Resource: a material used to support the needs of living things.
Renewable resource - a resource that is naturally replenished over a short period of time. Like sunlight, wind, plants.
Nonrenewable resource - resources that take an extremely long time to replenish. Such as fossil fuels, Gold, Copper, Sand(沙，concrete).
Renewable(inexhaustible) and non-renewable natural resources. To practice sustainable development.
In between: water, soil
Using resources too quickly many eventually cause us to run out of some of them.
Perpetual Energy
- solar energy
- tidal energy
- wind energy
Fossil Fuels
Coal(Plants deposits, composed mainly of C)
How coal is formed?
There are few natural resources which have had the massive and sudden impact that coal has had. Instead of burning organic matter like trees for fuel, people were able to burn organic matter from the past, and the rest is history. So how is coal formed? Plants, like plants always do, die. And some of them get stuck in stagnant water like swamps for example. Unlike moving water such as rivers, stagnant water doesn’t have much oxygen. And because there’s no oxygen, plants can’t decompose like they normally do. Instead, they’re preserved and over long periods of time layers of sediment are deposited on top. Then under heat and pressure, in a process called diagenesis(成岩作用，岩化作用), or specifically in this case, coalification, the plants are compressed into peat(泥煤；泥炭块；泥炭色), and then eventually, into coal. This entire process is very slow and takes millions of years. The heat and pressure remove the hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen until only carbon remains. The higher the rank of coal, the higher the carbon content, the shinier it is, the blacker it is, and the greater it burns.
Coal is a black or dark brown combustible rock made primarily of carbon. It was formed millions of years ago when plants and trees died and fell into swamps, the swamp’s conditions prevented the organism from decaying completely and after millions of years of intense heat and presure coal was formed.
Coal is classified into four main types or ranks based on carbon and heat content.
- Lignite (25%-35% carbon) 褐煤
- Sub-bituminous(35%-45% carbon) 亚烟煤的
- Bituminous(45%-86% carbon) 沥青的
- Anthracite(86%-97% carbon) 无烟煤
The general rule is that the higher the grade of coal, the cleaner it burns and the more versatile its uses. Coal is extracted from the earth through underground mining or surface mining, the choice of mining method is largely determined by the geology of the coal deposit and its distance from the surface. Underground mining currently accounts for a larger share of world coal production than surface mining. Coal can be burned for heating or to product electricity to convert thermal coal to electricity it is first milled to a fine powder which increase the surface area and allows it to burn more quickly, the hot gases and heat energy produced from combustion converts water into steam to run a turbine and generator.
High quality coal is also a useful raw material for example it can be converted to coke for steelmaking, coal can also be converted to liquid or synthetic gas by advanced chemical processes making it possible but costly replacement for natural gas or liquid fuels for transportation. Coal is highly abundant and cheap engery resource. Coal has powered the industrialization of many nations over history and continues to today.
It is a big player in today’s energy system providing 40% of the world’s electricity. One major concern with coal is the mining practices used to extract the resource, ecological impacts and human safety issues both for workers and neighboring communities are growing concerns for the industry. Coal is the most CO2 intensive fossil fuel when combusted because it is composed largely of carbon. Coal also contains other elements that cause pollutions problems including sulfur, nitrogen, mercury and heavy metals. SOx is a leading cause of acid rain and NOx emissions contribute to smog. in addition particulates from coal combustion can be harmful to human health. Concerns about climate change from greenhous gas emissions have put a spotlight on coal plants and have prompted the development of clean coal technologies like carbon capture and storage.
Trace elements (or trace metals) are minerals present in living tissues in small amounts. Some of them are known to be nutritionally essential, others may be essential (although the evidence is only suggestive or incomplete), and the remainder are considered to be nonessential.
Oil 油(Marine organisms deposite, composed primarily of H and C) Petroleum
Oil otherwise known as petroleum or crude is a thick black liquid composed primarily of hydrogen and carbon, the physical properties of oil, such such as its thickness vary greatly depending on the specific combination of hydrocarbon molecules. Oil also contains trace elements(稀有元素) of sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen.
