World energy resources

• The world's energy resources can be divided

into fossil fuel, nuclear fuel and renewable
resources.
• The estimates for the amount of energy in
these resources is given in zettajoules (ZJ),
which is 1021 joules.
Worldwide energy sources (TW)
 Fossil fuel
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural Gas
• Coal- Coal is the most abundant and burned fossil fuel. This was the
fuel that launched the industrial revolution and has continued to grow
in use;
• Coal is the fastest growing fossil fuel and its large reserves would
make it a popular candidate to meet the energy demand of the global
community, short of global warming concerns and other pollutants.
• According to the International Energy Agency the proven reserves of
coal are around 909 billion tonnes, which could sustain the current
production rate for 155 years, although at a 5% growth per annum this
would be reduced to 45 years, or until 2051.
• In the United States, 49% of electricity generation comes from
burning coal
 World Wide Coal Reserves
• The 948 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves estimated by
the Energy Information Administration
• The amount of coal burned during 2007 was estimated at 7.075
billion short tons,
• This is an average of 18.8 million BTU per short ton.
 Proved recoverable coal reserves (million tons)
Percentage
Anthracite & Sub
Country Lignite Total of World
Bituminous Bituminous
Total
United States 108,501 98,618 30,176 237,295 22.6
Russia 49,088 97,472 10,450 157,010 14.4
China 62,200 33,700 18,600 114,500 12.6
Australia 37,100 2,100 37,200 76,400 8.9
India 56,100 0 4,500 60,600 7.0
Germany 99 0 40,600 40,699 4.7
Ukraine 15,351 16,577 1,945 33,873 3.9
Kazakhstan 21,500 0 12,100 33,600 3.9
South Africa 30,156 0 0 30,156 3.5
Serbia 9 361 13,400 13,770 1.6
Colombia 6,366 380 0 6,746 0.8
Canada 3,474 872 2,236 6,528 0.8
Poland 4,338 0 1,371 5,709 0.7
Indonesia 1,520 2,904 1,105 5,529 0.6
Brazil 0 4,559 0 4,559 0.5
Greece 0 0 3,020 3,020 0.4
Bosnia and
484 0 2,369 2,853 0.3
Herzegovina
Mongolia 1,170 0 1,350 2,520 0.3
Bulgaria 2 190 2,174 2,366 0.3
Pakistan 0 166 1,904 2,070 0.3
Turkey 529 0 1,814 2,343 0.3
Uzbekistan 47 0 1,853 1,900 0.2
Hungary 13 439 1,208 1,660 0.2
Thailand 0 0 1,239 1,239 0.1
Mexico 860 300 51 1,211 0.1
Iran 1,203 0 0 1,203 0.1
Czech Republic 192 0 908 1,100 0.1
Kyrgyzstan 0 0 812 812 0.1
Albania 0 0 794 794 0.1
North Korea 300 300 0 600 0.1
New Zealand 33 205 333-7,000 571–15,000 0.1
Spain 200 300 30 530 0.1
Laos 4 0 499 503 0.1
Zimbabwe 502 0 0 502 0.1
Argentina 0 0 500 500 0.1
All others 3,421 1,346 846 5,613 0.7
World Total 404,762 260,789 195,387 860,938 100
List of countries by coal production
 Coal production share of
Rank Country/Region
(million tonnes) total (%)
— World 7,864.7
1 China 3,650.0 46.4
2 United States 922.1 11.7
3 India 605.8 7.7
— European Union 580.7 7.4
4 Australia 431.2 5.5
5 Indonesia 386.0 4.9
6 Russia 354.8 4.5
7 South Africa 260.0 3.3
8 Germany 196.2 2.5
9 Poland 144.1 1.8
10 Kazakhstan 116.4 1.5
11 Colombia 89.2 1.1
 Major coal consumers
Country 2008 2009 2010 2011 Share
China 2,966 3,188 3,695 4,053 50.7%
United States 1,121 997 1,048 1,003 12.5%
India 641 705 722 788 9.9%
Russia 250 204 256 262 3.3%
Germany 268 248 256 256 3.3%
South Africa 215 204 206 210 2.6%
Japan 204 181 206 202 2.5%
Poland 149 151 149 162 2.0%
World Total 7,327 7,318 7,994 N/A 100%
 Major coal exporters
• Countries with annual gross export higher than 10 million
tonnes are shown. In terms of net export the largest exporters
are still Australia (328.1 millions tonnes), Indonesia (316.2)
and Russia (100.2).
 Country 2008 2009 2010 Share

