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Envi Reporting PDF
Envi Reporting PDF
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn about the processes that shape the earth and its
resources. It includes discussions pertaining to the formation of rocks and minerals,
environmental effects of resource extraction, conservation of geological resources and
geological hazards. Additionally, you will recognize the effects of climate change in our
society.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcome 1 (Syllabus)
Acquire high level of awareness about the environment and its significance.
Topic Outcome
Recognize the processes that shape the earth and its resources, explain how rocks
and minerals are formed, and recognize the effects of climate change in these
processes.
Earth Processes
We may face geological hazards of one type or another, but think of it, we also
benefit from the earth’s geological resources.
All of us share a responsibility for the environmental and social devastation that often
results from mining and drilling.
Fortunately there are many promising solutions to reduce these costs, including
recycling and alternative materials. However, it is up to us how we will deal with it.
Geological products that you might be wearing now:
o plastics, including glasses and synthetic fabric, are made from oil;
o iron, copper, and aluminum mines produced snaps and zippers and the
screws in glasses;
o silver, gold, and diamond mines produced jewelry.
Earth
Earth is a dynamic planet and constantly changing structure.
The earth is a layered sphere.
Layers of Earth:
o Core, or interior, is composed of a dense, intensely hot mass of metal, mostly
iron, thousands of kilometers in diameter. Solid in the center but more fluid in
the outer core, this immense mass generates the magnetic field that envelops
the earth.
o Mantle is surrounding the molten outer core. It is a hot, pliable layer of rock.
The mantle is much less dense than the core because it contains a high
concentration of lighter elements, such as oxygen, silicon, and magnesium.
o Crust is the cool, lightweight, brittle rock outermost layer of the earth. The
crust below oceans is relatively thin (8–15 km), is dense, and young (less than
200 million years old) because of constant recycling. Crust under continents is
relatively thick (25–75 km) and light, and as old as 3.8 billion years, with new
material being added continually. It also is predominantly granitic, while
oceanic crust is mainly dense basaltic rock.
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Below is a table showing the composition of the whole earth dominated by the
dense core and the crust.
Plate Tectonics
In 1855, Antonio Snider went so far as to publish a sketch showing how the two
continents could fit together, jigsaw-puzzle fashion. Such reconstructions gave rise to
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the bold suggestion that perhaps these continents had once been part of the same
landmass, which had later broken up.
Climatologist Alfred Wegener was struck not only by the matching coastlines, but by
geologic evidence from the continents.
Sedimentary rocks may preserve evidence of the ancient climate of the time and
place in which the sediments were deposited. Such evidence shows that the climate
in many places has varied widely through time.
There are evidences of extensive glaciation in places now located in the tropics, in
parts of Australia, southern Africa, and South America.
There are desert sand deposits in the rocks of regions that now have moist,
temperate climates and the remains of jungle plants in now-cool places.
There are coal deposits in Antarctica, even though coal deposits form from the
remains of a lush growth of land plants.
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Sedimentary rocks also preserve fossil remains of ancient life. Some plants and
animals, long extinct, seem to have lived only in a few very restricted areas, which
now are widely separated geographically on different continents.
One example is the fossil plant Glossopteris, remains of which are found in limited
areas of widely separated lands including India, southern Africa, and even
Antarctica. The fossils of a small reptile, Mesosaurus, are similarly dispersed across
two continents. The distribution of these fossils was, in fact, part of the evidence
Wegener cited to support his continental-drift hypothesis.
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The idea of continental drift provided a way out of the quandary. The organism may
have lived in a single, geographically restricted area, and the rocks in which its
remains are now found subsequently were separated and moved in several different
directions by drifting continents.
Wegener began to publish his ideas in 1912 and continued to do so for nearly two
decades. He proposed that all the continental landmasses had once formed a single
supercontinent, Pangaea (Greek for “all lands”), which had then split apart, the
modern continents moving to their present positions via a process called continental
drift.
However, most people, scientists and nonscientists alike, had difficulty visualizing
how something as massive as a continent could possibly “drift” around on a solid
earth, or why it should do so. In other words, no mechanism for moving continents
was apparent.
Continental “drift” turned out to be just one consequence of processes encompassed
by a broader theory known as plate tectonics.
Tectonics is the study of large scale movement and deformation of the earth’s outer
layers.
Plate tectonics relates such deformation to the existence and movement of rigid
“plates” over a weaker, more plastic layer in the earth’s upper mantle.
Lithosphere
The earth’s crust and uppermost mantle are somewhat brittle and elastic.
Together they make up the outer solid layer of the earth called the lithosphere,
from the Greek word lithos , meaning “rock.”
The lithosphere varies in thickness from place to place on the earth.
It is thinnest underneath the oceans, where it extends to a depth of about 50
kilometers (about 30 miles).
The lithosphere under the continents is both thicker on average than is oceanic
lithosphere, and more variable in thickness, extending in places to about 250
kilometers (over 150 miles).
Asthenosphere
The layer below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, which derives its name
from the Greek word asthenes, meaning “without strength.”
The asthenosphere extends to an average depth of about 300 kilometers (close to
200 miles) in the mantle.
Its lack of strength or rigidity results from a combination of high temperatures
and moderate confining pressures that allows the rock to flow plastically under
stress.
Below the asthenosphere, as pressures increase faster than temperatures with
depth, the mantle again becomes more rigid and elastic.
The asthenosphere was discovered by studying the behavior seismic waves from
earthquakes. Its presence makes the concept of continental drift more plausible.
The continents need not scrape across or plow through solid rock; instead, they
can be pictured as sliding over a softened, deformable layer underneath the
lithospheric plates.
Recognition of the existence of the plastic asthenosphere made plate motions
more plausible, but it did not prove that they had occurred.
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If the continental rifting continues, a new ocean basin will form between the
pieces of the continent as shown in above figure. This is happening now in
northeast Africa, where three rift zones meet in what is called a triple junction. See
below figure.
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This type of plate boundary, where one plate is carried down below (subducted
beneath) another, is called a subduction zone.
The nature of subduction zones can be demonstrated in many ways, a key one of
which involves earthquake depths.
At ocean-continent convergence, sea floor is consumed, and volcanoes form on the overriding continent.
Here the trench is partially filled by sediment.
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At the spreading ridges, other melts rise, cool, and crystallize to make new sea
floor.
So, in a sense, the oceanic lithosphere is constantly being recycled, which
explains why few very ancient seafloor rocks are known.
Volcanoes form where molten material rises up through the overlying plate to the
surface.
At an ocean-ocean convergence, the result is commonly a line of volcanic islands,
an island arc.
The great stresses involved in convergence and subduction give rise to
numerous earthquakes.
The bulk of mountain building, and its associated volcanic and earthquake
activity, is related to subduction zones.
Parts of the world near or above modern subduction zones are therefore prone to
both volcanic and earthquake activity. These include the Andes region of South
America, western Central America, parts of the northwest United States and
Canada, the Aleutian Islands, China, Japan, and much of the rim of the Pacific
Ocean basin.
Only rarely is a bit of sea floor caught up in a continent during convergence and
preserved.
Most often, the sea floor in a zone of convergence is subducted and destroyed.
All continents are part of moving plates, sooner or later they all are inevitably
transported to a convergent boundary, as leading oceanic lithosphere is
consumed.
If there is also continental lithosphere on the plate being subducted at an ocean-
continent convergent boundary, consumption of the subducting plate will
eventually bring the continental masses together.
Sooner or later, a continental mass on the subducting plate meets a continent on the overriding plate, and
the resulting collision creates a great thickness of continental lithosphere, as in the Himalayas.
Source: (Montgomery, 2011)
The two landmasses collide, crumple, and deform. One may partially override
the other, but the buoyancy of continental lithosphere ensures that neither sinks
deep into the mantle, and a very large thickness of continent may result.
Earthquakes are frequent during continent-continent collision as a consequence
of the large stresses involved in the process. The extreme height of the Himalaya
Mountains is attributed to just this sort of collision.
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India was not always a part of the Asian continent. Paleomagnetic evidence
indicates that it drifted northward over tens of millions of years until it “ran into”
Asia and the Himalayas were built up in the process.
In fact, many major mountain ranges worldwide represent sites of sustained plate
convergence in the past, and much of the western portion of North America
consists of bits of continental lithosphere “pasted onto” the continent in this way.
Transform Boundaries
A close look at a mid-ocean spreading ridge reveals that it is not a continuous rift
thousands of kilometers long. Rather, ridges consist of many short segments
slightly OFFSET from one another.
The offset is a special kind of fault, or break in the lithosphere, known as a
transform fault.
The opposite sides of a transform fault belong to two different plates, and these
are moving in opposite directions.
As the plates scrape past each other, earthquakes occur along the transform fault.
Transform faults may also occur between a trench (subduction zone) and a
spreading ridge, or between two trenches, but these are less common.
The famous San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform fault.
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Seafloor spreading-ridge segments are offset by transform faults. Red asterisks show where earthquakes
occur in the ridge system.
Source: (Montgomery, 2011)
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid element or compound with a
definite chemical composition and a regular internal crystal structure.
Naturally occurring, as distinguished from synthetic, means that minerals do not
include the thousands of chemical substances invented by humans.
Inorganic, means not produced solely by living organisms or by biological
processes.
Solid means that the ice of a glacier is a mineral, but liquid water is not.
Chemically, minerals may consist either of one element—like diamonds, which are
pure carbon—or they may be compounds of two or more elements.
Minerals are crystalline, at least on the microscopic scale.
Crystalline materials are solids in which the atoms or ions are arranged in regular,
repeating patterns.
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(Left) Sodium and chloride ions are arranged alternately in the halite structure. Lines show the
cubes that make up the repeating unit of the crystal structure; the resultant cubic crystal form is
shown in right.
Many minerals may share the same external crystal form: (A) galena (PbS) and (B) fluorite (CaF 2 )
form cubes, as do halite and pyrite (C). However, these minerals may show other forms; (D), for
example, is a distinctive form of pyrite called a pyritohedron.
Souce: (Montgomery, 2011)
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Types of Minerals
SILICATES
Two most common elements in the
earth’s crust are silicon and oxygen.
Silicate group is the largest
compositional group of minerals, all of
which are compounds containing silicon
and oxygen, and most of which contain
other elements as well.
This group of minerals is so large that it
is subdivided on the basis of crystal
structure, by the ways in which the
silicon and oxygen atoms are linked together.
The basic building block of all silicates is a tetrahedral arrangement of
four oxygen atoms (anions) around the much smaller silicon cation.
In different silicate minerals, these silica tetrahedral may be linked into
chains, sheets, or three-dimensional frameworks by the sharing of oxygen
atoms.
Some of the physical properties of silicates and other minerals are closely
related to their crystal structures
Silicate Minerals
Quartz - probably the best known silicate.