Today’s oil deposits were formed millions of years ago when dead marine organisms sunk to the bottom of the ocean bed and were buried under deposits of sedimentary rock. After subjection to intense heat and pressure, these organisms underwent a transformation process by which they were converted to oil over millions of years, this is why you may have heard oil referred to as a fossil fuel. Oil is found in underground geological formations called reservoirs, the rocks found in a reservoir have various physical properties that allow them to hold hydrocarbon reserves through exploration activities such as seismic, surveying, rock core sampling and other advanced technologies, geologists locate oil reserves. Oil is extracted from the reservoir most commonly by drilling well. Once covered, oil is transported by pipeline a ship, rail or truck to a refinery where it undergoes a complex refining process that creates petroleum products like gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt(汽油、柴油、喷气燃料、沥青) and many more.
Currently, the wrold uses oil primarily to power its transportation system and to create commonly used synthetic products like plastics and petrochemicals. The production and use of oil presents social and environmental challenges. Producting oil causes land disturbance sometimes in environmentally sensitive areas. Oil powered transportation systems contribute to global greenhouse gas emission levels, and control of oil resources is a persistent factor in geopolitical tensions globally.
Natural Gas(CH4, Methane 甲烷)
Natural gas is primarily mathaane or CH4 with smaller quantities of other hydrocarbons. It was formed millions of years ago when dead organisms sunk to the bottom of the ocean and were buried under deposits of sedimentary rock. Subject to intensive head and pressure, these organisms underwent a transformation in which they converted to gas over millions of years.
Natural gas is found in underground rocks called reservoirs. The rocks have tiny spaces called pores that allow them to hold water, natural gas and sometimes oil. The natural gas is trapped underground by impermeable rock(不透水岩) called a cap Rock and stays there until it is extracted. Natural gas can be categorized as dry or wet. Dry gas is essentially gas that contains mostly methane, Wet gas on the other hand contains compounds such as ethane and butane in addition to methane. These natural gas liquids or NGLs for short can be seprated and sold individually for various uses such as refrigenrants(冻原) and to produce products like plastics. Conventional natural gas can be extracted through drilling Wells, unconventional forms of natural gas like Shale gas, tight gas, sour gas and coal bed Methane have specific extraction techniques.
Natural can also be found in reservoirs with oil and is sometimes extracted alongside oil, this type of natural gas is called associated gas. In the past, associated gas was commonly flared or burned as a waste product, but in most places today it is captured and used. Once extracted, natural gas is sent to small pipelines called gathering lines to processing plants which separate the various hydrocarbons and fluids from the pure natural gas to produce what is known as pipeline quality dry natural gas before it can be transported. Processing involves four main steps to remove the various impurities, oil and condensate removal, water removal, separation of natural gas liquids, sulfur and carbon dioxide removal. Gas is then transported through pipelines called feeders to distribution centers or is stored in underground reservoirs for later use. In some cases, gas is liquefied for shipping in large tankers across oceans. This type of gas is called liquefied natural gas(LNG).
Natrual gas is mostly used for domestic(家庭) or industrial heating and to generate electricity. It can also be compressed and used to fuel vehicles and as a feed stock for fertilizers, hydrogen fuel cells and other chemical processes. Natural gas development especially in the United States has increased as a result of technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
When natural gas is burned, there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants when compared to other fossil fuels, in fact when used to produce electricity, natural gas emits approximately half the carbon emissions of coal. Despite fewer emissions, natural gas is still a source of CO2, in addition, methane is a potent greenhous gas itself, having nearly 24 times the impact of CO2. During the extraction and transportation process, natural gas can escape into the atmosphere and contributed to climate change. Natural gas leaks are also dangerous to nearby communities because it is a colorless, odorless(无色、无味) highly toxic and highly explosive gas.
reservoir 储存器，水库
Water
Little on earth is useable fresh water.
Forests
Minerals
Plants
Animals
Air
Soil
Growing crops. It forms slow.