Aims & Learning Objectives:
To understand the energy balances within the major regions of the world, their environmental consequences and sustainability. .
To introduce assessment techniques for evaluating projects in terms of energy use and environmental impact.
To understand the relationship between alternative energy technologies and the societies in which they develop and to participate in discussion of energy and environmental options.
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
Evaluate the life cycle of major energy projects, and present the results in a form that will enable decision makers to fully comprehend their energy and environmental consequences. Develop the key features of sustainable energy strategies for countries from different regions of the world in terms of their economic development, indigenous energy resources, and environmental consequences. Participate in local and national debates over large and small-scale development projects with an understanding of limitations placed on them by economic, physical, and environmental constraints.
Content:
ENERGY RESOURCES : Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal); Primary electricity (hydro and nuclear power); Renewable energy sources; Substitutable and non-substitutable resources.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION : Pollutant emissions from fossil fuel combustion: local, regional and global effects; nuclear power and environmental sustainability: technologies, radioactive emissions and waste disposal; Environmental and related impacts of remewable energy systems.
ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES : Cost/benefit analysis; First and second law (energy and exergy) thermodynamic analysis; Environmental Life-cycle assessment; Qualitative environmental risks.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: "People, planet and prosperity"; the sustainability equation; principles and practice of sustainable developmenty; 'The Natural Step' and its system conditions; Environmental footprint analysis; Local Agenda 21: Sustainable energy options.
ENERGY AND SOCIETY : The technology-society relationship; Alternative energy technologies; Energy conservation; Energy and transport.
ENERGY STRATEGIES : Major world producers and users; Energy systems modelling; UK energy issues and strategies; Energy and the developing world: basic human needs, the role of biofuels, and 'appropriate' energy technologies; Case study; comparative energy studies of selected industrialised and developing countries.
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