Compositionally, it is the simplest,
containing only silicon and oxygen. It is a
framework silicate, with silica tetrahedra
linked in three dimensions, which helps
make it relatively hard and weathering-
resistant. Quartz is found in a variety of
rocks and soils. Commercially, the most
common use of pure quartz is in the manufacture of glass, which also
consists mostly of silicon and oxygen. Quartz-rich sand and gravel are
used in very large quantities in construction.
Feldspars - The most abundant group of minerals in
the crust is a set of chemically similar minerals
known collectively as the feldspars. They are
composed of silicon, oxygen, aluminum, and either
sodium, potassium, or calcium, or some
combination of these three. These common minerals
are made from elements abundant in the crust. They
are used extensively in the manufacture of
ceramics.
Ferromagnesian - The general term used to
describe those silicates—usually dark-colored
(black, brown, or green)— that contain iron
and/or magnesium, with or without additional
elements.
- Olivine is simple ferromagnesian mineral, is a
major constituent of earth’s mantle; gem-quality
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olivines from mantle-derived volcanic rocks are the semiprecious gem peridot.
NONSILICATES
Each nonsilicate mineral group is defined by some chemical constituent or
characteristic that all members of the group have in common. Most often,
the common component is the same negatively charged ion or group of
atoms.
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Rocks
Categories of Rocks
IGNEOUS ROCK
- An igneous rock is a rock formed by the solidification and crystallization of a
cooling magma.
- Igneous is derived from the Latin term ignis, meaning “fire.”
- Magma is the name given to naturally occurring hot, molten rock material.
Silicates are the most common minerals, so magmas are usually rich in silica.
They also contain some dissolved water and gases and generally have some solid
crystals suspended in the melt.
- Examples of Igneous Rock
Plutonic Igneous Rock
- The name is derived from Pluto, the Greek god of the lower world.
- Formation: If a magma remains well below the surface during cooling,
it cools relatively slowly, insulated by overlying rock and soil. It may
take hundreds of thousands of years or more to crystallize completely.
Under these conditions, the crystals have ample time to form and to
grow very large, and the rock eventually formed has mineral grains
large enough to be seen individually with the naked eye.
- Granite is probably the most widely
known example of a plutonic rock.
Compositionally, typical granite consists
principally of quartz and feldspars, and it
usually contains some ferromagnesian
minerals or other silicates. The
proportions and compositions of these
constituent minerals may vary, but all
granites show the coarse, interlocking
crystals characteristic of a plutonic rock. Much of the mass of the
continents consists of granite or of rock of granitic composition.
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Volcanic
- A magma that flows out on the earth’s surface while still wholly or
partly molten is called lava. Lava is a common product of volcanic
eruptions, and the term volcanic is given to an igneous rock formed at
or close to the earth’s surface.
- Magmas that crystallize very near the
surface cool more rapidly. There is less
time during crystallization for large
crystals to form from the magma, so
volcanic rocks are typically fine-grained,
with most crystals too small to be
distinguished with the naked eye.
- In extreme cases, where cooling occurs Obsidian
very fast, even tiny crystals may not form before the magma solidifies,
and its atoms are frozen in a disordered state. The resulting clear,
noncrystalline solid is a natural glass, obsidian.
- The most common volcanic rock is basalt, a dark rock rich in
ferromagnesian minerals and feldspar. The ocean floor consists largely
of basalt.
- Occasionally, a melt begins to crystallize slowly at depth, growing
some large crystals, and then is subjected to rapid cooling (following a
volcanic eruption, for instance). This results in coarse crystals in a fine
grained groundmass, porphyry.
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(Left) Limestone, (Right) the fossils preserved in this limestone is crinoids, ancient
echinoderms related to modern sea urchins and sea stars.
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(Left) Conglomerate, a coarser-grained rock similar to sandstone; note that many of the fragments here
are rocks, not individual mineral grains. (Right) Coal seams (dark layers) in a sequence of sedimentary
rocks exposed in a sea cliff in southern Alaska.
Source: (Montgomery, 2011)
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
- The name metamorphic comes from the Greek for “changed form.”
- A metamorphic rock is one that has formed from another, preexisting rock that
was subjected to heat and/or pressure.
- The temperatures required to form metamorphic rocks are not as high as the
temperatures at which the rocks would melt.
- Heat and pressure commonly cause the minerals in the rock to recrystallize. The
original minerals may form larger crystals that perhaps interlock more tightly
than before.
- An important source of pressure is simply burial under many kilometers of
overlying rock.
- One source of elevated temperatures is the fact that temperatures increase with
depth in the earth.
- When hot magma formed at depth rises to shallower levels in the crust, it heats
the adjacent, cooler rocks, and they may be metamorphosed; this is contact
metamorphism.
- Metamorphism can also result from the stresses and heating to which rocks are
subject during mountain building or plate-tectonic movement. Such
metamorphism on a large scale, not localized around a magma body, is regional
metamorphism.
- Any kind of preexisting rock can be metamorphosed. Some names of
metamorphic rocks suggest what the earlier rock may have been.
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Gneiss
Source: (Montgomery, 2011)
It should be evident from the descriptions of the major rock types and how they form
those rocks of any type can be transformed into rocks of another type or into another
distinct rock of the same general type through the appropriate geologic processes.
Sandstone may be weathered until it breaks up; its fragments may then be
transported, redeposited, and lithified to form another sedimentary rock. It might
instead be deeply buried, heated, and compressed, which could transform it into the
metamorphic rock quartzite; or it could be heated until some or all of it melted, and
from that melt, an igneous rock could be formed.
Most interactions of people with the rock cycle involve the sedimentary and volcanic
components of the cycle.
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The rock cycle—a schematic view. Basically, a variety of geologic processes can
transform any rock into a new rock of the same or a different class. The geologic
environment is not static; it is constantly changing. The full picture, too, is more complex:
any type of rock may be found at the earth’s surface, and weathered; though the melts that
form volcanic rocks are created at depth, the melts crystallize into rock near the surface; and
so on.
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An ocean-continent convergence zone illustrates some of the many ways in which plate-
tectonic activity transforms rocks. For example, continents erode, producing sediment to make
sedimentary rocks; asthenosphere melts to make magma to form new igneous rock, as it also does
at spreading ridges. Regional metamorphism can result from heating and increased pressure
associated with deep burial, heat from magmatic activity, and the compressive stress of
convergence; close to shallow magma bodies, contact metamorphism may also occur. No rocks are
preserved indefinitely; all are caught up in this cycle of continuous change.
Mineralogists have identified some 4,400 different mineral species than on any of our
neighboring planets.
The processes of plate tectonics and the rock cycle on this planet have gradually
concentrated uncommon elements and allowed them to crystallize into new minerals.
Most of Earth’s minerals are oxides, but there was little free oxygen in the atmosphere until
it was released by photosynthetic organisms, thus triggering evolution of our great variety
of minerals.
Economic mineralogy is the study of resources that are valuable for manufacturing and are,
therefore, an important part of domestic and international commerce.
Most economic minerals are metal bearing ores, minerals with unusually high
concentrations of metals.
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Metals have been so important in human affairs that major epochs of human history are
commonly known by their dominant materials and the technology involved in using those
materials (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, etc.).
The mining, processing and distribution of these materials have broad implications for both
our culture and our environment.
Most economically valuable crustal resources exist everywhere in small amounts; the
important thing is to find them concentrated in economically recoverable levels.
Below is a table showing the primary uses of some major metals consumed in the United
States.
Metals
The metals consumed in greatest quantity by world industry include iron (740 million
metric tons annually), aluminum (40 million metric tons), manganese (22.4 million
metric tons), copper and chromium (8 million metric tons each), and nickel (0.7
million metric tons).
Most of these metals are consumed in the United States, Japan, and Europe, in that
order.
The largest sources are China, Australia, Russia, Canada, and the United States. To
some extent the abundance of ores in these countries is simply a matter of land area,
but Africa has relatively little metal ore.
The rapid growth of green technologies, such as renewable energy and electric
vehicles, has made a group of rare earth metals especially important. Worries about
impending shortages of these minerals complicate future developments in this
sector.
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Nonmetals
Nonmetal minerals are a broad class that covers resources from silicate minerals
(gemstones, mica, talc, and asbestos) to sand, gravel, salts, limestone, and soils.
Durable, highly valuable, and easily portable, gemstones and precious metals have
long been a way to store and transport wealth. Unfortunately these valuable
materials also have bankrolled despots, criminal gangs, and terrorism in many
countries.
Civil rights organizations are campaigning to require better documentation of the
origins of gems and precious metals to prevent their use as financing for crimes
against humanity. Who knows that the diamond ring or gold wedding band that we
cherish are from inhumane labor conditions and environmentally destructive mining
and processing methods.
Sand and gravel production comprise by far the greatest volume and dollar value of
all nonmetal mineral resources and a far greater volume than all metal ores. Sand
and gravel are used mainly in brick and concrete construction and paving, as loose
road filler, and for sandblasting.
High-purity silica sand is our source of glass. These materials usually are retrieved
from surface pit mines and quarries, where they were deposited by glaciers, winds,
or ancient oceans.
Mining and purifying all these resources can have severe environmental and social
consequences.
The most obvious effect of mining is often the disturbance or removal of the land
surface. Farther-reaching effects, though, include air and water pollution.
The EPA lists more than 100 toxic air pollutants, from acetone to xylene, released
from U.S. mines every year. Nearly 80,000 metric tons of particulate matter (dust) and
11,000 tons of sulfur dioxide are released from nonmetal mining alone.
Pollution from chemical and sediment runoff is a major problem in many local
watersheds.
Gold and other metals are often found in sulfide ores. When these minerals are
exposed to air and water, they produce sulfuric acid, which is highly mobile and
strongly acidic.
Vast quantities of ore must be crushed and washed to extract metals.
After using water in ore processing, much of the water contains sulfuric acid, arsenic,
heavy metals, and other contaminants. Mine runoff leaking into lakes and streams
damages or destroys aquatic ecosystems.
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The Mineral Policy Center in Washington, D.C., estimates that 19,000 km (12,000 mi)
of rivers and streams in the United States are contaminated by mine drainage. The
EPA estimates that cleaning up impaired streams, along with 550,000 abandoned
mines, in the United States may cost $70 billion. Worldwide, mine closing and
rehabilitation costs are estimated in the trillions of dollars. Because of the volatile
prices of metals and coal, many mining companies have gone bankrupt before
restoring mine sites, leaving the public responsible for cleanup.
Every other year the Blacksmith Institute compiles a list of the world’s worst pollution
problems. For 2010 they analyzed the top six toxic threats to human health. Five of the six
are metals or metaloids (lead, mercury, chromium, radionuclide, and arsenic), and the
largest pollution problems are generally associated with mining and processing. Altogether
they estimate about 60 million people are jeopardized by these pollution sources. These
problems are especially disastrous in the developing world and in the former Soviet Union,
where funds and political will aren’t available to deal with pollution or help people suffering
from terrible health effects of pollution.
