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1. FOSSIL FUELS
Group 1: 3 Best Friends Anyone Could Have

2. Thesis
 It is important to understand fossil fuels because they make up
about 80- 85% of the world energy use. However, it has come to
our attention that we have reached a “peak oil”.This means that
the world has reached the top of the bell curve in oil production
and discoveries, which means that there is about half of the oil in
the world still remains.Therefore, oil is now a nonrenewable
source. Fossil fuels are so important to keep our world moving
forward, it comes with a high price.The use of fossil fuels creates
problems for the sustainability of our environment: global
warming, air pollution, and water/land pollution.The seriousness
of these issues have forced researchers to figure out ways to save
fossil fuel energy as well as establish new ways to use energy
from a different source. Some solutions that researchers have
come up with have to do with: windpower, solar power, biomass,
geothermal energy, hydroelectric power, and hydrokinetic
energy.Though, this issue is an ongoing project it is making steps
forward towards a more sustainable environment.

3. Energy
 “Energy is the ability to do work.”
 Energy can be found in a number of different
forms: chemical energy, electrical energy,
thermal energy, radiant energy, mechanical
energy, and nuclear energy.
 (Quest Room, 2013)

4. Energy cont.
 Energy is either renewable or nonrenewable
 Renewable energy: use of this energy will not
be depleted over time (i.e. sunlight, tidal
energy)
 Nonrenewable energy: energy will be used up
and not restored (i.e. coal, oil, natural gas,
nuclear energy)
 (Brennen and Withgott,2013)

5. Energy System in US
Brennen and Withgott,2013

6. Fossil Fuels: The Beginning
 These were formed hundreds of millions of years
ago (before the dinosaurs) during the
Carboniferous Period and the Paleozoic Era (360-
286 millions years ago). (Quest Room, 2013)
 Fossil fuels are formed from decayed plants and
animals that have been converted to crude oil,
coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to
heat and pressure in the earth's crust over
hundreds of millions of years.
 (Brennen and Withgott, 2013).

7. Fossil Fuel Formation
Brennen and Withgott,2013

8. Fossil Fuels: what are they?
 Coal: varies in carbon, water content, and amount of potential
energy. It is a hard, black colored, rock-like substance. It is made
up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur.
 Peat: organic material that is broken down anaerobically. It is
wet, near the surface, and not well compressed
 Peat turns to coal over time, under pressure, and with heat
 92% or coal used to generate electricity in the US
 (Brennen andWithgott, 2013)
 80% ofWorld’s energy use
 Types of Coal:
 Anthracite: most carbon and hardest
 Lignite: softest and is low in carbon but high in hydrogen and oxygen
 Bituminous: in between
 (Quest Room, 2013)

9. Coal Cont.
Annenberg Learner,2013

10. Coal cont.
 Ways to mine coal:
 Strip mining: heavy machinery removes high
amount of earth to expose the coal
 Subsurface mining: underground deposits are
reached digging tunnels to follow seams (layers)
to coal
 Mountaintop removal: entire mountaintops are
cut off
 (Brennen &Withgott, 2011)

11. Natural Gas
 This burns more cleanly than coal
 The fastest growing fossil fuel in use today
 Emits half as much CO2 as coal, and 2/3 as much
as oil
 Generates electricity, heats homes, and cooking
 US leads World in use (Russia leads in
production)
 Contains methane and other hydrocarbons
 (Brennen and Withgott, 2013)

12. Natural gas cont.
 Before sent to the pipelines, it is mixed with a
strong chemical that gives it a strong odor
(like rotten eggs) so it’s easy to smell if there
is a leak (Quest Room, 2013)
 ¼ of energy consumption in US comes from
natural gas
 Natural gas extraction is challenging because
more require pumping by horsehead pumps
 (Brennen and Withgott, 2011)

13. Oil
 World’s most used fuel
 40% of world’s energy use
 US uses the most but China and India are
increasing
 Found underground and to be pumped to the
surface
 Oil is in gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation or jet fuel,
home heating oil, oil for ships, and oil to burn in
power plants to make electricity
 (Martenson, 2013)

14. Oil Cont.
 Crude Oil: petroleum; mixture of hundreds of
different types of hydrocarbon molecules
 Petroleum found in porous layers under
impermeable layers
 Some oil is hard to extract and therefore not worth
the cost. If it takes one barrell of oil to extract one
barrell of oil, it is not worth getting.
 Exploratory drilling: small, deep holes that
determine if oil should be extracted
 Since oil is often under pressure, drilling oil relieves
the pressure and becomes harder to extract
 (Quest Room, 2013)

