Sustainable Resource Technology(Course Note 2) Joonhong Park Yonsei CEE Department 2015. 9. 17.
Jan 16, 2016
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)