Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuels (College Board AP® Environmental Science): Study Guide

Impacts of fossil fuels on the environment

Gas

Advantages of gas

• Efficient

• Least polluting of the fossil fuels

• Easy to transport: pipes

• Easy to produce energy from

• Reliable

Disadvantages of gas

• Risk of explosions

• Releases CO₂ one of the main greenhouse gases

• Air pollution

Oil

Advantages of oil

• Efficient

• Less polluting than coal

• Quite easy to transport: pipes or barrels

• Easy to produce energy from 

• Reliable

Disadvantages oil

• Risk of oil spills: Exxon Valdez

• Risk of fire/explosions: Piper Alpha oil platform

• Low world reserves

• Releases CO₂ one of the main greenhouse gases

• Air pollution 

Coal

Advantages of coal

• Large world reserves

• Mechanisation and technology have made coal more accessible and cheaper

• Cheap

• Easy to produce energy from 

• Reliable

Disadvantages of coal

• Releases CO₂ one of the main greenhouse gases

• Releases SO₂ which leads to acid rain

• Opencast mines destroy habitats

• Heavy and bulky to transport

• Mining accidents

• Air pollution

Nuclear

Advantages of nuclear

• No greenhouse gas emissions 

• Efficient

• Small amounts of uranium needed

Disadvantages of nuclear

• Nuclear waste is radioactive and expensive to dispose of

• Power stations are expensive

• Risk of nuclear accidents: Chernobyl, Fukushima

• Possible health impacts in the areas around nuclear power stations

Tar sands

• Tar sands are reservoirs of bitumen, which is a heavy crude oil

• Huge reserves discovered in Athabasca, northern Alberta, Canada and Tunguska in Russia

• Very large, open-cast mines dug from ancient forests

• A very water-intensive process

• Contaminated water stored in ponds

• Five times more CO2 emitted than in conventional oil extraction

• Expensive, so only cost-effective when oil prices are high

• Almost 60% of Canada's oil production is from tar sands

Environmental costs of tar sands

• Decline of caribou, lynx and wolverine populations

• Water pollution: waste water leaks into water sources

• Destruction of natural habitats

• Greenhouse gas emissions from bitumen are higher than conventional oil

• Higher rates of air pollution and possible links to higher cancer rates

• Deforestation

• Acid rain

The impacts of hydrologic fracturing

• One of the main advances in technology relates to fracking

• Hydrologic fracturing or 'fracking', is the process of extracting shale gas 

• A mixture of sand, chemicals and water is pumped into shale rocks at high-pressure

  • This shatters the rock and releases shale gas trapped in the rocks

Advantages and disadvantages of fracking?

Advantages of fracking

• Fewer emissions than burning coal or oil

• Reduces reliance on gas imports and increases energy security

• Increases employment

• Gas is easy to transport

• Reduces people's energy bills

Disadvantages of fracking

• Fluid used within fracking may contaminate water supplies

• Uses large quantities of water

• Emissions of gases such as methane

• Linked to an increase in earthquakes

• Impacts on human health and ecosystems due to the release of potentially harmful chemicals