Coal As The Worlds Major Energy Source example essay topic

Throughout the entire history of mankind, the technological advancements that civilisations have made have always been tied in with the development of energy sources. The first human energy technology was fire, along with human labour as the major energy source. This has bee supplemented by animals for agriculture and transportation since at least the dawn of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. Wind and waterpower for milling grain have also been used nearly as long. The development of the steam engine by George Stephenson in the late 1700's was the technological breakthrough that led to the industrial revolution. For the first time in human history transportation could be provided without the use of domesticated animals.

Steam engines were used in steam locomotives, steam tractors and steam ships (B. Nebel and R. Wright 1995). Stationary steam engines were rapidly established in all the major industries. The major fuel for steam engines was firewood. By the end of the 1800's, the demand for energy was ever increasing and firewood around industrial centres was becoming scarce. This led to a switch to coal as the major source for fuel and energy. As well as powering steam engines coal became widely used for heating, cooking and industrial processes.

Air pollution during the Industrial revolution was far worse than anything seen today. Apart from the smoke and fumes obscuring visibility, they also caused major health problems to the inhabitants of the industrial areas reducing life expectancies, predominantly with respiratory diseases. The simultaneous development of the internal combustion engine, well drilling technology and the capacity to refine crude oil into gasoline and other liquid fuels (B. Nebel et al 1995) in the late 1880's, produced an alternative to steam power. Air pollution was greatly reduced as coal-fired steam engines and gasoline and diesel engines, and fuel oil furnaces replaced furnaces. Due to the length of time it takes to change from one energy technology to another, it was not until the late 1940's that oil surpassed coal as the worlds major energy source.

World oil use peaked in 1979 when daily production passed 66 million barrels per day (W. Cunningham et al 1993). This was not without problems however. In 1973, the recognition of the increasing dependence of industrialized nations on oil along with tensions between America and the middle east led to a tenfold rise in oil prices by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The sudden price rises were a major source of debt burdens in many developing countries, and is today held responsible for the world economic recession that became evident in the late 1970's and early 1980's. During the early 1980's with increasing concerns about conservation by environmentalists and the concerns from Politicians and Industrialists saw the need for safer, 'greener' energy sources. Environmental problems from the burning of fossil fuels came to dominate the headlines of world media with issues such as the greenhouse effect, acid rain and water pollution.

It was not until August 1990 that the supply of oil came to the attention of the world media and industrialized nations again. The invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein brought a new dimension to the west's dependence on oil. It showed they were willing to fight wars for it, under the guise of liberating Kuwait from an evil dictator. The following military build up in the region cumulated in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Today fossil fuels provide about 95% of all commercial energy in the world (W. Cunningham et al 1995). Approximately 1,200 million people living in developed, industrialized countries consume over two-thirds of this total energy supply, while less than one-third goes to the 4,100 million people living in the developed world (K. Pickering and L. Owen 1995). This shows a massive difference in energy use between people in the developed and developing nations. On average, each person in the United States and Canada uses about 300 GJ (equivalent to about 60 barrels of oil) per year. By contrast in the poorest countries in the, such as Ethiopia, Kampuchea, Nepal and Bhutan, each person generally consumes less than one GJ per year. (W. Cunningham et al 1995).

This means that on average, a person in a developed country uses almost as much energy in a single day, as a person in one of the above countries uses in a year. Clearly, there is a link between energy consumption and the comfort and convenience of our lives. The consumption of energy in developing countries is rising rapidly, and by the end of the next century will dominate energy markets worldwide. Even allowing for a growth rate in the demand for energy in the developing countries 1-2% lower than the present trend, the demand is likely to exceed 100 million barrels a day oil equivalent (mb doe) by 2010, and possibly 200 mb doe (K. Pickering and L. Owen 1995). The reason coal, crude oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels is that all three were once living matter. Early in earth's biological history, photosynthesis outpaced the activity of consumers and decomposes.

