EcoSpark works with communities and with schools, providing them
with the knowledge and tools to monitor their environment and
take action for positive environmental change.
Oil Power
Student Area Menu
Oil is a liquid fossil fuel used primarily for transportation and heating, though a small amount is used to generate electricity. There are two approaches to producing electricity from oil: using a steam turbine or using a combustion turbine. In the first approach, the oil is burned to heat water and create steam, which then powers a steam turbine. The second approach is to burn the oil in a combustion turbine, similar to the way a jet engine works. The second approach is more common.
Some electricity generation plants also use combined cycle technology, which employs both approaches. First, oil is burned in a combustion turbine. The hot exhaust it releases is used to heat water and create steam, which then turns a steam turbine. The combined cycle is the most efficient method.
Canada has the second largest oil reserve in the world. Most is in Alberta's Oil Sands, but some is in other parts of the country. Look at this CBC map to see all of Canada's oil reserves. Despite the abundance of oil, it is not one of the dominant sources of electricity in Canada. Have a look at the benefits and environmental impact of using oil as a source of electricity.
BENEFITS
Oil is a cheap and abundant electricity source
- Oil is inexpensive because of its abundance. Canada is second only to Saudi Arabia in the size of its oil reserves.
It is a reliable electricity source
- Oil is a non-intermittent source of electricity and can generate electricity constantly and reliably.
DRAWBACKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Oil causes air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions- Burning oil to generate electricity emits a number of harmful substances, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and lead. Some of these are GHGs.
- These gases contribute to climate change, acid rain, serious respiratory problems, lung cancer, and many other significant health problems, as well as water and air pollution.
- Large amounts of water are needed to cool the power plant and create the steam that turns turbines, generating electricity. Water is also needed to refine the oil.
- After water has cycled through the plant to cool it, it becomes warmer and is released back into the environment, altering the temperature of nearby bodies of water and harming or killing aquatic life. This is called thermal discharge.
- Drilling for oil can contaminate underground water supplies. Also, drilling in the ocean floor can contaminate the ocean, especially if an accident were to occur such as the 2010 oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana.
- Power plants and oil refineries release waste water into nearby bodies of water. This waste water may contain harmful pollutants.
Oil creates hazardous sludge and solid waste
- Sludge and solid wastes created during electricity generation contain toxic compounds and metals.
Extracting and refining oil is environmentally destructive
- There is severe land and ocean disturbance when oil is extracted through drilling.
- In Alberta, the oil and gas industry reportedly cuts down more trees and does more damage to natural habitats than the Province's forestry industry does (David Suzuki Foundation, 2009).
- The oil extraction and refining processes release GHGs, other air pollutants, and water pollutants.
Transporting oil is risky and can harm the environment
- Laying pipes for transporting oil across land can disrupt large, continuous natural habitats by breaking them up into smaller, unconnected areas. This is called habitat fragmentation.
- There are serious potential risks during transportation, such as oil spills and leaking pipelines. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, hit a reef off the Alaska coast and spilled oil that killed or harmed hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, and aquatic mammals, and led to widespread habitat destruction and water pollution.
- Transporting oil - by road, rail, or ship - releases GHG.
Oil is a non-renewable electricity source
- In a few years, the world is expected to reach "peak oil," our maximum level of global extraction. (Some people believe this peak has already been reached.) After that, reserves will begin to decline, and the price of oil will rise. Ultimately, it may become unfeasible to extract oil from the few reserves left.
- As accessible reserves dry up, we drill deeper and in more remote areas, further disturbing and destroying land and ecosystems.
Oil has hidden costs
- The apparent cheap cost of oil power does not take into account the damage it does to our environment and our health, damage resulting in immense hidden costs.
For more information:
Centre for Energy (2010).What is crude oil? Available here.
David Suzuki Foundation (2010). Oil. Available here.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007). Electricity from Oil. Available here.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy Kids: Oil (petroleum). Available here.
With support provided by:
