Intro & Sustainability

8/9/2019 Intro & Sustainability

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Introduction to

Environmental Engineering

CIV 381

The College of New JerseyFall 2014

Kenneth F. Najjar, Ph.D., P.E.

Adjunct ProfessorCivil Engineering

August 28, 2014


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Education of Instructor

B.E., City College of New York in Civil

Engineering

M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology in

Environmental Engineering

Ph.D., Rutgers University in Environmental

Science


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Background of Instructor

Delaware River Basin Commission

Manager, Planning & Information Technology

ConsultantEnvironmental/Engineering

Adjunct Professor

Villanova UniversityCivil & Env Eng

Rider UnivGeology, Env & Marine Sci

TCNJCivil Engineering


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Experience of Instructor

CDM (NYC, Virginia)

Wastewater Treatment

Water Supply and Distribution Hydrologic & Hydraulic Modeling (HEC, storm surge, etc.)

Van Note-Harvey Associates (Princeton)

Site Engineering (roads, drainage, grading, etc.)

Stormwater Management (detention basins, dry wells, etc.)

Floodplain management

Water system modeling


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From Water Resources Planning, Andrew Dzurik, 2003


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Obstacles to Sustainability

Population Growth

Climate Change

Shale Gas Development


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Population Growth

Population has experienced exponential

growth:

About 6 Billion people in 2005

Possibly 9 billion people by 2050

Slow population growth up until mid-19thcentury

Doubling timeshave become shorter

Life expectancy has increased

Birth rates have greatly exceeded mortality rates

People are more mobile and can live anywhere


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2003 World Population Rank by Countries

1.05b

1.3 b


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Global population density(the darker the shading, the higher the population density)


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Forecasting Population Change

Formula to represent population change:

P2=P1+ (BD) + (IE)Where

P = population

B = births

D = deaths I = immigration

E = emigration


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Projecting Future Population

Growth Exponential growth and doubling time

The logistic growth curve

S shaped curve that is generated by the logistic growthequation.

A small population grows rapidly

But the growth rate slows down

The population eventually reaches a constant size. Logistic carrying capacity

The population size at which births equal deaths and there is

no net change in population


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Sustainability and Carrying

Capacity

What is the maximum number of people the

Earth can sustain?


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Impacts of the Human Population

Rapid growth of humans results in problemsobtaining an adequate food & water supplies

Expect problems with maintaining lifestyle:

Water supplies for irrigation, drinking, and industry

Farmland to produce crops to feed a hungry earth Food production is an energy-intensive business

Supply of energy and minerals for our material basedlifestyle

Pollution of air, land, and water Global warming


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Loss of Agriculture Land-- Land is limited

Convert cropland to residential area and parking lots.


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Urban Sprawl

Urban Sprawl: loss of land Baltimore and DC areas


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How do we resolve issues created by

Human Population?

What consequences will we face because of our growthof the human population?

Energy and natural resources are finite supplies on earth Where do we find more?

Water supplies have been exhausted in many places Where do we find more? How do we re-distribute?

Croplands are replaced by homes and cities

Where do we find land for farms?

Waste, the products of our life style, must be putsomewhere

Where do we put it and at what cost?


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How do we resolve issues created by

Human Population?

What consequences will we face because of our growthof the human population?

Carrying Capacity, its ability to sustain its

population at a basic, healthy, moderately

comfortable standard of living

Have we exceeded it?

Global Warming, the activity of billions of people

is impacting the climate of earth Can we stop or reverse the trend?


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Seaside Park, NJ

after Superstorm

Sandy


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Droughts


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Drought of the 1960s


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Flooding


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Assumptions for Future Scenarios

Increasing Temperatures2- 4o C

Equal or Increased Precipitation79%

Greater Intensity of Storms/Hurricanes

More Precipitation in Winter Months Warmer Summers

Working at the Extremes

Floods and Droughts

Increase in Sea Level Rise

Inundation (height + tidal range change)

15-20% range increase at Balt. For 1m rise (Zhong et al., 2008)

Storm Surge

Salinity Increases


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Shale Gas Development

Natural Gas Well Pad and Drill Rig in , PA


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Time Factor

Very few hydrocarbon deposits are found inrocks less than 1 to 2 million years old

Geologist suspect the process is slow and takeslonger than a few tens of thousands of years

Oil and Natural gas are nonrenewableenergyresources

The organic material falling to the sea floors

today will not be useful as petroleum productsin our lifetime


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Natural fractures "joints" in Devonian-age shale

Natural Gas Exploration in Shale


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We are here


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Marcellus Production in Northeast: Largely Horizontal Wells


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Positive Aspects of Natural Gas

Drilling Economics: more jobs, revenue to industry &

leaseholders, increased tax revenue

Energy independence: Some estimates indicatedecades worth of gas for the U.S. that woulddecrease our reliance on foreign oil

Location: Marcellus shale is close in proximityto high population areas in N.E.


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Three Major Areas of Concern

Water - effect on water resources: By reducing the flow in streams

By reducing aquifer water supply

Potential contamination of ground and surface waters

Landscape: On-site drilling operations may potentiallyadd, discharge or cause the release of pollutants intothe ground water or surface wateras well as transportation impacts

Wastewater: The recovered "frac water" must betreated and disposed of properly.

http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guide
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guidehttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/marcellus-shale/illustrated-guide


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Why Solving Environmental

Problems Is Often Difficult1. Exponential growth

The consequences of exponential growth and itsaccompanying positive feedback can be dramatic

2. Lag time The time between a stimulus and the response of a system

If there is a long delay between stimulus and response, thenthe resulting changes are much more difficult to recognize.

3. Irreversible consequences Consequences that may not be easily rectified on a human

scale of decades or a few hundred years.


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Sustainability Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

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