Why are Fossil Fuels our most prevalent source of energy today?
Fossil fuels, especially oil products, predominate today because they are efficient to burn, ship, and store. Natural gas is cleaner burning, and coal is most plentiful.
Why are they considered nonrenewable sources of energy?
They are all considered non-renewable because they are being extracted and consumed much faster than they are being formed naturally.
How do developed and developing countries differ in their overall rates of energy consumption and in the ways they use energy?
Developed nations use more energy per capita, especially for transportation and industry. Developing nations use less, and use it primarily for subsistence activities such as cooking, lighting, and heating.
How are fossil fuels formed?
1) Slowly from the remains of the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter, under appropriate conditions of temperature and pressure.
2) Natural gas can form by anaerobic bacterial action relatively near the surface.
3)It can also form by heat and pressu
How do environmental conditions determine what type of fossil fuel is formed in a given location?
Because the ideal conditions of organic material accumulation, anaerobic conditions, pressure, and temperature are not evenly distributed, neither are the resulting deposits of fossil fuels.
How do scientists classify coal?
Coal is classified by its energy content as either lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, or anthracite.
What determines the potential energy contained in coal?
The energy content is determined by the pressure under which it forms, with higher pressures yielding higher energy contents.
Describe how coal is used to generate electricity.
Coal is used to generate electricity by burning the coal, using the heat of combustion to boil water and generate steam pressure, and using the steam pressure to turn turbines and a generator.
How have geologists estimated the total amount of oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 area and how is it technically recoverable and economically recoverable amounts of oil?
Geologists use seismic surveying to estimate the underground geologic conditions at a site, and from those measurements can infer the volume of the underground reserve. At ANWR's 1002 Area, the total reserves are estimated to be between 11.6 and 31.5 bill
How do we create petroleum products?
Petroleum products are created by the distillation and fractionation of crude oil, and the modification of those fractions
What are some examples of petroleum products?
Petroleum products include kerosene, gasoline, and diesel fuels, lubricants, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers.
Why is natural gas often extracted simultaneously with other fossil fuels and what constraints on its extraction does it share with oil?
Like oil, the gas can only move if there is a pressure gradient, and so must eventually be pumped out of the ground.
What are some of the effects on fossil fuel emissions?
Fossil fuel emissions can include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog, acid deposition, global climate change, and various health problems.
Compare some of the contrasting views of scientists regarding the environmental impacts of drilling for oil in ANWR.
Some scientists are concerned about damage to vegetation and wildlife, based on the results of previous experience and small-scale manipulative studies. Other scientists contend that drilling at ANWR would have little environmental impact because of newer
Describe two main approaches to energy conservation, and give a specific example of each.
Energy conservation may be approached by both personal choice and increased efficiency. For example, you can choose to walk or bike rather than drive, and you can use a car with high efficiency when you do drive.