Energy Sources: Fossil Fuels and Renewables
What is Energy?
Energy is the ability to do work.
What is an Energy Source?
An energy source is a material that provides energy.
What is the Main Source of Energy? Why is it Important?
The Sun. It makes life possible on our planet.
Energy Classification
Based on availability:
- Renewable: Solar, wind, hydro, geothermal.
- Non-renewable: Oil, natural gas, coal.
Which Energy Resources are Used the Most?
Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal).
What is a Fossil Fuel?
Fossil fuels are not renewable sources of energy in the short term; they are derived from the organic matter of living beings.
Which Sectors Use Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas?
- Oil: Automobile industry, petrochemicals, power generation.
- Coal: Domestic service, industry.
- Natural Gas: Electricity generation, household sector.
Why Did the Use of Coal Decrease and Oil Increase?
Because oil yields more, and rising coal prices, along with the ease of handling oil, favored the shift.
Why are Fossil Fuels Depleted?
They are depleted because they are extracted at a much higher rate than they are produced.
Which Fossil Fuel is Used in Nuclear Energy Production?
Uranium-235 isotope.
Advantages of Renewable Energy
They do not run out, they do not pollute as much, and they are readily available. They are less harmful to the environment.
What is the Composition of Natural Gas? What is the Difference with Oil?
Natural gas is a fossil fuel comprising a mixture of hydrocarbons, and its main component is methane.
Where is Natural Gas Found?
It forms from organic matter, next to oil fields, in anaerobic environments, at mild temperatures and pressures.
What is Biogas?
Biogas is a gas formed by the decomposition of organic matter.
Natural Gas Extraction
When the gas is mixed with oil, the product emerges naturally. When mixed with water, it is drawn out with pumps.
How is Natural Gas Transported and What are the Main Difficulties?
It needs to be liquefied for transport via gas pipelines, tanker trucks, and ships.
How is Natural Gas Stored?
It is stored in liquid form.
Advantages of Natural Gas
It is cleaner, easier to extract, and does not require refining.
Applications of Natural Gas
Household use, industry, and commerce.
What are the Environmental Dangers Resulting from Natural Gas?
It can explode.
What is Oil?
Oil is a fossil fuel, a viscous liquid that can be green, brown, or black, consisting of different hydrocarbons.
What is its Composition?
Hydrocarbons.
What are Hydrocarbons?
They are compounds of carbon and hydrogen atoms in varying amounts.
Stages in the Formation of Petroleum
- Prospecting and extraction.
- Transportation and refining.
- Storage and distribution.
What Factors are Needed to Produce Oil or Natural Gas?
High pressure, high temperature, and an anaerobic environment.
What is an Anaerobic Environment?
An environment with an absence of oxygen.
What is Crude Oil?
Oil that has not gone through any refining process.
What is Prospecting? How is it Done in the Case of Oil?
It is the process of searching for oilfields. It is done by studying seismic waves through underground layers.
Explain the Oil Extraction Process
Tubes are placed, through which the oil will be driven to the surface, after drilling the land with a drilling rig.
Why are Light Hydrocarbons Considered Higher Quality?
Because more valuable products are obtained from them, such as propane, butane, and methane. They are easier to manipulate and can be used in the petrochemical industry.
What is Refining?
It is the industrial process that crude oil undergoes to obtain various useful products.
What is the Distillation of Petroleum?
It is the operation where crude oil enters and different products (distillates) leave according to their boiling points.
What are the Main Compounds Obtained from the Distillation of Petroleum?
Gases, gasoline and naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil.
How is Oil Stored and Distributed?
Oil is stored in tanks and distributed by ship, rail, or road.
Principal Applications of Petroleum
- 90% as a source of energy.
- 10% as raw material in the petrochemical industry.
What are the Oil-Producing Countries? And Consumers of Oil?
Producers: Saudi Arabia, USA, Russia, Iraq. (The question asks for both, but only lists producers. A complete answer would require more information.)
What are the Environmental Dangers from the Use of Oil?
It is polluting when burned, releasing carbon dioxide that produces acid rain and contributes to the greenhouse effect.