Australia 278.0 288.5 328.1 27.1%

Canada 36.5 31.9 36.9 3.0%

China 68.8 25.2 22.7 1.9%

Colombia 74.7 75.7 76.4 6.3%

Indonesia 228.2 261.4 316.2 26.1%

Kazakhstan 47.6 33.0 36.3 3.0%

Mongolia 4.4 7.7 18.3 1.5%

Poland 16.1 14.6 18.1 1.5%

Russia 115.4 130.9 122.1 10.1%

South Africa 68.2 73.8 76.7 6.3%

United States 83.5 60.4 83.2 6.9%

Vietnam 21.3 28.2 24.7 2.0%

Total 1,087.3 1,090.8 1,212.8 100%

 Major coal importers

• Countries with annual gross import higher than 20 million

tonnes are shown. In terms of net import the largest
importers are still Japan (206.0 millions tonnes), China (172.4)
and South Korea (125.8).
 Country 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Share
China 42.0 56.2 44.5 151.9 195.1 16.6%
France 24.1 22.1 24.9 18.3 20.8 1.8%
Germany 50.6 56.2 55.7 45.9 55.1 4.7%
India 52.7 29.6 70.9 76.7 101.6 8.6%
Italy 27.9 28.0 27.9 20.9 23.7 1.9%
Japan 199.7 209.0 206.0 182.1 206.7 17.5%
Netherlands 25.7 29.3 23.5 22.1 22.8 1.9%
Russia 28.8 26.3 34.6 26.8 21.8 1.9%
South Korea 84.1 94.1 107.1 109.9 125.8 10.7%
Taiwan 69.1 72.5 70.9 64.6 71.1 6.0%
Turkey 22.9 25.8 21.7 22.7 30.0 2.5%
United
56.8 48.9 49.2 42.2 29.3 2.5%
Kingdom
United States 40.3 38.8 37.8 23.1 20.6 1.8%
Total 991.8 1,056.5 1,063.2 1,039.8 1,178.1 100%
 ENERGY FROM COAL
• The energy density of coal, i.e. its heating value,
is roughly 24 megajoules per kilogram
(approximately 6.7 kilowatt-hours per kg).
• For a coal power plant with a 40% efficiency, it
takes an estimated 325 kg (717 lb) of coal to
power a 100 W for one year.
• As of 2006, the average efficiency of electricity-
generating power stations was 31%; in 2002, coal
represented about 23% of total global energy
supply, an equivalent of 3.4 billion tonnes of coal,
of which 2.8 billion tonnes were used for
electricity generation.
COAL MINING
• Coal mining has had many developments over the recent years,
from the early days of men tunneling, digging and manually
extracting the coal on carts to large open cut and long wall mines.
Mining at this scale requires the use
of draglines, trucks, conveyors, jacks and shearers.
•
Open Cut Mining: When coal seams are near the surface, it may be
economical to extract the coal using open cut (also referred to as
open cast, open pit, or strip) mining methods.
• Open cast coal mining recovers a greater proportion of the coal
deposit than underground methods, as more of the coal seams in
the strata may be exploited.
• Large Open Cast mines can cover an area of many square
kilometers and use very large pieces of equipment. This equipment
can include the following: Draglines which operate by removing the
overburden, power shovels, large trucks in which transport
overburden and coal, bucket wheel excavators, and conveyors.
• In this mining method, explosives are first used in order to
break through the surface, or overburden, of the mining area.
The overburden is then removed by draglines or by shovel
and truck. Once the coal seam is exposed, it is drilled,
fractured and thoroughly mined in strips. The coal is then
loaded on to large trucks or conveyors for transport to either
the coal preparation plant or directly to where it will be used.
• Strip mining
• Contour mining
• Mountaintop removal mining
• Underground mining
• Most coal seams are too deep underground for
opencast mining and require underground mining, a
method that currently accounts for about 60 percent of
world coal production.
• In deep mining, the room and pillar or board and
pillar method progresses along the seam, while pillars
and timber are left standing to support the mine roof.
• Once room and pillar mines have been developed to a
stopping point (limited by geology, ventilation, or
economics), a supplementary version of room and
pillar mining, termed second mining or retreat mining,
is commonly started.
• Miners remove the coal in the pillars, thereby
recovering as much coal from the coal seam as
possible.
 Environmental Impact of mining
• Coal mining can result in a number of adverse effects on
the environment. Surface mining of coal completely eliminates
existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or
destroys wildlife and habitat, degrades air quality, alters current
land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general
topography of the area mined,
• This often results in a scarred landscape with no scenic value.
Rehabilitation or reclamation mitigates some of these concerns and
is required by US Federal Law, specifically the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.
• Mine tailing dumps produce acid mine drainage which can seep into
waterways and aquifers, with consequences on ecological and
human health.
• If underground mine tunnels collapse, this can cause subsidence of
land surfaces. During actual mining operations, methane, a
known greenhouse gas, may be released into the air. And by the
movement, storage, and redistribution of soil, the community of
microorganisms and nutrient cycling processes can be disrupted.
 Types
• As geological processes apply pressure to dead biotic
material over time, under suitable conditions it is
transformed successively into:
• Peat considered to be a precursor of coal, has industrial
importance as a fuel in some regions, for example, Ireland
and Finland. In its dehydrated form, peat is a highly
effective absorbent for fuel and oil spills on land and water.
It is also used as a conditioner for soil to make it more able
to retain and slowly release water.
