ENERGY 1

Introduction to Environmental Engineering

SOURCES OF PRIMARY ENERGY:

I. NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES (Energy Capital)

- resources that are not replaced by natural processes or whose rate of
replacement is so slow as to be ineffective and the amount of these materials is
finite.
- refer primarily to fossil fuels or to radioactive minerals.

Ex. Crude oil (petroleum, natural gas, coal, synthetic oil and nuclear energy.

II. RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES (Energy Income)

- resources that are replaced in a reasonable length of time or that are usually
readily or can be regenerated by natural processes.

Ex. Hydroelectric energy, tidal forces, geothermal, biomass, and solar.

WORLD CONSUMPTION OF COMMERCIALLY PROVIDED ENERGY:

Commodity Percentage Quantity (EJ)
Crude Oil 38.5 144.4
Coal 26.8 100.5
Natural Gas 21.7 81.5
Hydroelectric Power 6.7 25.1
Nuclear Power 6.3 23.6

FOSSIL FUEL RESERVES:

Reserves Length of Time Expected Year of
Consumption Depletion
Oil 22 2030
Natural Gas 47 2055
Coal 232 2240

I. NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES:

CRUDE OIL (PETROLEUM) – naturally occurring oil that consists chiefly of

hydrocarbons with some other elements such as sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen.

Crude Oil Reserves:

Country Reserves (in billion barrels)
Saudi Arabia 261.7
Iraq 115
Iran 99.1
Kuwait 98.9
UAE 62.8
Philippines 0.2

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NATURAL GAS – a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons that is

found in porous sedimentary rocks in the earth’s crust. It consists chiefly of methane,
ethane, propane and butane.

Natural Gas Reserves:

Country Reserves (in trillion ft3)
Russia 1,700
Iran 939
Qatar 757.7
Saudi Arabia 228.2
UAE 204.1
Philippines 3.7

COAL – a brown or black carbon deposit derived from the accumulation and
alteration of ancient vegetation.

Types of Coal
Coal Color Moisture Fixed Heating
Carbon Value
(BTU)
Lignite Brown 70% 7000
Subbituminous Black 43% 70% 9000
Bituminous Black 5% 80% 13500
Superbituminous Black 83% 16000
Anthracite Black 2% 90% 13000

Coal Reserves:
Country Anthracite Lignite and Total Share of
and Subbitumino Total
Bituminous us
USA 111,338 135,305 246,643 25.06%
Russia 49,088 107,922 157,010 15.95%
China 62,200 52,300 114,500 11.63%
Australia 47,300 43,100 90,400 9.19%
India 72,733 2,000 74,733 7.59%

NUCLEAR ENERGY – energy released in the splitting or fusion of the nuclei of

atoms.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF NON-RENEWABLE SOURCES:

Petroleum:
1. Emission of SO2, H2S, CO2, NOx and hydrocarbons.
2. Ground water contamination by leaking tanks.
3. Used oil disposal
4. Interference with fisheries or land use.
5. Refinery effluents.

Natural Gas:
1. Emission of SO2, H2S, CO2, NOx and hydrocarbons.

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Coal:
1. Emission of CO2, SO2, small airborne particles, NOx, CO, hydrocarbons and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
2. Generation of mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and uranium.
3. Generation of chlorine in wastewater.
4. It can cause thermal pollution.

GLOBAL WARMING:
• Since the beginning of the 20th century, the mean surface temperature has
increased by about 0.6oC.
• Over the last 40 years, which is the period with most reliable data, the
temperature has increased by 0.3oC.
• Warming in the 20th century is greater than in any time during the past 400-
600 yrs.

EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING:

• Mountain glaciers are receding
• The Arctic ice pack has lost about 40% of its thickness over the past four
decades
• The global sea level is rising about three times faster over the past 100 years
• More heat waves and droughts, resulting in more and more conflict for water
resources
• More extreme weather events, producing floods and property destruction
• Greater potential for heat related illnesses and deaths as well as the wider
spread of infectious diseases

Nuclear Power:
1. Emission of radon from mine tailings
2. Contamination of the soil and water
3. Emission of radioactive materials both in mine and mineral processing

Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Radiation:

Dose (rem) Effect
0 to 25 No detectable clinical effects
25 to 50 Slight, temporary decrease in white blood
cell counts
100 to 200 Nausea, marked decrease in white blood
cells
300 and above It can cause death within 30 days after
exposure

II. RENEWABLE ENERGY:

HYDROELECTRIC POWER – uses the force of moving water to produce electricity

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY – taps in the heat under the earths crust to boil water. The
hot water is the used to drive electric turbines to produce electricity
WIND POWER – it is used to drive with turbines to generate electricity

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Introduction to Environmental Engineering

BIOMASS – energy from plants

SOLAR ENERGY – energy from the sun that is then converted to electricity using
solar cell
TIDAL ENERGY – the energy from the sea wave is used to drive turbines to generate
electricity

Environmental Benefits and Impacts of Renewable Energy:

Energy Source Benefits Impacts

Hydroelectric - produces no air pollution and - degradation of forest,
Energy greenhouse gases farmland, wild habitats and
scenic areas
- it can cause radical changes in
river ecosystems
Geothermal - it requires a large amount of
water fro cooling, it might cause
thermal pollution of river system
- emission of H2S, SO2, CO2, NO2
and volatile organic compounds
- generation of sludge (solid
waste) containing silica
compounds, chlorides, arsenic,
mercury, nickel and other toxic
heavy metals
Biomass - burning of biomass produces - reducing air pollution and
a minimal air pollution water pollution
- planting energy crops (source
of biomass) makes streams
cleaner
- energy crops improve soil
quality
- biomass crops can create
better wildlife habitat
Wind - it produces no air and water - degradation of lands due to
pollution construction of wind turbine
- no cooling water needed - this might cause the death of
- no toxic or hazardous wastes birds
- posses no threat to public
safety
Solar - no air and water pollution - the manufacture of voltaic cells
- no toxic or hazardous wastes and components (materials used
during the generation of in some solar system) requires
electricity hazardous materials such as
arsenic, cadmium and inert
silicon
- also requiring cooling water
Tidal - it produces no air and water - degradation of lands due to
pollution construction of turbine
- no cooling water needed
- no toxic and hazardous
wastes
- posses no threat to public
safety

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ENERGY BALANCE:

Law of Conservation of Energy:

“Energy in the universe is constant”

[rate of energy accumulated] = [rate of energy in] – [rate of energy

out] + [rate of energy produced]
- [rate of energy consumed]

[rate of energy in] = [rate of energy out]

[rate of energy in] = [rate of useful energy out] + [rate of wasted energy
out]

Efficiency (%) = useful energy out / energy in x 100%

Sample Problems:

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1. A coal-fired power plant uses 1000 Mg (note: 1 Mg is 1000kg). The energy

value of the coal is 28,000 kj/kg. The plant produces 2.8 x 106 kWh of
electricity each day. What is the efficiency of the power plant?
2. A diesel electric generator that consumes 10,000 gallons of diesel per week
has an efficiency of 38%. What is the amount of electricity produced of the
generator? (The energy value of diesel is 138,000 BTU/gallon).

CALORIMETER: - apparatus used to measure the amount of heat (energy) produced

during chemical reaction.

Sample Problems:
1. A calorimeter holds 4 liter of water. Ignition of a 10-gram sample of a waste-
derived fuel of unknown energy value yields a temperature rise of 12.5oC.
What is the energy value of this fuel. Ignore the mass of the bomb.
2. 15 grams of hydrocarbon compound with a heating value of 18,513 J/gram is
burned in the calorimeter. The calorimeter that holds 15L of water is initially
at 25oC. Calculate the final temperature of water.

HEAT ENERGY – the flow of energy from a body at high temperature to at lower
temperature when they are placed in thermal contact.

Heat energy = mCΔt

= mass of the material x absolute temperatureof the material
0 = [heat energy in] – [heat energy out] + 0 – 0

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0 = [T1Q1 + T2Q2] – T3Q3

solving for T3:

T3 = T1Q1 + T2Q2 / Q3

Q3 = Q1 + Q2

Where : T – absolute temperature

Q – flow, mass per unit time (or volume if constantdensity)
1 and 2 – input streams
3 – output stream

Sample Problem:
A coal fired-power plant discharges 3 m3/s of cooling water at 80oC into a river that
has flow at 15 m3/s and a temperature of 20oC. What will be the temperature in the
river immediately below the discharge?

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