Group members

(3239090) Nqakala Loyiso (3266906) Feketshane Nkazimlo

Team name

Next Albert Einsteins

Facilitator

Achu

Tutor

Denis

Institution

University of the Western Cape

Module

ISC 153

Form of Assessment

Term 4 Essay first draft

Topic Burning of

The production of chemicals in from

Fossil fuels as a possible cause oflead to Global Warming Inappropriate Title. Title not clear

Last week I took a look at your first draft and told you that your introduction comes before anything else. This you did not correct or gave a deft ear to it. Aim
The aim of the experiment is to test whether the production of chemicals in from the burning of fossil fuels lead to global warming. This was not an experiment. It was a report unless you conducted your own experiments

Hypothesis
The production of chemicals in the burning of fossil fuels lead to global warming.

Method
We first took a clear look on Global warming, and then we chose a topic that is related to it. The topic was about the burning of fossil fuels which lead to global warming. We wrote a hypothesis about this burning of fossil fuels. We then visited different sites on Google and the University of the Western Cape library on the internet searching for information that is useful. After we had searched for what?, we considered one fossil fuel as our choice to focus on which is coal so as to see if the results of its production can lead to global warming, then if it does, it will mean that all fossil fuels can result to global warming when they are produced. We also included graphs that show an increase in the burning of fossil fuels and pictures showing different types of fossil fuels being burned during the process of producing chemicals. This is not a method, you have basically written the process. This is more of a language representation of a flow chat.

Results
Introduction
Burning of fossil fuels is the process where bywhereby people burn fossil fuels how can you use a word to define itself to produce chemicals which are energy, gases, oil, coal, petrol, petroleum and electricity gases, oil, coal petrol etc are not chemicals, they are the fossil fuels. This process causes a lot of pollution most of the time, especially coal is a very dirty process consider reconstruction this sentence. Incomplete combustion of coal and oil produces particulate matter. Heavier particulates

produce an annoying dirty grit source?, and lighter particulates can be inhaled deeply and become a health hazard. In addition to the desired combustion of organic molecules, impurities such as sulphur sulphur does not burn also burn and produce potentially dangerous oxides. Since the air is made of 80% nitrogen; , nitrogen is combusted along with the fuel at high temperatures, releasing nitrous oxides. Since fossil fuels are composed mainly of carbon by weight, all fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide when burned. In the atmosphere, the sulphur and nitrous oxides produce sulphuric acid and nitric acid, respectively, which can lead to acid rain. The carbon dioxide helps trap heat in the atmosphere contributing to the potential warming of the earth how does it do that?. Smog and acid rain, and global warming can easily take place when people burn these fossil fuels. The importance of particulates has long been acknowledged, and major particlulate emissions control measures have been launched in many provinces of South Africa. Evidence for acid rain is readily available, and the effects from impact on forests and lakes to crumbling old South African structures have confirmed its presence, but its overall environmental/economic importance importance? remains a matter of controversy what is the controversy in question?. It is now widely accepted that human activities have contributed to a noticeable average global warming trend in the twentieth century. However, there are differential impacts of this global trend on regional climate, agriculture, storm damage, and other effects in different parts of the country. This complicates both the assessment of global effects of atmospheric emissions and international negotiations over requisite changes in fossil fuel use. Very weak introduction. You paid limited time to the key issues identified in your title and aim. Lots of irrelevant material present which are poorly blended and often written with poor grammar. No reference to a source of material.

Types of chemicals produced by the burning of fossil fuels

Petroleum or oil is a naturally occurring flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earths surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point into a large number of consumer products, from petrol and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, and it is estimated that the world consumes about 88 million barrels each day. The use of fossil fuels such as petroleum can have a negative impact on Earth's biosphere, releasing pollutants and greenhouse gases into the air and damaging ecosystems through events such as oil spills. Concern over

the depletion of the earth's finite reserves of oil, and the effect this would have on a society dependent on it, is a field known as peak oil. Check figure below of oil production. The big question is, what are the chemicals produced from the burning of petroleum. You did not list even one. How does this listed chemicals cause global warming?, And which of them? If you cannot answer this fundamental questions, then you are out of topic.

