The document discusses different energy sources including fossil fuels like petroleum, natural gas, and coal as well as nuclear power. It provides pros and cons for each energy source. It also discusses climate change and reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that find human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are very likely the dominant cause of warming since the mid-20th century.

1. • Almost ALL energy ultimately comes from
the sun, either directly or indirectly

2. Carbon cycle

3. Fig 15.3—Fossil fuel formation

4. Alberta tar sands

5. Fig 15.10—Alberta tar sands

6. Keystone XL pipeline

7. Petroleum/Crude Oil
• Oil in mud or clay (oil shale) difficult to
remove; clay particles so close together
• Oil in sandstone easier to extract; sand
particles not held as closely together as
clay
• Ample supply for at least 40 years

8. Petroleum/Crude Oil—Pros
• oil is relatively cheap
• easily transported
• high net energy yield
• efficient distribution system

9. Petroleum/Crude Oil—Cons
• dependence on oil
• waste
• discourages use and exploration of
alternative sources of energy
• releases CO2 and other pollutants

10. Fig 15.9—Hubbert’s prediction

11. Fig 15.7—distillation of petroleum products

12. Fig 15.8—uses of petroleum products

13. Natural Gas
• composed mainly of methane
• should last at least 50 years, depending
on Marcellus shale estimates
• one of the cleanest burning of all fossil
fuels
• often found together with oil

14. Marcellus shale

15. Hydraulic fracturing
• Also called “fracking”
• Concerns about contamination of ground
water and other types of pollution

16. Natural Gas—Pros
• as cheap as oil
• easily transported
• high net energy yield
• burns cleaner

17. Natural Gas—Cons
• must be converted to liquid form for
transport (reduces net energy yield)
• methane leaks

18. Coal—Pros
• known reserves should last at least 200
years at current rate of use
• high net energy yield

19. West Virginia strip mine

20. Coal—Cons
• accidents and diseases
• harms land
• dirtiest fossil fuel to burn
• high in CO2 and other pollutants

21. Electricity generation in the US

22. Fig 15.12—carbon capture

23. Is there such a thing as “clean coal”?
• Involves carbon capture and sequestration
• Other impurities like sulfur, which
contributes to acid rain, must be removed
• Still need to dispose of ash

24. Fig 15.18—Nuclear fission

25. Nuclear power—Pros
• no air pollutants
• much less CO2 than fossil fuels
• water pollution and land disruption are
minimal

26. Nuclear power—Cons
• uranium remains suitable for about 3
years, then needs to be replaced
• fuel rods are highly radioactive and few
waste facilities exist
• low net energy yield but improving
• terror, nuclear weapons threat

27. Fig 15.19—light water reactor

28. Greenhouse effect
• Main greenhouse gas: carbon dioxide

30. Fig 14.10a—global temp change

31. Fig 14.10b—Northern Hemisphere temp changes

32. Climate change—what we know
• Carbon dioxide levels have fluctuated;
these levels correlate well with changes in
surface temps

33. Fig 14.7—CO2, methane, temps

35. Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)
• Established in 1988 by the World
Meteorological Organization and the
United Nations Environment Program
• IPCC does not conduct research but
assesses available peer reviewed and
published scientific/technical literature on
climate change
• Produces reports about every 5 years

36. IPCC reports
• 2001 report: In the light of new evidence and
taking into account the remaining uncertainties,
most of the observed warming over the last 50
years is likely (66-90% chance) to have been
due to the increase in greenhouse gas
concentrations
• 2007 report: Most of the observed increase in
global average temperatures since the mid-20th
century is very likely (90-99% chance) due to
the observed increase in anthropogenic
greenhouse gas concentrations