Energy and Environment

(ESE 820)

Instructor: Dr. Muhammad Hassan

Contact: [email protected]

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Environment and Energy related Environmental issues
Topics to be Covered

 Environment and Environmental issues  Introduction

Global, Regional and Local Environmental issues
 Energy Related Environmental Pollutions and their sources
Air, Thermal, Water, Land, Noise and Radiation Pollution
 Atmospheric Emissions (Energy Related)
 Criteria Pollutants
CO, NOx, SOx, Pb, PM, Ozone
 Air Toxic VOC
 Air Quality Index
 Acid Deposition
 Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
 Green house Gases
 Radio Active wastes (Energy Related)
 Depletion of Conventional Energy Resources
 Environment and Environmental issues
 Environment refers to the physical environment that surrounds us. This
includes
 Air we breath
 Water we drink and
 Land, oceans, rivers and forests that cover the earth

 It also includes the buildings , highways and modern infrastructure of the

urban settings in which a growing proportion of the world’s population
reside.

 The state of this physical environment directly and indirectly affects the
viability of all living things on the planet. The welfare of these livings
things motivates most environmental concerns.
 Environmental issues are harmful aspects of human
activity on the environment. Major current
environmental issues may include climate change,
pollution, environmental degradation, and resource
depletion etc.

Some of the largest problems now affecting the world

are Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming,
Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water
Pollution and Rain Forest Destruction.

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Environment and Environmental issues  Introduction

Energy related environmental concerns have expanded from :

Primarily local or regional issues  International and global

nature of major energy related
environmental problems.

Particularly in developing or newly industrialized countries

 where energy consumption growth rates are typically
extremely high and environmental management has not
yet been fully incorporated into the infrastructure,
environmental problems are becoming apparent or already
exist (ISO 14000, ISO 50001)
 Industrialized countries are at present mainly responsible
for air pollution, ozone depletion, and carbon emissions
because of the small contribution of the developing
countries
In the 1970s, concerns about energy use mainly focused on
the relationship between energy and economics. At that
time, the linkage between energy and the environment did
not receive much attention.

An institutional structure to deal with environmental

problems emerged after the 1970s in most countries

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Environment and Environmental issues  Introduction

 As environmental concerns, such as pollution, ozone depletion,

and global climate change, became major issues in the 1980s,
interest in the link between energy utilization and the
environment became more pronounced (especially in the late
1980s and early 1990s)

 The environmental impact of energy use is reduced by

increasing the efficiency of energy-resource utilization and by
substituting more environmentally dangerous energy resources
for damaging ones
 Environment and Environmental issues  Introduction

Energy-environmental issues may be categorized by relative

geographic scale of their impact: global, regional, and local.

Global Impacts
Impacts with a global scale may originate from local activities,
which, due to the longevity and transport of emissions, or to
the nature of the impact, affect global environmental
conditions.
 These issues include global climate change from
greenhouse gas emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion,
and habitat destruction with the associated reduction of
global biodiversity.
  Regional Impacts
 Some energy activities result in emissions (e.g. acid
decomposition, SOx and NOx, or the mobilization of long-
lived toxic contaminants) that leads to damage tens or
hundreds of kilometers away referred as regional issues.

 Local Impacts
 Finally, local issues refer to situations where impacts
generally occur at or near the site of energy use or
production, such as indoor and urban air pollution,
groundwater contamination, and solid waste production.

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 Major Energy Related Environment Issues
GLOBAL ISSUES
 Global Climate Change
 Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
 Reduction of Biodiversity

REGIONAL ISSUES
 Water and Land Use and Degradation
 Ocean Contamination (Oil spills, etc.)
 Mobilization of Toxic Contaminants
 Acid deposition
 Radioactivity and Radioactive Wastes

LOCAL ISSUES
 Urban Air Pollution and Indoor Air Pollution
 Localized Surface and Groundwater Pollution
 Solid and Hazardous Wastes
 Electromagnetic Fields
 Occupational Health and Safety
 Large Scale Accidents
 Aesthetic and Other Concerns (e.g. Audible Noise, Visual Impairment)
 Environmental Pollution
Pollution
 Pollution can be defined as the accumulation and adverse affects of contaminants
or pollutants on human health and welfare, and/or the environment.

 Pollution in general is the activity of disturbing the natural system and balance
of an environment.

 Contaminants/Pollutants can result from waste materials produced from the activity
of living organisms especially humans
 Contamination/Pollutants can also occur from natural processes such as arsenic
dissolution from bedrock into groundwater, or air pollution from smoke that results
from natural fires.
 Contaminants/Pollutants can be in the solid, liquid, or gaseous state
 Environmental Pollution

Land Pollution Thermal Pollution Water Pollution

Air Pollution Noise Pollution Radiation Pollution

 Water Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
Water pollution is the introduction into fresh or ocean waters of chemical, physical, or biological
material that degrades the quality of the water and affects the organisms living in it.
This process ranges from simple addition of dissolved or suspended solids to discharge of the most
insidious and persistent toxic pollutants (such as pesticides, heavy metals, and non-degradable, bio
accumulative, chemical compounds)

 Some forms of electricity generation involve the discharge of water. These water discharges
can contain pollutants. In addition, drilling and mining operations can affect water quality.
 During the transportation of oil, spills can occur, damaging water quality and harming marine
life and birds in oceans and coastal waterways.
 Water Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
 Refineries release treated wastewater, which can contain pollutants, into streams and other
bodies of water

 Drilling can also cause underground water supplies to become contaminated with oil, and
runoff from the extraction process can affect surface waters.

 Mining affects fresh water through heavy use of water in processing ore, and through water
pollution from discharged mine effluent and seepage from tailings and waste rock
impoundments

 Although the nuclear reactor is radioactive, the water discharged from the power plant is not
considered radioactive because it never comes in contact with radioactive materials.
However, waste generated from uranium mining operations and rainwater runoff can
contaminate groundwater and surface water resources with heavy metals and traces of
radioactive uranium.

http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/water-discharge.html
Thermal Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
Thermal pollution is the discharge of waste heat via energy dissipation into cooling water and
subsequently into nearby waterways. Thermal pollution is when water temperature rises to
harmful degrees in lakes, rivers, ponds, and even coastal bodies of water in the ocean.

The major sources of thermal pollution are:

 Fossil-fuel and nuclear electric-power generating facilities and, to a lesser degree, cooling
operations associated with industrial manufacturing, such as steel foundries, other primary-
metal manufacturers, and chemical and petrochemical producers.

 Thermal pollution also happens when trees that shade streams die or are removed
(deforestation).
 Sunlight naturally heats up the water causing it's temperature to increase, and
allowing thermal pollution to take place.
 Deforestation also cause soil erosion which makes water more muddy which
increases the light absorbed and thus heating the water.

http://allaboutthermalpollution.weebly.com/thermal-pollution.html
Thermal Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
Thermal pollution affects animals and plants that take shelter underwater greatly. It causes
thermal shock, oxygen depletion, and forced migration among these creatures. It takes a
temperature increase of only 1oCor 2 oC to make this impact

 Cold water generally has more oxygen than

warmer water. When thermal pollution takes
place, water temperature increases causing
dissolved oxygen levels to decrease as well.

 This is also known as oxygen depletion.

Heated water speeds up the metabolism for fish
causing their need for oxygen to increase even
more. As a result, many fish die since they are
not able to receive the sufficient amount of
oxygen

Since electricity takes an abundant amount of cooling water, reducing the amount of electricity
one uses, can help put a stop to thermal pollution
 Land Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
 Land pollution, in other words, means degradation or destruction of earth’s surface and soil,
directly or indirectly as a result of human activities.

 May occur when humans throw chemicals unto the soil in the form of pesticides, insecticides
and fertilizers during agricultural practices. Exploitation of minerals mining activities) has
also contributed to the degradation of the earth’s surface.

