ENERGY Renewable & Non-renewable

History Sources used by our ancestors: wood whale oil dried dung (animal feces) peat – organic matter in bog areas mainly renewable sources

Non-renewable Energy Fossil Fuels: formed from the decomposition of plants and animals over 300 million years ago heat and pressure from sedimentation and plate movement turned organic material into peat, then into carbon rock (coal) or liquid (petroleum) once removed from earth, it can’t be replaced most common energy source on earth (75% of world’s energy in 2005, )

Burning Fossil Fuels releases the carbon trapped in the fuel into the atmosphere as CO 2 contributes to greenhouse effect, acid rain and smog (health issues) can run out many experts think we’re already past peak oil

Coal primary energy source from 1880’s to 1950’s produces most CO 2 and SO 2 of all fossil fuels (dirtiest) open pit mines alter the landscape dangerous career (underground mining) YouTube - CCL Video Blog -- Santee Cooper Coal Plant YouTube - CCL Video Blog -- Santee Cooper Coal Plant YouTube - Coal Power Electrical Generation from Fossil Fuels Electrical Generation from Fossil Fuels

Clean Coal Technologies 1. Coal Washing removes minerals by mixing crushed coal with liquid allows impurities to separate and settle 2. Coal Scrubbers remove SO 2 by spraying emissions with limestone and water forms synthetic gypsum (found in drywall)

3. Electrostatic precipitators remove particles that aggravate asthma charges particles with an electrical field and then captures them on collection plates 4. Gasification avoids burning coal altogether. steam and hot pressurized air forces carbon molecules apart resulting syngas, (CO & H) is cleaned and burned in a gas turbine to make electricity HowStuffWorks "What is clean coal technology?"

5. Carbon capture & storage (CCS/Sequestration) removes CO 2 before its burned collects it into secure containers stores it either in earth or oceans until CO 2 levels in atmosphere fall again Underground Storage: inject CO 2 into the earth where it gets absorbed by unminable coal seams a process called enhanced oil recovery already uses CO 2 to maintain pressure and improve extraction in oil reservoirs.

Problems: Leakage – some CCS sites have experience leakage, resulting in deaths of animals and people Cost – will probably cause energy prices to rise Ocean storage: injects liquid CO 2 into waters 500 to 3,000 meters deep where it dissolves under pressure slightly decreases pH and potentially harms marine habitats Carbon Capture & Sequestation Video

Petroleum – 2 kinds 1. Crude Oil – yellowish black liquid drilled from underground reservoirs refined into different types of fuel inexpensive to refine and transport approx 86 million barrels oil/day extracted burning produces CO 2 oil spills threaten ecosystems

Peak Oil: point in time when max rate of oil extraction is reached starts to decline after the peak some projections say peak happened in 2006 other project it to hit in 2020

Oil Sands (Tar Sands) mix of clay, sand, water and bitumen (black, sulphuric, oil) removed from the surface by using huge amounts of energy for steam injection and refining generates 2 to 4 times the amount of greenhouse gases per barrel Tar Sands Watch

2. Natural Gas mixture of gases incl. methane & propane burns more efficiently than oil produces 1/3 less CO 2 cheaper and easier to transport than oil main problem is flaring, burning off unprocessed natural gas to avoid explosions due to gas build up releases hydrogen sulphide and CO 2 YouTube - natural gas flaring

Nuclear Energy neither renewable or non-renewable created by releasing the energy in the nucleus of a uranium atom can either be fission (break nucleus apart), or fusion (join nuclei together to create larger atom) power plants use fission to make electricity like coal or natural gas burning power plants

Advantages: creates large amounts of electricity no fossil fuels are burned so no GG released uranium plentiful in Canada inexpensive to mine

Disadvantages: radioactive wastes that may emit radiation for thousands of years storage of nuclear wastes? expensive to build maintenance costs of reactors safety concerns (Chernobyl exposed 600,000 ppl to radiation causing over 4000 deaths)

Canada: 15% of Canada’s energy from nuclear 16 reactors provide 50% of power for Ont govt has proposed building several new plants Sask is world’s largest uranium provider (21%)