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Automobile Engg.
Automobile Engg.
It can also extend supplies by conservation measures, including insulating homes and driving
high-mileage cars. This has caused us rate of increase of consumption to level off. However,
beginning to increase again as third world develops. Conservation may be difficult for many
underdeveloped countries because of lack of funds for expensive technologies. Do we have
the right to deny other countries because of our previous wasteful habits?
Environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling, exploitation, transport, and use are often very
high. New oil often now found in very sensitive areas. Should we destroy these areas for the
oil and gas they contain. Can reduce environmental impacts, but at a price. Once introduced
into the environment, it may take tens or hundreds of years for habitats to recover from large
oil spills. Combustion of oil and gas produces CO2 potentially leading to greater global
warming.
5.1.2 Coal
Presently meets about 20% of U.S. energy needs. Prior to the utilization of petroleum and
natural gas, coal was a very important source of energy. Fell into disfavor during the 20 th
century. Now may become again our most important fossil fuel.
Original organics are land plants, typically found in swamps and tropical environments. Need
to bury their decaying remains under reducing conditions. Initially peat forms at the surface.
This can be used as a very low-grade source of energy. As pressure, temperature, and time
increase, peat converts to lignite or brown coal, then bituminous or soft coal, and then
finally anthracite or hard coal. At each grade, the amount of carbon and the energy content
in the material increases while the amounts of H, O, N, and P decrease. If cooked too much
you get pure carbon in the form of graphite. It has no energy value at all.
Determining the abundance of coal is easier to estimate than for oil or gas since coal occurs in
well-defined layers.
Worldwide proven reserves are approximately 700 billion tons out of a total resource of
nearly 10 trillion tons. U.S. proven reserves are approximately 200 billion tons out of a total
resource of 2 trillion tons. U.S. has the world's single biggest supply of coal and we have
consumed less than 5% of our reserves. We have hundreds of years of domestic supplies.
Problems With Coal
1) Coal is a solid and this limits its use as an energy source. Can't be used in cars, planes and
other transportation applications.
However, coal can be converted to a natural gas-like product through a process called
gasification. This process has been known since the 1830s. Unfortunately the process
produces a gas with only 25-30% of the original energy content of the coal. Also the process
is expensive.
Coal can also be converted to a petroleum-like liquid through a process called liquefaction.
Germans did it in WWII. South Africa does it today. However, requires large volumes of
water and is more expensive than simply buying and refining natural crude oil.
2) There are many environmental problems associated with the mining and utilization of
coal.
a) Coal typically contains high sulfur. Results in acid mine drainage and acid
rain.
b) Coal burning leaves and ash residue that contains 5-20% by volume of toxic
materials. Where do we store this toxic residue?
c)
Coal mining, particular strip mining (the cheapest and preferred way)
destroys habitats and vegetation. Land reclamation is possible, but expensive.
d) Underground mining is hazardous to miner's health. Explosions of methane
gas can occur, radon concentrations are high, and black lung disease can be fatal.
It is the most hazardous job around.
e) The combustion of coal produces large amounts of CO2.
Non-traditional Fossil Fuels
1) Oil shale. This is a misnomer. Name actually refers to kerogen (a waxy
hydrocarbon) in any sedimentary rock. Need to crush rock and cook rock, extract kerogen,
and then refine it into a petroleum-like liquid. It is estimated that the world has reserves
equivalent to 2-5 trillion barrels of crude oil. This is much more than actual worldwide oil
reserves. Since approximately two-thirds of the world's reserves are in the U.S., why don't we
use oil shale and become energy independent?
Problems with oil shale:
a) Dispersed in rock. Therefore, need to mine very large volumes.
b) Large environmental impacts of surface mining.
c) Refining process requires large volumes of water, approximately 3 barrels of water/
barrel of oil produced.
d) Refining process increases the volume of rock.
2) Tar sands: Sediments containing a semi-solid tar deposit. The origin of these deposits is
uncertain. Perhaps they are immature oil deposits or perhaps they are the residues left over
after lighter oils and gases have migrated elsewhere. Refining and problems are similar to
those for oil shale.
Canada presently utilizing Athabasca tar sands in Alberta (near Calgary). These may
allow Canada to become largely energy self-sufficient. U.S. has limited reserves.
3) Gas hydrates: Crystalline solids of methane and water ice. Found in deep marine
sediments and arctic areas. May be the worlds largest source of methane and may contain
more energy than all other fossil fuels combined! However, there are technical and legal
problems with exploiting these deposits. Many of them are located in international waters.
Who owns them and who regulates their recovery. There also is the potential for catastrophic
ocean-floor collapse if the deposits are removed improperly. Methane also is a very strong
greenhouse gas. Global warming would increase dramatically if the trapped methane escaped
into the atmosphere
Regardless of which of these alternative fuels are used in the future (if any) they all produce
CO2 when burned. The world is presently trying to reduce the emissions of CO 2. The
expanded use of any fossil fuel will only tend to increase emissions.
Fuel Cells
Fuel cells are an alternative to conventional energy plants or sources since they can offer
a clean and environmentally friendly way of producing energy, for almost every kind of
application. A fuel cell (Figure 1) is an electrochemical transducer that converts chemical
energy to electrical energy from a fuel, without direct combustion. They comprise anode
and cathode electrodes, electrolytes in liquid and/or solid form and catalysts. The fuel cell
principle of operation lies in the extraction of electrons as a result of the chemical
reaction of separating a fuel, using a catalyst, in the anode half-cell. A catalyst is a
substance, which speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction, however it remains
unchanged at the end of the reaction. This allows the release of either positively or
negatively charged ions that go to the cathode half-cell through the solid electrolyte,
which also forms a physical barrier between the two half-cells. Catholyte and anolyte are
the liquid electrolytes in the cathode and anode compartments, respectively that are
necessary for electrolysis. Electrolysis defines the passage of electric current through a
molten chemical or an aqueous solution. Hence, the anolyte is necessary for the transfer
of electrons from the catalyst to the electrode and the catholyte is necessary for taking up
incoming electrons from the electrode. In several fuel cells, where there is sufficient
oxygen supply to the cathode, electrons recombine with cations and oxygen to form
water.