8.3.5 Summarize the importance of minerals, ores, and fossil fuels as Earth resources onthe basis of their physical and chemical properties.

Read the following to determine the difference between a mineral and a rock.

A mineral is a natural, nonliving, solid crystal that makes up rocks. Minerals are naturally occurring pure substances. No matter how tiny of a piece of mineral you have it is identical to all other pieces of that same mineral. Minerals have a very orderly structure that is usually, but not always, seen as crystals. There are more than 3000 known minerals on Earth. Combinations of different minerals make up all the rocks on earth.

Geologists tell minerals apart based on nine properties: color, luster, density, crystal form, cleavage (smooth, flat surface pattern when a mineral is broken), fracture (irregular pieces formed when broken), tenacity (toughness), hardness (ability to scratch or be scratched), and transparency. Minerals have many different uses that are usually dependent on their properties.

Rocks are made up of more than one kind of mineral. Rocks belong to one of three groups: sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic.

Any rock containing a metal or nonmetal together with impurities is called an ore. Pure metal is obtained by miningan ore and then removing the impurities by heat or by chemical processes. Ores are minerals that are mined because they contain useful metals or nonmetals.

What is the difference between a Rock and a Mineral?

MINERAL / ROCK / ORE

Activity: Name That Mineral (Classwork Grade)

8.3.5 Summarize the importance of minerals, ores, and fossil fuels as Earth resources onthe basis of their physical and chemical properties.

The Earth is rich in ______that we use everyday. Earth resources (minerals, ores, and fossil fuels) have properties that make them important and useful. The two types of properties are:

  • ______; for example, hardness, luster, color, texture, the way a mineral splits, or density
  • ______; for example, the ability to burn, the reactivity to acids

Three common Earth resources that have importance based on their properties are: ______

Minerals(building block of rocks)

  • All rocks are a mixture of many different substances. The individual substances that make up rocks are called ______. MINERALS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ROCKS.
  • THEY Are ______

Ores (METALS & NONMETALS)

  • Any rock containing a metal or nonmetal together with impurities is called an______.
  • Pure metal is obtained by miningan ore and then removing the impurities by heat or by chemical processes.
  • ORES ARE Minerals that are mined because they contain useful ______.

NONRENEWABLE VS. RENEWABLE

WHAT ARE NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES?

Energy resources that cannot be replaced, or renewed, are called______.

Types of Nonrenewable Resources: ______

Fossil fuels

  • Natural fuels that come from the remains of living things are called ______.
  • Fuels give off energy when they are ______.
  • Facts: The world depends on ______. Energy is the ability to change. People use many different energy resources; however, they mainly use it to ______energy.
  • Fossil Fuels: are ______that form over millions of years from remains of dead plants and other organisms such as ______.
  • Fossil Fuels are used to make gasoline for cars, to heat homes, to generate electricity, to cook (natural gas) or heating oil, make plastic, and etc…
  • THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF FOSSIL FUELS:
  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______

TYPES OF FOSSIL FUELS

1. ______: a solid ______rock form from layers of ancient plant matter, most abundant fossil fuel, and is remove by coal mining

-Is ______because the sediments that make up coal consists of dead plants, shells, or animal skeletons.

2. ______: a liquid ______( contain the elements hydrogen and carbon) that is used mostly for making heating oil, gasoline, and plastics

-Is Organic

3.______: gaseous and is used mostly for heating and cooking

-Is Organic

  • Oil and Natural gas are removed by extraction. First a narrow hole or well is drilled down through rock to the oil deposit. Equipment is put into the well to control the flow and the oil or gas is extracted or pumped.
  • Important: Nonrenewable resources such as these exist in a fixed amount and can only be ______by processes that take ______of years. If they are depleted, they are depleted for good.

Conserving Fossil Fuels:

  • Turning off lights, Make sure doors and windows are shut tight so heat won’t leak out, Run your air condition as little as possible, and Add insulation to help save energy
  • ______

Renewable Resources:

Energy resources that can be renewed or replaced are called renewable resources.

Examples OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Problems with our energy sources and supply (i.e. pollution, foreign oil) have become an important conservational and political topics over the past 25 years. ______sources such as wind, water, and solar have been investigated, but only a fraction of the U.S.’s energy comes from these alternate sources.

Energy resources: A major natural resource that all Americans rely on is petroleum fuel (oil or natural gas). Petroleum is an earth material that forms within the Earth and can be burned to produce heat and electricity or made into gasoline. Other fuels are coal, uranium, and alternative energy (wind, tidal, solar).

