FOSSIL FUELS

85% of the worlds

commercial energy

COAL

NATURAL GAS

OIL

20 richest countries consume:

50% of coal
80% of natural gas
65% of oil

U.S. energy consumption

9%
Mining/metals
Other industry
Transportation
Other

COAL
Fossilized, condensed
carbon-rich fuel

10 X reserves of oil/gas,
last 200 years at present rate

Coal mines

Surface (strip) mine,

Western U.S.

Underground (shaft) mine,

Eastern U.S.

Coal cheaper,
but polluting
Much Eastern U.S. coal has
high-sulfur content,
more expensive to mine
Much Western U.S. coal has
low-sulfur content,
cheaper to mine
But mining in semi-arid West
more damaging to land.

Heat value of coal types

Anthracite
Bituminous
Subbituminous
Lignite

51% of U.S.
use in coal

Energy lost from coal

65% lost in
power plants

10% lost on
transmission lines
(stray voltage)

Effects on health
Black Lung Disease
(miners)
Respiratory
illnesses
(public)

Effects on land
Coal sludge releases
Hardpan at strip mines
Mountaintop removal
Huge water use
Slurry pipelines

Effects on air
Greenhouse gases
3/4 sulfur dioxide
1/3 nitrogen oxides
1/2 carbon dioxide

Toxics
Mercury
Uranium

Acid rain

Acidity of rain

pH of 6.0
Kills insects, crabs

pH < 5.0
Kills fish, trees

Sources of Nitrogen Oxides

Transport
ation
Electrical
plants
Other

Nitrogen oxides and

sulfur dioxide create
acid rain
Tall stacks deposit
farther

Coal scrubbers

The future? Hydrogen fuel cells

NATURAL GAS
Methane, other
Gases in bedrock

Advantages of natural gas

Cleaner to burn
Half as much CO2 as coal

More efficient
10% energy lost

60-year supply at current rates

Disadvantages of natural gas

Difficult to transport
Pipelines
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tankers

Can be polluting, dangerous when extracted

Methane bed drilling pollutes

OIL (PETROLEUM)
Buried organic matter
rich in hydrocarbons

Oil Consumption by Sector (1998)

Electric Utilities

Residential
Commercial

Industry

Transportation
0

10

15

20

QUADS of Oil

25

30

Proven oil reserves

465 billion barrels consumed
1 trillion barrels left
22 billion consumed a year
45 years to go! Party now!

Global Oil Production for Resources of 1800,

2200, and 2600 Billion Barrels
35

Billions of Barrels per Year

2600

30
25
20

2200

15

1800

10
5
0
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

2030

Distribution of Estimates of Ultimately

Recoverable World Crude Oil (1975-1993)
Percentage of Estimates

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800

World Crude Oil Production

30

Billions of Barrels per Year

25
20
15
10
5
0
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

World Crude Oil Prices

(economic crises in oil states)
60

$1992 per barrel

50
40
30
20
10
0
1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

Global trends in oil

Growing use in China (+10%/year)
Japan, Europe depend on Mideast
New reserves around Caspian Sea
Nearly size of Saudi Arabia

Increasing source of major wars,

human rights abuses

Kuwait oil well fires, 1991

Persian Gulf
and Caspian Sea

Oil & natural gas pipelines

U.S. trends in oil

Diverse sources (not Mideast)
Venezuela, Nigeria, etc.

Opening domestic sources

Alaska controversy

Polluting technologies?
Oil shale extraction
Synthetic fuels (coal-to-oil)

Exxon Valdez, Alaska 1989

Attempts to
contain spill

Clean-up efforts

Prince William Sound fishing

industry damaged

Oil in Ecuador
Ecuador 2nd largest S.
America producer
70% of exports

Drilling in Amazon
rainforest

Opposition to oil
companies
Construction of roads,
pipelines on Indian lands
Displacement of Indians,

deforestation
Oil leaks into rivers larger
than Valdez spill

Ecuador Indian occupations

Texaco withdrew 1992,
Arco met demands

Lawsuit against
Texaco in
U.S. courts, 1999

Oil in Nigeria
Largest producer
in Africa, mainly
In Niger Delta

Nigeria had military

governments in 1990s

Environmental problems
in Niger Delta region
Homeland of Ogoni,
Ijaw groups

Gas flaring hazards

Oil spills in mangrove swamp

Ogoni environmental protests

Oil companies collude with military

Shell Oil pays,

transports soldiers
Many Ogoni
killed by military

Ogoni leader
Dr. Ken Saro-Wiwa
executed in 1995

Nigerian women protest, 2002

Ijaw women
occupy Chevron
oil docks

Protest against pollution,

lack of local jobs

Websites on oil industry

and global opposition
Rainforest Action Network
http://www.ran.org
Project Underground
http://www.moles.org