Sustainability, Climate Change, Politics, and Renewable Energy

Nov 17th

Earth’s Radiation Balance

Evidence of climate change

• Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

• Historic evidence of the link between greenhouse gases and climate

• We know which processes increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

• Measurements of global temperatures are rising• Changes in flora and fauna• Computer models

Indicators of Climate Change

– Table 5.3

• Consequences of climate change– Table 5.4

Gas Main Anthropogenic Sources Contribution (%) CO2 Energy use, deforestation and changing land use, cement production 65CH4 Energy production and use, enteric fermentation, rice paddies, wastes, landfills, biomass burning, domestic sewage 20CFCs & HCFCs Industrial: primarily refrigeration, aerosols, foam blowing, solvents 10N2O Fertilised soils, land clearing, acid production, biomass burning, combustion of fossil fuels 5

• Negative greenhouse gases – reduce surface heating by scattering incoming insolation– Sulfate aerosols– Volcanoes– Climate change

Surface pH within the USA

Sustainability

• Sustainability – meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• Exhausting a natural resource, leaving debt, and doing irreversible harm to the planet conflict with the idea of sustainability

Sustainable Energy Technology

• Contributes little to manmade climate change

• Is capable of providing power for many generations without significant reduction in the size of the resource

• Does not burden future generations

• Unsustainable– Fossil fuels– Large-scale

hydropower– Thermal nuclear

reactors

• Sustainable– Solar– Wind– Wave– Tidal– Small-scale

hydropower– Biomass– Geothermal– Fast nuclear

reactors– Nuclear fusion

Economic Solutions to Environmental Problems

• 1. Environmental taxes– Tax on product or service that is detrimental

to the environment

• 2. Tradable permits– Permit to emit a specified amount of waste

• 3. Regulation– Government sets fixed limits on emissions

Kyoto Protocol TargetsCountry CO2 emissions % of world Kyoto pledge CO2 per capita (t) CO2 per $

in 1990 (Mt) emissions of GDP

(grams)

US 4,957 23 7% cut 19.83 246 Russia 2,389 11 No rise 16.13 1,071 Japan 1,173 5.4 6% cut 9.35 107 Germany 1,012 4.7 21% cut 12.79 169 UK 584 2.7 12.5% cut 10.04 161 Canada 457 2.1 6% cut 16.64 222 Italy 428 2.0 6.5% cut 7.51 107 Poland 414 1.9 6% cut 10.88 1,919 France 367 1.7 No rise 6.23 84 Australia 289 1.3 8% rise 17.12 268 Spain 261 1.2 15% rise 5.79 126 Romania 171 0.8 6% cut 7.37 1,220 Czech Rep. 170 0.8 8% cut 16.09 1,431Netherlands 168 0.8 6% cut 11.21 161

Solar Power

• Every 10 minutes the surface of the Earth receives enough energy from the sun to provide primary energy needs for a whole year

• 0.007% of the surface area of the planet could meet our demand for energy – 38,000 km²

Types of Solar Heating• Active – separate solar collectors used to

raise a fluid to a much higher temperature– Dish collectors– Power towers– Trough collectors

• Passive – the solar collector is the structural fabric of the building– Building materials– Window orientation– Vegetation

Solar Farm

Solar Power Plant

Solar Trough

Active Solar Power

Passive Solar Power

Photovoltaics

• Photovoltaic cells are semiconductors – photons from sunlight knock electrons into a higher state of energy, creating electricity.

• Cells produce direct current electricity from light, which can be used to power equipment or to recharge a battery.

Impacts of pollutantsSource Potential causes for concern Oil Global climate change, air pollution by vehicles, acid rain, oil spills, oil rig

accidents Natural gas Global climate change, methane leakage from pipes, methane explosions, gas rig accidents Coal Global climate change, acid rain, environmental spoliation by open-cast mining, land subsidence due to deep mining, spoil heaps, ground water pollution, mining accidents, health effects on miners Nuclear power Radioactivity (routine release, risk of accident, waste disposal), misuse of fissile and

other radioactive material by terrorists, proliferation of nuclear weapons, land pollution by mine tailings, health effects on uranium miners Biomass Effect on landscape and biodiversity, ground water pollution due to fertilizers, use of scarce water, competition with food production Hydroelectricity Displacement of populations, effect on rivers and ground water, dams (visual intrusion and risk of accident), seismic effects, downstream effects on agriculture, methane emissions from submerged biomass Wind power Visual intrusion in sensitive landscapes, noise, bird strikes, interference with telecommunications Tidal power Visual intrusion and destruction of wildlife habitat, reduced dispersal of effluents (these concerns apply mainly to tidal barrages, not tidal current turbines) Geothermal energy Release of polluting gases (SO2, H2S, etc.), ground water pollution by chemicals including heavy metals, seismic effects Solar energy Sequestration of large land areas (in the case of centralized plant), use of toxic materials in manufacture of some PV cells, visual intrusion in rural and urban environments