ACTIVITY: CREATE A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER DEPICTING THE DIFFENCE BETWEEN RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES. PASTE THE PICTURES BELOW IN THE CORRECT AREA.

NAME THAT MINERAL ANSWER KEY

  1. QUARTZ
  2. FELDSPAR
  3. MICA
  4. TALC
  5. HOMOBLENDE

What is the role of coal in the United States?

The United States holds the world's largest estimated recoverable reserves of coal and is a net exporter of coal. In 2011, our nation's coal mines produced more than a billion short tons of coal, and more than 90% of this coal was used by U.S. power plants to generate electricity. While coal has been the largest source of electricity generation for over 60 years, its annual share of generation declined from 49% in 2007 to 42% in 2011 as some power producers switched to lower-priced natural gas.

Coal is an Abundant U.S. Resource

The United States is home to the largest estimated recoverable reserves of coal in the world. In fact, we have enough coal to last more than 200 years, based on current production levels. Coal is produced in 25 states spread across three coal-producing regions. In 2011, approximately 72% of production originated in five states: Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Did You Know?

In 2011, Wyoming produced 438 million short tons of coal, or 40% of the coal mined in the United States. West Virginia was the second largest producer, with 135 million short tons (12%).

U.S. coal mines produce more coal than the nation consumes.

Most of Our Coal is Used to Generate Electricity

Over 90% of U.S. coal consumption is in the electric power sector. The United States has more than 1,400 coal-fired electricity generating units in operation at more than 600 plants across the country. Together, these power plants generate over 40% of the electricity produced in the United States and consume more than 900 million short tons of coal per year.

Although coal-fired generation still holds the largest share among all sources of electricity, its use has declined since 2007 due to a combination of slow growth in electricity demand, strong price competition with natural gas, and increased use of renewable technologies. See related article — Today in Energy, July 6, 2012

While the share of our electricity generated from coal is expected to decrease by 2035, the amount of coal used to meet growing demand for power is expected to increase in the absence of new policies to limit or reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Revised emissions policies could significantly change the outlook for domestic coal use. See related article — Today in Energy, May 4, 2012

Besides its role in generating electricity, coal also has industrial applications in cement making and conversion to coke for the smelting of iron ore at blast furnaces to make steel. A small amount of coal is also burned to heat commercial, military, and institutional facilities, and an even smaller amount is used to heat homes.

Coal is the largest source of U.S. electricity generation.

The United States Exports Coal to Other Countries

Between 2000 and 2010, about 5% of the coal produced in the United States, on average, was exported to other countries. Coal exports come in two forms: metallurgical coal, which can be used for steel production, and steam coal, which can be used for electricity generation. In 2011, U.S. coal exports climbed to 10% (the highest level in two decades), partly because flooding disrupted coal mining in Australia, which is normally the world's largest coal exporter. Metallurgical coal dominated U.S. coal exports in 2011 with Europe the largest importer, followed by Asia. See related article — Today in Energy, June 19, 2012

The United States also imports a small amount of coal; some power plants along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Coast find it cheaper to import coal by sea from South America than to have it transported from domestic coal mines.

Coal Is a Relatively Inexpensive Fuel

Although some natural gas plants are more efficient than coal plants at generating electricity, in the past the fuel cost of generating one kilowatthour of electricity from natural gas had typically been higher than that of coal. In 2009, coal began losing its price advantage over natural gas for electricity generation in some parts of the country, particularly in the eastern United States as a surge in natural gas production from domestic shale deposits (made possible by advances in drilling technologies) substantially reduced the price of natural gas. See related article — Today in Energy, July 13, 2012

Environmental Effects from Using Coal

Coal is plentiful and fairly cheap relative to the cost of other sources of electricity, but its use produces several types of emissions that adversely affect the environment. Coal emits sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and heavy metals (such as mercury and arsenic) and acid gases (such as hydrogen chloride), which have been linked to acid rain, smog, and health issues. Coal also emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In 2011, coal accounted for 34% of the energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. On the production-side, coal mining can have a negative impact on ecosystems and water quality, and alter landscapes and scenic views.

Did You Know?

Different types of coal have different characteristics including sulfur content, mercury content, and heat energy content. Heat content is used to group coal into four distinct categories, known as ranks: anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite (generally in decreasing order of heat content).

There are far more bituminous coal mines in the United States than the other ranks (over 90% of total mines), but subbituminous mines (located predominantly in Wyoming and Montana) produce more coal because their average size is much larger.

