating Developed countries Fossil fuels Coal, oil, natural gas Transportation and electricity generation

What are the Differences in Energy Use Between the Developed and the Developing Countries?
Disproportionate energy use in developed countries Demand for energy growing quickly in developing countries Population US Energy Use

20% All Other Developed

All Developing 75%

US 25%

All Developing 30%

All Other Developed 45%

What are the Differences in Energy Use Between the Developed and the Developing Countries?
Iran South Korea United Kingdom

Total CO2 Emissions -2007 Ten Largest Emitters

Canada Germany Japan Russia

India United States China 0 500 1000 Millions of Metric Tons 1500 2000

What are the Differences in Energy Use Between the Developed and the Developing Countries?
Per person (per capita) basis U.S. emits more CO2 than any other country 13 times those of India; 3-4 times those of China, Iran 2 times that of other developed counties (UK, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia) Only Canadian per capita emissions approach U.S. rate
India China Iran United Kingdom Germany Japan South Korea Russia Canada United States 0 2

Per Capita Emissions

Metric Tons

What is the Relationship between Energy Consumption and Economic Productivity?

6 Per Capita CO2 Emissions metric tons 5 4 3 South Korea Russia UK Iran China India

Carbon Intensive (developing countries)

United States Canada Japan Germany

2
1 0 0

Carbon Efficient (developed countries) U.S. and Canada unusually carbon intensive for developed countries
20000 30000 40000 Per Capita GDP $ USD 50000

10000

What is Coal?
Coal: plant remains - peat Depositional environment: swamps, lagoons, deltas Must be anaerobic to limit decomposition

How Does Coal Form?

Compaction and dewatering by burial beneath additional sediment transforms peat into coal

Found as seams in sedimentary sequences that include highly productive, anaerobic terrestrial environments coal swamps
Widespread during Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Periods Carboniferous Period

North America and Europe

What are the Different Types of Coal?

Rank: % carbon, higher rank = more energy when burned Increases from lignite to bituminous to anthracite Sulfur Content: low (0 - 1%), medium (1.1 - 3%), or high (> 3%) Low-sulfur coal causes less air pollution when burned
Anthracite coal high rank and low sulfur most valuable
Bituminous sulfur rich Sulfur Content (%) Low Med. High (0-1) (1-3) (3+) 97.1 2.9 ---29.8 26.8 43.4 99.6 0.4 ---90.7 9.3 ----

Subbituminous and lignite low rank

Rank Anthracite (high) Bituminous coal Subbituminous coal Lignite (low)

What are the U.S. Coal Resources?

Sizable coal reserves (1/4 of global total) Use of domestic coal will increase as oil reserves are depleted U.S. coal deposits by rank - any problem with increased use of domestic coal?

What do We Use Coal For?

Mostly for electricity (~50% of electricity from coal) Adaptation to modern transportation fleet would require conversion to liquid or gas Carbon emissions higher per unit than oil or natural gas

What are the Consequences of Using Coal?

Land disturbance large scale open pit and strip mining Water pollution acid mine drainage

Air pollution and acid rain from coal burning sulphide minerals and metals (cadmium, mercury, arsenic) Options: treat before burning or scrub emissions after burning

What are the Consequences of Using Coal?

Where Coal is King West Virginia

mountaintop removal strip mining

coal mine acid drainage

What are Hydrocarbons?

Compounds of carbon and hydrogen Natural gas: light, volatile hydrocarbons methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10) Petroleum: liquid of many different heavy hydrocarbons (5C+) Separated at refineries to make: gasoline, kerosene, diesel, heavy fuel oils, lubricants, tars
Fraction Gases Gasoline Kerosene Diesel Heavy gas oil Lubricants Tars Number of Carbon Atoms 1-4 5-10 11-13 14-18 19-25 26-40 >40 Percentage of Crude Oil 2 27 13 12 10 20 18

What Products are Made from Crude Oil?

Crude oil yields mix of petroleum products Exact proportion depends on composition of crude Light, sweet crude has higher proportion of light hydrocarbons

Yields more motor fuels and less heavy oils and tars

How does Petroleum and Gas Form?

Burial of organic rich sediments at high T/P over millions of years Different hydrocarbons produced at different depths:
<1 km: biogenic gas (methane) by decomposing bacteria 3 km: start of thermogenic gas and oil generation by physical and chemical reactions 3-6 km: Oil Window: depth range where T/P allows formation of heavy (liquid) hydrocarbons > 6 km: only thermogenic gas because only light hydrocarbons produced at higher T/P

How do Oil and Gas Reserves Form?

1. Rapid burial of organic rich sediment, limited aerobic decomposition 2. Biogenic gas (methane) in anaerobic sediment to 1 km 3. Thermogenic oil and gas at 36 km 4. Thermogenic gas at depths > 6 km 5. Migration: hydrocarbons lighter than surrounding geologic materials, rise through porous and permeable rocks 6. Accumulation: petroleum and gas trapped by impermeable rocks over time to form reserve, prevents continued migration and escape at surface oil and gas reserves generally found together because oil and gas have common process of formation

How do Oil and Gas Reserves Form?

These geologic materials must be found together to produce a petroleum and gas reserve: Source rock: fine-grained organic-rich sedimentary rock yields hydrocarbons when heated Reservoir rock: porous and permeable rock stores hydrocarbons produced by heating source rock Cap rock: impermeable rock prevents continued migration and escape Oil trap: geologic structure (fold, dome, fault) traps and concentrates hydrocarbons in localized area

What Types of Geologic Structures can Act as Oil Traps?

Anticlines upward folds in rocks Salt domes salt ductile and flows under pressure produces domes in sediments with thick evaporites Fault offset porous reservoir rock against impermeable cap rock Angular unconformity tilted reservoir rock overlain by undeformed, impermeable cap rock

What Types of Geologic Structures can Act as Oil Traps?

Oil Field on Crest of Fold
Anticlines and domes with impermeable rock layers make excellent oil traps

Oil (lighter than rock) rises to top of anticline or dome

If impermeable strata are present rising oil trapped near crest

Accumulates to form reserve

What Types of Geologic Structures can Act as Oil Traps?

Salt Domes
Evaporite beds compressed by overlying rocks get pushed upwards Salt ductile, flows under pressure, lighter than surrounding rock

Forms dome that warps overlying strata May form oil reserves if warped strata include petroleum-forming source rocks Good sources of salt and sulfur

How is Oil and Gas Recovered?

Oil found in structural traps between heavier water and lighter gas Puts oil under pressure Primary recovery: pumping under natural reservoir pressure Typically < 25% recovery Enhanced recovery: inject gas, water, or brines to increase reservoir pressure Up to 5060% recovery

What are Unconventional Petroleum and Gas Resources?

Oil Shale: fine-grained, organic rich sedimentary rock that yields hydrocarbons when heated Oil shale = source rock not yet heated geologically Economic viability tied to price of cheaper to extract crude oil

Green River Formation Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

High grade oil shale 25 gallons (~0.6 barrel) oil per ton of rock Unappraised or low grade

What are Unconventional Petroleum and Gas Resources?

Tar Sands Heavy hydrocarbons too viscous to migrate Recovery by strip mining or steam injection to mobilize petroleum energy and water intensive

Athabasca Tar Sands, Alberta

What are Unconventional Petroleum and Gas Resources?

Methane hydrates Biogenic methane in deep-sea sediments Cold temperatures and high pressures form solid methane ice with water Stability is temperature sensitive May be alternative energy source in future if we can recover without destabilization

What are the Environmental Consequences of Oil and Gas Use?

Land disturbance access and drilling issues Waste products from drilling saline groundwaters, natural gas

Spills during production, transport, refinement

Air pollution, smog, acid rain sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides Climate change carbon dioxide, methane

Petroleum
Billions of barrels

Where are Fossil Fuel Reserves Found?

Petroleum concentrated in Middle East

Natural Gas
Trillions of cubic feet

Natural Gas concentrated in Middle East and former Soviet Union

Coal
Billions of tons

Coal
more evenly distributed large reserves in Europe, U.S., China

Where are Fossil Fuel Reserves Found?

Coal - widely distributed in US and western Canada Oil - western Gulf Coast, southern and western Plains, southern CA, AK North Slope, Atlantic Canada

Gas assoc. with oil and coal beds

Tar sands- Alberta Oil shale - Green River Basin WY, UT, CO High potential areas offshore California, Arctic, eastern Canada

Whos Using Fossil Fuels?

Another view of global distribution of CO2 emissions scaled based on contribution to total global CO2 emissions 1900-1999

How has Use of Fossil Fuels Changed Over Time?

Fossil Fuel Emissions (Gt. C/yr.) 7

6
5 4

Total

3
2 1 1750 1800 1850 1900 Year 1950

Oil Coal Gas

2000

What is the U.S. Energy Supply?

Total

Renewable 2%

Electricity

Transportation

Gas 2%

Petroleum 96%

What is the U.S. Energy Supply?

85% of energy from fossil fuels Remaining 15% mostly hydro and nuclear power Other sources currently insignificant on national scale Wind power, geothermal, biomass important on local scales

Large reserves of coal: mostly low rank or high sulfur Domestic oil insufficient to meet current needs and declining since 1970

Where does YOUR Electricity Come From?

PacifiCorp: Pacific Power Rocky Mountain Power

85.9% Fossil
Coal Natural Gas Hydro Biomass Wind Other

11.3% Natural Gas

14.1% Renewable

74.6% Coal

12% Hydro

0.7% Biomass

0.7% Wind
0.7% Other

Where Does the United States Get Oil From?