• Lignite, or brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and used
almost exclusively as fuel for electric power generation.
• Sub-bituminous coal whose properties range from those of
lignite to those of bituminous coal, is used primarily as fuel
for steam-electric power generation and is an important
source of light aromatic hydrocarbons for the chemical
synthesis industry.
• Bituminous coal is a dense sedimentary rock, usually
black, but sometimes dark brown, often with well-
defined bands of bright and dull material; it is used
primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation,
with substantial quantities used for heat and power
applications in manufacturing and to make coke.
• "Steam coal" is a grade between bituminous coal and
anthracite, once widely used as a fuel for steam
locomotives. In this specialized use, it is sometimes
known as "sea-coal" in the US. Small steam coal (dry
small steam nuts or DSSN) was used as a fuel for
domestic water heating.
• Anthracite, the highest rank of coal, is a harder, glossy
black coal used primarily for residential and
commercial space heating..
• Graphite, technically the highest rank, is difficult to
ignite and is not commonly used as fuel — it is mostly
used in pencils and, when powdered, as a lubricant.
Thermal Power Plant
• A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime
mover is steam driven.
• Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which
drives an electrical generator.
• After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in
a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as
a Rankine cycle.
• The greatest variation in the design of thermal power stations is due
to the different fossil fuel resources generally used to heat the water.
• Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities
convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy.
• Certain thermal power plants also are designed to produce heat
energy for industrial purposes of district heating, or desalination of
water, in addition to generating electrical power.
• Globally, fossil fueled thermal power plants produce a large part of
man-made CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and efforts to reduce
these are varied and widespread.
 EFFICIENCY
• The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered
salable energy produced as a percent of the heating value of the fuel
consumed, is typically 33% to 48%.
• As with all heat engines, their efficiency is limited, and governed by the
laws of thermodynamics.
• The energy of a thermal not utilized in power production must leave the
plant in the form of heat to the environment.
• This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of
with cooling water or in cooling towers.
• If the waste heat is instead utilized for district heating, it is called co-
generation.
• An important class of thermal power station are associated
with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries
with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater
production and electricity are equally important co-products
 EFFICIENCY
• The Carnot efficiency dictates that higher
efficiencies can be attained by increasing the
temperature of the steam. (223 bar)
• Sub-critical fossil fuel power plants can achieve
36–40% efficiency.
• Super critical designs have efficiencies in the low
to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical"
designs using pressures of 4400 psi (303 bar) and
multiple stage reheat reaching about 48%
efficiency
 Environmental effects
• A number of adverse health, and environmental effects of coal burning
exist,[especially in power stations, and of coal mining, including:
• Coal-fired power plants cause nearly 24,000 premature deaths annually in
the United States, including 2,800 from lung cancer. Annual health costs in
Europe from use of coal to generate electricity are €42.8 billion, or $55
billion.
• Generation of hundreds of millions of tons of waste products, including fly
ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that
contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals
• Acid rain from high sulfur coal
• Interference with groundwater and water table levels due to mining
• Contamination of land and waterways and destruction of homes from fly
ash spills. such as the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill
• Impact of water use on flows of rivers and consequential impact on other
land uses
• Dust nuisance
• Subsidence above tunnels, sometimes damaging infrastructure
• Uncontrollable coal seam fire which may burn for decades or
centuries
• Coal-fired power plants without effective fly ash capture systems
are one of the largest sources of human-caused background
radiation exposure.
• Coal-fired power plants emit mercury, selenium, and arsenic,
which are harmful to human health and the environment.
• Release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, causes climate
change and global warming, according to the IPCC and the EPA.
• Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of
CO2 in the atmosphere.
• Approximately 75 Tg/S per year of sulfur dioxide (SO2) is released
from burning coal. After release, the sulfur dioxide is oxidized to
gaseous H2SO2 which scatters solar radiation, hence its increase in
the atmosphere exerts a cooling effect on climate that masks some
of the warming caused by increased greenhouse gases. Release of
SO2also contributes to the widespread acidification of ecosystems.