1. 6.3 Fuel Types and Uses

2. WOOD
Firewood and charcoal Often used in developing countries due to easy accessibility

3. Partially decomposed organic material that can be burned for fuel

4. 3 Types of Coal Formed under differing conditions involving... Heat
Pressure
Depth of burial
3 Types of Coal

5. Natural Gas:
Mostly Methane (CH4)

6. Tar Sands:
Clay, sand, water, and bitumen (crude oil)

7. Quantifying Energy Efficiency
Energy is lost at every step!
Put the timeline in order
Energy resource
Extraction
Transportation
Processing
Combustion/Energy conversion
6a. Disposal/Transportation of waste
6b. Electricity generation
7. Electricity transmission
8. User

8. ER OEI: Energy Return on Energy Investment
Energy obtained from the fuel
Energy invested to obtain the fuel
If you obtain 100J of coal and it cost 5J to extract the coal, the ER OEI is _________
A _________number is more efficient and desirable
Anything below 3.0 cannot really be considered a viable energy source
Calculate the ER OEI for ethanol from corn 20
larger

9. Input
Input
Output
Output
(33,217, ,390,000) / (8,545, ,636,000) = 1.28

10. The Right Energy Source for the Job
Consider overall system efficiency
Compare electric water heater and natural gas water heater (tankless)
Heating hot water  99% efficiency
Tankless  80%
WHY might the OVERALL efficiency of the tank system be only 35%?
Electricity from a coal-fired power plant!

11. Car with one driver: 3.6

12. Yes! A little better than the bus.
How many MJ per person are expended to travel the 600 km from San Francisco to Los Angeles by air, one-passenger car, or bus?
If you carpooled with 4 people, would that be enough to become the most energy-efficient way to travel?
Air: (2.42 MJ / person * km) x 600 km = 1452 MJ/person
Car: 3.6 x 600 = 2160
Bus: 0.92 x 600 = 552
2160/4 = 540 MJ/person
Yes! A little better than the bus.

13. CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) 1975
Reagan admin, GM & Ford lowers standards
1986
Increased preference for light trucks (SUVs)
Obama admin passes new legislation

14. Fuel economy fluctuates in response to:
Oil prices
Political issues/regulations
Consumer demand for different types of vehicles
Development of new technologies

15. Electricity
Can be generated from many different sources – different category
Secondary source of energy: converted from a primary source
Energy carrier: can move and deliver energy in a convenient, usable form
Wood, dammed water, pressurized air
Electricity itself is “clean” (no pollutants); production of electricity is not

16. Electrical grid: network of interconnected transmission lines that connect power plants together and link them with end users

17. Combined cycle plant more efficient
(up to 60% vs 35%)
Combusts natural gas instead of coal
Waste heat boils water to also turn a steam turbine

18. Capacity: The maximum electrical output
Typical power plant = 12,000 MWh in one day (500 MW an hour)
Capacity factor: The fraction of time a power plant operates in a year
Most thermal power plants have a capacity factor of 0.9 or more
Renewable like wind may only be 0.25
Nuclear and coal-fired take a long time (up to a full day) to get up to full capacity, so often are kept running at all times

19. Cogeneration: combined heat and power
Use of a fuel to generate electricity and produce heat

20. 1. d
2. c
3.6 MJ/km * 1.6 km/1 mile * 400 miles/car * 1 car/4 people
= 576 MJ
3. c
4. c
5. e