 Increase in urbanization is one of the major causes of land pollution. Construction uses up
forestland.This leads to the exploitation and destruction of forests

http://library.thinkquest.org/C001611/pollution.html
 Land Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities
There are different types of land pollution. Many publications group them differently.

Solid Waste
Chemicals

Pesticides and Fertilizers Deforestation

http://eschooltoday.com/pollution/land-pollution/types-of-land-pollution.html
 Land Pollution Due to Energy Related Activities

Coal Mining: The mining process requires the displacement of soil and introduces chemicals
and other pollutants into the environment.
The process of mining leads to the formation of piles of coal and slag. When these
wastes are not disposed through proper channel, they are accumulated and
contaminate the land

Natural Gas: Extracting natural gas creates erosion and disrupts the natural plant and animal life.

Nuclear plants can produce huge amount of energy through nuclear fission and fusion. The left
over radioactive material contains harmful and toxic chemicals that can affect human health. They
are dumped beneath the earth to avoid any casualty.

Burning of solid fuels (coal and bio mass) leads to the formation of ashes, which is yet another
cause of land pollution

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-land-pollution.php
 Radiation Pollution
Radiation pollution is any form radiations that results from human activities. The most
well-known radiation results from the detonation of nuclear devices and the controlled
release of energy by nuclear-power generating plants

Radioactive nuclear wastes cannot be treated by conventional chemical methods and

must be stored in heavily shielded containers in areas remote from biological habitats.
 The safest of storage sites currently used are impervious deep caves or abandoned
salt mines.

 Most radioactive wastes, however, have half-lives of hundreds to thousands of

years, and to date no storage method has been found that is absolutely infallible.

Radioactive material from the Fukushima nuclear disaster (~2100 MWe) has been found
in tiny sea creatures and ocean water some 186 miles (300 kilometers) off the coast of
Japan
 Radiation Pollution
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station of 4000
MW is widely considered to have been the worst
nuclear power plant accident in history

 Four hundred times more radioactive material

was released than had been by the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima.

 Slighter levels of contamination were detected

over all of Europe

 The Chernobyl reactor is now enclosed in a

large concrete sarcophagus, which was built
quickly to allow continuing operation of the
other reactors at the plant
 Noise Pollution
Noise pollution refers to a type of energy pollution in which distracting, irritating or damaging
sounds are freely audible. With this type of pollution, contaminants are not physical particles, but
rather waves that interfere with naturally-occurring waves of a similar type in the same
environment.
Normal Conversations Sound Intensity : 40-60 db
Sound that is less than 80 db is considered safe for the ear

Industries, automobiles and some entertainment joints are some of the sources of noise pollution

 The main source of noise pollution comes from transportation such as airplanes, cars, and
buses, as well as recreational vehicles such as jet skis.
 With sound intensities ranging from 90db – 200db, these vehicles cause annoyance, stress,
and even hearing loss in humans.

 Load shedding and the Noise pollution and indoor Air pollution

 Transport Sector and the Noise pollution

 Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is said to be one of the biggest disadvantages of a wind turbine
 Energy Related Air Pollution
Air pollution is the accumulation in the atmosphere of substances that, in sufficient
concentrations, endanger human health or produce other measured effects on living matter and
other materials.
Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical,
physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.
Among the major sources of pollution are power and heat generation, the burning of solid wastes,
industrial processes, and, especially, transportation including Household combustion devices and
forest fires are common sources of air pollution.

Pollutants of major public health

concern include particulate
matter, carbon monoxide, ozone,
nitrogen dioxide and sulfur
dioxide. Outdoor and indoor air
pollution cause respiratory and
other diseases, which can be fatal.
 Energy Related Air Pollution

Primary pollutants are emitted directly

e.g. from naturally occurring events such as
volcanic ash, dust storms, forest fires, or man-
made activities such as sulphur dioxide from
industries; CO2 from vehicle exhausts.

Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly.

They form when primary pollutants interact with
each other in the atmosphere e.g. acidic gases
combining with water, CFCs reaching strong
sunlight.
Energy Related Air Pollution (Causes)

Natural Causes
 谢谢
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