GEOS 251

Physical Geology

Spring 2012

Energy Resources from the Earth

(Chapter 23)

Overview
Earth resources are of many types. Beyond water and air (and the biological realm), yet central to civilization are materials that we use for fuel, for making things, for growing things These constitute energy resources (this lecture) and mineral resources (next lecture) Ultimate sources of energy (just like for all Earth processes) have two origins: in the Earths internal energy (original heat / radioactive elements generated in supernovae / light elements (H, Li) that could support fusion) and from external (solar) sources World energy consumption has increased exponentially in the last 200 years, even faster than the exponential increase in population this is obviously a reflection of industrialization, mechanization of many processes, and the ubiquity of powered transportation During this period, energy sources have moved from renewable resources (those that continuously regenerate on a human time scale animal / wood / wind / hydro) to a mix that is dominated by non-renewable resources (these may continue to form, but only on geologic time scales coal, petroleum, natural gas, uranium, geothermal) These resources are governed by geological principles many of which have been covered in earlier lectures. Here we focus on fossil fuels, their distribution and origins (why are they so irregularly distributed in time and space?); other types (nuclear fuels, geothermal, and hydro power) are considered briefly relevant background for them is in other lectures

Fossil fuels
Fossil fuels are the product of trapping a small fraction of the suns energy in biological (organic) material in the sedimentary record these are simple accumulations in the case of coal, much more complicated in the case of petroleum and natural gas Resources economic vs. subeconomic, discovered vs. hypothetical are important concepts and underlie much debate about future supplies, land use, geopolitical concerns Coal >> oil (liquid ~ oil shale) >(?) natural gas (but all less than uranium) Hydrocarbons Petroleum/Natural Gas (Hydrocarbons because they are comprised of many compounds that consist mainly of H and C) Petroleum (oil) and natural gas (mainly methane, CH4) form from the burial and heating of organic-bearing marine and lake sediments during burial, trapped organic material breaks down (effectively, it cooks) to give up the lighter, more hydrogen-rich components (oils and gases), leaving behind the less reactive material (analogous to grilling a burger liquid fraction comes off, vapors are released, and the residual material becomes closer to graphite (okay, not so appetizing) Required sedimentary geological environment can be deltas, reefs, deeper basin fills, etc., in areas with (1) abundant organic debris (generally planktonic forms), (2) preservation and burial of this in the sediments, Lecture 25 19 April 2012

GEOS 251

Physical Geology

Spring 2012

(3) modification by biological activity (near surface), and by (4) diagenesis (heat, pressure, time) to generate oil and gas (generally 75-150C) Oil and gas distributed through these organic-bearing source rocks are generally not of economic interest, thus migration of fluid hydrocarbons (similar to movement of other fluids that are lower density than their surrounding / cf., magmas) to areas of accumulation (geologic traps, such as structures, stratigraphic traps, and salt domes) The key elements are thus: a source rock, a process to generate the fluids, a drive for migration, and an appropriate reservoir rock (one that is porous) where the fluids can be trapped by a much less permeable cap rock Oil (tar) sands, oil shales, and gas clathrates (methane ices on continental slope and rises) represent enormous resources of hydrocarbons [Canada producing; US has large resources] Coal Coal is a rock consisting of mainly woody material that accumulated in swamps and bogs; burial by continued sedimentation leads to diagenetic and metamorphic changes increasing the rank (or grade) of the coal in contrast to oil and gas, it is the residual (cf. burger) part of the coal that is preserved coal is thus much higher in C but lower in H than others Geologic environment: (1) abundant terrestrial plant matter in swamps or bogs can be estuaries, bogs, swamps (this setting forms sulfide minerals such as pyrite, which present an environmental challenge) (2) near marine setting (cf. SE US coast) or it can be interior; temperate or tropical basins (3) the key requirement is preservation by burial, followed by: (4) diagenesis (heat, pressure, time) to compact and drive off water and gas Types of coal: There is a progression from unmodified (perhaps partly decayed) woody material through peat to lignite (brown coal) to bituminous (soft coal) to anthracite (hard coal) Distribution of fossil fuels in time and space Fossil fuels have a highly irregular distribution Nearly all are Phanerozoic, most oil is Mesozoic or younger Coals reflect the evolution of wood land plants, but are pretty widespread overall Oil is more of a special case: although it is widespread, it is very easily destroyed (or not trapped) in active continental margins; furthermore, high biological productivity (and thus traps) are uncommon (even in the modern world) thus, the concentration of oil in certain areas (e.g., the Middle East, around the Gulf of Mexico) is the result of favorable initial geology and the lack (thus far) of active tectonics to destroy the oil fields

Otherprimaryenergysourcesand environmentalissues
Geothermal localized in space, considerable engineering issues; possible byproducts Nuclear (U, Th, Li, etc.) fundamentally mineral resources, can be enhanced by engineering far more potential than exploited Solar / wind energy / hydropower large, but have material and land use issues

Lecture 25

19 April 2012

GEOS 251

Physical Geology

Spring 2012

Many geology-based environmental issues arise with energy production and use: these include land use / competitive pressures, consequences of strip mining, acid mine water, oil spills, greenhouse gases, air-water pollution, waste disposal Technology of energy utilization has similar trade-offs: For example, what is required for the hydrogen economy so-much promoted over the last few years? (Where does energy come from? What is required to transform it into useful forms and get it to areas where it is used?)

Lecture 25

19 April 2012