Conservation offers great potential for extending our supplies of economic minerals
and reducing the effects of mining and processing.
The advantages of conservation are also significant:
- Less waste to dispose of
- Less land lost to mining
- Less consumption of money, energy, and water resources.
Recycling
Recycling is slowly increasing as raw materials become more scarce and wastes
become more plentiful.
Recycling waste aluminum, such as beverage cans, on the other hand, consumes
one-twentieth of the energy of extracting new aluminum. Today nearly two-thirds
of all aluminum beverage cans in the United States are recycled, up from only 15
percent 20 years ago. The high value of aluminum scrap ($650 a ton versus $60
for steel, $200 for plastic, $50 for glass, and $30 for paperboard) gives consumers
plenty of incentive to deliver their cans for collection. Recycling is so rapid and
effective that half of all the aluminum cans now on a grocer’s shelf will be made
into another can within two months.
Platinum, the catalyst in automobile catalytic exhaust converters, is valuable
enough to be regularly retrieved and recycled from used cars.
Other metals commonly recycled are gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and
steel. The latter four are readily available in a pure and massive form, including
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copper pipes, lead batteries, and steel and iron auto parts. Gold and silver are
valuable enough to warrant recovery, even through more difficult means.
A new type of mill subsisting entirely on a readily available supply of scrap/waste
steel and iron is a growing industry. Minimills, which remelt and reshape scrap
iron and steel, are smaller and cheaper to operate than traditional integrated
mills that perform every process from preparing raw ore to finishing iron and
steel products. Minimills produce steel at $225 to $480 per metric ton, whereas
steel from integrated mills averages $1,425 to $2,250 per metric ton. The energy
cost is likewise lower in minimills: 5.3 million BTU/ton of steel compared to 16.08
million BTU/ton in integrated mill furnaces.
Below is a table showing the energy cost of extracting materials.
New Materials
Mineral and metal consumption can be reduced by new materials or new
technologies developed to replace traditional uses.
Bronze replaced stone technology and iron replaced bronze.
The introduction of plastic pipe has decreased our consumption of copper, lead,
and steel pipes.
The development of fiber-optic technology and satellite communication
reduces the need for copper telephone wires.
In automobile production, steel is being replaced by polymers, aluminum,
ceramics, and new, high technology alloys. All of these reduce vehicle weight
and cost while increasing fuel efficiency.
Electronics and communications (telephone) technology, once major consumers
of copper and aluminum, now use ultrahigh-purity glass cables to transmit
pulses of light, instead of metal wires carrying electron pulses.
Geological Hazards
Earthquakes are sudden movements in the earth’s crust that occur along faults
(planes of weakness) where one rock mass slides past another one, as was the case
along the Enriquillo– Plantain Garden Fault in Haiti.
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Tsunamis are giant sea waves triggered by earthquakes or landslides. The name is
derived from the Japanese for “harbor wave,” because the waves often are noticed
only when they approach shore. Tsunamis can be more damaging than the
earthquakes that create them. The tsunami that struck the coast of Japan on March 11,
2011, for example, was triggered by a magnitude 9.0 underwater earthquake about
72 km (45 mi) out to sea.
Volcanoes and undersea magma vents produce much of the earth’s crust. Volcanoes
have also been an ever-present threat to human populations. One of the most famous
historic volcanic eruptions was that of Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy, which buried
the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii in A.D. 79.
Gravity constantly pulls downward on every material everywhere on earth, causing a
variety of phenomena collectively termed mass wasting or mass movement, in
which geological materials are moved downslope from one place to another. The
resulting movement is often slow and subtle, but some slope processes such as
rockslides, avalanches, and land slumping can be swift, dangerous, and very
obvious. Landslide is a general term for rapid downslope movement of soil or rock.
In the United States alone, over $1 billion in property damage is done every year by
landslides and related mass wasting.
Floods are normal events that cause damage when people get in the way. As rivers
carve and shape the landscape, they build broad floodplains, level expanses that are
periodically inundated. Many cities have been built on these flat, fertile plains, which
are both good for agriculture and convenient to the river. When floods occur
irregularly, people develop a false sense of security. But eventually most floodplains
do flood.
Beach erosion occurs on all sandy shorelines because the motion of the waves is
constantly redistributing sand and other sediments. One of the world’s longest and
most spectacular sand beaches runs down the Atlantic Coast of North America from
New England to Florida and around the Gulf of Mexico. Much of this beach lies on
some 350 long, thin barrier islands that stand between the mainland and the open
sea.
Climate Change
Weather - refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of time—
from minutes to hours or days. Familiar examples include rain, snow, clouds, winds, floods
or thunderstorms.
Climate - refers to the long-term regional or even global average of temperature, humidity
and rainfall patterns over seasons, years or decades.
Greenhouse Effect
- Warming that result when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward
space.
- Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include:
Water vapour
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Nitrous Oxide
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Chlorofluorocarbons
- The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult
to predict, but certain effects are:
On average, Earth will become warmer. Some regions may welcome
warmer temperatures, but others may not.
Warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and
precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming
wetter and others dryer.
A stronger greenhouse effect will warm the oceans and partially melt
glaciers and other ice, increasing sea level. Ocean water also will expand
if it warms, contributing further to sea level rise.
Some crops and other plants may respond favorably to increase
atmospheric CO2, growing more vigorously and using water more
efficiently. At the same time, higher temperatures and shifting climate
patterns may change the areas where crops grow best and affect the
makeup of natural plant communities.
Global Warming
- The long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial
period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel
burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s
atmosphere.
- Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased
Earth’s global average temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees
Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36
degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. Most of the current warming trend is extremely
likely (greater than 95 percent probability) the result of human activity since the
1950s and is proceeding at an unprecedented rate over decades to millennia.
Climate Change
- A long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s
local, regional and global climates.
- Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th century are primarily
driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-
trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average
surface temperature. These human-produced temperature increases are commonly
referred to as global warming.
- Natural processes can also contribute to climate change, including internal
variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal
Oscillation) and external forcing (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy
output, and variations in Earth’s orbit).
- Evidence of climate change key indicators:
global land and ocean temperature increases
rising sea levels
ice loss at Earth’s poles and in mountain glaciers
frequency and severity changes in extreme weather such as hurricanes, heat
waves, wildfires, droughts, floods and precipitation
cloud and vegetation cover changes
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References:
Earth Science Communications Team. (2020, July 27). The Effects of Climate Change.
Retrieved July 30, 2020, from NASA Global Climate Change:
https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
Earth Science Communications Team. (2020, July 27). Overview: Weather, Global Warming
and Climate Change. Retrieved July 30, 2020, from NASA Global Climate Change:
https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-change/
Earth Science Communications Team. (2020, July 27). The Causes of Climate Change.
Retrieved July 30, 2020, from NASA Global Climate Change:
https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
Garrison, C. (2016). East African Rift A triple junction joins the East African Rift System to the
Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea Oceanic crust began forming in the Gulf. Retrieved July 29, 2020,
from SlidePlayer: https://slideplayer.com/slide/8027131/
Geology of the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from Afar
Rift Consortium: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/afar/new-afar/geology-afar/structure-tech-
pages/red-sea-aden-tech.html
Montgomery, C. W. (2011). Environmental Geology, Ninth Edition. 1221 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY 10020: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Offset by Shutterstock. (n.d.). Rio grande rift. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from Offset by
Shutterstock: https://www.offset.com/search/rio+grande+rift
Stansberry, B. (n.d.). New Madrid Fault Sign. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from Wikimedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/New-Madrid-Fault-sign-mo.jpg
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Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
AIR POLLUTION
Introduction
In this lesson you will learn about the various types of air pollution; its impacts,
treatment, prevention and protection.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcome 2 (Syllabus)
Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the
engineer's role in the manipulation of materials and resources.
Topic Outcomes:
Identify the sources of pollution and discuss how to control them
Air Pollution
(Discussion is heavily based on Environmental Science (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2015).)
Air Pollution means any alteration of the physical, chemical and biological
properties of the atmospheric air, or any discharge thereto of any liquid, gaseous or
solid substances that will or is likely to create or to render the air resources of the
country harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, safety or welfare or which
will adversely affect their utilization for domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational, or other legitimate purposes (RA 8749, 1999).
Smoke, haze, dust, odors, corrosive gases, noise, and toxic compounds are
among our most widespread pollutants.
Shown above is a photo of the atmosphere and the setting sun. In this thin line
is where the air pollutants are trapped. Almost all of what we release in the
atmosphere will go back to any point in this line, thus the adage “Tapat ko linis ko” is
not applicable especially in air pollution.
Globally, air pollution is estimated to contribute to over 3 million deaths per
year. Because these deaths are usually widespread, and in developing areas where
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government regulation can be weak in the first place, it is more difficult to translate
these risks into new policies.
Air Pollutant
- any matter found in the atmosphere other than oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor,
carbon dioxide, and the inert gases in their natural or normal concentrations,
that is detrimental to health or the environment, which includes but not limited
to smoke, dust, soot, cinders, fly ash, solid particles of any kind, gases, fumes,
chemical mists, steam and radio-active substances.
- the general amount of pollution present in a broad area; and refers to the
atmosphere's average purity as distinguished from discharge measurements
taken at the source of pollution
Ambient Air
- The air around us
Primary Pollutants
- released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form.
Secondary Pollutants
- converted to a hazardous form after they enter the air or are formed by
chemical reactions as components of the air mix and interact.
Fugitive Emissions
- those that do not go through a smoke stack.
- By far the most massive example of this category is dust from soil erosion, strip
mining, rock crushing, and building construction (and destruction).
- Fugitive industrial emissions are hard to monitor, but they are extremely
important sources of air pollution.
- Leaks around valves and pipe joints, and evaporation of volatile compounds
from oil-processing facilities, contribute as much as 90% of the hydrocarbons
and volatile organic chemicals emitted from oil refineries and chemical plants.
-
Six Conventional or Criteria Pollutants
1. Sulfur dioxide
2. Nitrogen oxides
3. Carbon monoxide
4. Ozone
5. Lead
6. Particulate Matter
- These six conventional or criteria pollutants were addressed first because they
contributed the largest volume of air quality degradation and also are
considered the most serious threats to human health and welfare
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Sulfur Dioxide
- Natural sources of sulfur in the atmosphere include evaporation of sea spray,
erosion of sulfate-containing dust from arid soils, fumes from volcanoes and hot
springs, and biogenic emissions of hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) and organic sulfur-
containing compounds.
- Total yearly emissions of sulfur from all sources amount to some 114 million
metric tons.
