Material for Energy

and Environmental
Sustainability

PDT 463

Week 1: Introduction

Dr. Norshah Aizat

Shuaib
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 Agenda for today

u Introduc/on of myself

u Introduc/on to the course (HEA 01)

u Possible assignments/coursework

u What is sustainability

u Climate change issues

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Bahan untuk Tenaga dan Kemampanan Alam Sekitar

From
Kamus
Dewan


Why there is no record? Is this a new word?

Can you think of other Malay word for the word
sustainable?
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 Course synopsis
This course builds an understanding of cri/cal rela/onship between the
environment, energy and sustainability. It will exposed the student to
the development and applica/on of materials in sustainable energy
produc/on. In this subject, while chemistry is the underlying scien/fic
basis, materials are vital in enabling technologies that can offer
promising solu/ons for sustainable energy future. Materials with new
proper/es and improved func/onali/es are needed for boos/ng the
performance and efficiency of the different types of processing thus the
end product at lower cost

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In OBE, you need to know the CO (course outcomes)
i.e. what should you know at the end of the course:
CO1:
Able to define and describe the rela/onship between energy,
environment and sustainability

CO2:
Able to relate materials knowledge and processing on non renewable
and renewable energy.

CO3:
Able to analyze the industrial case study in energy efficiency

CO4:
Able to evaluate the green processing and recycling process

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 Summary of topics

Week Topics
1 - 3 Energy and Environment - climate
change, sustainability, economics of
materials
4 – 6 Non-renewable energy sources
7 – 10 Renewable energy sources
11 – 13 Energy efficiency: Industrial case,
recycling
14 - 15 Green processing and recycling

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 Assessments

ExaminaQon
Final Examina/on = 40%
Mid-Term Examina/on (1 &2) = 20%

Coursework
Quizzes = 5%
Laboratory report = 25%
Laboratory test = 10%

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Ask yourself, what is the first thing
come into your mind when you heard
the word ‘sustainable’?

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 DefiniQon of sustainable development

“development that
meets the needs of the
present without
compromising the ability
of future genera/ons to
meet their own needs”

haps://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/images/imagemain400_1616.jpg

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 Three pillars of sustainability

hap://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/ThreePillarsOfSustainability.htm
hap://greenartlaballiance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/3-pillars-of-sustainability.png

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 Three pillars of sustainability

wikipedia.org

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 To ensure whether a product is sustainable,
ask yourself these quesQons:

Source: hap://www.enviroprofit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/FrameworkforSustProducts.jpg
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A sustainable product?

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A sustainable / green village in Surabaya

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 Example 1: Concrete buildings

Source: Middle East concrete

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 Example 2: Toothbrush

Think about your toothbrush.

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 Example 2: Toothbrush
Think about your toothbrush.
In the United States alone it is es/mated that over 850 million toothbrushes are
discarded and end up in landfill every single year

In Australia, over 30 million toothbrushes are used and disposed of by Australians
each year, amoun/ng to approximately 1000 tonnes of landfill each year.

These toothbrushes are made from a combina/on of ______(made from crude
oil) and _____ for the hand piece, nylon for the bristles, and a mix of plas/c and
cardboard for the packaging. None of these items are biodegradable, therefore
they remain in landfill indefinitely.

They might even end up in our oceans and washed up on our beaches or
consumed by marine life. If they are burnt, they release a combina/on of toxic
and greenhouse gases.
haps://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/what-sustainable-alterna/ve-plas/c-toothbrushes/
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 Example 2: Handphone
Imagine that you are
working in a phone
manufacturer – what
should you do to make
your product more
sustainable?

10 minutes discussion
hap://www.electroschema/cs.com/5248/cell-phone-misuse-some-facts/

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 Example 2: Phonebloks

Source: Youtube Page 20

 Example 3: PlasQc versus paper bag

Source: Slideshare Page 21

 Example 3: PlasQc versus paper bag

Does this mean plas/c bag is beaer than paper bag?

Source: hap://www.letstalkplas/cs.com/images/ar/cles/Graphics_UK.jpg
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 Think about this environmental friendly
product:

Why we don’t see it on our roads?

Source: Middle East concrete
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 What is climate change?
•  Climate is the average weather at a given point and /me of year,
over a long period (typically 30 years).

•  We expect the weather to change a lot from day to day, but we

expect the climate to remain rela/vely constant.

•  If the climate doesn’t remain constant, we call it climate change.

•  The key ques/on is what is a significant change – and this
depends upon the underlying level of climate variability

•  Crucial to understand difference between climate change and

climate variability.

© David Stevenson
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 Climate change – what is the issue?
Current atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide greatly exceed their pre-industrial levels

The increase in global atmospheric concentra/on of carbon dioxide
is caused mostly by the burning of fossil fuels and changing land use,
such as deforesta/on.

The increase in atmospheric concentra/ons of methane and nitrous
oxide is caused mostly by agriculture.

Global climate is already changing: average surface temperatures
have increased, ocean pH has decreased, precipita/on paaerns
have changed, and sea level has risen since the industrial revolu/on.


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The greenhouse effects

Why we call it
as
‘greenhouse’?

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Global warming

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 Climate change – the impacts?
•  Projec/ons indicate that the global average surface air
temperature will increase by at least several degrees Celsius for a
range of expecta/ons of human popula/on growth and economic
development.

•  Further acidifica/on of the world's oceans is expected to be

caused directly by higher atmospheric CO2 levels.

•  The extent of sea ice at both poles is expected to shrink.

•  The frequency of heat waves and that of heavy precipita/on

events are expected to increase

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 Other evidence of Climate Change

Glacier retreat

1875 2004

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Climate change – the impacts

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 Climate change – how to solve?
The vast majority of scien/fic evidence indicates that most of the
observed warming of the Earth in the last half century has been
caused by increased concentra/ons of GHGs due to human ac/vi/es
(e.g., burning of fossil fuels and curng down forests.

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, society would have to
act quickly to transform its energy system to one that is sustainable –
one that results in zero emission of CO2.

Can you think of any other ways to

solve climate change issue?

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 Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an interna/onal agreement linked to

the United Na/ons Framework Conven/on on Climate
Change, which commits its Par/es by serng interna/onally
binding emission reduc/on targets

But, does this protocol effec/ve?

Homework - Go to Google and search for ‘The

Kyoto Protocol: Challenges’ – read the top link.
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Before the class ends, think again why you
need to learn this course?

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 One of the reasons is to move from tradiQonal
engineering to sustainable engineering:

haps://www.e-educa/on.psu.edu/eme807/node/688

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 Reading list for this course

1.  Fundamentals of Materials for Energy and Environmental Sustainability,
Ginley, David S ; Cahen, David, Cambridge University Press, 2012

2.  FuncQonal Materials for Sustainable Energy ApplicaQons, John A Kilner,

Oxford; Philadelphia : Woodhead Publishing, 2012

3.  Energy in the 21st Century, John R Fanchi, World Scien/fic, 2013

4.  AlternaQve Energy Sources to Combat Climate Change: Biogas

Produc/on using Cost Effec/ve Material, Bezabih Yimer, Anchor
Academic Publishing, 2014

5.  Design of Advance PhotocatalyQc Materials for Energy and

Environmental ApplicaQons, Juan M Coronado, Springer, 2013

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