Transcript The Environmental Impacts of a Hydrocarbon Energy Policy

Energy
• To Rearrange Matter
• The Ability to do Work
Some Forms of Energy
• Potential
• Kinetic
• Radiation
• Heat
What is the Cleanest Energy?
•
• BP crystalline
photovoltaic panel
• BP thin film
photovolataic panel
Photovolataic-Thermal Cogeneration
The Environmental Impacts of a
Hydrocarbon Energy Policy
Or
Almost Level West Virginia
Fuel Cells
•
How Fuel Cells Work
President Bush’s Proposed
Energy Policy
• Increase oil & gas drilling
• Increase coal mining
• Revive nuclear power industry
• Pay lip service to conservation and alternative
energy sources
Pluses of President Bush’s
Proposed Energy Policy
• Expands conservation efforts in all sectors
• Encourages technological innovation
• Promotes Consumer Education
Negatives of President Bush’s
Proposed Energy Policy
• Recommends “flexibility” in Environmental
Permitting
• Removal of Impediments to Energy
Development on Federal Lands (especially in
consultation with local public)
Assumptions of Proposed Policy
• Environmental damage from oil, gas, and coal can
be eliminated (or reduced to insignificant levels)
• Oil, gas, and coal (along with nuclear) are
cheapest
• Conservation requires reduced quality of life
• Renewable energy is not a viable option
The Big Lie about Increased Oil
& Gas Drilling
Oil and gas drilling will not destroy wilderness
Drilling more Oil and Gas will increase our energy
security
More oil and gas are needed to sustain our quality of life
The Truth about Increased Oil &
Gas Drilling
• Oil and gas drilling will destroy wilderness
• Drilling more Oil and Gas will not increase our
energy security
• More oil and gas are not needed to sustain our
quality of life
Clean Coal
The Big Lie
Full Accounting Environmental
Costs of Coal Use
• Mining
• Equipment
• Transport
• Combustion
Environmental Cost of Coal Mining
• Habitat destruction
– Leveled mountains, destroyed streams, polluted
streams, land subsistence, coal fires, abandoned
mines
“Mountaintop
Removal”
Air Pollution from Coal Mining
• 750 million pounds of toxics
• 7 out of top 10 sources of toxic air emissions in
TN are TVA coal power plants
• 40 tons of mercury in US, 1/3 of total
• Mercury Rain: 1/3 of lakes in WI, MN have
fish with unsafe levels for eating
Increased Mortality
Total relaeases for 1988
• http://www.epa.gov/tri/tri98/data/new_rlms
98at2_pie.pdf
Revive Nuclear Power
Photovoltaic Technology
Development
Approved by the IEEE United States
Activities Board (December 1996)
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- United States of America (IEEE-USA) strongly
supports the continued development of direct solar
conversion, photovoltaics, for the generation of
electricity as a means of reducing the impact of
man on the environment. Responsible planning for
future electrical demand requires all reasonable
efforts be made toward reducing our continued
growth in the use of fossil fuels. IEEE-USA has
identified photovoltaics as a viable option in the
generation of electricity.
Unreclaimed Problems
• The unreclaimed
high priority
problems are quite
concentrated in a few
states. Seven States
(Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, Kentucky,
Kansas, Virginia,
Ohio, and Oklahoma)
account for 95 % of
these problem costs.
Energy Efficiency
Approved by IEEE-USA Board
of Directors (15 Nov. 2001)
• Conclusion
• Through improvements in energy efficiency, the
United States can reduce costs, increase energy
security, enhance international competitiveness,
and reduce environmental impacts. Significant
improvements in energy efficiency can be made
through the application of currently available and
cost-effective technologies and processes. As the
demand for energy continues to grow, new energy
efficient technologies can play an increasingly
important role in increasing the productivity of the
nation's energy system.
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