Energy Production

NRE/ENVIRON 201

November 21, 2002

Kishi Animashaun

Lecture Outline

• Energy IQ Test

• Energy 101 (Definitions, Costs & Benefits)

• Break

• Implications of US Energy Policy

• Question & Answer

Energy IQ #1

• What uses more energy (watts): a hairdryer or a microwave ?????

• A hairdryer (1200-1875 watts) versus a microwave is estimated to use 750-1100 watts

Energy IQ #2

• What uses more energy: a clothes washer or a clothes dryer ??????

• A dryer (1800 - 5,000) versus a washer which uses between 350-500 watts.

Energy IQ #3

• What form of energy is more costly to produce?

a) nuclear power

b) wind energy

c) coal

• the answer: nuclear

Energy IQ #4

• If the United States stopped importing oil and depended exclusively on indigenous supplies, at current consumption levels - how long would our reserves last?

a) 2 years

b) 10 years

c) 50 years• the answer is b) 10 years

Energy 101

Definitions:• Energy : the capacity to do work, changing

physical state or motion of an object (Btus, joules, calories,etc.)

• Work: the application of force through distance

• Power: the rate of energy delivery (watts)

Energy & Environmental Injustice

Environmental Injustice (or environmental racism):– disproportionate impact on the poor and people

of color (POC) as a result of discriminatory rules, regulations, and/or policies governing the siting and management of least undesirable land uses (LuLus)

My Work on Energy & EJ

Campaigner for Greenpeace from 1994- 1999 with communities against proposals for least undesirable land uses (LuLus) in:

• San Francisco, California

• Homer, Louisiana

• Ogoniland, Nigeria

• Convent, Louisiana

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

Worldwide Commercial Energy Production (Fig. 21.3 in text)

Oil

Coal

Gas

Hydro

Nuclear Other

OilCoalGasHydroNuclearOther

Worldwide Production (cont’d)

• Fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) account for about 95% of all production

• Renewables account for less than 3%

We can’t talk about Production without Consumption…..

• On average, each person in the US & Canada use more than the equivalent of 60 barrels of oil (300 gigajoules) per year!

• In the US, energy use:– 36% Industrial consumption (i.e metal industries

and the petrochemical industry)– 37% Residential of Commercial Use– 26% Transportation (Personal Vehicles and Freight)

COAL

• Fossilized plant material

• carbon-rich

• Coal reserves located primarily in Europe (24%), Asia (24%), North & Central America (23%) and Former USSR (15%)

• impacts/costs: air and water pollution, human health concern in mining and combustion and influence climate change

OIL

• Also derived from organic matter

• Major reserves in Saudi Arabia (25.3%), Iraq (9.5%), Kuwait (9.5%), Iran (9%), UAE (8.8%), and Venezuela (7%)

• impacts: air & water pollution

Oil & EJ Case Study #1 : Ogoniland, Nigeria

NATURAL GAS

• It’s cheaper, cleaner and produces half as much carbon dioxide as coal

• The former USSR (42%) and Asia (35%) are the leader in gas reserves

Gas & EJ Case Study #2: Bayview Hunters Point

NUKES

• Roughly about 100 plants in the US (latest at Watts Bar in Tennessee)

• most expensive form of energy - especially when decommissioning is taken into account

• generates energy through a process of nuclear fission (not fusion)

NUKES (cont’d)

Th e N u c lear F u e l C yc le

M in in g fo r O re M illin g O re

U ran iu m E n rich m en t

W as te G en era tion (3 L eve ls )L ow -L eve l W as teH ig h L eve l W as te

R ep rocess in g fo r B reed er R eac to rs

N u c lear P ower R eac to r

F ab rica tion

C on vers ion

Nukes & EJ Case Study #3: Homer, Louisiana

Indian Land and Nuclear Power: An EJ Perspective

RENEWABLES

• Conservation

• Solar Power

• Biomass (Good and Bad)

• Hydropower

• Wind Power

• Geothermal

SO…WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

What are the implication of our (US) current consumption levels given the

availability of natural resources? How do we create sustainable energy policy? Where does the impetus come

from: individuals, government, or industry?

THE END