1. Chapter 13: Energy Resources

2. Energy - Introduction U.S. oil consumption  ~ 22 million barrels/day
Exxon’s, Girassol Field, Angola
Hubbard’s “Peak Oil”; global vs. U.S. production
Energy future  hydrogen?

3. Girassol Offshore Field
Girassol field  Angola, Africa
Discovered in 1996, Elf Exploration Angola
Offshore, deep water field  4500 ft. deep
~100 miles offshore

4. Girassol Oil hosted in  sandstone reservoirs ~3000 ft. below seafloor
Outer edge of Congo River delta  organic rich sediment
Produces ~200,000 barrels/day
$2.7 billion development costs
Total reserves est. ~750+ million barrels

8. M. King Hubbard’s global “peak oil” prediction (1956), predicted U. S
M. King Hubbard’s global “peak oil” prediction (1956), predicted U.S. peak between

10. Energy Resources Chapter Objectives Fossil Fuels
Non-fossil fuel energy resources
Environmental considerations; extraction & waste products

11. I. Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels  hydrocarbon-based energy sources from organic-rich sedimentary deposits
Petroleum, natural gas, coal

12. I. Fossil Fuels Hydrocarbons & Petroleum
Simple to complex, H-C based molecules
Table 14.1
Crude oil (petroleum) is refined (cracking) into various compounds
Gasoline is a product of the refining- cracking process

14. I. Fossil Fuels B. Geologic Origin of Petroleum
5 main “steps or conditions” needed
Source rock  rich in organics
Heating to “oil window” needed
~50-150oC = oF
3-5 km = 1-3 miles burial

15. Geologic origin of petroleum
3. Reservoir rock & fluid migration
4. Caprock needed  prevents leakage
5. Geologic trap  geologic structures

18. Figure 14. 2: (a and b) Common structural oil traps
Figure 14.2: (a and b) Common structural oil traps. (c) Stratigraphic oil traps.
Fig. 14-2, p. 416

19. I. Fossil Fuels C. Oil Production Exploration
Identify targets via geology
Field surveys
2. Drilling
Vertical vs. slant vs. horizontal (directional) & multilateral

20. Modern Exploration

23. Figure 14.5: Oil in an anticline is driven by gas pressure from above and by buoyant water pressure from below.
Fig. 14-5, p. 417

25. Figure 14.7: Multilateral drilling from an offshore platform allows many oil-producing zones to be tapped from one platform. In this illustration, four zones are tapped by lateral horizontal pipes.
Fig. 14-7, p. 418

26. Modern Exploration Drilling

27. Offshore drilling

29. I. Fossil Fuels
3. Pumping

30. I. Fossil Fuels 4. Secondary Recovery
Extraction of remaining petroleum after standard recovery
Thermal  steam injection
Fire flooding  air + fire = heat
Water injection (washing)
Miscible  light gas mixtures or CO2

31. Figure 14. 8: Secondary recovery
Figure 14.8: Secondary recovery. Steam, air, carbon dioxide, or chemicals dissolved in water are injected into a sluggishly producing formation in order to stimulate the flow of oil to extraction wells.
Fig. 14-8, p. 418

32. Crude  refining  gasoline, etc….
I. Fossil Fuels
5. Delivery & Refining
Transport of crude to refineries
Pipelines vs. supertankers
Refining  converting petroleum crude into various hydrocabon compounds:
Crude  refining  gasoline, etc….

34. BP, Gulf Oil Leak Disaster
Deepwater Horizon
Deep water drilling (exploration) ~5000’
Blow out  explosion & fire  Apr. 20th, 2011
Contained/capped  July 15th
Officially sealed, Sept. 20th, 2011
11 dead

35. BP, Gulf Oil Leak Disaster
Leak  ~35,000-60,000 barrels/day
2.5 million gallons/day max. est.
Total  4.9 million barrels, 206 million gallons
Where did it all go?