Figure 1 What does this picture show? Picture is not properly illustrated and not mentioned on

the text.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gulf_Offshore_Platform.jpg

Coal which has meant means "mineral of fossilized carbon" is a combustible black or brownish black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams source of material?. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later they were exposured to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements which are mainly hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Throughout history, coal has been a useful resource. It is primarily burned for the production of electricity or heat, and is also used for industrial purposes such as refining metals. Coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period. Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as one of the largest worldwide anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide releases. Gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage are slightly more than those from petroleum and about double the amount from natural gas. Coal fired electric power generation emits around 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt hour generated, which almost double the carbon dioxide released by a natural gas fired electric plant per megawatt hour generated. Because of this higher carbon efficiency of natural gas generation, as the fuel mix in the United States has changed to reduce coal and increase

natural gas generation, carbon dioxide emissions have unexpectedly fallen. Coal is extracted from the ground by mining, either underground by shaft mining through the seams or in open pits. Check figure below of coal. The figure doesnt show any mining process. What chemicals or gases

are released from the burning of coal? Is it only through the burning of coal that these chemicals can be released. What about methane from mine shafts? Relate these to global warming.

Figure 2 2 inappropraite picture. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Coal.jpg/220px-Coal.jpg

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4. It is the simplest alkane and the main component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel. However, because it is a gas at normal conditions, methane is difficult to transport from its source. It is a relatively potent greenhouse gas. Methane is important for electric generation by burning it as a fuel in a gas turbine or steam boiler. Compared to other hydrocarbon fuels, burning methane produces less carbon dioxide for each unit of heat released. At about 891 kJ/mol, methane's heat of combustion is lower than any other hydrocarbon but the ratio of the heat of combustion (891 kJ/mol) to the molecular mass (16.0 g/mol, of which 12.0 g/mol is carbon) shows that methane, being the simplest hydrocarbon, produces more heat per mass unit (55.7 kJ/g) than other complex hydrocarbons. In many cities, methane is piped into homes for domestic heating and cooking purposes. In this context it is usually known as natural gas, which is considered to have an energy content of 39 mega joules per cubic meter. Methane in the form of compressed natural gas is used as a vehicle fuel and is claimed to be more environmentally friendly than other fossil fuels such as gasoline/petrol and diesel. Research into adsorption methods of methane storage for use as an automotive fuel has been conducted. Although there is great interest in converting methane into useful or more easily liquefied compounds, the only practical processes are relatively unselective. In the chemical industry, methane is converted to synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, by steam reforming. Methane is also subjected to free-radical chlorination in the production of

chloromethane, although methanol is a more typical precursor. Methane is not toxic; however, it is extremely flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Methane is violently reactive with oxidizers, halogens, and some halogen-containing compounds.

Natural gas There is no difference between methane and natural gas. is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, with other hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide. Natural gas is an important energy source to provide heating and electricity. It is also used as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic molecules. Natural gas is found in deep underground natural rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane catharses. Petroleum is also another resource found in proximity to and with natural gas. Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms: biogenic and thermogenic. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo processing to clean the gas and remove impurities including water to meet the specifications of marketable natural gas. Natural gas is often described as the cleanest fossil fuel, producing less carbon dioxide per joule delivered than either coal or oil and far fewer pollutants than other hydrocarbon fuels. However, in absolute terms, it does contribute substantially to global carbon emissions, and this contribution is projected to grow. The figure below shows the production of natural gas.

