Earth Moon and Mars How They Work Professor

Earth, Moon and Mars: How They Work Professor Michael Wysession Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Washington University, St. Louis, MO Lecture 6: Earth’s Resources

Every year > 25, 000 pounds (11. 3 metric tons) of new non-fuel minerals must be provided for you, and each person in the US, to make the items that each of us use every day.

Human History: Stone age, Copper Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. 7 metals of antiquity: Gold (8000 yra); copper (6200 yra); silver (6000 yra); lead (5500 yra); tin (3750 yra); iron (3500 yra); mercury (2750 yra)

Copper – humans use 15. 7 million metric tons each year!! 3 billion tons geologically available < 200 years left ? ? Ex/ Bingham copper mine in Utah

Indium (liquid crystal displays in cell phones). * Now $685/kg

Europium – used for red phospor in color TVs and LCD screens. * No substitute, though prices > $2000/kg

Platinum – diesel catalytic converters. No good substitute. Rhodium – removing NOx emissions. No good substitute.

Rare Earth elements like neodymium, samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, and praseodymium * Used for high-performance permanent magnets in electronics, video games, military devices, disk drives, DVDs. No good substitutes. We import 100% of these! (75% from China)

U. S. Imports of Minerals

Estimated Lifetime of some Selected Minerals Assuming 2009 Rates of Consumption (in thousands of metric tons) (http: //minerals. usgs. gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/) Mineral Annual Production Reserves Estimated Lifetime (yrs) Resources Arsenic 53. 5 1, 070 20 11, 000 27, 000 590 350, 000 6, 600 540, 000 47 71, 000 6 160, 000 79, 000 9, 900 67 71, 000 71 99, 000 400 730, 000 2, 800 200, 000 130 31 15 110 34 20 63 10 70 20 550 52 50 180 800 19 130 48 18 75, 000 NA 12, 000 15, 000 3, 000 NA 800, 000, 000 15, 000 25, 500 600 130, 000 100 NA NA 2, 000 NA 1, 900, 000 Est. Lifetime (yrs) 210 Bauxite Cadmium Chromium Cobalt Copper Gold Carbon (graphite) Indium Iron Ore Lead Lithium Mercury Nickel Platinum Group Rare Earths Silver Titanium Tungsten Zinc 201, 000 18. 8 23, 000 62 15, 800 2. 35 1, 130 0. 6 2, 300, 000 3, 900 18 1. 28 1, 430 0. 4 124 21. 4 5, 720 58 11, 100 370 520 240 190 700 350 3800 1400 470 91 250 350 170

Gold: Peak or Plateau?

Minerals need to be naturally concentrated by geologic processes to be economically mined. (Of course, this depends on the $$) Ex/ gold = 3 parts per billion (0. 0000003%) of Earth’s crust 1 wedding band = 3000 TONS of crust!

Why is all the copper along the western coast? Why is there gold in California and Alaska, but not in Florida?

Mid-Ocean Ridge Thermal Vents

Hydrothermal circulation concentrates certain minerals and ores.

Important Resource: Water

• Per capita per day water use, USA – 100 gallons personal (2 bathtubs) – (1000 gallons total) • Food production – Pound of rice • 250 -600 gallons – ¼ pound hamburger meat • 3000 gallons – 1 liter of water • 27 liters (1 + 26 for production of bottle!) • And 1 liter of gasoline • And 0. 5 kg CO 2

• 1/6 – 1/3 world’s population – Limited clean drinking water – 3. 3 million deaths/yr • Major rivers don’t make it to ocean – Colorado, Rio Grande • UN: In 2050, 2 - 7 billion human beings may experience chronic water shortages • “If the wars of this (20 th) century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water” (Ismail Seregeddin, vice president, World Bank; 1995)

Human Impacts: Population Growth World Population: 7, 000, 131, 319 (US Census- Yesterday) More than doubled during my lifetime. 7% of all humans that have lived are alive today…. Sustainable level?

Future Growth: In Already Stressed “Hot” Regions

Humans - now the single largest geologic force. US paved land is now the size of state of Georgia. US developed land is now the size of the state of California. 35% of Exposed Land used to grow/raise food for humans.

