3/18/2012
The Carbon Cycle – a biogeochemical cycle
ENERGY – From Oil Addiction to Sustainability
IEA video http://www.iea.org/multimedia/videos_info.asp?filename=iea-ee-mp4.flv
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Source: carboncycle.jpg jrussey.atspace.com
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Terrestrial and Aquatic Carbon Cycle
How do we use energy?
What have you used today?
What for?
In what form?
Where does it come from?
Who pays?
In any given year, tens of billions of tons of carbon move between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. Human activities
add about 5.5 billion tons (Gigatons, GtC) per year of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This illustration shows total amounts of
stored carbon in black, and annual carbon fluxes in purple.
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Basic Science:
Basic science
Conservation of Matter
Energy
Under ordinary circumstances, matter is neither created nor destroyed. It is
recycled endlessly. Translation: There is no “away”.
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Source: http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.eco.ccycle/
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Two principal origins of energy on earth:
Matter is transformed and combined in different ways, but it
doesn't disappear. Everything goes somewhere. That
includes wastes, air and water pollution, trash and carbon
emissions.
Solar energy – the basis of energy in ecosystems
Geothermal energy – from the internal heat of the earth
The atoms and molecules in your body have passed through
many other organisms, over millions of years. (Are you part rock
…. dinosaur?)
Carbon is recycled over and over again (a biogeochemical
cycle).
We are burning things far older than dead dinosaurs!
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Photosynthesis: process by which plants convert some solar
to chemical energy
Along the food web, trophic levels
plants or organisms that eat the plants are eaten
Energy at each level is less than the level before it.
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3/18/2012
It takes millions of years to form
fossil fuels!
Laws of Thermodynamics
(the study of heat and energy transfer)
First Law– Conservation of energy
Energy is neither created or destroyed, only transferred or
transformed from one kind to another.
E.g. Chemical energy in wood is transformed into heat energy when
it is burned.
Second Law – “Loss” of useful energy
(entropy) Energy, unlike matter, cannot be
recycled without being degraded or “lost” for useful
purposes.
E.g.: electric light bulb “wastes” energy when it gives off heat
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Source: National Energy Education Development Project (Public Domain)
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We’re burning millions from the
earth’s fossil fuel “bank”
Our problem today:
We are in carbon overshoot.
What does this mean?
Is it sustainable?
What are the consequences?
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Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Public Domain)
FOSSIL FUELS
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Source: http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=us_energy_home
Fossil fuels - organic chemicals (hydrocarbons, C,H) created by decomposed onceliving organisms MYA (millions of years ago) –older than dead dinosaurs!
Very energy rich, but costly to extract and process.
Fossil fuels take MY to form- essentially nonrenewable resources.
 Coal
 Petroleum/Oil
 “Natural” Gas
(methane)
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Animation: formation of coal, oil and “natural” gas
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http://www.hk-phy.org/energy/power/source_phy/flash/formation_e.html
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3/18/2012
The Greenhouse Effect
Is it natural?
So…what’s the problem?
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What happens when…
“Losses” in energy
You add a thicker blanket or layer of insulation?
½ of all energy content in primary fuels lost during
conversion, shipping or use.
~ 2/3 (two-thirds) energy content of coal burned to
generate electricity lost during conversion in the
power plant.
Natural gas - the most efficient fossil fuel at the point of
combusion, bcs. only ~10% of its energy content is lost
during shipping and processing. Gas furnaces are 75%
to 95% efficient.
