Energy Resources and Fossil Fuels

Energy Resources

• Energy is the ability to do work and exists in many forms
• Non-renewable energy sources are those that will run out in our lifetime
• Fossil fuels are formed from fossilized remains of plants and animals, high in carbon content

Fossil Fuels

• Oil (Petroleum): Mined, then transported to refineries to create usable fuels (gasoline, propane, kerosene)
• Crude oil is a fossil fuel made up of hydrocarbon chains mainly used to make diesel, asphalt, and kerosene
• Natural Gas: Composed mostly of methane, used as fuel for making materials and chemicals

Fossil Fuels Formation

• Tiny marine plants and animals died and were buried on the ocean floor.
• Over millions of years, the remains were buried deeper and deeper.
• The enormous heat and pressure turned the remains into oil and natural gas.
• Today, we drill down through layers of sand, silt and rock to reach the rock formations that contain oil and natural gas.
• Peat, via pressure from rocks, is transformed into coal.
• Coal is formed from dead plants over millions of years.

Nuclear Energy

• A non-renewable energy. This generates electricity from splitting atoms

Renewable/Alternative Energy

• Energy sources not based on burning fossil fuels or splitting atoms
• Solar energy: Uses the energy from the sun.
• Biofuels: Uses the recently dead organisms to generate electricity
• Hydroelectric energy: Uses water flow to generate electricity.
• Geothermal energy: Uses the Earth's crust heat to generate electricity
• Wind energy: Using wind turbines to generate electricity.
• Heat energy: The energy from bond breaking/formation.
• Kinetic energy: Heat energy used to convert water to steam.
• Mechanical energy: Generated from kinetic energy, used to turn turbines and other mechanisms
• Electrical energy: Mechanical energy converted to electricity via electromagnetism

Environmental Concerns: Fossil Fuels

• Fossil fuels cause air and water pollution; CO2 (43% of global emissions) produced are at a level harmful to the environment (oil and coal).
• Renewable sources are slowly replacing fossil fuels

Geomorphic Processes

• Physical processes that create and modify landforms on the surface of the Earth
• Endogenous (internal): Processes beneath Earth's surface
• Exogenous (external): Processes on Earth's surface

Weathering

• Disintegration and decomposition of rocks in situ (in their original locations). This doesn't involve transportation.
• Produces regolith

Degradation

• Processes that break down landforms – weathering, mass wasting, erosion, and transportation
• Includes denudation processes

Mass Wasting

• Downslope movement of rock, soil, and other debris due to the pull of gravity
• Factors affecting or inducing mass wasting events include: speed, type of material, water content, nature of movement, soil cover, and geologic features.

Soil Resources

• Soil: A mixture of mineral grains, organic matter, water, and air. It supports plant growth.
• Soil components include: mineral grains; water; nutrients; and organic matter (humus)
• Soil texture: The proportion of particles (clay, silt, and sand) that determines soil properties.
• Soil profile: The sequence of soil horizons from the surface to the bedrock

Waste Management

• Waste generation from human actives
• Waste classifications (MSW and industrial solid waste)
• Waste management – reduce waste, dumping in landfills, recycling, incineration, composting, sewage treatment, etc.
• Improper waste management causes environmental problems

Plate Tectonics

• Earth's crust is divided into plates that move.
• Plate movement causes collisions, separation, or sliding.
• Plate movement involves decompression melting, which creates magma.

Magma

• Molten or semi-molten rock mixture under the Earth's surface.
• It involves a multitude of processes like magma formation and transfer of heat.
• Magma is formed by several processes including decompression melting and flux melting

Metamorphism

• Alteration of the composition or structure of a rock by extreme heat and pressure
• Different types of metamorphism: contact, cataclastic, hydrothermal, regional, burial, and shock/impact.

Oceanic Drills, Samples and Types of Plate Movements

• Younger rocks found near mid-ocean ridges; older rocks found farther away from ridges.
• Types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and lateral (strike-slip)

Natural Water Resources

• Water makes up 71% of Earth's surface
• Groundwater is the underground water in pore spaces (regolith and bedrock).
• Surface water is water on the Earth's surface (oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.).