ENERGY RESOURCES Transitioning from Fossil sources to Renewable sources. * May need ALL sources in the short term How quickly? How smoothly? How much intervention?

>85 % of energy sources are Fossil Fuels >90 % of energy sources are Energy Sources Non. Renewable

OIL & NATURAL GAS

Petroleum burial and recovery.

Proven World Reserves of Oil (CIA, World Factbook, 2008) Total = 1. 3+ Trillion Barrels Oil Industry Resources Estimate: 5 Trillion Barrels

U. S. uses 20 million barrels/day (25% of World) (7. 3 billion/year) The World uses 84 million barrels/day (31 billion/year) World reserves = ~1400 billion barrels (45 years) U. S. reserves = 19 billion barrels (2. 6 years) TOTAL U. S. possible reserves and resources (high-end guess by DOI MMS)? 96 billion barrels (13 years)

Natural Gas Reserves World Reserves = 6. 3 quadrillion cubic feet World Consumption = 105 trillion cubic feet/year (60 years)

COAL World reserves of coal = ~1 trillion metric tons World use of coal = ~7 billion metric tons/year

World Coal Reserves ~ 1 trillion metric tons

World Coal Production = 7. 3 billion metric tons/yr

METHANE GAS HYDRATES

ICE Methane

Methane Gas Hydrates:

Methane Gas Hydrates: Methane gas hydrate forming below a rock overhang at the sea floor on the Blake Ridge diapir. This image, taken from the DSV Alvin during the NOAAsponsored Deep East cruise in 2001, marked the first discovery of gas hydrate at the sea floor on the Blake Ridge. Methane bubbling out of the sea floor below this overhang quickly “freezes, ” forming this downward hanging hydrate deposit, dubbed the "inverted snowcone. "

Methane Gas Hydrates:

NUCLEAR FISSION

Typical reaction process: bombard 235 U with neutrons (or by bombarding the more-abundant 238 U with neutrons to produce 239 Pu in a “breeder reactor”)

Uranium Reserves: World Reserves = 3. 5 million tons of uranium oxide World Resources = 10 million tons World Use = 60 thousand tons/yr Outlook = 150 -200 years BUT…. more from seawater extraction? Much greater lifetime with switch to Th 232 (breeds to U 233)

Total Rate of World Energy Use = 18 Terawatts 85% is from Fossil Fuels Total Power from the Sun at Earth’s Surface = 125, 000 Terawatts!! ~7000 x Total Human Energy Use 1 Hour of Sunlight = 1 Year of Human Energy Use

SOLAR POWER Commercial Panels: 12% Efficiency Experimental Panels: 22% Efficiency Nanotech Cells: >40% Efficiency Direct electric conversion with several materials Inexpensive organic materials now exceed 6% efficiency

For Large-Scale Production, Mirrors Easier/Cheaper Than Panels Example: Kramer Junction solar power plants, Mojave Desert, CA * 150 MW

WIND POWER (Altamont Pass, California)

Efficiency increases exponentially with wind speed Ex/

HYDROELECTRIC POWER Supplies 20% of the World’s Electricity Some countries (Canada, Norway, Austria, etc. ) get most of their electricity from hydro power

Grand Coulee Dam: Columbia River, Washington; Generates 6. 8 GW (largest in U. S. )

Three Gorges Dam: World’s Largest Hydro Power Plant: 22. 5 Gwatts But issues with regional impacts of dams

Wave Energy: Ex/ Pelamis Machine

Tidal Energy The 240 MW tidal barrage installed at the Rance Estuary in France

Geothermal US: 2 GW Global potential: 100 GW Great potential as singlefamily winter/summer house heat pump

HYDROGEN Not a Source, but a means of Distribution -- Will be in competition with new battery technology (Electric Cars)

Percentage Increase Tesla Roadster

Chevy Volt * First 40 miles run off batteries. * Small gas generator extends distance if needed, at >100 mpg * Plugs into any 120 -240 VAC outlet * Uses a 435 -lb lithium-ion battery pack (estimated to degrade by 10 -30% after 8 -10 years)

Future solutions? HIGH-ALTITUDE WIND POWER

SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER

NUCLEAR FUSION Helium-3 from Lunar Regolith? (0. 01 ppm)

DYSON SPHERE?