- Worldwide, anthropogenic sources represent about 2/3 of the all airborne
sulfur, but in most urban areas they contribute as much as 90% of the sulfur
in the air.
- The predominant form of anthropogenic sulfur is sulfur dioxide (SO 2) from
combustion of sulfur-containing fuel (coal and oil), purification of sour (sulfur-
containing) natural gas or oil, and industrial processes, such as smelting of
sulfide ores.
- China and the United States are the largest sources of anthropogenic sulfur,
primarily from coal burning and smelting.
- Colorless corrosive gas, directly damaging to both plants and animals.
- Once in the atmosphere, it can be further oxidized to sulfur trioxide (SO3), which
reacts with water vapor or dissolves in water droplets to form sulfuric acid
(H2SO4), a major component of acid rain.
- Some of the smelliest and most obnoxious air pollutants are sulfur compounds,
such as hydrogen sulfide from pig manure lagoons or mercaptans (organo-
sulfur thiols) from paper mills.
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Lead
- Most abundantly produced metal air pollutant.
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- Lead is toxic to our nervous systems and other critical functions. Lead binds to
enzymes and to components of our cell, such as brain cells, which then cannot
function normally.
- Airborne lead is produced by a wide range of industrial and mining processes.
- The main sources are smelting of metal ores, mining, and burning of coal and
municipal waste, in which lead is a trace element and burning of gasoline to
which lead has been added.
- Leaded gasoline was the main source of lead in the United States, but leaded
gas was phased out in the 1980s. Banning leaded gasoline in the US was one of
the most successful pollution-control measures in American history.
- Worldwide atmospheric lead emissions amount to about 2 million metric tons
per year, or 2/3 of all metallic air pollution. Globally, most of this lead is still
from leaded gasoline, as well as metal ore smelting and coal burning.
Particulate Matter
- Includes solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in a gaseous medium.
- Very fine solid or liquid particulates suspended in the atmosphere are aerosols.
These include dust, ash, soot, lint, smoke, pollen, spores, algal cells, and many
other suspended materials.
- Particulates are often the most obvious form of air pollution, because they
reduce visibility and leave dirty deposits on windows, painted surfaces and
textiles.
- Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, such as those found in
smoke and haze, and produced by fires, power plants, or vehicle exhaust, are
among the most dangerous particulates because they can be drawn into the
lungs , where they damage respiratory tissues. Asbestos fibers and cigarette
smoke are among these dangerous fine particles. This fine particulate matter is
referred to as PM2.5, in reference to its size. Reducing sulfur in coal and diesel
fuel, which produces aerosol droplets of sulfuric acid, is one important strategy
for controlling PM2.5 particulates.
- Coarse inhalable particles are larger than 2.5 micrometers but less than 10
micrometers in diameter. These are known as PM10, and they are typically
found near roads or other visible dust sources. The “dust bowl” of the 1930s
involved mainly this kind of particulates. At that time, farmland soils were often
left bare, especially during severe drought, and billions of tons of topsoil blew
away from farmlands. Soil conservation on farmlands is one strategy for
reducing PM10; another strategy is better management of dust at construction
sites.
- Epidemiological studies have shown that cities with chronically high levels of
particulates have higher death rates, mostly from heart and lung disease.
- The dust also carries pollen, bacteria, viruses, fungi, herbicides, acids,
radioactive isotopes, and heavy metals between continents.
- Airborne dust is considered the primary source of allergies worldwide. Saharan
dust storms are suspected of raising asthma rates in Trinidad and Barbados,
where cases have increased 17-fold in 30 years.
- Aspergillus sydowii, a soil fungus from Africa, has been shown to be causing
death of corals and sea fans in remote reefs in the Caribbean.
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- Europe also receives airborne pathogens via dust storms. Outbreaks of foot-
and-mouth disease in Britain have been traced to dust storms from North
Africa.
- In the Philippines, a study of Simpas, et al. (2014) showed that traffic is the
main contributor to PM2.5 at all sites in Metro Manila while biomass burning
appeared to be the highest contributor in the areas outside NCR.
Other Pollutants
- Mercury
- Carbon dioxide
- Halogens
- Hazardous air pollutants(HAPs)
Mercury (Hg)
- Many toxic metals are released into the air by burning coal and oil,
mining, smelting of metal ores, or manufacturing. Lead, mercury, cadmium,
nickel, arsenic (highly toxic metalloid), and others are released in the form of
metal fumes or suspended particulates by fuel combustion, ore smelting, and
disposal of wastes. Among these, lead and mercury are the most abundantly
produced toxic metals.
- Mercury has become regulated relatively recently (in Philippines, DAO 1997-38)
- Like Lead, toxic in minute doses, causing nerve damage and other impairments,
especially in young children and developing fetuses.
- Volcanoes and rock weathering can produce mercury, but 70% of airborne
mercury derives from coal-burning power plants, metal processing (smelting),
waste incineration, and other industrial combustion.
- About 75% of human exposure to mercury comes from eating fish. This is
because aquatic bacteria are mainly responsible for converting airborne
mercury into methyl mercury, a form that accumulates in living animal tissues.
- Swordfish, shrimp, and other seafood are also significant sources of mercury in
our diet.
- Global air circulation also deposits airborne mercury on land. Half or more of
the mercury that falls on North America may come from abroad, much of it
from Asian coal-burning power plants.
- Increased burning coal burning in China, which for years built new coal-
burning power plants at the rate of one or two per week, is understood to be the
main cause of growing mercury emissions in the Pacific.
- Much of our understanding of mercury poisoning comes from a
disastrous case in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s, where a chemical factory
regularly discharged mercury-laden waste into Minamata Bay. Babies whose
mothers ate mercury-contaminated fish suffered profound neurological
disabilities, including deafness, blindness, mental retardation, and cerebral
palsy. In adults, mercury poisoning caused numbness, loss of muscle control,
and dementia. The connection between “Minamata disease” and mercury was
established in the 1950s, but waste dumping didn’t end for another ten years.
-
Carbon Dioxide
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- Some 370 billion tons of CO2 are emitted each year from respiration
(oxidation of organic compounds by plant and animal cells). These releases
are usually balanced by an equal uptake by photosynthesis in green plants.
- At normal concentrations, CO2 is nontoxic and innocuous, but
atmospheric levels are steadily increasing (about 0.5 percent per year) due
to human activities and are now causing global climate change, with
serious implications for both human and natural communities.
Carbon Dioxide
- Some 370 billion tons of CO2 are emitted each year from respiration (oxidation
of organic compounds by plant and animal cells). These releases are usually
balanced by an equal uptake by photosynthesis in green plants.
- At normal concentrations, CO2 is nontoxic and innocuous, but atmospheric
levels are steadily increasing (about 0.5 percent per year) due to human
activities and are now causing global climate change, with serious implications
for both human and natural communities.
Halogens
- The EPA is charged with regulating six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur
hexafluoride. These are gases whose emissions have grown dramatically in
recent decades.
- Three of these six greenhouse gases contain halogens, a group of lightweight,
highly reactive elements (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine). Because they
are generally toxic in their elemental form, they are commonly used as
fumigants and disinfectants, but they also have hundreds of uses in industrial
and commercial products.
- Halogen compounds are also powerful greenhouse gases: They trap more energy
per molecule than does CO2, and they persist in the atmosphere for decades to
centuries.
- Perfluorocarbons will persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years.
- The global warming potential (per molecule, over time) of some CFCs is
thousands of times greater than that of CO2.
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been banned for most uses in
industrialized countries, but about 600 million tons of these compounds are
used annually worldwide in spray propellants and refrigeration compressors
and for foam blowing. They diffuse into the stratosphere, where they release
chlorine and fluorine atoms that destroy ozone molecules that protect the earth
from ultraviolet radiation.
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Aesthetic Degradation
- Any undesirable change in the physical characteristics or chemistry of the
atmosphere, such as noise, odors, and light pollution.
- These factors rarely threaten life or health directly, but they can strongly impact
our quality of life.
- They also increase stress, which affects health.
- Factories that emit noxious chemicals sometimes spray “odor maskants” or
perfumes into smokestacks to cover up objectionable odors.
- Light pollution also is a concern in most urban areas, where ambient light
confuses birds and hides the stars.
Temperature Inversions
- Can greatly concentrate air pollutants.
- Inversions occur when a stable layer of warmer air lies above cooler air.
- The normal conditions, where temperatures decline with increasing height, are
inverted, and these stable conditions prevent convection currents from
dispersing pollutants.
- Inversions might last from a few hours to a few days.
- The most stable inversion conditions are usually created by rapid nighttime
cooling in a valley or basin where air movement is restricted.
-
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
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Stratospheric Ozone
Acid Precipitation
- The deposition of wet acidic solutions or dry acidic particles from the air.
- English Scientist Robert Angus Smith coined the term “acid rain” in his studies
of air chemistry in Manchester, England, in the 1850s.
- By the 1940s it was known that pollutants, including atmospheric acids, could
be transported long distances by wind currents. This was thought to be only an
academic curiosity until it was shown that precipitation of these acids can have
far reaching ecological effects.
- Unpolluted rain generally has a pH of about 5.6 due to carbonic acid created by
CO2 in air. Sulfur, chlorine, and other elements also form acidic compounds as
they are released in sea spray, volcanic emissions, and biological
decomposition. These sources can lower the pH of rain well below 5.6. Other
factors, such as alkaline dust can raise it above 7.
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Particulate Removal
- Involves filtering air emissions. Filters trap particulates in a mesh of cotton
cloth, spun glass fibers, or asbestos-cellulose. Industrial air filters are generally
giant bags 10 to 15 m long and 2 to 3 m wide. Effluent gas is blown through the
bag, much like the bag on a vacuum cleaner. Every few days or weeks the bags
are opened to remove the dust cake. Electrostatic precipitators are the most
common particulate controls in power plants.
Sulfur Removal
- Important because sulfur oxides are among the most damaging of all air
pollutants in terms of human health and ecosystem viability.
- Switching from soft coal with a high sulfur content to low sulfur coal is the
surest way to reduce sulfur emissions.
- Switching to cleaner oil or gas would eliminate metal effluents as well as sulfur.
- Cleaning fuels is an alternative to switching. Coal can be crushed, washed, and
gasified to remove sulfur and metals before combustion. This improves heat
content and firing properties, but may replace air pollution with solid-waste and
water pollution problems; furthermore, these steps are expensive.
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Hydrocarbon Controls
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- Don’t top off your fuel tank when you buy gasoline; stop when the automatic
mechanism turns off the pump. Don’t dump gasoline or used oil on the ground
or down the drain.
Reference:
Adam, David (October 31, 2008). Scientists discover cloud-thickening chemicals in trees
that could offer a new weapon in the fight against global warming, The Guardian.