Figure 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NaturalGasProcessingPlant.jpg

Gasoline is a transparent petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain ethanol as an alternative fuel. Under normal ambient conditions its material state is liquid, unlike liquefied petroleum gas or natural gas. Gasoline is more volatile than diesel oil, or kerosene, not only because of the base constituents, but also because of additives. The main concern with

gasoline on the environment, aside from the complications of its extraction and refining, is the potential effect on the climate. Unbent gasoline and evaporation from the tank, when in the atmosphere, react in sunlight to produce photochemical smog. Addition of ethanol increases the volatility of gasoline, potentially worsening the problem.

How do they contribute to Global Warming

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide that was laid down millions of years ago, when the coal and oil used to be dinosaurs and vegetation. Carbondioxide is not the only GHG. The carbon cycle which keeps the greenhouse effect going can't cope with all the additional carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is extremely important for the planet's warmth, but too much of it captures more and more of the sun's heat and is causing global warming. How does carbondioxide trap heat. Before the Industrial Revolution, the greenhouse effect was a natural process in which gases, like carbon dioxide and water vapour, trapped some of the sun's heat within the atmosphere, allowing life to exist on Earth. Human-caused pollution, from factories, fossil fuel combustion and other activities, is contributing to an enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming. Power plants, industrial facilities and vehicles are the main producers of carbon dioxide. Commercial buildings and homes also release carbon dioxide. Deforestation what has deforestation got to do with your title. contributes to global warming by preventing sequestration, a natural process that involves the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into plant foliage. Not only does deforestation decrease the number of trees and plants from sequestering carbon dioxide, cut trees release the gas through decomposition or burning. Although nature releases methane gas on its own, such as from wetlands, wildfires and termite activity, human activities account for an estimated 50 percent of all methane emissions. Factories, which process natural gas, wastewater or petroleum, contribute to methane gas emissions. In addition, landfills, livestock manure, coal mining and fossil fuel combustion also produce significant quantities of this greenhouse gas. Combustion of fossil fuels generates sulphuric, carbonic, and nitric acids which fall to Earth as acid rain impacting both natural areas and the built environment. Fossil fuels also contain radioactive materials,

mainly uranium and thorium, which are released into the atmosphere. Burning coal also generates large amounts of bottom ash and fly ash. These materials are used in a wide variety of applications. Harvesting, processing, and distributing fossil fuels can also create environmental concerns. Coal mining methods, particularly mountaintop removal and strip mining, have negative environmental impacts, and offshore oil drilling poses a hazard to aquatic organisms. Oil refineries also have negative environmental impacts, including air and water pollution.

Analysis and discussion what analysis have you done?

Figure 4 The figure above shows the pollution being released by a petrochemical refinery into the atmosphere. This pollution gets trapped into the atmosphere resulting in smog and acid rain. This exhalation leads to the increase of carbon dioxide levels up in the atmosphere as shown in the figure below. Source?

Figure 5
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png/350pxCarbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png The figure below shows how much carbon each chemical releases per year and their total.

Figure 6

Figure 7 The above pie chart shows the percentage release of each chemical in 2001. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Global_Carbon_Emissions.svg/350px -Global_Carbon_Emissions.svg.png

Discussion and Conclusion

To sum up, the burning of fossil fuels is the major cause of global warming. It also plays a good role in producing chemicals that we need all over the world. In these days, we need some of these chemicals to make a living. Therefore, they are very helpful to us as we need them that much. The only bad thing about the production of these chemicals is that it uses lot of energy and electricity. As a result, energy and electricity are both non-renewable resources so it costs the South African economy. Also, they cause a lot of pollution when they are being produced. This pollution leads to

Global Warming which has got negative effects to the world. From figure 6 and 7, we also found that the chemical that causes a lot of pollution/releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is petroleum which is one of the most used chemical all over the world. From the graphs and findings above, we have found that really, the production of chemicals from the burning of fossil fuels contributes to Global Warming. Therefore, our hypothesis proved to be correct.

No reference list included. Work is completely incoherent and inconsistent.