• Natural resources and energy resources

• Non-renewable & renewable energy

• Oil and gas
• Coal
• Nuclear power
• Unconventional fossil fuels

‘Energy resources - renewables’ presentation follows on from

this on and covers renewable energy
What are natural resources?

What are some examples of

natural resources and what are
they used for?

What can nations try to do if

they don’t have all the natural
resources they need?
Natural resources – natural substances required
by humans for different needs.

Metals and
Rainforests
minerals Crops

Water Coal, oil and Forests

gas
What are energy
resources?

What are some of the

different types of
energy resource?
 Solar
Biofuel Coal
Wind
Natural gas
Biomass
Nuclear

Hydroelectric
Geothermal

Energy mix - the specific combination of different energy sources a

country uses to meet its energy consumption needs
What is a renewable
energy resource?

What is a non-
renewable energy
resource?
 Depends
Renewable Non-renewable
 Depends
Renewable Non-renewable
 *renewables includes
wind, solar,
geothermal, biomass
and biofuels

Billion toe =
billion tonnes
of oil
equivalent BP 2017 Energy Outlook
© BP p.l.c. 2017
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Coal
• Nuclear
• Unconventional
non-renewables: tar
sands, methane
hydrates
 • Crude oil and natural
gas are formed from
phytoplankton and
zooplankton
• Microorganisms sink
Phytoplankton & zooplankton to the bottom of the
ocean when they die
forming layers of
organic rich sediment
• High primary
Organic rich production, stagnant,
stratified water
sediments column, lack of sea
floor decomposers,
low oxygen (anoxic) =
Layers of sediment good conditions for
forming oil and gas
source rocks
 • Organic rich
sediments are
buried by layers
and layers of
sediment
• Increased and
sustained heat and
pressure ‘cooks’
the organic matter
in the source rock
into petroleum
• Temperature and
Organic rich sediments burial depth
determine which
hydrocarbons are
produced
Temperature and
burial depth
determine
whether you get
oil or gas and how
much is formed.
 • Oil and gas migrate
upwards form the
Oil rig
source rock into
reservoir rocks
capped by
Drill Sea impermeable seals
• Can sometimes
Impermeable seal rock migrate all the way
Reservoir rock to the surface e.g.
Oil La Brae tarpits
• Trapped deposits
are drilled to
release oil and gas
Oil rich • Hydraulic fracking
source rock can also be used to
extract gas
 Oil & gas burned to heat steam propels Electricity
water turbine
• Crude oil is refined by fractional distillation into kerosene, petrol,
diesel etc. before it is used as a fuel.
• Relatively inexpensive to extract.
• Reliable and dependable source of energy and income for local
community e.g. in Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Natural gas can be converted into liquid form
• When oil and gas are burnt they release gas into the atmosphere.
carbon dioxide
• Oil spills are environmental disasters – e.g. BP Mexico oil spill 2010
 • Most of the coal
we have on Earth
today was formed
in the
Carboniferous
Swamp period 360 – 299
million years ago
• Tropical, swampy
climate
• Plants die and
over time form
Older rock layers layers of squashed
plant material
 • Squashed plant
material
accumulates
over thousands
of years.
Peat • Plant material
turns into peat.
• Peat is used for
fuel Ireland,
Scotland and
Finland
 • Peat is buried by
layers of sediment
and subjected to
increased heat and
Younger rock layers pressure
• ‘Cooked’ into coal
• The type of coal you
get depends on
Coal seam
how long it was
buried, how deep
and how hot it got.
Older rock layers
 Peat The hotter the
temperature, the
deeper the coal is
buried, and the
Lignite
longer the amount of
time the coal is
Bituminous buried, the more
coal efficient coal you get.

Anthracite
 Coal burned to steam propels Electricity
heat water turbine

• Coal is cheap and there is lots of it!

• When coal is are burnt it releases carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
into the atmosphere contributing to global
burned for heat warming and acid rain.
• Coal mining is harmful to the environment and
mine workers – toxic dust, cave-ins and
explosions.
 steam propels
Nuclear reactions Heat Electricity
turbine
• Uranium and plutonium are nuclear fuels – fission reactions
• Nuclear fuels do not produce harmful greenhouse gases
• Nuclear power is very efficient
• Produces radioactive waste which is dangerous and has to be
sealed in containers and buried for thousands of years.
• Nuclear cores can melt down releasing harmful radiation e.g.
Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011
• Safety is expensive
• Nuclear power currently
generates 21% total UK
electricity (2018 Department of
Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy)
• 15 operational reactors across
the UK (2018)
• Hinkley Point C in Somerset
estimated to cost £20.3 billion
• Scotland have banned any
future nuclear plants
 Fractional
Energy resource formed from ancient plants distillation
Natural substances required by Crude oil & natural gas
humans for different needs
Nuclear power
How the different components of
crude oil are separated
The specific combination of different energy sources a Coal
country uses to meet its energy consumption needs
Uses uranium and plutonium to
generate heat in fission reactions Energy Mix
Energy resources formed from Natural resources
marine organisms
 Temperature and
Generates 21% of UK electricity (2018) burial depth
Time period when most of the
world’s coal was made
Carbon dioxide

Released in the combustion of fossil Radioactive waste

fuels (hydrocarbons)

Brown spongey precursor to coal Carboniferous

Determines which hydrocarbons Peat

are produced

By product of using nuclear power Nuclear power

Energy resource formed from ancient plants Coal
Natural substances required by Natural resources
humans for different needs

How the different components of Fractional

crude oil are separated distillation
The specific combination of different energy sources a
country uses to meet its energy consumption needs
Energy Mix
Uses uranium and plutonium to
generate heat in fission reactions Nuclear power
Energy resources formed from
marine organisms Crude oil & natural gas
Generates 21% of UK electricity (2018) Nuclear power
Time period when most of the
world’s coal was made Carboniferous

Released in the combustion of fossil Carbon dioxide

fuels (hydrocarbons)

Brown spongey precursor to coal Peat

Determines which hydrocarbons Temperature and

are produced burial depth

By product of using nuclear power Radioactive waste

• Tar sands - mixtures of clay, sand, water, and
bitumen
• Bitumen can’t be pumped so tar sands are mined.
• Vast reserve of untapped oil.
• Provided a massive economic growth and
thousands of jobs in Alberta.
• Uses large amounts of land, water, and energy, when compared to
other oil resources
• Carbon dioxide emissions are ~15% higher compared with
standard crude oil extraction
• Open-pit mining produces a lot of waste - leftover sand, clays,
and contaminants
• Methane hydrates are methane (natural gas)
trapped lattices of ice.
• Arctic permafrost and sea floor sediments at
300-500m depth
• Untapped reserve of fossil fuel
• Warming or depressurising  turns into water + natural gas
• Global warming is likely to liberate methane hydrates
• Past climate warming events in geological history are linked
with methane hydrate
• CH4 is 20x more potent than CO2 – accelerate global warming
• Energy resources are natural resources - non-renewable or
renewable
• Oil, gas and coal are fossil fuels formed from marine plankton
(oil and gas) and land plants in swampy conditions (coal).
• Fossils fuels can be burned directly for heat or used to
generate electricity through heating water.
• Nuclear power is generated from the radioactive elements
uranium ad plutonium. No greenhouse gases but issues with
radioactive waste disposal.
• Unconventional fossil fuels include methane hydrates and tar
sands.