15. Oil Cont.
 There is a common misconception that there
is an oil rig and in there, vast caverns or lakes
of oil
 It is really solid rock, and in these rocks are
pores and crevices in which oil comes out of
 (Martenson, 2013)

16. Oil Cont.
 An oil field is like drinking a margarita where
the oil is the tequila mix and the rock is the
crushed ice.
 More and more straws are added to the
margarita until there is no margarita left, and
we are only left with ice.
 (Martenson, 2013)

17. Oil Cont.
 We have 40 years of oil left
 Used up half of our oil reserves (1.1 trillion
barrels of oil)
 More than 50% of the oil US uses comes from
Middle East
 (Brennen and Withgott, 2013)

18. Oil Cont.
Brennen and Withgott,2013

19. Peak Oil
 Peak Oil refers to the peak of the amount of oil
(shown by the top of a bell curve) within a well or
field of wells.The oil before the peak is drawn
out mostly through pressure, it is easy to extract
and therefore cheaper.This makes the price of
things like gas cheaper for the consumer. Once
the oil is past the peak, the only ay to get the oil
from the ground is through pumps, which is
more expensive.This is what leads to an increase
in prices.
 (Martenson, 2013)

20. Peak Oil Cont.
 Peak oil also refers to the total amount of oil that is
left in countries and the world.The United States
had its peak oil production in 1970. Since then we
have become more and more dependent on imports
of oil from other countries.Today we depend on two
thirds of our oil from other countries.This seems to
not bother many people because we can import oil
and continue to live our lifestyle. However, the peek
in oil discoveries was in 1960. Slowly the world is
being depleted of oil.Thus, oil is a nonrenewable
energy source.This creates a shortage of oil and any
country depending upon imports will have shortages
because a country will use oil in its own land before it
exports it (Martenson, 2013).

21. Peak Oil Cont.
Brennen and Withgott,2013

22. Negative Affects on the
Environment
 Global Warming
 Air Pollution
 Water Pollution

23. Global Warming
 Over the last 150 years, burning fossil fuels has
resulted in more than a 25 percent increase in
the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
 Records show that since the late 1800s the global
average surface temperature has risen 0.5-1.1
degrees Fahrenheit (0.3-0.6 degrees Celsius).
 Climate scientists predict that if carbon dioxide
levels continue to increase, the planet will
become warmer in the next century.
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

24. Global Warming
 (GlobalWarming, 2013)

25. Air Pollution
 Several important pollutants are produced by
fossil fuel combustion: carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and
hydrocarbons.
 Carbon monoxide is a gas formed as a by-
product during the incomplete combustion of all
fossil fuels. Exposure to carbon monoxide can
cause headaches and place additional stress on
people with heart disease. Cars and trucks are
the primary source of carbon monoxide
emissions
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

26. Air Pollution Cont.
 Nitrogen oxides can irritate the lungs, cause
bronchitis and pneumonia, and decrease
resistance to respiratory infections.The
transportation sector is responsible for close to
half of the US emissions of nitrogen oxides;
power plants produce most of the rest.
 Utilities that use coal to generate electricity
produce two-thirds of the nation's sulfur dioxide
emissions. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are
important constituents of acid rain.
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

27. Air Pollution Cont
 (GlobalCarbonEmissions, 2007)

28. Water Pollution
 Oil spills can result in water pollution and loss of
animal/ plant life
 EX: BP Oil Spill - On April 20, 2010, BP's Deepwater
Horizon drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of
Mexico, killing 11 workers, and pumping more than 200
million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico for
87 straight days.
 More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine
mammals were found injured or dead in the six months
after the spill.
 (NationalWildlife Federation, 2010)

29. Water Pollution Cont
 (Pollution in the Ocean, 2013)

30. Solutions for Overcoming
Fossil Fuels
 Wind Power
 Solar Power
 Biomass
 Geothermal Energy
 Hydroelectric Power
 Hydrokinetic Energy
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

31. Wind Power (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)
 Turbines harness air currents and convert them to
emissions-free power
 All across the United States, abundant wind
resources can be harnessed to produce reliable and
clean electricity. And compared with fossil fuels,
wind power offers substantial public health,
economic, and environmental benefits
 It produces no air or water pollution, global warming
emissions, or waste products, and saves water;
 It can also create jobs and other local economic benefits;
 It can stabilize and even reduce energy prices;
 It can cut dependence on imported fossil fuels, thus
increasing our energy security, and;
 It conserves natural resources for future generations.

