Sustainable Resource Technology(Course Note 2)

Joonhong ParkYonsei CEE Department

2015. 9. 17.

Sustainability

Economics and Solid Waste

The Invisible Hand (Adam Smith): classic optimism

The law of populations (Thomas Malthus): classic pessimism

But, when the populations grew, famine and deprivation were avoided. This was due to “Technology” – new optimism

The Club of Rome report: resource is limited. – new pessimism.

Developing a balanced world system (sustainable environment)

Sustainability• General Definition: meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising

the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.

• Don’t do these: exhausting a natural resource, leaving large costs for future generations or doing irreversible harm to the planet.

• An energy technology is considered sustainable if:

1. It contributes little to manmade climate change.

2. It is capable of providing power for many generations w/o

significant reduction in the size of the resource, and

3. It does not leave a burden to future generation.

☞ It is very difficult to say if an energy technology is truly sustainable or not.

4

Greenhouse gases - I

• Carbon dioxide (CO2)– Sources: volcanic eruptions, respiration, soil process,

combustion of fossil fuel– Sinks: ocean uptake, photosynthesis

• Methane (CH4)– Sources: methanogenesis (rice paddies, wetlands,

animal digestion, landfill)– Sinks: rxn with OH radicals in troposphere, chemical

& microbial oxidation

Greenhouse gases - II

• Nitrous oxide (N2O)– Sources: denitrification/ nitrification, vehicles,

fertilizers, biomass burning– Sink: photochemical rxn in stratosphere

• Ozone (O3)

– Source: O2 + O + M O3 + M

– Sink: rxns with Cl, OH, NOx radicals

Greenhouse gases - III

• Halocarbons (C + Cl, Br, F)– Sources: human production, natural methylhalides– Sink: Slow photochemical rxn

• Water vapour (H2O)– 1% by volume, but important regulator of energy

• Aerosol– Sources: dust, soot, sea salt crystal, spores, microbes

Causes of climatic changes

• Radiative– Alterations in the energy balance of the atmosphere

system– Variations in orbit, solar radiation, volcanic activity,

and air composition

• Non-radiative– Do not affect energy budgets over long time scale– Changes in the geometry of the Earth’s surface

External forcing force

• Galactic variations• Orbital variations: Milankovitch cycle• Solar variations: ex) sunspot

Milankovič cycle

Internal forcing force

• Orogeny: techtonic process of mountain building and continental uplift

• Epeirogeny: changes in the global disposition of land masses

• Volcanic activity• Ocean circulation• Variations in air composition

Current measurement

• Temperature• Rainfall• Humidity• Wind

NOAA (http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/)

380 ppm in 2006CO2 at Mauna Loa (Keeling curve)

                                                                          

                                              

IPCC (2001)

Rising sea level (Global)

IPCC (2007)

Paleoclimate reconstruction

• Historical records• Ice cores• Dendroclimatology• Ocean sediments• Terrestrial sediments• Pollen analysis• Sedimentary rocks

1) Historical records

• Weather phenomena (drought, flood)• Weather-dependent biological phenomena

(flowering of trees, the migration of birds)• Ancient inscription, annals and chronicles,

governmental/estate/maritime/commercial records, diaries, scientific writings

2) Ice cores

• Stable isotope analysisHigher condensation of H2

18O than H216O

The cooler, the heavier the ice (higher 18O)

• Physical chemical characteristics: horizontal ice lenses, vertical ice glands

• Dating ice cores: age-depth relationships, radioisotope dating (210Pb)

Movie clip from ‘The day after tomorrow’

3) Dendroclimatology

• Relationships between annual tree growth and climate

• Tree ring width, densiometric parameters, chemical/isotopic variables of trees

• Microclimate (moisture, temperature) vs. non-climatic factors (competition, defoliation, soil nutrient)

4) Ocean sediment

• Sediments in the Ocean may represent climate conditions of land

• Biogenic (organic) vs. Terrigenous (inorganic) materials

5) Terrestrial sediment

• Periglacial features• Glacial fluctuations• Lake-leval fluctuations

6) Pollen analysis

• Strength: resistant to decay, large production• Weakness: differences in pollen productivity and

dispersion rates

7) Sedimentary rock

• Sedimentary rocks, which were subjects to pressures, can be uplifted and exposed

• Information on older times than 100 million years

Radiative Forcing & Global Temperature Change

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Halocarbons

N2OCH4

CO2

Stratosphericozone

Troposphericozone

Sulfate

FossilFuel

Burning(Black C)

FossilFuel

Burning(Organic C)

Radia

tive F

orc

e (

Wm

-

2)

Coolin

gW

arm

ing

3

-2

-1

0

1

2

BiomassBurning

MineralDust

Land use(albedo)

Solar

Aerosols

Level of Scientific Understanding

High Very Low

The final change in global mean temperature: dT = Ø * ΣdFØ is the proportionality constant; dF is the change in radiative forcing(see equations at p. 115

Types of climate models

• Energy balance models• Radiative-convective models• Statistical-dynamical models• General circulation modelsGCM)

