Lecture 5

• Modern energy systems have been central to the development of human societies
• Energy Resources have perhaps been the single most important determinant of growth of industrial societies and the modern economy
• Unfortunately, energy resources are key drivers of many of the many of the negative environmental trends observed in the world today• i.e. predominant source of carbon dioxide, emissions
• Non-renewable resources: once used, these resources cannot be replaced.
• Four major types of non-renewable resources: coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear energy
• Coal, natural gas, and oil are fossil fuels
• Fossil fuels are formed within the Earth from dead plants and animals over millions of years
• Fossil fuels Can be formed in underground layers of rock and sediment
• Pressure + heat = crude oil/petroleum, coal and natural gas
• Energy production and use pose significant environmental challenges
• Policy approaches must align energy and environmental issues to ensure that economic growth and environmental protection are achieved together
• Land degradation – leases vast stretches of land for infrastructure such as wells, pipe lines, access roads as well as facilities for processing, waste storage and waste disposal. The problem with this is that, even after operations, the nutrient-leached land will never return to what it once was.
• Water pollution – all drilling, fracking and mining operations generate enormous volumes of waste waters which can be laden with heavy metals, radioactive materials and other pollutants
• Emissions – emit harmful air pollutants long before they are burned
• Environmental effects of fossil fuels: Land degradation, Water pollution, Emissions, and Global warming pollution
• Peak oil is defined as the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of crude oil is reached and after that the extraction is expected to enter final decline
• Peak oil is based on the observed rise, peak, fall and depletion of aggregate production rate in oil fields over time.
• Most analysts had only predicted declining demand for oil in probably green scenarios that could only be achieved with far stronger global climate policies