EARTH SCIENCE
Unit 1: ENERGY RESOURCES
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the unit, I can
a. describe how fossil fuels are formed.
b. explain how heat from inside the earth is tapped as a source of energy (geothermal)
for human use.
c. explain how energy (hydroelectric) is harnessed from flowing water.
d. describe how people generate gaseous waste as they make use of fossil fuels in
everyday life and explain how these wastes affect people’s health and the
environment.
e. and must conserve energy.
Reflection: Now before you formally start with this unit, try to ponder, and reflect on this very
important question. “How important is energy to the advancement of society and how do we
ensure self-sufficiency for the current and future generations (energy independence)?”
Formative Assessment # 1: Identify the following statements whether TRUE or FALSE.
1. Hydroelectric power plants utilize potential energy of falling or running water to turn a
turbine generator.
2. In terms of geothermal energy production, the Philippines ranks second relative to the
United States.
3. Coal is a metamorphic rock made up of solid organic materials.
4. Natural gas is odorless, colorless, flammable and non-toxic.
5. Most geothermal sources are found in plate boundaries where volcanoes are concentrated
such as the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean.
6. In the ranking of coal, peat is the lowest type.
7. China has the largest coal reserves in the world.
8. Coal is also referred to as “Texas Tea” and “Black Gold”.
9. Gasoline makes up 45% of crude oil.
10. The largest coal deposit in the Philippines is found in Semirara Island of Antique.
EARTH SCIENCE
A
Try to consider the following questions as you look at the given photo of Darvaza Crater in
Turkmenistan from the Entering “The Door to Hell “article.
1. What do you see?
2. How long to do you think the crater has been burning?
3. What do you think is causing the crater to continue burning?
4. Where do you think the energy in the fire comes from?
5. Where does this energy go?
EARTH SCIENCE
A
Natural gas is coming out of the Darvaza gas crater. Scientists lit it on fire in 1971, hoping
to burn off all the natural gas, but it hasn’t stopped burning since, indicating a larger reservoir of
natural gas than originally assumed. Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Now, what are fossil fuels, what
are the different kinds and importantly how are they formed.
COAL:
▪ It is the largest source of energy for generating electricity in the world, and the most
abundant fossil fuel in the United States.
▪ Coal is one of the most controversial energy sources in the world.
▪ Carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal account for 44 percent of the world total,
and it's the biggest single source of the global temperature increase above pre-industrial
levels.
▪ Coal combustion leads to the formation of oxides of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen as well as
particulate matter and heavy metals which accumulate in air and water leading to severe
environmental and health impacts as a result of leaching, melting, volatilization,
decomposition, oxidation, hydration and other chemical reactions.
NATURAL GAS:
Natural gas is the last fossil source of energy to be used on a global scale. For
over a century, when the gas was discovered in areas that were far from the places where
it could be utilized, it was preferably burnt at the gas well or freed into the atmosphere,
because harnessing it in a pipeline and making it travel for many kilometres was too
expensive. The situation has changed over the past forty years and today natural gas
ranks third in world consumption of energy and is the fossil source with the best growth
prospects.
EARTH SCIENCE
A
Chemical composition:
The exact composition of natural gas is different depending on the location.
CRUDE OIL:
It refers to the unprocessed oil which is a mixture of hydrocarbons that exists as a
liquid in underground geologic formations and remains a liquid when brought to the
surface.
Major hydrocarbons resent in crude oil includes the following:
a. paraffins such as methane (CH4), ethane (CH3CH3)
b. aromatics such as benzene (C6H6)
c. cycloalkanes
d. alkenes
EARTH SCIENCE
A
Access and study the learning materials linked to this course module which will give an
overview about how fossil fuels are formed and how heat from the earth’s interior (geothermal)
and flowing water (hydroelectric) are tapped as a source of energy for human use.
Formative Assessment # 2:
Try to read the compiled articles under the file name “Health & Environmental Impacts of
fossil fuels”, after which complete the given table. Your task is to give at least 5 substances
(chemical name/chemical formula/common name) emitted/produced when man makes use of
fossil fuels, at least 1 specific health impact and environmental impact of each.
Name of Mode of generation/
Health Impact Environmental Impact
substance production
EARTH SCIENCE
A
How much carbon dioxide is released?
When humans burn fossil fuels to power factories, power plants, cars, and trucks, most of
the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse
gas and traps heat in the atmosphere. Without it and other greenhouse gases, Earth would be a
frozen world. But since the start of the Industrial Revolution about 150 years ago humans have
burned so much fuel and released so much carbon dioxide into the air that global climate has
risen over 1°F. The atmosphere has not held this much carbon for at least 420,000 years
according to data from ice cores. The recent increase in amounts of greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide is having a significant impact on the warming of our planet. The global tally, by an
international team of scientists, makes 2019 the third consecutive year with rising CO 2 emissions.
For you to be aware of how much carbon dioxide is being released every time we make
use of these fossil fuels, analyze, solve & answer the questions assigned as a quiz here in Genyo
LMS with the title, EARTH SCIENCE | MODULE 4 UNIT 1 | WW 1 Part 1 and 2 | Second
Grading. It will be recorded as WRITTEN WORK NO. 1 | Part 1 (15 points) | Second Grading.
NOTE: You may save you answers first for WW 1 Part 1 before accomplishing Part 2 and
submitting Written Work 1 assessment.
The production of CO2 emissions worldwide is listed in the table below, indicating that from
1966 to 2006, 225 billion metric tons of CO2 were emitted. However, the atmospheric
concentration of CO2 did not increase by 225 billion metric tons. It only increased by 168.27 billion
metric tons.
WEIGHT OF CARBON DIOXIDE
SOURCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE
(BILLION METRIC TONS)
Coal 86
Oil 98
Natural gas 36
Others 5
total 225
How do we account for the difference between CO2 emissions and the change in
atmospheric concentration of CO2? Where did the excess CO2 go? List the possible sinks that
may have absorbed some of this CO2.
EARTH SCIENCE
A
REFELECT ON THIS
Is there an energy source that is free of some type of environmental impact?
The answer really is, no energy source is free of some type of environmental impact. So,
what do we do to address energy security while minimizing the negative effects of energy
production and use to the environment? In the end, we must accept that current patterns of energy
production and use have widespread and widely known negative impacts on the environment. As
President Jimmy Carter once remarked when addressing the US Congress in 1976, to avoid a
cycle of energy and climate crises: “We must face the prospect of changing our basic ways of
living. This change will either be made on our own initiative in a planned way or forced on us with
chaos and suffering by the inexorable laws of nature.”
SEQUENCING: You are to organize a series of statements about the origin of oil into the correct
chronological order of how crude oil forms. It is assigned as a quiz here in Genyo with the title,
EARTH SCIENCE | MODULE 4 UNIT 1 | WW 1 Part 1 and 2 | Second Grading. It will be
recorded as WRITTEN WORK NO. 1 | Part 2 (15 points) | Second Grading.
EARTH SCIENCE
A
References:
Commission on Higher Education. (2016). EARTH SCIENCE Teaching Guide for
Senior High School. Commission on Higher Education. Diliman, Quezon City
Fossil Fuels | National Geographic Society. Retrieved from
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/fossil-fuels/
Putting the "Fossil" in Fossil Fuels | National Geographic Society. Retrieved July 3,2020 from
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/putting-fossil-in-fossil-fuels/
What is natural gas? – API. Retrieved July 1,2020 from
https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/natural-gas-solutions/what-is-natural-gas
Unit 4: Fossil Fuel Formation - SERC-Carleton. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from
https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/change_inthe_air/activity4.html
