11:375:101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Liquefied Natural Gas, Lightwater, Soot
5 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Energy resources vary greatly in their net energy yield. Net energy is the only energy that really counts. Total amount of useful energy available from a resource minus the energy needed to make the energy available to consumers. Ex. it takes energy to remove fossil fuels from the ground. Energy obtained per unit energy used to obtain it. You put in more energy than you get out. It takes high-quality energy to get high-quality energy. Pumping oil from the ground, refining it, and transporting it. Some high-quality energy is wasted at every stop. Conventional crude oil is abundant and has a medium net energy yield (due to the cost of getting it in the first place), but using it causes air and water pollution and releases greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Took millions of years for the oil to be formed. Does not regenerate in a human time span.
