Nonrenewable energy

Nonrenewable energy sources include the fossil fuels (natural gas,... 

Continuing dependence on fossil fuels raises several major ethical issues. Ethical questions concerning our responsibilities to future generations arc raised by the fact that fossil fuels are a nonrenewable energy source, so that eveiy barrel of oil or ton of coal burned today is forever lost to future generations. Further, the by-products of fossil fuel combustion pose hazards to both present and future generations. 

For nonrenewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, expectations about the future price and interest rates influence the current quantity supplied. Expectations of higher future prices should cause less production today and more production tomorrow. 

Over 80 percent of the world s energy consumption comes from nonrenewable sources that cannot be sustained indefinitely under current practices. If technological advances continue to make conventional energy resources plentiful and affordable for many years to come, the transition to more sustainable energy sources can be smooth and minimally disruptive. 

Fossil fuels are nonrenewable, and combustion products contaminate the atmosphere. Consequently, scientists are searching for new sources of energy. One possibility is molecular hydrogen, which releases energy when it reacts with oxygen 2 H2(g) + 02(g) 2H2 0(/) + Energy Hydrogen powers the rockets of the space shuttle,... 

From about 1900 until the present, these nonrenewable sources have supplied more than 80% of the energy needs... 

Industrial civilization was built by the consumption of fossil fuels. Currently, well over 80% of world energy comes from the three main fossil fuels petroleum, natural gas, and coal. Because these are nonrenewable resources, there will come a time when these energy bank accounts are exhausted. Experts disagree on how soon the depletion of fossil fuels will occur, but eventually it will be necessary to find other energy sources. 

Before global warming the geothermal heat flow was the only net heat source on Earth. Since then heat dissipation from the global use of nonrenewable energy has resulted in an additional net heat source. 

Focusing on a clean, economical alternative to nonrenewable energy, this volume provides the latest information on the hydrogen fuel economy. 

Within the broad framework of sustainable development, we should strive to maximize resource efficiency through activities such as energy and nonrenewable resource conservation, risk minimization, pollution prevention, minimization of waste at all stages of a product life-cycle, and the development of products that are durable and can be re-used and recycled. Sustainable chemistry strives to accomplish these ends through the design, manufacture and use of efficient and effective, more environmentally benign chemical products and processes". 

The transition from nonrenewable fossil fuel should consider the development of technologies that can use the available energy of the sun. It is reasonable to assume that solar energy will eventually serve as a primary energy source. As we attempt to use solar energy to replace the use of fossil and nuclear fuels, this relationship between solar energy and hydrogen returns and one may not effectively work without the other. 

ACESs and ICESs rely on heat pumps and storage systems, and need notable amounts of energy to operate. An annual storage solar district heating system could supply most of a community s annual space heating requirements with a minimum of nonrenewable energy. 

Of course, coal liquefaction can never be a permanent solution to the United States s energy problems, for coal, though presently plentiful, is nevertheless a nonrenewable resource with a finite future. The U.S. Geological Survey in 1976 identified American coal resources at approximately 1,731 billion tons, with a demonstrated reserve base of 438 billion tons which existing technology can mine... 

The replacement of timber products by nonrenewable materials is an unfortunate development, since it has been repeatedly shown that the use of timber does have associated environmental benefits compared with the use of nonrenewables (e.g. Marcea and Lau, 1992 Hillier and Murphy, 2000 Bowyer etal., 2003 Lippke etal., 2004). Timber has a lower embodied energy content (and hence a more favourable carbon emission profile) compared to most other building materials and can provide other benefits, such as improved thermal properties. It and the products made from it (in common with other renewable materials) can be used as a repository for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Wood is derived from a renewable resource, albeit potentially an exhaustible one unless it is managed correctly. Disposal of wood can be readily achieved with little environmental impact (subject to how the wood has been treated prior to disposal). 

Initial embodied energy represents the quantity of nonrenewable energy that is nsed in the winning, transport and processing to prodnce a material to be nsed for a specific application. 

Process energy, which may be obtained from renewable or nonrenewable sources. 

Energy cost, or what alternatives exist to increasingly expensive nonrenewable fossil fuels. 

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