Christina, N. (2019, April 2). Fossil fuels, explained. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/reference/fossil-fuels/ Fossil fuels can be basically described as the decomposing organisms that tend to be buried within the earth’s layers of rock sediment, which eventually become carbon rich deposits. These kinds of fuels are nonrenewable and tend to provide the higher percentage of the world’s energy i.e. eighty percent. Burning of fossil fuels causes a huge impact on humanity. They release carbon dioxide as well as other greenhouse gases when burnt. These gases in turn, contribute to our climate change and global warming since they trap heat in the atmosphere. There are several main types of fossil fuels and these include coal, oil, and natural gas. It is necessary that every individual plays a role in ensuring that the emissions from fossil fuels are reduced in a bid to save our climate. Some of the governments in the world are already making efforts to reduce the emissions. These efforts should generally focus on replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. This helps it electrifying sectors e.g. transportation and building, as well as an increase in energy efficiency. However, despite the effort to replace the nonrenewable energy does not change the fact that many people still rely on it. It is therefore important we look at another possible solution which carbon capture is. This refers to a technology that is used to capture carbon from the air. Unfortunately, this method is quite costly thus it makes it difficult for people to adapt it. Luke, M. (2019, July 16). Fossil fuels are far less efficient than previously thought. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/fossil-fuels-are-far-lessefficient-than-previously-thought Fossil fuels were regarded for their high energy return on investments are not as efficient as people once thought they are. According to a previous study, oil, coal and natural gas have had a returned energy ratio of 25:1. This is to mean that for every oil barrel used in production, twenty-five barrels get to be made. This measurement is referred to as the Energy Return on Investment (EROI). It fails to account for the energy that is used during the refining process. When the refining process gets to be put into account, the energy return on investment ratio drops to 6:1. According to the international energy agency and exobase, the average energy return on investment for fossil fuels at the finished stage had a twenty three percent decline. This is a study that has been made over a sixteen-year period. The costs of extracting fossil fuels tend to keep increasing. This will lead to a further drop in ratios, which pushes the resources towards a “net energy cliff”. This refers to where the net available energy declines below the energy return on investment ratio of 5:1. Transitioning from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources might not be as bad as individuals thought it would be. Noel, H., Jennie, C. S., Stephanie, M. (2019, February 7). Fossil fuels are bad for your health and harmful in many ways besides climate change. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuels-are-bad-for-your-health-and-harmful-inmany-ways-besides-climate-change-107771 The main impact that fossil fuels have had on us worldwide pertains to climate change. However, it is not the only impact that fossil fuels have on us as individuals. While advocating to fight for the climate change, this effort is wholeheartedly supported. However, it is important we know that climate change should not be the only reason why we should adapt renewable sources. There are several other negative impacts. The oil, coal and natural gas industries also contribute to human rights violations, environmental devastation as well as public health disasters. During coal extraction, most miners tend to die from the black lung disease which comes from inhaling coal mine dust. The open mines also result in the displacement of people either through coercion, physical force or farmland and drinking water contamination. As coal plants tend to be shut down, more natural gas is being burned which is assumed to be safer. Well, not exactly. There is reliable growing evidence that people who live nearby fracking sites are at a risk of increased public health complications. These could include certain cancers, birth defects, respiratory diseases. The extraction of these resources could as well lead to earthquakes. Melissa, D. (2018, June 29). Fossil Fuels: The dirty facts. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fossil-fuels-dirty-facts Crude oil, coal and natural gas are all considered fossil fuels because they were formed from the buried plant and animal remains that existed millions of years ago. As a result of their origin, fossil fuels tend to have a lot of carbon content in them. Fossil fuels have several disadvantages which affect us differently and continue to affect as a result of the continued use of fossil fuels. One of the disadvantages of fossil fuels is land degradation. Land degradation is led to by the unearthing, processing and moving the underground fossil fuels. This is because vast stretches of land are left for infrastructures such as wells, pipelines, etc. water pollution is also a result of fossil fuels extraction. This is because the mining operations tend to wash the acid runoff into streams and nearby rivers. It is a threat to underground water as well. Fossil fuels also emit harmful pollutants into the air. This exposes lots of individuals to toxic air pollution and this could lead to various health issues. Burning of fossil fuels also results in ocean acidification which is not any better. Water bodies absorb as much as a quarter of all man-made emissions of carbon. This changes the ocean’s basic chemistry thus making it acidic. Neor, N. (2018, February 28). Rising geopolitical tensions in Middle East and Asia ‘key risk to oil prices in 2018’. Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/rising-geopolitical-tensionsin-middle-east-and-asia-key-risk-to-oil-prices-in-2018-1.708647 The stability of many oil producing countries is expected to worsen by the year 2021. Some of these countries include Egypt, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, etc. This tends to be a data analysis from the government stability index. This report basically describes the overall global trend to be negative. Outside the Middle East, low prices are considered to be the contributing factors. In some other counties, geopolitical shifts and a democratic institution roll back will play a role in the stability’s decline. There tends to be a potential tension escalation between Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as the Korean peninsula standoff. These are the major geopolitical flash points which have a potential in impacting the oil prices. An outright war in either of these regions tend to be quite unlikely. It instead puts the likelihood of a militarized dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran at twenty six percent. Gas and oil tend to highlight the chances for an escalation in tension. This, in turn, causes a strike in prices. Conflict on the Korean peninsula, on the other hand, would result in serious negative consequences for liquefied natural gas and global oil trade. REQUIREMENTS: The ENTIRE paper should be approximately 10-13 pages in length, including references, figures, title page and abstract. The beginning summary / abstract should be no more than about one-half page double-spaced (~200 words?). THE TEXT PART OF YOUR PAPER SHOULD BE at least five (5) and no more than eight (8) DOUBLE-SPACED TYPED PAGES (1” margins, 12-pt font). This is a MINIMUM standard. Abide by it. EDIT YOUR OWN WORK. PROOFREAD! Spelling and grammar mistakes are not acceptable. Be sure to cite your sources and make sure you have at least three excellent written references from the literature! Finding one really good reference and then using lesser, supporting references might be a good approach (see “Ideas for Topics” below…). Don’t rely exclusively on internet references for your paper (unless they are electronic pdf copies of journal articles, book chapters, very reliable sources, etc., placed online). References you use should be cited and listed in a clear, proper format (check out any GSA publication for an acceptable format style). Also, figures, maps, and diagrams are most beneficial, especially when illustrating interpretations and processes and/or showing locations, schematics, relationships or events that occurred. They are necessary for an effective paper. Include some good ones! Make them big and clear, so they can be seen easily. Create your own, photocopy / scan from written sources, or print from an online source. Use high-quality graphics! Be sure to provide meaningful captions for these. ASSIGNMENT: You are to select a specific energy resources topic / issue for the subject of this paper. This means you are to pinpoint a particular topic / issue that you are interested in studying. You should try to be geographically, temporally and/or conceptually restrictive. Focus yourself in idea, space and/or time. Find a topic / issue about which you can tell a relatively self-contained, interesting, coherent story. Make sure to stay focused on your topic! Most of all, enjoy yourself and learn… IDEAS FOR TOPICS: Here are a few ideas for coming up with a topic. You are not restricted to these. Be creative! Come up with your own… ➢ Use an appropriate article (or articles) published since 2014 as your guide. Many articles focus on important aspects of energy resources. Focus. Collect a few on a common topic interesting to you and proceed from there. ➢ Look through your textbook. Lots of great ideas for paper topics are in there. Or, peruse another energy textbook (online on Google?) and pick from those contents… ➢ Take a good look at the websites for the Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy, Switch and/or many more specialized sites. Find a topic that looks interesting to you and research it. ➢ Peruse the literature elsewhere and pick a journal article as a starter. I have many others I can make available to you. ➢ Focus your attention on a particular contemporary issue that links energy to another aspect of our society (environment, economics, politics, and so on…). Go from there! HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS: There are several points that you should keep in mind when writing your paper… 1) BE SURE TO CLEARLY DEFINE / DESCRIBE THE TOPIC / ISSUE YOU’VE CHOSEN. Make very clear what the main points of your paper are. 2) You must make clear to the reader what is descriptive information and what is interpretation, and what are the limitations of each. Is it a description, fact, hypothesis, opinion, speculation, model, or evidence that supports a theory? As for paper organization, take a look at an issue of Geology, one of GSA’s publications. The articles contained in this publication can serve as models for your paper’s organization. Any GSA Today article also serves as good examples for organization. 3) In your interpretation section, try to make clear how well-founded the interpretations are within the literature. Your conclusions must be supported by scientific data. Or, your opinions must be justified. Don’t let them dangle! We’ll have no “alternative facts” here. BE SURE TO REFERENCE OTHERS' WORK. Figures, maps, diagrams, tables, etc. are an important aid in clarifying your descriptions and interpretations. Please use them. They add much to a paper, really! BUT, be sure to provide captions and reference these as well (unless you design your own…). 3) Use an appropriate article (or articles) published since 2014 from a worthy scientific journal or source as your guide. Hop on GeoScienceWorld (at http://www.geoscienceworld.org/) and browse by journal name. 4) You can also search by using Google Scholar (www.scholar.google.com), or GEOREF in the library and/or by perusing the articles (and referenced papers) in recent issues of pertinent journals or chapters in recent books. Government publications such as USGS Bulletins, USGS Special Publications, and USGS Open File Reports are also good sources of information. The sooner you start your search the better; many articles/books may be required via Inter-library Loan. Let me know if you need assistance with this service. Websites may be used to locate information, but may NOT be used as your primary references, unless they are viable, worthy, peer-reviewed materials! Careful with this… 5) Be careful to use terms and concepts properly. If a word or concept confuses you, either look it up or research it further. I WILL ASSESS YOUR PAPER USING THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: 1. Content = amount, accuracy and quality of pertinent information included 2. Clarity = writing that makes sense – clear, concise, to the point (proofread, proofread, proofread!) 3. Organization = structure and flow of paper, focus of topic, transitions, introduction and conclusion are effective, overall integration of parts of your paper 4. Style = grammar, typos, misspellings, sentence structures, sloppiness 5. Presentation = quality and pertinence of references, title page, connection between figures and text, abstract
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