Consequently, large amounts of organic matter accumulated, especially on the bottoms of shallow seas and swamps. Gradually, this material was buried under sediments eroding from the land, and, over millions of years, was converted to either coal, crude oil or natural gas depending on the conditions under which it was subjected to. Formation of fossil fuels by natural processes may be continuing to this day. However, we are using fossil fuels infinitely faster than they are formed.

About 1000 years worth of natural accumulations was required to produce the amount of crude oil that the world now uses in one day. Because supplies are finite, there is no question that sooner or later we shall run out of these fuels. The most asked question is 'How long will the reserves last for?' ; World coal deposits are vast, ten times greater than conventional oil and gas resources combined. Coal seems can be 100 km thick and can extend across tens of thousands of square miles that were vast swampy forests in prehistoric times. The total resource is estimated to be 10 million metric tonnes. If all this coal could be extracted, and if coal consumption continued at present levels, this would amount to several thousand years supply.

At present rates of consumption, these proven reserves - those explored and mapped but not necessarily economically recoverable - will last about 200 years (W. Cunningham et al 1993). The total amount of oil in the world is estimated to be about 4 trillion barrels (600 billion metric tonnes), half of which is thought to be recoverable. Some 465 billion barrels of oil already have been consumed. In 1990, the proven reserves were roughly 1 trillion bbls, enough to last only 50 years at the current consumption rate of 20 billion barrels per year (W. Cunningham et al 1993).

The total ultimately recoverable natural gas resources in the world are estimated to be 10,000 trillion cubic feet, corresponding to about 80% as much energy as the recoverable reserves of crude oil. The proven world reserves of natural gas are 3,200 trillion cubic feet (73,000 million metric tonnes). Because gas consumption rates are only about half of those for oil, current gas reserves represent roughly a 60 year supply at present usage rates (W. Cunningham et al 1993). Apart from the problems of increasing demand and dwindling supplies associated with fossil fuels, the environmental problems they cause have been at the forefront of world media in the past couple of decades. The release of gases into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, and their major contribution to what is known as the greenhouse effect have been well documented. One of the main contributors to this is carbon dioxide (CO ).

Following the industrial revolution the combustion of fossil fuels, together with deforestation, has caused an increase in concentration of atmospheric CO by 26% (K. Pickering et al 1995). The global air temperature of the earth is increasing; the hottest yeas since record keeping began have been seen in the past decade. Scientists are predicting worldwide that the Earth will continue to heat up and have a drastic effect on the Earth's environment, as we know it. Recently, other scientists have said that global warming won't continue at all, that what's happening is the opposite and we are seeing the start of a new ice age.

Apart from global warming, other environmental issues associated with fossil fuels include acid rain, which has wiped out vast areas of forest. By 1985 German foresters estimated that more than 4 million hectares (about half the total forest were in a state of decline due to acid rain (W Cunningham 1995). Coal burning releases radioactivity and many toxic metals. You are likely to get a higher dose of radiation living next door to a coal burning power plant than a nuclear plant under normal conditions.

Extraction of fossil fuels is a dirty and dangerous business, with associated diseases of workers and environmental pollution, such as dust from mining and spills from tankers transporting oil. As can be seen from the various points discussed, the civilisation that we inhabit today is very much dependent on fossil fuels, without them the level of technology that we take for granted today would not exist. The economical, political, social and environmental issued associated with them show the problems of mans dependence on them. With increasing worldwide demand, and declining supplies, every effort needs to be made by governments to find solutions to these problems. This has already started today, with developments in alternative energy sources such as nuclear power, which raises its own issues, and the move towards solar and other renewable energy sources.

Bibliography

Cunningham. W. P and Sai go B. W (1995).
Environmental Science: A Global Concern. W.C. B, Bubu que. Nebel B. J and Wright R. T (1993).
Environmental Science. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Pickering K. T and Owen L. A (1995).