40. Where did it all go? Category Estimate Alternative 1 Alternative 2
Direct recovery from wellhead
17%
Burned at the surface 5%
Skimmed from the surface 3%
Chemically dispersed 8%
10% 6%
Naturally dispersed
16%
20%
12%
Evaporated or dissolved
25%
32%
18%
Residual remaining
26%
13%
39%

42. I. Fossil Fuels
6. Price
Market costs  OPEC major player in determining world market costs
“supply & demand”  since 2003, global demand (vs. supply) increasing significantly….why?
Refinery capacity  effects $$$ in U.S.

43. I. Fossil Fuels
7. Peak Oil?
Reserves  that which can be extracted at profit
Global reserves  ~1200 bbl’s proven (2005)
Have global reserves peaked?

44. U.S. Production vs. Import

45. Figure 14. 9: World and U. S. proved petroleum reserves
Figure 14.9: World and U.S. proved petroleum reserves. Note the scale change for U.S. reserves and that proved world reserves increased from 1970 to 1990 and then leveled off from 1990 to In contrast, U.S. reserves have decreased overall since 1970.
Fig. 14-9, p. 419

46. Figure 14.13: The growing gap between petroleum discovery and production.
Collin Campbell, ASPO.
Fig , p. 422

47. Fig. 14.1

48. Fig. 14.2

49. Fig. 14.5

50. Fig

51. Is ANWR the answer to our energy woes?
No proven reserves  no drilling done
“possible” reserves based on the geology
Best case  5.7 bbl (95%) – 16 bbl (5%)  bbl average
5% of daily U.S. consumption = years
100% daily consumption = 215 – 525 days

52. Box Fig

53. Box Fig

54. I. Fossil Fuels “Dirty” energy
D. Coal  C-rich rock material composed of converted plant matter
“Dirty” energy
Coalification process  heat & pressure
From plant matter to organic-rich rock

56. Coalification Process
Accumulation of thick masses of plant matter in low-oxygen (reducing) environment
Burial to depth pressure & heat
Expulsion of water & volatiles

57. I. Fossil Fuels Coal Ranking = low to high grade types based on:
volatile content, heat content, fixed carbon content
peat  lignite  subbituminous  bituminous  anthracite

58. Fig

59. Coal Appalachia  bituminous, minor anthracite Midwest  bituminous
Western  lignite, subbituminous, bituminous

60. Figure 14.16: Production in million short tons (and percent change from 2004) for each of the coal-producing regions and the total production for the United States. Note the shift in production from the Appalachian region to the Western coal states.
Energy Information Administration.
Fig , p. 424

61. Fig

62. Fig

63. Fig

64. I. Fossil Fuels Coal mining Underground  deep, seams/beds
Strip  large scale, shallow beds
Mountain top
Air pollution
CO2 & SO2 emissions, Hg & other heavy metals

65. Figure 14.17: Schematic cross section illustrating conventional underground and surface coal-mining technology.
Adapted from Colorado Geological Survey.
Fig , p. 425

66. Fig

69. Fig

72. I. Fossil Fuels E. Tar Sands & Oil Shales Huge deposits, costly $$
Tar sands  Alberta, Canada
~1.7 trillion barrels!
Needed: hot water!

75. I. Fossil Fuels 2. Oil Shales Shale rock with high % kerogen
western U.S.  Green River Basin, WY
Huge reserves
Hot water (500oC) needed  very $$$$

76. Figure 14.19: Oil shale from the Green River Formation in Wyoming and a beaker of the heavy oil that can be extracted from it.
Fig , p. 427

77. Fig

78. Fig

79. II. Alternative Energy Nuclear “heavy” isotopes bombarded w/neutrons
Splitting of atoms  release energy = nuclear fission
Controlled chain reaction occurs within reactor core
Water boiled by heat to drive turbine generators  electricity

80. II. Alternatives
Uranium235 is the heavy isotope used  mined from the mineral uraninite
France ~ 55% nuclear
Japan ~ 30% +
U.S. ~ 19%

81. U-235 Nuclear fission and chain reaction

82. Conventional nuclear fission reactor

83. Figure 14. 30: The nuclear fuel cycle
Figure 14.30: The nuclear fuel cycle. The steps include mining, enrichment, transportation, power generation, reclamation, and disposal.
Fig , p. 436