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NASA (2009). Thin Line of Earth's Atmosphere and the Setting Sun. Retrieved from
Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thin_Line_of_Earth%27s_Atmosphere_and_
the_Setting_Sun.jpg#file
Pxfuel (n.d.) Retrieved August 8, 2020 from: https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-
oftgh
Simpas, J. G. Lorenzo and M.T. Cruz. 2014. Monitoring Particulate Matter Levels and
Composition for Source Apportionment Study in Metro Manila, Philippines. Book Chapter
in Kim Oanh, N.T. (Editor) Improving Air Quality in Asian Developing Countries:
Compilation of Research Findings. NARENCA. Retrieved August 8, 2020 from:
http://www.observatory.ph/publications/monitoring-particulate-matter-levels-and-
composition-for-source-apportionment-study-in-metro-manila-philippines/.
World Health Organization. (2018). Air Pollution – The Silent Killer, Retrieved August 8,
2020 from: https://www.who.int/airpollution/infographics/Air-pollution-
INFOGRAPHICS-English-1.1200px.jpg
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
Introduction
In this lesson you will learn about the different resources necessary to our
society such as water, soil, mineral & rock and energy resources. Properties, types,
processes, problems faced and conservation of these resources are included in the
below discussions.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcome 2 (Syllabus)
Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the
engineer's role in the manipulation of materials and resources.
Topic Outcomes:
Explain the different resources necessary to human life and civilization
Water as a Resource
It is evident that water availability for domestic use, agriculture, and industry is
important to everyone. But, most of us take for granted the availability of it. Lack of
water may control the extent of development of other resources such as fossil fuels.
Below table shows the distribution of water in the hydrosphere. From the data, there
is little fresh liquid water on the earth. Most of the fresh water is locked up as ice,
mainly in the large polar ice caps. Even the ground water beneath continental surfaces
is not all fresh. With these, the need for restraint in our use of fresh water is a must.
Geologically, water is a renewable resource, but local supplies may be inadequate in
the short term.
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Subsurface Waters
- Saturated zone or phreatic zone is a volume of rock or soil above the
impermeable material that is water-saturated, in which water fills all the
accessible pore space. Groundwater is the water in the saturated zone.
- Unsaturated zone or vadose zone is rock or soil above the saturated zone in
which the pore spaces are filled partly with water, partly with air. The water in
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- The water table is the top surface of the saturated zone, where the saturated
zone is not confined by overlying impermeable rocks. The water table is not
always below the ground surface. Where the water table locally intersects the
ground surface, the result may be a lake, stream, spring, or wetland; the
water’s surface is the water table. The water table below ground is not flat like
a tabletop. It may rise and fall with the surface topography and with the
changing distribution of permeable and impermeable rocks underground. The
height of the water table varies as well. It is highest when the ratio of input
water to water removed is greatest, typically in the spring, when rain is heavy or
snow and ice accumulations melt. In dry seasons, or when local human use of
ground water is intensive, the water table drops, and the amount of available
ground water remaining decreases.
- Recharge is the processes of infiltration and migration or percolation by which
ground water is replaced.
- Groundwater discharge occurs where ground water flows into a stream,
escapes at the surface in a spring, or otherwise exits the aquifer.
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- Aquifer is a rock that holds enough water and transmits it rapidly enough to be
useful as a source of water. Many of the best aquifers are sandstones or other
coarse clastic sedimentary rocks, but any other type of rock may serve if it is
sufficiently porous and permeable like a porous or fractured limestone,
fractured basalt, or weathered granite.
- An aquitard is a rock that may store a considerable quantity of water, but in
which water flow is slowed, or retarded; that is, its permeability is low,
regardless of its porosity. Shales are common aquitards.
- Aquiclude was used to describe an extreme aquitard, a rock that is essentially
impermeable on a human timescale; but virtually no rock would be
impermeable indefinitely, and the term aquiclude has fallen into disuse.
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- When there are many closely spaced wells, the cones of depression of adjacent
wells may overlap, further lowering the water table between wells.
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- As the rocks below compact and settle, the ground surface itself may subside
(collapse). Where water depletion is extreme, the surface subsidence may be
several meters.
- Lowering of the water table/potentiometric surface also may contribute to
sinkhole formation.
- At high elevations or in inland areas, the subsidence causes only structural
problems as building foundations are disrupted.
- In low-elevation coastal regions, the subsidence may lead to extensive flooding,
as well as to increased rates of coastal erosion.
- The city of Venice, Italy, is in one such slowly drowning coastal area.
Source: (WESTEND61)
Venice Grand Canal
- Metro Manila is an example of surface subsidence due to over-pumping of
groundwater by the increasing population (Dinglasan, 2013).
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- In areas were surface had subsided , simple solutions such as pumping water
back underground are unlikely to work. The rocks may have been permanently
compacted. This is the case in Venice, where subsidence may have been halted
but rebound is not expected because clayey rocks in the aquifer system are
irreversibly compacted.
Saltwater Intrusion
- Salt water intrusion is another problem arising from groundwater use in
coastal regions.
- Fresh water falling on land does not mix so readily with saline ground water at
depth because water in the pore spaces in rock or soil is not vigorously churned
by currents or wave action.
- Fresh water is less dense than salt water, so, the fresh water accumulates in a
lens which floats above the denser salt water.
- If water use approximately equals the rate of recharge, the freshwater lens stays
about the same thickness.
- If consumption of fresh ground water is more rapid, the freshwater lens thins
and the denser saline ground water laden with dissolved sodium chloride moves
up to fill in pores emptied by removal of fresh water. Upconing of salt water
below cones of depression in the freshwater lens may also occur. Wells that
had been tapping the freshwater lens may begin pumping unwanted salt water
instead, as the limited freshwater supply gradually decreases.
- Once a section of an aquifer becomes tainted with salt, it cannot readily be “made
fresh” again.
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- The underground water dissolving large volumes of soluble rocks over long
periods of time that slowly enlarging underground caverns can also erode
support for the land above. There may be no obvious evidence at the surface
level of what is happening until the ground collapses abruptly into the void,
producing a sinkhole.
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Sinkhole at Winter Park, Florida - Collapse on May 8–9, 1981 was caused in part
by drought. Photograph courtesy USGS Water Resources Division
- The collapse of a sinkhole may be triggered by a drop in the water table as a
result of drought or water use that leaves rocks and soil that were previously
buoyed up by water pressure unsupported.
- Failure may also be caused by the rapid input of large quantities of water from
heavy rains that wash overlying soil down into the cavern or by an increase in
subsurface water flow rates.
- Sinkholes come in many sizes. The larger ones are quite capable of swallowing
many houses at a time. If one occurs in a developed area, a single sinkhole can
cause millions of dollars in property damage. Sudden sinkhole collapses
beneath bridges, roads, and railways have occasionally caused accidents and
even deaths.
- Where there is one sinkhole in a region underlain by such soluble rocks, there are
likely to be others. An abundance of sinkholes in an area is a strong hint that
more can be expected.
Water Quality
- The water on and in the continents is not all fresh. Rainwater is not considered
as pure water because it contains dissolved chemicals of various kinds,
especially in industrialized areas with substantial air pollution.
- Water quality is important to evaluate when looking for a potential water supply
source.
- Water quality may be described in a variety of ways, like to express the amount
of a dissolved chemical substance present as a concentration in parts per
million (ppm) or, for very dilute substances, parts per billion (ppb).
- Total dissolved solids (TDS) is one of the parameters used in describing water
quality, the sum of the concentrations of all dissolved solid chemicals in the
water. The level of TDS required or acceptable varies with the application.
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Desalination
- Desalination of seawater would allow parched coastal regions to tap the vast
ocean reservoirs.
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- Some ground waters are not presently used for water supplies because they
contain excessive concentrations of dissolved materials.
- There are two basic methods used to purify water of dissolved minerals:
filtration and distillation.
- In a filtration system, the water is passed through fine filters or membranes to
screen out dissolved impurities. An advantage of this method is that it can
rapidly filter great quantities of water. A disadvantage is that the method works
best on water not containing very high levels of dissolved minerals.
- Distillation involves heating or boiling water full of dissolved minerals. The
water vapor driven off is pure water, while the minerals stay behind in what
remains of the liquid. This is true regardless of how concentrated the dissolved
minerals are, the method works fine on seawater as well as on less saline
waters. The disadvantage is the nature of the necessary heat source. Furnaces
fired by coal, gas, or other fuels can be used, but any fuel may be costly in large
quantity, and many conventional fuels are becoming scarce.
- Desalinated water may be five to ten times more costly to deliver than water
pumped straight from a stream or aquifer.
- In areas such as the arid Middle East, the more-acute need for irrigation water
has made desalinated seawater a viable agricultural option economically.
- A massive Israeli desalination plant began providing desalinated water from the
Mediterranean Sea for domestic and agricultural use in late 2005. The water’s
reduced sulfate concentrations were fine for people, but inadequate for some
crops. Calcium had been added back to this desalinated water for human
health, but irrigated plants began to show magnesium-deficiency symptoms.
Boron had not been removed which was fine for people, but toxic for some of
the crops. These and other observations demonstrate that using desalinated
water may require more than just getting the salt out.
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Soil as a Resource
Soil is an essential resource especially for the production of the major portion of
our food. Soils vary in their suitability not only for agriculture but also for
construction and other purposes. However, problems such as loss of soil fertility and
sediment pollution of surface waters are less obvious to the eyes and may be too
subtle to be noticed readily. Sadly, soil erosion is a significant and expensive problem
in an increasing number of places as human activities disturb more and more land.
Soil Formation
Weathering
- Mechanical weathering, also called physical weathering, is the physical
breakup of rocks without changes in the rocks’ composition. The principal effect
of mechanical weathering is the breakup of large chunks of rock into smaller
ones.
- Chemical weathering involves the breakdown of minerals by chemical reaction
with water, with other chemicals dissolved in water, or with gases in the air. A
rock’s tendency to weather chemically is determined by its mineral composition.
For example, a gabbro, the coarsely crystalline equivalent of basalt, formed at
high temperatures and rich in ferromagnesian minerals weathers more readily
than a granite rich in quartz and low temperature feldspars.
- Climate plays a major role in the intensity of chemical weathering. Most of the
relevant chemical reactions involve water, the more water, the more chemical
weathering. Also, most chemical reactions proceed more rapidly at high
temperatures than at low ones. Warm climates are more conducive to chemical
weathering than cold ones.
- The rates of chemical and mechanical weathering are interrelated. Chemical
weathering may speed up the mechanical breakup of rocks if the minerals being
dissolved are holding the rock together by cementing the mineral grains, as in
some sedimentary rocks. Increased mechanical weathering may accelerate
chemical weathering through the increase in exposed surface area, because it is
only at grain surfaces that minerals, air, and water interact. The higher the
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ratio of surface area to volume and the smaller the particles, the chemical
weathering is more rapid.
