[...]... experienced by the individual and climate is the conditions experienced by countries and other land areas The atmospheric circulation and its interaction with large-scale ocean currents, land masses and the sun determine climate The effect on climate is known as forcing, and the most important determinant is the sun The atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (20.95%) and has recognizable... Tar sands contain 10–15% bitumen and are found close to the surface, so that it can be recovered using open cast techniques The mined and in situ treatment involve heating to allow the oil to separate from the sand Once extracted, the tar is heated to 500°C to yield kerosene and other distillates Although tar sands do occur worldwide, 85% of the tar sands are found in Alberta, Canada Both shale oil and. .. sources that have increased are landfill gas (methane) and wind/wave energy Landfill sites used to be disposal sites and no attempt was made to collect the methane gas formed in the anaerobic digestion of the organic components of the waste This has changed now and collection systems are installed during the filling of the landfill site Wind power technology is now fairly mature and wind farms have been constructed... advantages and disadvantages Fossil Fuel Use In the past, the world’s energy supply was based on wood, a renewable resource, which was used for cooking, heating and smelting Later, water and wind power were harnessed and used especially throughout Europe The Industrial Revolution was initiated using water power but this was soon replaced by coal, which had high © A.H Scragg 2009 Biofuels: Production, Application. .. was soon replaced by coal, which had high © A.H Scragg 2009 Biofuels: Production, Application and Development (A.H Scragg) 1 Gtoe energy content and was freely available Oil and gas use developed after coal and in the face of what appeared to be unlimited supplies of fossil fuels, water and wind power were abandoned The worldwide economic growth since the mid-20th century has been sustained by an increasing... important at a time when oil supplies are declining, such as the North Sea’s oil and gas Alternative sources of energy, which are renewable and with sustainable supplies, are required Renewable energy sources can provide a constant supply of energy, and examples are hydroelectricity, wind and wave power, and geothermal- and biological-based fuels It would be foolish to think that any one of these renewable... 1.9 The discovery of proved and probable oil (2P) and oil production for the UK Oil discovery measured as millions of barrels of oil per year and production thousands of barrels per day (From Bentley et al., 2007.) peaked in the 1970s, while production peaked in 1999 (Fig 1.9) In mitigation the UK has a few potential sources of oil, including the deep Atlantic, on land, and small pockets of oil in... use, and an increase in its efficiency The challenge for all countries is therefore to move to a more secure, low-carbon energy production, without undermining their economic and social development In this book, the problems associated with fossil fuel use are outlined, and how the adoption of alternative fuels can mitigate global warming Other chapters cover biologically produced, solid, gaseous and. .. Weather and climate have profound effects on all forms of life on Earth, and the major influence on climate is the energy derived from sunlight Weather has been defined as ‘the fluctuating state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature, wind, precipitation (rain, hail, and snow), clouds, fog and other conditions’ (IPCC, 1996) Climate refers to the mean values of the weather and its variation over time and. .. between average income and oil consumption It is clear that as countries become more developed, the demand for energy will increase considerably, and this is happening in particular with China and India 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1971 2002 2005 2010 2020 2030 Year Fig 1.1 Present and predicted world energy consumption (in Gtoe) (From IEA, 2005a, 2007.) Table 1.1 Estimates of world energy demand in exajoules .