Transcript Non-renewable Energy slides

Non-renewable energy resources
natural gas
oil
•
coal
nuclear
U.S. Energy FAQs
Natural gas
Nuclear…
…not nucular!
Extracting requires digging
holes…big holes
truck
Giant holes!!!
Equipment to do the job.
car
Why do you think this is being
done to the Earth?
IN THE NAME OF
AND
MINERAL RESOURCE
• Material found naturally in or on the crust
of the Earth that can be extracted and
processed into products useful to humans
at an affordable cost $$$
NONRENEWABLE MINERAL
RESOURCES
• Metallic mineral resources
– iron, copper, aluminum
• Non-metallic mineral
resources
– Salt, clay, sand,
phosphates, soil
• Energy resources
– Coal, oil, natural gas,
uranium
ORE
• Rock that contains enough of 1+ metallic
minerals that can be mined for a profit.
– We use and discard materials made from
ore…
– Now we are learning to reuse or recycle
products made from ore and be less wasteful
overall
2 Categories of Nonrenewable
Mineral Resources
• Identified resources
– Deposits with a known
location, quantity, and
quality
OR
– Deposits based on
direct geological
evidence and
measurements
• Undiscovered
resources
– Potential supplies are
assumed to exist via
geological knowledge
and theory
HOWEVER…
– Their location,
quantity, and quality
are unknown
What about the
RESERVES
An identified usable
nonrenewable
mineral resource that
can be extracted
profitably ($$$) at
current prices
?
OTHER RESOURCES
•An identified or
undiscovered resource
NOT classified as
reserves (not
profitable)
•How can we get more
reserves?
How are these buried resources
found?
• Aerial planes and satellite images
reveal outcrops of certain minerals
• Radiation measuring equipment detects
deposits of radioactive metals (Uranium)
• A magnetometer measures changes in
the Earth’s magnetic field (iron ore)
• A gravimeter measures differences in
gravity (detects density differences
between ore and surrounding rock)
• Drill a deep well to extract minerals
Still looking for deposits…
• Place sensors which detect electrical
resistance or radioactivity in existing wells
to find oil and natural gas
• Perform seismic surveys on land and sea
by sending shock waves to obtain
information of buried rock layers
• Perform chemical analysis of water and
plants to detect deposits of ground minerals
that leached into nearby bodies of water or
have been absorbed by plant tissues
Removal of mineral deposits
depend on…
&
• Deep or shallow
deposit?
• Flat or hilly terrain
•Coal, iron,
silt, clay,
uranium, oil,
etc.
SURFACE MINING
-Used to remove
• Mechanical equipment
removes soil and rock
(overburden) and throws
away this waste material
(spoil).
OPEN-PIT MINING
Dig a hole and remove ores - iron, copper,
sand, gravel and stone (limestone &
marble)
Tilcon
http://www.tilconny.com/
DREDGING
• Use of chain buckets and draglines to scrape
up underwater mineral deposits
Dredging Equipment
AREA STRIP MINING
• Overburden on flat terrain
is removed
• Mineral deposits are
removed
• Trench filled with
overburden and a new
cut is made parallel to the
previous cut (and
repeat…)
CONTOUR STRIP MINING
• Terraces are cut into
a hillside or
mountainous terrain
and overburden is
removed
• Coal is extracted and
the overburden from
the new terrace is
dumped onto the one
below it.
A Picture of Contour Strip
Mining
Mountaintop Removal
• Explosives, shovels, and draglines remove
the tops of mountains and expose the coal
beneath
• Environmental Damage?
• As of 2002 – Pres. Bush allowed rock and
dirt from this type of mining of coal to be
dumped into streams and valleys.
WHAT are the pros and cons of
surface mining?
• PROS
– QUICKER
– CHEAPER
– LESS DANGEROUS
THAN SUB-SURFACE
MINING
• CONS
– LOTS OF HABITAT
DEGREDATION
– LOTS OF WASTE
MATERIAL =
USELESS
OVERBURDEN =
SPOIL
• The Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 requires mining
companies to restore most surface mined
land to be used for the same purpose as
before it was mined
• More than 6000 abandoned coal and
metal mines have not been restored (an
area of land about the size of Virginia)
AND
• Larger areas of abandoned rock quarries
and gravel and sand mines have not yet
been reclaimed!
• WHY NOT???
SUBSURFACE MINING
– Used to remove
• Dig a deep vertical shaft
• Blast away tunnels and chambers
to get to the deposit.
• Machines remove the ore and
coal and bring it to the surface.
• the sand hog project
Oil and Natural Gas
Natural Gas
Nuclear Power
What are the pros and cons of
subsurface mining?
• PROS
– Less habitat degr. B/c
less land is used on
top
– 1/10 land is disrupted
as surface mining
– Less waste produced
– No need to fill
in/reclaim area
• CONS
– INJURY rate VERY
HIGH!
– Poor air quality =
many respiratory
infections
– VERY EXPENSIVE
– Land above you can
collapse and you could
die b.c.of explosives
What are the ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS of Mining?
Scarring of the land surface
 Consumes a LOT of energy to find, extract
and transport mineral resources
 Collapse or subsidence of land above
underground mines resulting in

– Tilted homes and buildings
– Sewage lines crack
– Gas mains break
– Groundwater systems are disrupted
There’s more…


Toxic chemicals are emitted into the
atmosphere, (more than any other industry)
Acid mine drainage




Carries sulfuric acid to nearby streams and enters
groundwater reserves
Contaminates water supplies
Destroys aquatic life
Wildlife exposed to toxic mining wastes
More Environmental Impacts


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Piles of waste are called tailings
After the wastes are removed the ore is smelted to
separate the metal from the other elements in the ore.
These smelters give off a LOT of air pollutants that
negatively impact the plants and soil surrounding the
area
Water pollution is also ever-present which produces
liquid and sold hazardous wastes that needs to be
disposed of properly.
Technology to the rescue:
• Reduce pollution from smelting
• Lower production costs of getting the
minerals
• Saving $ on cleanup costs
• Decrease liability for damages
TaDa…The Final Product
• Pure metal is produced from smelting
• Desired products are manufactured
• Product is used and then what???
To SUMMARIZE…
•
•
•
•
•
Remove and process ores
Make metals (uses a LOT of ENERGY)
Air and water gets polluted
GHG’s released into the atmosphere
We get the products we WANT…or do we
NEED them?
• New advances in tech. arise and we
demand bigger, smaller, better, faster
products…and so the cycle continues…