ENERGY RESOURCES

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ENERGY RESOURCES

• Fossil Fuels (Chapter 13)
• Alternative Sources (Chapter 14)
• Nuclear
• Solar
• Geothermal
• Hydropower
• Wind
• Biomass

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Coal

• Provides about 20 of U.S. energy supply
• More than 50 of U.S. electric power generation
• Formation of Coal Deposits
• Coal is formed from remains of land plants, not
  from marine organisms
• Swamp settings ideal with abundant trees and
  leaves
• Requires anaerobic conditions to convert the
  fallen trees and dead leaves into coal

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Figure 13.15
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World Coal Reserves (anthracote bituminous)
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Figure 13.18
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Limitations on Coal Use

• Coal is not clean
• To mine
• To burn
• To handle
• Coal can be converted to a liquid fuel by
  liquefaction
• Coal can be converted to a gas by gasification

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Environmental Impacts of Coal Use

• Produces abundant carbon dioxide when burned
• Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas
• Liberates sulfur as sulfur dioxide into
  atmosphere upon burning
• Acid Rain sulfur dioxide is toxic and complexes
  with atmospheric water to produce sulfuric acid
• Ash is liberated from coal upon burning
• Ash is as much as 20 of the volume of coal
• Often contains toxic metal such as selenium and
  uranium
• Coal mining poses further problems safety and
  environmental issues

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Coal-Mining Hazards and Environmental Impacts

• Underground mining of coal is dangerous and
  expensive
• Mines can collapse
• Miners contract black lung disease from coal dust
  or cancer from radon gas
• Explosion occur from pockets of natural gas
• Strip mining exposes the coal to the weather
• Rain water and air comes in contact with sulfur
  in the coal beds or waste rock produces
  sulfuric acid
• Pyrite water oxygen sulfuric acid
  hydrated iron oxide
• Coal mine reclamation is expensive and time
  consuming

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What is Environmental Geology?

• the application of geological data and
  information for people's needs and the
  improvement of our environment
• How to minimize impacts from geologic hazards
• How to find and use resources wisely water,
  minerals, soil, energy, etc.
• How to dispose of waste wisely solid,
  wastewater, etc.

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Our approach

• Examine case studies to illustrate larger
  concepts
• Local
• San Diego
• Salton Sea
• National and International
• Past present-----gt future

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Fundamental take home messages from this course

• A) THE EARTH SYSTEM
• the earth is a closed system (material)
• materials and energy tend to cycle from one
  reservoir to another
• the physical structure and chemical composition
  of the earth affect our lives in many different
  ways
• Geologic processes and human being operate on
  different time scales.
• Humans have become a geologic force that
  dramatically alter the earth system.
• We still have much to learn about the functioning
  of Earth Systems.

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Fundamental take home messages from this course

• B) GEOLOGIC HAZARDS
• Hazardous geologic processes are NATURAL and have
  always existed.
• We are anthropocentric in that we define earth
  processes as hazardous only when they have direct
  negative impact on human interests.
• Human technology has influenced (both positively
  and negatively) the impact of geologic hazards.
• Risk is characteristic of the human-planet
  relationship.
• The risk to humans from geologic hazards can be
  minimized by human behavior.
• Human perceptions of the risk of geologic hazards
  depends on many factors including culture.

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Fundamental take home messages from this course

• C) EARTH RESOURCES
• We are fundamentally dependent on Earth resources
  for our lives and the conduct of modern society.
• Earth resources are limited.
• Earth resources can be managed properly.
• Attitudes about the management and utilization of
  earth resources are culturally based.

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Fundamental take home messages from this course

• D) WASTE
• Human activities generate waste.
• Human actives can pollute the environment.
• There is no away to throw or flush things to.
• Humans have become a geologic force to be
  reckoned with.
• Humans can minimize detrimental effects of waste
  through behavior.

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Fundamental take home messages from this course

• E) THE HUMAN-PLANET RELATIONSHIP
• Managing protecting the environment means
  managing human behavior.
• Restoration preservation are part of the
  human-planet relationship.