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Earth and Life

VARIOUS ENERGY SOURCES which can be broken down


into 2 broad categories: Nonrenewable and Renewable.
(Reference: Republic Act 9513 - Renewable Act of 2008).
2. Fossil Fuels
What are fossil fuels and what are the different kinds? - Fossil
fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic
decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the
organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of
years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels
contain high percentages of carbon and include coal,
petroleum and natural gas. Other more commonly used
derivatives of fossil fuels include kerosene and propane.
How Coal Was Formed
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black
sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock
strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal
seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite
coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock
because of later exposure to elevated
temperature and pressure. Coal is composed
primarily of carbon along with variable
quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen,
sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
- Anthracite is 86 to 98% pure carbon and 8 to 3% volatile
matter. It is an excellent fuel that is still used to
3. Geological
heat homes. Time For The Formation of Coal
-•Bituminous
The most favorable
coal contains conditions
70 to 86% forcarbon
the formation
and 46 toof31%
coal
occurred
volatile 360 Itmillion
matter. is usedtoto290
make million yearsinago, during the
coke, used
Carboniferous (“coal-bearing”) Period. However, lesser
metallurgy.
-amounts continued
Sub-bituminous coalto
is form
70 to in
76%some parts
carbon andof53
thetoEarth
42%
volatile
during matter. It is burned
all subsequent in industrial
periods, boilers. the Permian
in particular
-(290
Lignite is 65 to
million to 70%
250 carbon
millionand 63 ago),
years to 53%and
volatile matter. the
throughout
ItMesozoic
is a low-grade fuel with
Era (250 a high
million to moisture
65 million years ago).
content that is used in industrial boilers.
- Peat consists of partially decomposed vegetation.
Technically speaking, it isn’t coal. It has a carbon content
of less than 60% and is composed entirely of volatile matter.
A poor fuel that was once used throughout
Europe in the form of dried briquettes for heating, today it is
used only in a few regions, such as Ireland
What is
petroleum
(oil and gas)
and how is it
formed?
5. How Oil and Gas Deposits are
Formed
• Deep in the Earth, oil and
natural gas are formed from
organic matter from dead plants
and animals. These hydrocarbons
take millions of years to form
under very specific pressure and
temperature conditions.
The Slow Formation of Source Rock

• A tiny proportion of this organic matter


— about 0.1% — escapes this fate.
Transported by water, it sometimes sinks
to the bottom of the sea or large
continental lakes. It is partly preserved in
these poorly oxygenated environments,
well away from tidal currents. It mixes
with inorganic matter, such as clay
particles and very fine sand, and with
dead marine plankton (microscopic
organisms). This mixture is transformed
into dark, foul-smelling mud by
anaerobic bacteria
Source Rock Subsidence

• The weight of accumulating sediment


very slowly pushes the source rock
further under the Earth's crust, by a few
meters to a few hundred meters every
million years or so. This gradual sinking
is called subsidence and leads to the
formation of sedimentary basins.
How Oil and Gas Migrate

• Starting out from the source rock where they are


formed, hydrocarbon molecules, which are light, set off
on an upward journey to the surface. They accumulate in
porous rock and are blocked by impermeable rock,
thereby creating oil and gas deposits.
The Formation of Deposits in Reservoir Rock, Under Cap Rock

• A hydrocarbon deposit can only form in reservoir rock. Hydrocarbon molecules m


accumulate in large quantities in this porous, permeable rock.
• Sedimentary rock is formed of solid particles deposited in seas, oceans, lakes o
appearance of the rock is different depending on the size of these particles: very la
form rock consisting of gravel, small grains bond together to form sand, and the sm
of all form clay or mud.
• There are also empty spaces within the rock that determine its porosity. The high
percentage of space within the rock, the more porous the rock, which can contain l
quantities of fluids such as water, oil or gas. Pumice is an example of a porous rock
spaces, or pores, may be connected. Their connectivity is known as permeability, w
allows fluids to circulate within the rock. Not all rock is both permeable and porous
exploration engineers look for reservoir rocks — also known as reservoirs — that co
porosity (large quantities of hydrocarbons) and good permeability (which makes it
these hydrocarbons because they flow unimpeded inside the rock).
From Traps to Commercial Deposits

• A hydrocarbon deposit can only form in reservoir rock.


Hydrocarbon molecules may accumulate in large quantities in
this porous, permeable rock.

• Sedimentary rock is formed of solid particles deposited in


seas, oceans, lakes or lagoons. The appearance of the rock is
different depending on the size of these particles: very large
grains form rock consisting of gravel, small grains bond
together to form sand, and the smallest grains of all form clay
or mud.
About Oil and Gas Traps

• There are two main types of trap:

• Structural traps, which are formed by changes in geological


layers caused by the movement of tectonic plates. Reservoir
rock is sometimes deformed until it forms a completely sealed
space. These anticlinal traps are dome-shaped and the most
common type of structural trap.

• Stratigraphic traps are made up of sedimentary layers that


have not undergone tectonic deformation. In this case, a cap
rock completely seals off the reservoir rock. For example, salt
domes can act as cap rocks in this type of trap.
Fossil Fuel Power Generation

• Electrical energy generation using steam


turbines involves three energy conversions,
extracting thermal energy from the fuel and using
it to raise steam, converting the thermal energy of
the steam into kinetic energy in the turbine and
using a rotary generator to convert the turbine's
mechanical energy into electrical energy.
How is heat from
inside the earth
tapped as a source
of energy for
human use?
Geothermal Energy

• As you descend deeper into the Earth's crust, underground rock and water
become hotter. This heat can be recovered using different geothermal
technologies depending on the temperature. But the heat resources in
geothermal reservoirs are not inexhaustible.

Thermal Gradient

• The adjective geothermal comes from the Greek words ge (earth) and thermos (heat). It
covers all techniques used to recover the heat that is naturally present in the Earth’s
subsurface, particularly in aquifers, the rock reservoirs that contain groundwater. About half
this thermal (or “heat”) energy comes from the residual heat produced when the planet was
formed 4.5 billion years ago and about half from natural radioactivity
• Thermal energy, contained in the
earth, can be used directly to supply
heat or can be converted to mechanical
or electrical energy.
High-Temperature Geothermal Energy: Power

• Medium and high-temperature geothermal energy


harnesses extremely hot water and steam from
beneath the Earth to generate electricity in dedicated
power plants.
Global Resources

• Global high-temperature geothermal energy


resources used for power generation are found in a
relatively few countries, in areas characterized by
volcanic activity. They are mainly located in Asia, the
Pacific islands, the African Great Lakes region, North
America, the Andean countries of South America,
Central America and the Caribbean
Hydropower, the Leading Renewable Energy
• Water energy encompasses both plants installed
on land — on rivers and lakes — and ocean energy,
which is still being developed and harnesses the
force of waves, tides and currents. Widely used for
decades, hydropower plants are the world’s leading
renewable energy source, producing 83% of
renewable power.

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