Learn More. Carbon Storage Research. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Shale Gas This webpage has been developed to answer the many questions that people have about shale gas and hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
Enhanced Oil Recovery. A well-known example is the Gulf War of Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel that is versatile, abundant and relatively clean compared to coal and oil. Like oil, it is formed from the remains of marine microorganisms. It is a relatively new type of energy source. Until , more coal was used than natural gas.
Natural gas has now overtaken coal in developed countries. However, people are afraid that like oil, natural gas supplies will run out. Some scientists have even predicted this might happen by the middle or end of the 21st century. Natural gas mainly consists of methane CH 4. It is highly compressed in small volumes at large depths in the earth. Like oil, it is brought to the surface by drilling. Natural gas reserves are more evenly distributed around the globe than oil supplies.
Figure 2. Source: Energy Information Administration. Energy gained from burning fossil fuels is converted to electricity and heat in commercial power plants.
When fossil fuels are burned carbon and hydrogen react with oxygen in air to carbon dioxide CO 2 and water H 2 O. During this reaction heat is released which further amplifies the reaction. Electricity is generated by transforming mechanical energy heat to electrical energy in a turbine or generator. Power plants are very expensive to build, but once they are present efficiency in converting fuel to energy is very high. Most of the time more electricity is created than is actually needed, because electricity cannot be stored.
Electricity demands vary throughout the year and provision must meet the peak load , which means the highest possible demand within a year. If demands significantly exceed a power plant's capacity to generate energy this may cause temporary blackouts. Historically, fossil fuels were available in plentiful supply that was easy to obtain and transport.
As the layers build up the weight increases and the sediment is pushed further down, this increases both the temperature and pressure. With all of these factors combined the decayed plants and animals form oil and gas deposits. In some cases these deposits rise to the surface and seep out into soil and water.
In other cases the oil and gas deposits are trapped under impermeable layers of rock and drilling is necessary. Natural gas consists mainly of Methane CH 4 but can also contain other gases such as Butane and Propane. Oil and gas formation stages. Peat is a very young form of coal, if left for a long period of time peat will eventually form coal.
Peat was formed by the decay of plants and in some cases trees. These plants accumulated and decayed over hundreds of thousands of years in waterlogged areas.
Peat formed in areas where there was poor drainage. When the last ice-age ended and ice melted it left behind glacial features such as eskers and moraines. These features are evident in the topography of Ireland, especially the midlands, and lead to poor drainage of the soil. This poor drainage along with continual growth of vegetation, high levels of rainfall and a low levels of oxygen lead to the formation of peatlands.. Fossil fuels are burned to produce energy.
In large power stations they are burned in the presence of oxygen. As the fuel burns the heat energy is used to heat water, as it is heated it produces steam which in turn rises and drives a turbine. The energy conversion goes from chemical energy stored in the fuels, to heat energy as it burns which is converted to kinetic energy as it drives large turbines and finally this is converted to electrical energy.
The problem with burning fossil fuels is their effect on the environment. As mentioned fossil fuels are Hydrocarbons. When hydrocarbons are burned in the presence of oxygen they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas and is a leading cause of Global Warming.
Fossil fuels are also used in the petrochemicals industry, here the fossil fuels are used to make plastics, paints and even medication. Ireland has a history of coal mining in areas of Leinster including Kilkenny, Carlow and Laois. As coal usage has dropped in the United States, so have carbon dioxide emissions from coal—by 50 percent from to Coal production in the United States has been dropping since and is expected to continue to decline in the future.
Multiple methods are employed for extracting coal, the most common of which is surface mining, which involves removing the top layers of soil and rock to access the coal. Surface mining accounts for 62 percent of coal extraction. Underground mining, which creates tunnels in mountains to access coal, accounts for the other 38 percent. Both methods create environmental and human health issues in surrounding areas. Coal combustion produces a variety of air pollutants that harm human and environmental health, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and particulate matter.
Coal ash is another harmful coal waste product, which is difficult to recycle and can seep into waterways, polluting them. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that million tons of coal ash are generated each year in the United States. Natural gas is burned to generate an increasing share of U. It is most commonly used to produce heat or electricity for buildings or industrial processes.
Accessing natural gas requires drilling a well. In the United States , natural gas is found in shale and other sedimentary rock formations and is extracted through a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking requires forcing water, chemicals, and sand down a well at high pressure, which cracks the rock and releases the natural gas.
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