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Annual Per Capita Energy
Consumption, Selected Countries
Fossil fuels and Climate
Global consensus that
Earth is warming and
that deforestation and
the burning of fossil
fuels are the major
causes of climate
change
8.1
United States
4.1
Germany
4.1
Japan
2.4
Poland
1.1
Brazil
0.9
China*
Digital Vision
The two “worst” GHGs are:
0.3
Ethiopia
1)
2)
0.5
India
0
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* China excludes Hong Kong
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Per Capita Consumption of Commercial Energy
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(tons of oil equivalent)
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Consequences of fossil fuel addiction
Our Unsustainable Path
Deepwater Horizon explosion & spill, Gulf of Mexico, 2010
Impacts of energy production and use
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Environmental: air, soil, and water pollution,
climate change
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Social: impacts on human health, costs to
communities where fuels are extracted
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Economic and security: costs of relying on
imported fuel from unstable regions of the world
Disparities within and among
countries
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Resource availability
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Extreme Imbalance
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Mountaintop coal removal
Huge disparity in energy consumption
between and within industrial and
developing nations
World’s richest people consume on
average 25 times more energy than
world’s poorest
http://www.ilovemountains.org/multimedia (~5:30/8:14 mins)
http://video.mining.com/videos/757c0/appalachian_mountaintop_removal_coal_mining__part_1.aspx (~6:00/11:31 mins)
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Energy Use and Quality of Life
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http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/261997/january-18-2010/coal-comfort--margaret-palmer
Should water catch fire?
What are the objectives of increased energy use?
Drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania
The Marcellus Shale story
…growing our
economy?
…achieving a better quality of life!
How much
energy do we
really need?
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Clean Water Action video clip Drilling 101:
http://www.shaleshock.org/resources/drilling-101/
Marcellus Shale Coalition http://marcelluscoalition.org/marcellus-shale/production-processes/
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3/18/2012
Energy policies
To cure our addiction…What must we do?
Conserve energy – stop wasting/using so
much (Did I say..turn off computers?)
1)
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Be smarter – be energy-efficient (achieve
the same results using less energy)
2)
(PA 18.5% by 2020)
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Replace non-renewable with renewable,
sustainable sources of energy
3)
Enact smarter policies – Let’s examine a
few.
4)
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Incentives for efficiency and conservation
Examples: LEED, tax credits….
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Energy policies
Renewable: replenished by natural processes
in a relatively short time, and not expected to
be depleted within the lifetime of the human
species.
Provide financial incentives to use and invest in
energy efficiency and conservation
Offer rebates, low-interest loans for renewables
RAISE the cost of non-renewable fossil fuels
compared to renewables (a difficult political task)
Renewables: solar, wind power, wave,
geothermal, tidal, small scale hydropower*,
biomass and others.
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Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
27.5 mpg for passenger cars - unchanged since
1990! Fleet avg 25 mpg in the US, versus 45
mpg in the E.U.
Sustainable energy
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Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards
Specify that electric utilities generate a certain
amount (%) of electricity from renewable or
alternative energy sources by a given date
Set energy efficiency standards for buildings,
transportation, etc.
LEED certification
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Making Better Energy Choices
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Ways to Save Energy
Purchase items made from recycled materials
Options and technologies are available
to produce and use energy in a more
sustainable manner, while maintaining
a high quality of life
Ex.: Producing aluminum out of recycled material
requires 95% less energy than making it from raw
material
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Forging a more sustainable
energy path is a matter of
our everyday choices and
political will to enact the
right policies
Replace your 5 most-used light bulbs with compact fluorescent
bulbs
If every U.S. household did this, more than 20 large
power plants
could be shut down
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3/18/2012
Ways to Save Energy
Buy the most energy efficient appliances and vehicles available
when replacing old ones
In the U.S., look for the
label
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“Energy Star”
Conserve energy by…
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Turning off lights and appliances
Buying fewer items
Installing low-flow showerheads
when not in use
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Local energy alternatives
Alternative Energy in Pennsylvania
http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/energy/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=482723
Energy Coordinating Agency - Philadelphia
http://www.ecasavesenergy.org/
U.S. DOE http://www.eere.energy.gov/
Builders’ challenge
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/challenge/
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Don’t just change your lightbulbs…
change your politicians (policies).
Paraphrase - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., April 17, 2009
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