Outlook for Future Coal Use

The economics of burning coal may change if the U.S. adopts policies that restrict or otherwise control carbon dioxide emissions. For example, a cap-and-trade program to regulate carbon dioxide emissions would likely increase the cost of burning coal because of its carbon content, and thereby cause power companies to consider using less carbon-intensive generating technologies such as nuclear, renewables, and natural gas. In March 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new source performance standard for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would establish an output-based emission limit of 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatthour for new fossil-fuel-fired power plants. This emission limit would effectively require that new coal-fired generating units employ carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies to reduce uncontrolled emissions of CO2 by approximately 50%.

Researchers are working on ways to lower the costs and improve the efficiency of various CCS technologies with a goal of capturing approximately 90% of the carbon dioxide from coal plants before it is emitted into the atmosphere and then storing it below the Earth's surface. CCS would theoretically address much of coal's carbon dioxide emissions; however, substantial economic and technological hurdles remain.

America can count on reliable and affordable electricity from coal for the foreseeable future. This will only happen if the Obama Administration stops its constant attacks on this abundant resource. In 2013, coal provided America with 40% of America’s electricity while providing countless direct and indirect jobs. Many communities around the country rely upon coal for their livelihoods. Needless to say, coal is an important part of America’s energy portfolio and an all of the above energy policy, that includes coal, is key to making sure the lights always stay on across America.

Take a look at the 10 Reasons Why Coal is Here to Stay, courtesy of Matt Smith at Fuel Fix.

1. Coal has historically been, and is currently, the leading fuel in the US power generation mix. It is also expected to play a leading role for many years to come:

Coal has benefits beyond its use as a source of power. In fact, only 85% of coal that is mined is used as a source of energy. Beyond its ability to generate electricity, coal and coal-byproducts can be used in the production and many various goods. Sometimes, the coal is used to create, super high temperature oven for processing materials, as is the case with most concretes. Other products that utilize carbon obtained from coal include plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic fibers. However, the majority of coal specified for production purposes is metallurgical (or coking) coal. This kind of coal is specially processed with iron ore in the production of steel. More than 700 million tons of coal mined per year is metallurgical coal that will later produce steel.

Implications

With oil and natural gas prices rising at alarming rates, the return of the US to a greater reliance on coal might seem inevitable. The nation is currently paying over $620 billion per year for petroleum imports, and this ongoing transfer of wealth abroad cannot help but have a substantial negative impact on the domestic economy. There are three ways to moderate that impact: reduce consumption of liquid fuels through conservation; produce more fuels domestically; or electrify transport, which will require more electricity. Coal could help with either of the latter two strategies. Given that the nation possesses so much coal, and that energy from coal is still relatively cheap, it would seem inevitable that strong arguments will be made for a dramatic increase in coal production to help solve the nation’s energy problems.

Yet if most of the recent analyses cited here are correct, this strategy has a short shelf life. Within the planning horizon for any coal plant proposed today lie much higher coal prices and perhaps even resource scarcity.

Assuming this higher demand scenario (from CTL, increased exports, and growing electricity consumption), by 2030 the nation’s dependence on coal will be much greater than is currently the case, and coal’s proportional contribution to the total US energy supply will have grown substantially. But at the same time, prices for coal are likely to have increased precipitously because of transport bottlenecks and higher transport costs (due to soaring diesel prices), falling production trends in many current producing regions, and the lack of suitable new coalfields. The interactions of high and rising coal prices with efforts to maximize output are hard to predict.

The Importance of Natural Gas to the US Economy

Natural gas is playing an increasingly important role in the US economy. Use of natural gas in the United States is growing as it is increasingly seen as a good alternative to oil. As the oil reserves in many parts of the world are being depleted, the availability of a viable alternative such as natural gas is becoming increasingly important. For the United States, the potential for natural gas to replace the role of oil in the economy is particularly important because it is one of the most oil dependent countries in the world. Natural gas is an attractive alternative for the US because it has the ability to produce natural gas domestically. The US has particularly large reserves of shale gas, which it has only recently been possible to exploit due to improvements in the technology.

Increased exploitation of natural gas in the United States offers a means of reducing the country's dependence on oil and providing plenty of energy for use in people's homes and in industry. It will help the US economy to cope with the depletion of the world's oil reserves as peak oil production is reached and passed. It will also provide a secure source of energy that does not depend on sources of fossil fuels that lie abroad, often in unstable parts of the world such as the Middle East.