84. Fig. 15.7

86. Concerns Related Nuclear Reactor Safety
Nuclear reactor safety is a serious undertaking
Controlled release of very minor amounts of radiation occur
Major concerns are with accidents and sabotage
Loss of coolant in the core could produce a core meltdown
This event could allow the fuel and core materials to melt into an unmanageable mass and then migrate out of the containment structure
Could result in a catastrophic release of radiation into the environment
Reactors must be located away from active faults

87. U.S. nuclear power plants

88. Percentage of electricity generated by nuclear fission varies greatly by country

89. Dangers?
Core Meltdown!

90. Chernobyl, 1986, USSR

91. Radiation Release 17 curies  3 Mile Island
185 million curies  Chernobyl

92. II. Alternatives/Nuclear
Waste Products
Spent fuel rods  high level radioactive waste
machinery  low to moderate level waste
weapons waste  liquid plutonium
EXAMPLE
1996  30,000 tons of spent fuel rods
380,000 m3 of high level waste
1 reactor  65,000 lbs./year

93. Nuke Waste Long decay time! ex) plutonium 239 T1/2 = 24,000 years
Presently; nuke waste stored on site, above ground (109 plants in U.S.)
NEED  long term waste isolation
Transport issues, environment, public, terrorists, geologically stable location

94. Yucca Mountain, Nevada Federal radioactive waste repository site
Picked from 3 initial sites  Hanford, Texas, Yucca Mtn.
+ $2 billion spent since 1987
90 miles NW of Vegas
No waste received to date

96. Yucca Mtn. Geology Volcanic tuff beds ~ 15 m.y.
Last volc. eruption ~20,000 years ago
~800 below surface; 1200 above watertable
Deep water table & dry climate
2 large faults  Ghost Dance & Solitario Canyon faults

97. Fig

99. Fig

100. Yucca Mtn. – Issue? Seismicity? Volcanic activity
Changes in climate/watertable?
Transportation of waste
When/if completed  will hold ~70,000 tons of nuke waste

102. II. Alternative Energy B. Geothermal Shallow heat sources
Conversion of liquid H2O to steam
Steam under pressure  turbines to generate electricity
Areas of active or recently active volcanism
Clean; no air pollution
So, why not more?

104. II. Alternatives
EXAMPLES:
Geyers, CA
New Zealand
Iceland

106. II. Alternatives C. Hydroelectric  dams
Water turns turbines  electricity
Clean, but??

107. II. Alternatives
D. Wind Power
Modern wind mills  electricity

109. Fig

110. II. Alternatives E. Solar Photovoltaic cells Concentrated solar
Passive solar

111. Photovoltaic Cell

112. Concentrated vs. passive solar

113. Fig

114. II. Alternatives F. Others 1. Tidal power  tidal zones Bay of Fundy
France
2. Biomass
Distilling volatiles from organic wastes
3. Fuel Cells

117. Gas Hydrates: an alternative?

118. Methane Hydrates
Methane in methane hydrate exists as crystalline solids of gas and water molecules
Found to be abundant in the arctic regions and in marine sediments
Estimates of over 1300 trillion cubic feet of methane in methane hydrate have been studied off the Carolina coast
It is not clear how we can tap into this potential reservoir

119. Gas Hydrates: the downside 
Methane hydrates  burning CH4 only contributes more Carbon to the atmosphere
Natural, catastrophic releases  massive releases of CH4 from warming oceans
Natural catastrophic releases documented in geologic record

120. Gas Hydrates & Fuel Cells
Possible sources of hydrogen for fuel cells?
How do Fuel Cells Work?
2H2 + O2  2H2O + electrical energy
No CO2 emissions!

122. Honda Clarity

123. Fuel Cells Needed: Abundant, accessible supply of hydrogen
Hydrogen source ?  fresh water
2H2O + energy  2H2 + O2
Energy needed to separate the hydrogen
CATCH 22!

124. Our Energy Future
Fossil Fuels aren’t going away regardless of global warming 
Alternatives on the rise but need significant subsidies and federal initiatives
Will alternatives meet the massive consumption needs?
NO FREE LUNCH!

125. Is There a Bright Side?  Changing energy economy?
Future jobs/careers (and wealth) for those that start now?