32. Solar Power
 Solar energy—power from the sun—is a vast
and inexhaustible resource.
 Once a system is in place to convert it into
useful energy, the fuel is free and will never be
subject to the ups and downs of energy
markets.
(Union Of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

33. Biomass
 But biomass (plant material and
animal waste) is the oldest source of
renewable energy, used since our
ancestors learned the secret of fire.
 low-carbon biomass can provide a significant fraction of the
new renewable energy we need to reduce our emissions of
heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide to levels that
scientists say will avoid the worst impacts of global
warming.
 Now we have the technology to efficiently convert it to
electricity.
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

34. Geothermal Energy (Union of Concerned
Scientists, 2012)
 Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many
ways, from large and complex power stations to small and
relatively simple pumping systems.
 Many regions of the world are already tapping geothermal
energy as an affordable and sustainable solution to reducing
dependence on fossil fuels, and the global warming and public
health risks that result from their use
 cooler water seeps into Earth's crust, is heated up, and then
rises to the surface.When heated water is forced to the
surface, it is a relatively simple matter
to capture that steam and use it to drive
electric generators. Geothermal power
plants drill their own holes into the rock to
more effectively capture the steam.

35. Hydroelectric Power
 Using dams to exploit the movement of water
for electricity, known as hydroelectric power, is
the largest source of renewable power in the
United States and worldwide.
(Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

36. Hydrokinetic Energy
 Hydrokinetic technologies produce
renewable electricity by harnessing the
kinetic energy of a body of water, the energy
that results from its motion
 The technologies developed to generate
energy from waves and currents, called
hydrokinetic energy conversion devices, are
generally categorized as either wave energy
converters (WECs) or rotating devices
 WECs utilize the motion of two or more
bodies relative to each other. One of these
bodies, called the displacer, is acted on by
the waves.The second body, the reactor,
moves in response to the displacer.
 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2012)

37. Example of Becoming
Sustainable
 http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_anderson_on_
the_business_logic_of_sustainability.html

38. Fossil Fuel Project

39. Fossil Fuel Project
Full page of signatures
who stopped by and
listened to our
information.

40. Resources
 Annenberg Learner (2013). Unit 10: Energy Challenges// Section 3: Fossil
Fuels: Coal. Retrieved April 14, 2013. http://www.learner.org/
 Brennen, S &Withgott, J. (2011). Environment:The Science BehindThe
Stories. (4 ed.). Pearson. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/
viewer?a=v&q=cache:Ssi_bLOANIkJ:www.eht.k12.nj.us/~housej/
AP%20ENVL_Lecture/SBS_4e_Lecture_Ch19.pdf
&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgfJdTVhdPhUIvXd7cJ9ojH3y3Mrp
EfOGZEoPm5mrB6q8g4mR5kS3wQUhmYRCV4GTpkgiFSgBBxVzWpu
HTvcvPvkmTmyTZfwQr2fNINC4pfVBELzunps9w3q5Ylyq0TLKn-
UBj1&sig=AHIEtbS5lxei2AfmnmCkpL7OXGrwB7mlYA
 Hopkins, R. (2009, Nov). Transition to a world without oil. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/
rob_hopkins_transition_to_a_world_without_oil.html
 Martenson, Chris. (2013). Crash Course: Crash Course Chapter 17a:Peak Oil
[online video].Whitney PeakVentures, LLC.
http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse

41. Resources Cont.
 NationalWildlife Federation. (2010, Apr 20). Helping wildlife impacted by the bp gulf
oil disaster. Retrieved from http:// www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Protect-Habitat/Gulf-
Restoration/Oil-Spill.aspx
 Quest Room. (2013). Chapter 8: Fossil Fuels - Coal, Oil and Natural Gas. Retrieved April
14, 2013
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.html
 Taggart, A. (n.d.). The crash course. Retrieved from
http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse
 Union of Concerned Scientists (2012, March 19). Our energy choices: Renewable energy. Retrieved
from http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/
 Union of Concerned Scientists (2012, March 19). The hidden costs of fossil
fuels. Retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/ clean_energy/our-energy-
choices/renewable-energy/

42. Resources Cont.
 (2007). Global Fossil Carbon Emissions [Web Photo].
Retrieved from
http://www.solarnavigator.net/fossil_fuel.htm
 (2013). GlobalWarming [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa
_pre_2011/ rocks/fuelsrev6.shtml
 (2013). Pollution in the Ocean [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://mohamed2468.wikispaces.com/
pollutoin in the ocean