- Biological weathering effects can be either mechanical or chemical. Among the
mechanical effects is the action of tree roots in working into cracks to split
rocks apart. Chemically, many organisms produce compounds that may react
with and dissolve or break down minerals. Plants, animals, and
microorganisms develop more abundantly and in greater variety in warm, wet
climates. Mechanical weathering is generally the dominant process only in
areas where climatic conditions have limited the impact of chemical weathering
and biological effects that is in cold or dry areas.
- Airborne chemicals and sediments may add components to soil. For example,
sulfate from acid rain, salts from sea spray in coastal areas, clay minerals and
other fine-grained minerals blown on the wind.
Soil Profile
Soil Horizons
O horizon - consisting wholly of organic matter, whether living or
decomposed—growing. plants, decaying leaves, and so on.
A horizon – below O horizon, consists of the most intensively weathered
rock material, being the zone most exposed to surface processes, mixed with
organic debris from above.
E horizon - below the A horizon, is also known as the zone of leaching.
Fine grained minerals, such as clays, may also be washed downward
through this zone.
B horizon - is also known as the zone of accumulation. Many of the
minerals leached or extracted from the E horizon accumulate in this layer.
Soil in the B horizon has been somewhat protected from surface processes.
Organic matter from the surface is largely absent from the B horizon. It may
contain relatively high concentrations of iron and aluminum oxides, clay
minerals, and, in drier climates, even soluble minerals such as calcite. B
C horizon - below the B horizon, is a zone consisting principally of very
coarsely broken-up bedrock and little else. This horizon does not resemble
our usual idea of soil at all.
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- Soil structure relates to the soil’s tendency to form lumps or clods of soil
particles. Peds, from the Latin root pedo- meaning “soil”, is the term use for
clumps. A soil that clumps readily may be more resistant to erosion. Some of
the fine-grained soils developed on fine loess in the United States and in China
may erode very readily. Soil consisting of very large peds with large cracks
between them may be a poor growing medium for small plants with fine roots.
However, abundant organic matter may promote the aggregation of soil
particles into crumb like peds especially conducive to good plant growth.
Mechanical weathering can break up larger clumps into smaller, just as it
breaks up rock fragments.
Soil Classification
- Soil classifications can indicate something of a soil’s composition and
perhaps its origins, which in turn may have implications for its suitability for
agriculture or construction, or its vulnerability to degradation.
- Early soil classification schemes emphasized compositional differences among
soils and thus principally reflected the effects of chemical weathering. The
pedalfer soils were seen as characteristic of more humid regions. The term
pedalfer comes from the prefix pedo - and the Latin words for aluminum
(alumium) and iron (ferrum). The term pedocal is for the soil of a dry climate.
The presence of calcium carbonate makes pedocal soils more alkaline. One
problem with this simple classification scheme is that the soils it describes
must have formed over suitable bedrock. However, the terms pedalfer and
pedocal can be used generally to indicate, respectively, more and less
extensively leached soils.
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Lateritic Soil
- Lateritic soil is common to many less-developed nations and poses special
agricultural challenges. A laterite may be regarded as an extreme kind of
pedalfer.
- Lateritic soils develop in tropical climates with high temperatures and heavy
rainfall is severely leached.
- Lateritic soil may contain very little besides the insoluble aluminum and iron
compounds.
- Soils of the lush tropical rain forests are commonly lateritic, which seems to
suggest that lateritic soils have great farmland potential. However, the opposite
is true.
Wetland Soils
- The soils of wetlands tend to be rich in accumulated organic matter, reduced
because the decaying organic matter consumes dissolved oxygen, and soft.
- Wetlands provide vital habitat for water birds and distinctive ecological niches
for other organisms and can act as natural retention ponds for floodwaters.
- Wetlands have not always been properly appreciated for many of these swampy
areas have been drained for farmland or for development, or simply to provide
water wanted elsewhere for irrigation.
- In drier climates, reduced precipitation can exacerbate wetland loss.
Soil Erosion
- Erosion involves physical removal of material from one place to another.
- Soil erosion is caused by the action of water and wind. Rain striking the ground
helps to break soil particles loose. Surface runoff and wind together carry away
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loosened soil. The faster the wind and water travel, the larger the particles and
the greater the load they move.
- High winds cause more erosion than calmer ones, and fast flowing surface runoff
moves more soil than slow runoff.
- Flat, exposed land is correspondingly more vulnerable to wind erosion, as
surface runoff is slower and obstacles to deflect the wind are lacking.
- The physical properties of the soil also influence its vulnerability to erosion.
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl area proper, although never exactly defined, comprised close to 100
million acres of southeastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, western Kansas,
and the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. The farming crisis there during the
1930s resulted from an unfortunate combination of factors: clearing or close grazing
of natural vegetation, which had been better adapted to the local climate than were
many of the crops; drought that then destroyed those crops; sustained winds; and
poor farming practices. Once the crops had died, there was nothing to hold down
the soil. The action of the wind was most dramatically illustrated during the fierce
dust storms that began in 1932. The storms were described as “black blizzards”
that blotted out the sun. Black rain fell in New York, black snow in Vermont, as
windblown dust moved eastward. People choked on the dust, some dying of
suffocation or of a “dust pneumonia” similar to the silicosis miners develop from
breathing rock dust.
Soil erosion from cropland leads to reduced crop quality and reduced
agricultural income. Six inches of topsoil loss in western Tennessee has
reduced corn yields by over 40%, and such relationships are not
uncommon. Even when the nutrients required for adequate crop growth are
added through fertilizers, other chemicals that contribute to the nutritional
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quality of the food grown may be lacking; in other words, the food itself may
be less healthful. Also, the soil eroded from one place is deposited, sooner or
later, somewhere else.
Soil erosion problem in some places has been increased persistence of
toxic residues of herbicides and pesticides in the soil. The loss of
nutrients and organic matter through topsoil erosion may decrease the
activity of soil microorganisms that normally speed the breakdown of many
toxic agricultural chemicals. Many of these chemicals, which contribute
significantly to water pollution, also pollute soils.
Another major soil-erosion problem is sediment pollution. In the United
States, about 750 million tons per year of eroded sediment end up in lakes
and streams. This decreases the water quality and may harm wildlife. The
problem is still more acute when those sediments contain toxic chemical
residues, as from agricultural herbicides and pesticides. The sediment is
then both a physical and a potential chemical pollutant.
A secondary consequence of this sediment load is the infilling of stream
channels and reservoirs, restricting navigation and decreasing the volume of
reservoirs and thus their usefulness for their intended purposes, whether for
water supply, hydropower, or flood control.
Leaving stubble in the fields after a crop has been harvested and planting
cover crops in the off-season between cash crops. In either case, the plants’
roots help to hold the soil in place, and the plants themselves, to some extent,
shield the soil from wind and rain
Surface runoff may be slowed on moderate slopes by contour plowing. Plowing
rows parallel to the contours of the hill, perpendicular to the direction of water
flow, creates a ridged land surface so that water does not rush downhill as
readily.
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Other slopes may require terracing, whereby a single slope is terraced into a
series of shallower slopes, or even steps that slant backward into the hill.
Terracing has been practiced since ancient times. Both terracing and contour
plowing, by slowing surface runoff, increase infiltration and enhance water
conservation as well as soil conservation. Often, terracing and contouring are
used in conjunction.
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Ore Deposits
- An ore is a rock in which a valuable or useful metal occurs at a concentration
sufficiently high, relative to average rocks, to make it economically worth
mining.
- A given ore deposit may be described in terms of the enrichment or
concentration factor of a metal of interest:
- The higher the concentration factor, the richer the ore and the less of it need to be
mined to extract a given amount of the metal.
- The minimum concentration factor required for profitable mining is inversely
proportional to the average crustal concentration: If ordinary rocks are already
fairly rich in the metal, it need not be concentrated much further to make
mining it economic, and vice versa.
- Metals like iron or aluminum, which make up about 6% and 8% of average
continental crust, respectively, need only be concentrated by a factor of 4 to 5
times for mining to be profitable.
- Copper must be enriched about 100 times relative to average rock, while
mercury (average concentration 80 ppb) must be enriched to about 25,000
times its average concentration before the ore is rich enough to mine profitably.
- The value of the mineral or metal extracted and its concentration in a
particular deposit are major factors determining the profitability of mining a
specific deposit.
- The economics are naturally sensitive to world demand. If demand climbs and
prices rise in response, additional, not-so-rich ore deposits may be opened up; a
fall in price causes economically marginal mines to close.
- The practicality of mining a specific ore body may also depend on the mineral(s)
in which a metal of interest is found, because this affects the cost to extract the
pure metal.
- Ores are somewhat unusual rocks. Therefore, it is not surprising that the
known economic mineral deposits are very unevenly distributed around the
world.
- The United States controls about 50% of the world’s known molybdenum
deposits and about 15% of the lead. But although the United States is the
major world consumer of aluminum, using over 10% of the total produced, it
has virtually no domestic aluminum ore deposits; Australia, Guinea, and
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Jamaica together control one-half of the world’s aluminum ore. Congo accounts
for nearly half the known economic cobalt deposits, Chile for almost 30% of the
copper, and China, Malaysia, and Brazil for, respectively, 27%, 16%, and 16%
of the tin. South Africa controls nearly half the world’s known gold ore, over
75% of the chromium, and almost 90% of the platinum-group metals.
- The dense precious metals, such as gold and platinum, may also be
concentrated during magmatic crystallization.
- Even where disseminated throughout an igneous rock body, a very valuable
mineral commodity may be worth mining. This is true of diamonds. One reason
for the rarity of diamonds is that they must be formed at extremely high
pressures, such as those found within the mantle, and then brought rapidly up
into the crust. They are mined primarily from igneous rocks called kimberlites,
which occur as pipe like intrusive bodies that must have originated in the
mantle. Even where only a few gem-quality diamonds are scattered within many
tons of kimberlite, their high unit value makes the mining profitable.
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Hydrothermal Ores
- During the later stages of crystallization, the fluids may escape from the cooling
magma, seeping through cracks and pores in the surrounding rocks, carrying
with them dissolved salts, gases, and metals. These warm fluids can leach
additional metals from the rocks through which they pass. In time, the fluids
cool and deposit their dissolved minerals, creating a hydrothermal (hot water)
ore deposit.
- The particular minerals deposited vary with the composition of the
hydrothermal fluids, but worldwide, a great variety of metals occur in
hydrothermal deposits: copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, platinum, uranium, and
others.
- Since sulfur is a common constituent of magmatic gases and fluids, the ore
minerals are frequently sulfides like the lead in lead ore deposits is found in
galena (PbS); zinc, in sphalerite (ZnS); and copper, in a variety of copper and
copper-iron sulfides (CuFeS2, CuS, Cu2S, and others).