General circulation models

• Based on the conservations of energy, momemtum, mass, and the Ideal gas law

• Transfer between boxes (or grind-point) of 105

figures at a time• 3-D• Atmospheric-ocean GCM has developed, but no

atmospheric-biosphere GCM yet

visualization

IPCCIPCC((Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

ChangeChange))

IPCC (2007)

IPCC (2007)

Other Concerns

General Pollution

Acid Rains

Injuries and fatalities

Land use

Energy paybacks

External costs and sustainability

General Pollution Concerns

Source 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 pollution, mining accidents, health effects on miners

Nuclear power Radioactivity, 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, groundwater pollution due to fertilizers, use of scarce water, competition with food producing

Hydroelectricity Displacement of populations, effect on rivers and groundwater, dams (visual intrusion and risk of accident), seismic effects, downstream effects on agriculture, methane emissions from submergend biomass

Wind power Visual intrusion in landscapes, noise, bird strikes, interference with telecommunications

Tidal power Visual intrusion and destruction of wildlife habitat, reduced dispersal of effluents (these concerns apply manly to tidal barrages, not tidal current turbines)

Geothermal energy

Release of polluting gases (SO2, H2S, etc), grounwater 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

Global loading from various pollutants

and human disruption

Insult NaturalBaseline(tonnes/ year)

HumanDisruption Index

CommercialEnergySupply

TraditionalEnergySupply

Agriculture

Manufacturing, other

Lead emission to air 12,000 18 0.41 negligible negligible 0.59

Oil addition to oceans 200,000 10 0.44 negligible negligible 0.56

Cadmium to air 1,400 5.4 0.13 0.05 0.12 0.70

Sulphur to air 31 mil 2.7 0.85 0.005 0.01 0.13

Methane flow to air 160 mil 2.3 0.18 0.05 0.65 0.12

Nitrogen fixation 140 mil 1.5 0.30 0.02 0.67 0.01

Mercury emission to air 2,500 1.4 0.20 0.01 0.02 0.77

N2O flows to air 33 mil 0.5 0.12 0.08 0.80 negligible

Particulate to air 3,100 mil

0.12 0.35 0.10 0.40 0.15

Non-methane hydrocarbon to air

1 billion 0.12 0.35 0.05 0.40 0.30

Carbon dioxide to air 150 billion

0.05 0.75 0.03 0.15 0.07

Acid Rain: Carbonate system

Acid Rain: SOx and NOx

SO2(g) + H2O H2SO3

2SO2(g) + O2 2SO3 (g)SO3(g) + H2O H2SO4

2NO2 (g) + H2O HNO2 + HNO3

Strong vs Weak Acids

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SO2 and NOx Emissions of Energy Technologies

Technology SO2 t/TWh NO2 t/TWh

Hydro with reservoir 7 150

Diesel (0.25% S) 1285 310-12,000

Heavy oil (1.5% S) without scrubbing

8013 1,300-2,000

Hydro run-of-river 1 120

Coal (1%S) w/o scrubbing 5274 700-5,000

Coal with SO2 scrubbing 104 690-5,000

Nuclear 3 150

Natural gas 314 77-1,500

Fuel cell 470 -

Biomass plantation 26 1,100-2,500

Sawmill waste 26 69-1,900

Wind power 69 77-130

PV 24 150

Land use

Technology Km2 per TWh(min. approx.)

Km2 per TWh(max. approx.)

Hydro with reservoir 0 200

Hydro run-of-river 1 5

Coal 4 10

Nuclear 0.5 5

Biomass plantation 533 2200

Sawmill waste 1 3

Wind power 25 115

PV 30 45

Energy Payback

Technology Energy output/Energy input

Hydro with reservoir 205

Hydro run-of-river 206

Coal(1%S) without SO2 scrubbing

7

Coal (2%) with SO2 scrubbing 5

Nuclear 16

Natural gas 5

Fuel cell 3

Biomass plantation 5

Sawmill waste 27

Wind power 80

PV 9

External cost (Externalities)

Externality: the cost for pollutant etc. that the technology creates.

Summarized List of Factors to be considered when examining sustainability

Potential sustainable energy sources

Global change (especially GHG emissions)

General Pollution (water, soil/groundwater, ocean, air, wastes)

Acid Rains

Injuries and fatalities

Land use

Energy paybacks

Strategy to Feasible Estimation:

Energy paybacks vs. External costs vs. Sustainability

(It may be difficult to estimate internal cost of a future technology)

Sustainability: Revisiting• General Definition: meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising

the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.

• Don’t do these: exhausting a natural resource, leaving large costs for future generations or doing irreversible harm to the planet.

• An energy technology is considered sustainable if:

1. It contributes little to manmade climate change.

2. It is capable of providing power for many generations w/o

significant reduction in the size of the resource, and

3. It does not leave a burden to future generation.

☞ It is very difficult to say if an energy technology is truly sustainable or not.

50

Focus Movements from Environmental Protection to Social

Inclusion

Economy

Economy

Environment

Society

Environment

Society

Economy

Sustainable Development (1972, 1987, 1992, 2002)Green Growth UNESCAP 2005, OECD 2009)Green Economy (UNEP, 2008)Green Economy, Poverty Eradication (Rio+20, 2012)

UN’s Major Components for Sustainable Development

UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)