Barrels % OPEC* 1,743,143,000 28.0% Persian Gulf 616,371,000 9.9% Saudi Arabia (4) 366,605,000 5.9% Iraq (9) 164,357,000 2.6% Kuwait (14) 66,471,000 1.1% Other OPEC 1,127,395,000 18.1% Venezuela (3) 387,856,000 6.2% Nigeria (5) 295,310,000 4.7% Algeria (7) 180,018,000 2.9% Angola (8) 167,877,000 2.7% Ecuador (13) 67,741,000 1.1% Non OPEC 2,523,967,000 40.6% Canada (1) 904,914,000 14.5% Mexico (2) 441,648,000 7.1% Russia (6) 205,525,000 3.3% Brazil (10) 112,689,000 1.8% Columbia (11) 100,867,000 1.6% United Kingdom (12) 89,332,000 1.4% All others (74 countries) 567,743,000 9.1% Total Imports 4,267,110,000 68.6% U.S. Production 1,956,597,100 31.4% Total Consumption 6,223,707,100 100.0%

Domestic oil production only able to meet 32% of U.S. demand Oil imported from 88 countries to meet U.S. oil demand Value of 2007 Oil imports: $331 billion (47% of trade deficit)

Biggest imports: Canada, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria

Only 10% of U.S. oil comes from Persian Gulf

Most (59%) Persian Gulf oil exported to Japan

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (data for 2009)

What is the Future of Fossil Fuels?

Finite, nonrenewable resource that will be depleted Question is when? Current global oil consumption rate: 22 billion barrel/year Global oil reserves: 990 billion barrels Using simple math: supply will last ~45 years Estimates vary widely: 20-200 years Uncertainty in amount of oil remaining, amount recoverable, and future rates of oil consumption

Global coal reserves: 10x conventional oil and gas combined At present rates of consumption will last about 200 years

What is Peak Oil?

Time when production rate reaches maximum and starts to decline Not end of oil, but end of CHEAP oil

When? Most analysts predict 2006-2010

Most optimistic estimates predict peak oil no later than 2030

Future production as predicted in late 1990s

50

WorldOil Production with Year of1960-2008 World Oil Production Production Peak
Total Non-OPEC - 2004

40

Million Barrels Per Day

30

Total OPEC - ?
20

10

USA- 1970

Former USSR - 1987

Canada + Mexico - 2006

0 1960 1970 1980 Year

North Sea - 1999

1990 2000 2010

What is OPEC?
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela Later joined by Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola
Between mid-1970s and early-1980s OPEC production largely controlled prices Prices collapsed in 1986 with development of oil production in Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Alaska

Is OPEC Production Near its Peak?

2000: OPEC claimed capacity to keep price around $25/ barrel 2007: OPEC claimed capacity to keep price at $50-60/ barrel November 2007: Saudi Arabia (only OPEC member with surplus capacity) announced no increase in production Oil prices peaked at $147/barell before global recession When global economic growth resumes, prices will increase Growth in oil demand no longer driven by United States Instead driven by new demand in large population developing countries China, India

Is Domestic Drilling a Solution?

Discoveries of new domestic petroleum reserves peaked in 1969 U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 By 2005 U.S. oil production was 50% of 1970 peak Bringing remaining reserves into production (ANWR) will be insufficient to meet demand and have little to no effect on prices
10 8 6 4 2 0 1900 1920 1940 1960 Year 1980 2000 2020

Millions of Barrels per Day

Domestic Oil Production 1900-2009

Is Domestic Drilling a Solution?

Best available estimates: 6-16 billion barrels of oil recoverable from ANWR At current consumption ANWR = 1 to 2.5 year supply of oil At peak production rates (~15 years after drilling approved) ANWR would supply 3 to 10% of U.S. oil needs Equivalent to amount of oil that can could be saved by raising average fuel economy by 1 to 2.5 mpg Addressing demand more effective than addressing supply Drilling for oil in ANWR is probably inevitable market value of ~$ 1 trillion pressure to drill will increase as price increases supported by majority of Alaskans

What Energy Sources will be Able to Meet Future Demands?

Alternatives most widely used today: Hydropower, nuclear fission Probably not be able to grow to meet additional demand: 1. Strong resistance to new nuclear power plants and dams 2. No solution yet to problem of radioactive waste

What Energy Sources will be Able to Meet Future Demands?

Our future energy needs can only be met by More use of renewables Addressing both supply AND demand Improve efficiency and promote conservation Significant contribution from nuclear power with spent fuel reprocessing (not disposal by geologic storage)

Terms to Know
Renewable Non-renewable Fossil Fuels Coal Oil Natural Gas Petroleum Alternative energy resources Peat Carboniferous Period Rank Lignite Bituminous Anthracite Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbon generation Biogenic gas Thermogenic gas Oil Window Source rock Reservoir rock Cap rock Oil trap Anticline Oil shale Tar sand Methane hydrate Primary recovery Enhanced recovery Peak Oil

Questions for Review

1. Identify the differences between renewable energy sources, non-renewable energy sources, and alternative energy sources. 2. How does energy use differ between the developed and developing countries? 3. Describe the formation of a coal deposit. 4. What are the different types of coal and where are they found? 5. How do oil deposits form? Why are oil deposits commonly associated with natural gas deposits? 6. Where are coal, oil, and natural gas resources found? 7. Where do we get energy from and what do we use it for? How has our use of fossil fuels changed over time? 8. Where does the United States get oil from? 9. How has domestic (U.S.) oil production changed over time? 10. What is peak oil and where will we get our energy from after peak oil? 11. What is OPEC?