- Sometimes, circulating subsurface waters are heated sufficiently by a nearby
cooling magma to dissolve, concentrate, and redeposit valuable metals in a
hydrothermal ore deposit or the fluid involved may be a mix of magmatic and
nonmagmatic fluids.
- Some hydrothermal deposits are found far from any obvious magma source,
and those fluids might have been of metamorphic origin.
- The relationship between magmatic activity and the formation of many ore
deposits suggests that hydrothermal and igneous-rock deposits should be
especially common in regions of extensive magmatic activity (plate boundaries).
Sedimentary Deposits
- Sedimentary processes can also produce economic mineral deposits. Some such
ores have been deposited directly as chemical sedimentary rocks. Example:
Banded iron formation, layered sedimentary iron ores.
- Iron-rich layers, predominantly hematite or magnetite, alternate with silicate or
carbonate rich layers. These large deposits, which may extend for tens of
kilometers, are very ancient. Their formation is believed to be related to the
development of the earth’s atmosphere.
- Other sedimentary mineral deposits can form from seawater, which contains a
variety of dissolved salts and other chemicals. When a body of seawater trapped
in a shallow sea dries up, it deposits these minerals in evaporite deposits.
Some evaporites may be hundreds of meters thick.
- Ordinary table salt, known mineralogically as halite, is one mineral commonly
mined from evaporite deposits. Others include gypsum and salts of the metals
potassium and magnesium.
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Metamorphic Deposits
- The mineralogical changes caused by the heat or pressure of metamorphism
also can produce economic mineral deposits.
- Graphite, used in “lead” pencils, in batteries, as a lubricant, and for many
applications where it’s very high melting point is vital, is usually mined from
metamorphic deposits.
- Asbestos is not a single mineral but a general term applied to a group of fibrous
silicates that are formed by the metamorphism of igneous rocks rich in
ferromagnesian minerals, with the addition of water.
- Garnet is a common mineral in many metamorphic rocks, such as the
amphibolites. It may be used as a semiprecious gemstone.
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Metals
- Iron is the most heavily used metal and it is also one of the most common
metals. Nearly all iron ore is used for the manufacture of iron and especially
steel products.
- Aluminum is another relatively common metal, and it is the second most
widely used. Its light weight, coupled with its strength, makes it particularly
useful in the transportation and construction industries; it is also widely used
in packaging, especially for beverage cans.
- Copper is primarily used for electrical applications because it is an excellent
conductor of electricity. It is also used in the construction and transportation
industries.
- Lead is used in batteries; among its many other applications, it is a component
of many solders and is used in paints and ceramics.
- Zinc coating on steel cans keeps the cans from rusting, and zinc is also used in
the manufacture of brass and other alloys.
- Gold is used not only for jewelry, in the arts, and in commerce, but also in the
electronics industry and in dentistry. It is particularly valued for its resistance
to tarnishing.
- Silver’s principal single use is for photographic materials (for example, film),
and the next broadest applications are in electronics. With the expansion of
digital imaging, photographic use of silver is declining, but industrial
applications are expanding.
- Platinum is an excellent catalyst, a substance that promotes chemical
reactions. Currently, close to half the platinum used in the United States goes
into automobile emissions-control systems, with the rest finding important
applications in the petroleum and chemical industries, in electronics, and in
medicine, among other areas.
Nonmetallic Minerals
- Sulfur may be recovered from petroleum during refining, from volcanic deposits
and from evaporites. The primary use of sulfur is for the manufacture of
sulfuric acid for industrial purposes.
- Halite, or rock salt, is used principally as a source of the sodium and chlorine
of which it is composed, and secondarily for road salt, either directly or through
the production of other salts from it. Halite has many lower volume
applications, including seasoning food as table salt.
- Gypsum is essential to the manufacture of plaster, Portland cement, and
wallboard for construction.
- Phosphate rock and potassium-rich potash are key ingredients of the
synthetic fertilizers.
- Clay is not a single mineral, but a group of layered hydrous silicates that are
formed at low temperature, commonly by weathering, and that are abundant in
sedimentary deposits in the United States. The diversity of clay minerals leads
to a variety of applications, from fine ceramics to the making of clay piping and
other construction materials, the processing of iron ore, and drilling for oil.
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Rock Resources
- In the United States in 2008, over one billion tons of sand and gravel were
used in construction, especially in making cement and concrete; another 1.3
billion tons of crushed rock were consumed for fill and other applications (such
as limestone for making cement).
- Over 30 million tons of quartz-rich sand was used in industry, particularly for
glassmaking (pure quartz sand is nearly all silica, SiO 2, the main ingredient in
glass).
- Also, nearly 1½ million tons of dimension and facing stone were used—slate
for flagstones, and various attractive and/or durable rocks, such as marble,
granite, sandstone, and limestone, for monuments and building facings and
interior surfaces.
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- Sulfide-ore processing also re leases the sulfur oxide gases that are implicated
in the production of acid rain. These same gases, at high concentrations, can
destroy nearby vegetation.
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- Some of the heavier hydrocarbons may also be broken up during refining into
smaller, lighter molecules through a process called cracking, which allows
some of the lighter compounds such as gasoline to be produced as needed from
heavier components of crude oil.
- Commercially, the most valuable deposits are those in which a large quantity of
oil and/or gas has been concentrated and confined (trapped) by impermeable
rocks in geologic structures.
- The reservoir rocks in which the oil or gas has accumulated should be relatively
porous if a large quantity of petroleum is to be found in a small volume of rock
and should also be relatively permeable so that the oil or gas flows out readily
once a well is drilled into the reservoir. If the reservoir rocks are not naturally
very permeable, it may be possible to fracture them artificially with explosives
or with water or gas under high pressure to increase the rate at which oil or gas
flows through them.
- The amount of time required for oil and gas to form is not known precisely.
Since virtually no petroleum is found in rocks younger than 1 to 2 million years
old, geologists infer that the process is comparatively slow. Even if it took only a
few tens of thousands of years (a geologically short period), the world’s oil and
gas is being used up far faster than significant new supplies could be produced.
Therefore, oil and natural gas are among the non-renewable energy sources.
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Oil
- Oil is commonly discussed in units of barrels (1 barrel = 42 gallons).
- Worldwide, over one trillion barrels of oil have been consumed, according to
estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey. The estimated remaining reserves
are about 1.2 trillion barrels.
- Globally, demand continues to increase as more countries advance
technologically.
- Oil supply and demand are very unevenly distributed around the world.
Some low-population, low-technology, oil-rich countries (Libya, for example)
may be producing fifty or a hundred times as much oil as they themselves
consume. At the other extreme are countries like Japan, highly
industrialized and energy-hungry, with no petroleum reserves at all.
- The United States alone consumes about 25% of the oil used worldwide,
more than all of Europe together, and about three times as much as China
or Japan, the next-highest individual-country consumers.
- As with mineral resources, the size of petroleum resources of a given nation
is not correlated with geographic size.
- Many have speculated that much of the international interest in the Middle
- East is motivated as much by concern for its estimated 60% share of world
oil reserves as by humanitarian or other motives.
Natural Gas
- Natural gas presently supplies close to 25% of the energy used in the United
States.
- The United States has proven natural gas reserves of just over 200 trillion
cubic feet. However, roughly 20 trillion cubic feet of these reserves are
consumed per year, and most years, less is found in new domestic reserves
than the quantity consumed. The net result is generally declining reserves.
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Conservation
- Conservation of oil and gas is a very important way to stretch remaining
supplies.
- Many individuals, businesses, and governments in industrialized societies
are practicing energy conservation out of personal concern for the
environment, from fear of running out of nonrenewable fuels, or simply for
basic economic reasons when energy costs have soared.
- Conservation can buy some much-needed time to develop alternative energy
sources. However, world energy consumption will probably not decrease
significantly in the near future.
- Even if industrialized countries consistently adopt more energy-efficient
practices, demand in the many non-industrialized countries is expected to
continue to rise.
- Many technologically less-developed countries view industry and technology
as keys to better, more prosperous lives for their people.
- Assuming that world demand for energy stays at least as high as it is now, a
global crisis of dwindling petroleum and natural-gas supplies over the next
few decades are expected.
- At the moment, heavy reliance on oil and gas continues to have some
serious environmental consequences, particularly oil spills.
Oil Spills
- Tankers that flush out their holds at sea continually add to the oil pollution of
the oceans and, collectively, are a significant source of such pollution.
- The oil spills are the large, sudden, catastrophic spills that occur in two
principal ways: from accidents during drilling of offshore oil wells and from
wrecks of oil tankers at sea. Oil spills represent the largest negative impacts
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Coal
- As the industrial age began in earnest in the nineteenth century, coal was used
as fossil fuel. Since coal was bulky, cumbersome, and dirty to handle and to
burn, it fell somewhat out of favor particularly for home use and when the
liquid and gaseous fossil fuels became available.
- Coal is formed from the remains of land plants. A swampy setting, in which
plant growth is lush and where there is water to cover fallen trees, dead leaves,
and other debris, is especially favorable to the initial stages of coal formation.
- The process requires anaerobic conditions, in which oxygen is absent or nearly
so, since reaction with oxygen destroys the organic matter.
- In coal formation process, the first combustible product formed under suitable
conditions is peat. Peat can form at the earth’s surface, and there are places on
earth where peat can be seen forming today.
- Further burial, with more heat, pressure, and time, gradually dehydrates the
organic matter and transforms the spongy peat into soft brown coal called
lignite and then to the harder coals bituminous and anthracite.
- As the coals become harder, their carbon content increases, and so does the
amount of heat released by burning a given weight of coal. The hardest, high-
carbon coals (especially anthracite) are the most desirable as fuels because of
their potential energy yield.
- The heat to which coals can be subjected is limited, overly high temperatures
lead to metamorphism of coal into graphite.
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Gases
- A major problem posed by coal is the pollution associated with its mining and
use. Coal produces carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned. It produces significantly
more carbon dioxide per unit energy released than oil or natural gas.
- The sulfur content of coal can be more than 3%, some in the form of the iron
sulfide mineral pyrite (FeS2), some bound in the organic matter of the coal itself.
- When the sulfur is burned along with the coal, sulfur gases, sulfur dioxide
(SO2) are produced. These gases are poisonous and are extremely irritating to
eyes and lungs. The gases also react with water in the atmosphere to produce
sulfuric acid, a very strong acid. This acid then falls to earth as acid rainfall.
- Another toxic substance of growing concern with increasing coal use is
mercury. A common trace element in coal, mercury is also a very volatile
(easily-vaporized) metal, so it can be released with the waste gases.
Ash
- The ash residue left after coal is burned typically ranges from 5 to 20% of the
original volume.
- The ash, which consists mostly of noncombustible silicate minerals, also
contains toxic metals.
- If released with waste gases, the ash fouls the air. If captured by scrubbers or
otherwise confined within the combustion chamber, this ash still must be
disposed of. If exposed at the surface, the fine ash, with its proportionately high
surface area, may weather very rapidly, and the toxic metals such as selenium
and uranium can be leached from it, thus posing a water-pollution threat.
- Uncontrolled erosion of the ash could likewise cause sediment pollution.
- The magnitude of this waste-disposal problem should not be underestimated.
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Oil Shale
- The potential fuel in oil shale is a sometimes-waxy solid called kerogen , which
is formed from the remains of plants, algae, and bacteria. K
- erogen is not a single compound; the term is a general one describing organic
matter that is not readily dissolved either in water or in organic solvents, and
the term can also be applied to solid precursor organic compounds of oil and
natural gas in other types of rocks.
- The physical properties of kerogen dictate that the oil shale must be crushed
and heated to distill out the hydrocarbon as “shale oil,” which then is refined
somewhat as crude oil is to produce various liquid petroleum products.
- The kerogen is so widely dispersed through the oil shale that huge volumes of
rock must be processed to obtain moderate amounts of shale oil.
- Even the richest oil shale yields only about three barrels of shale oil per ton of
rock processed.
- The cost is not presently competitive with that of conventional petroleum,
except when oil prices are extremely high, and to date they have not remained
high enough long enough.
- Another problem is that a large part of the oil shale is located at or near the
surface. At present, the economical way to mine it, therefore, appears to be
surface- or strip-mining with its attendant land disturbance.
- Scientists and economists differ widely in the extent to which they see oil shale
as a promising alternative to conventional oil and gas. Certainly, the water-
shortage, waste-disposal, and land-reclamation problems will have to be solved
before shale oil can be used on a large scale.
- It is unlikely that those problems can be solved within the next few decades,
although over the longer term, oil shale may become an important resource,
and the higher conventional oil prices rise, the more competitive “shale oil”
becomes, at least in that respect.
Tar sands
- Tar sands, also known as oil sands, are sedimentary rocks containing a very
thick, semisolid, tarlike petroleum called bitumen.
- The heavy petroleum in tar sands is believed to be formed in the same way and
from the same materials as lighter oils.
- Tar-sand deposits may represent very immature petroleum deposits, in which
the breakdown of large molecules has not progressed to the production of the
lighter liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.
- Because the tar is disseminated through the rock, large volumes of rock must
be mined and processed to extract significant amounts of petroleum.
- Many tar sands are near-surface deposits, so the mining method used is
commonly strip-mining. The processing requires a great deal of water, and the
amount of waste rock after processing may be larger than the original volume of
tar sand.
- The negative impact of tar-sand production will naturally increase as
production increases.
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Nuclear Power
- Nuclear power actually comprises two different types of processes with
different advantages and limitations.
o Fission is the splitting apart of atomic nuclei into smaller ones, with the
release of energy. This is the commercially feasible nuclear power
process.
o Fusion is the combining of smaller nuclei into larger ones, also releasing
energy.
Fission
- The fissionable nucleus of most interest in modern nuclear power reactors is
the isotope of uranium with 92 protons and 143 neutrons, uranium-235.
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also serves to extract heat for use. Heat is transferred to power loop via heat exchanger, so
the cooling water, which may contain radioactive contaminants, is isolated from the power-
generating equipment.
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high levels of radiation into the environment, depending upon the design of
the reactor and containment building.
- An ordinary explosion originating within the reactor (or by saboteurs’
use of conventional explosives) could rupture both the containment building
and reactor core, and thus release large amounts of radioactive material.
- Putting nuclear plants close to urban areas puts more people potentially
at risk in case of accident; placing the plants far from population centers
where energy is needed means more transmission loss of electricity.
- Proximity to water is often important for cooling purposes but makes water
pollution in case of mishap more likely.
- There are also concerns about the structural integrity of nuclear plants
located close to fault zones. Several proposed reactor sites have been
rejected when investigation revealed nearby faults.
- Miners exposed to the higher radiation levels in uranium mines have
experienced higher occurrence rates of some types of cancer. Carelessly
handled tailings from processing plants have exposed others to radiation
hazards.
- The use of reprocessing or breeder reactors to produce and recover
plutonium to extend the supply of fissionable fuel poses special problems.
Plutonium itself is both radioactive and chemically toxic.
- A readily fissionable material can also be used to make nuclear weapons.
Extensive handling, transport, and use of plutonium would pose a
significant security problem and would therefore require very tight inventory
control to prevent the material from falling into hostile hands.
- The radioactive wastes from the production of fission power are another
concern. Radioactive materials cannot be treated by chemical reaction,
heating, and so on to make them nonradioactive. Also, there has been
sufficient indecision about the best method of radioactive-waste disposal
and the appropriate site(s) for it that none of the radioactive wastes
generated anywhere in the world have been disposed of permanently to date.
Currently, the wastes are in temporary storage while various disposal
methods are being explored, and many of the temporary waste-holding sites
are filled almost to capacity.
- Nuclear plants have another unique waste problem. The bombardment of
the reactor core and structure by neutrons and other atomic debris from the
fission process converts some of the structural materials to radioactive ones
and changes the physical properties of others, weakening the structure. At
some point, then, the plant must be decommissioned —taken out of
operation, broken down, and the most radioactive parts delivered to
radioactive-waste disposal sites.
Fusion
- Fusion is the process by which two or smaller atomic nuclei combine to form
a larger one, with an accompanying release of energy.
- It is the process by which the sun generates its vast amounts of energy. In
the sun, simple hydrogen nuclei containing one proton are fused to produce
helium. For technical reasons, fusion of the heavier hydrogen isotopes
deuterium (nucleus containing one proton and one neutron) and tritium
(one proton and two neutrons) would be easier to achieve on earth.
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Solar Energy
- The total solar energy reaching the earth’s surface exceeds the energy needs of
the world at present and future.
- The sun can be expected to go on shining for approximately 5 billion years, so it
is expected that the resource is inexhaustible, which contrasts sharply with
other nonrenewable sources like uranium or fossil fuels.
- The use of solar energy is essentially pollution-free in the sense that the
absorption of sunlight for heat or the operation of a solar cell for electricity is
very “clean” processes.
- It produces no hazardous solid wastes, air or water pollution, or noise.
- At present, solar energy is used where it falls, thereby avoiding transmission
losses.
- These features make solar energy an attractive option for the future. Though,
several practical limitations on its use also exist, particularly in the short term.
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Solar Heating
- Solar space heating typically combines direct use of sunlight for warmth
with some provision for collecting and storing additional heat to draw on
when the sun is not shining.
- It is typically employed on the scale of an individual building.
Passive-solar heating
- The simplest approach that does not require mechanical assistance.
- The building design should allow the maximum amount of light to
stream in through south and west windows during the cooler months.
- This heats the materials inside the house, including the structure
itself, and the radiating heat warms indoor air.
- Media used specifically for storing heat include water—in barrels,
tanks, even indoor swimming pools—and the rock, brick,
concrete, or other dense solids used in the building’s
construction.
- These supply a thermal mass that radiates heat back when needed,
in times of less or no sunshine.
- Additional features of passive solar design include broad eaves to
block sunshine during hotter months and drapes or shutters to help
insulate window areas during long winter nights.
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Active-solar heating
- The system usually involves the mechanical circulation of solar-
heated water.
- The flat solar collectors are water-filled, shallow boxes with a glass
surface to admit sunlight and a dark lining to absorb sunlight and
help heat the water. The warmed water is circulated either directly
into a storage tank or into a heat exchanger through which a tank of
water is heated.
- The solar-heated water can provide both space heat and a hot-water
supply.
- If a building already uses conventional hot-water heat, incorporating
solar collectors is not necessarily extremely expensive.
- An active-solar system does not require any additional land to the
heating system because solar collectors are mounted on the roof. The
method can be as practical for urban row houses or office buildings
as for widely spaced country homes.
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Solar Electricity
- Direct production of electricity using sunlight is accomplished through
photovoltaic cells, also called simply “solar cells”.
- These cells consist of two layers of semiconductor material sandwiched
together, with a barrier between that allows electrons to flow predominantly in
one direction only.
- Sunlight striking the exposed side can dislodge some electrons, which flow as
electric current through a circuit, to return to the cell and continue the cycle.
- Solar cells have no moving parts and, like solar heating systems, do not emit
pollutants during operation.
- They have been the principal power source for satellites and for remote
areas difficult to reach with power lines.
- A major limitation on solar-cell use has historically been cost, which is
several times higher per unit of power-generating capacity than for either fossil-
fuel or nuclear-powered generating plants. This has restricted the appeal of
home-generated solar electricity.
- Currently, low solar-cell efficiency and the diffuse character of sunlight
continue to make photovoltaic conversion an inadequate option for energy-
intensive applications, such as many industrial and manufacturing operations.
- To keep one 100-watt light bulb burning would require at least 2 square meters of
collectors (with the sun always shining). A 100- megawatt power plant would
require 2 square kilometers of collectors and many nuclear or coal-fired
generating plants have more than ten times that capacity. Using solar cells at
that scale represents a large commitment of both land and the mineral resources
from which the collectors are made.
- Collector array alone, 100-megawatt solar electric plant operating with basic
solar cells would use at least an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 tons of steel, 5000
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tons of glass, and 200,000 tons of concrete. While, a nuclear plant would
require about 5000 tons of steel and 50,000 tons of concrete; a coal-fired plant
is much less.
Geothermal Energy
- The earth contains a great deal of heat, some of it left over from its early
history, some continually generated by decay of radioactive elements in the
earth.
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- The magma-warmed waters may escape at the surface in geysers and hot
springs, signaling the existence of the shallow heat source below.
- More subtle evidence of the presence of hot rock at depth comes from sensitive
measurements of heat flow at the surface, the rate at which heat is being
conducted out of the ever-cooling earth.
- High heat flow signals unusually high temperatures at shallow depths. High
heat flow and recent/current magmatic activity go together and, in turn, are
most often associated with plate boundaries.
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- Most areas in which geothermal energy is being tapped extensively are along or
near plate boundaries.
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many of them are inaccessible (examples are the seafloor spreading ridges). Not
all have abundant circulating subsurface water in the area, either. Even
accessible regions that do have adequate subsurface water may not be
exploited. Yellowstone National Park has the highest concentration of thermal
features of any single geothermal area in the world, but because of its scenic
value and uniqueness, the decision was made years ago not to build geothermal
power plants there.
Hydropower
- The energy of falling or flowing water which has been used for centuries.
- It is now used primarily to generate electricity.
- The principal requirements for the generation of substantial amounts of
hydroelectric power are a large volume of water and the rapid movement of that
water.
- Commercial generation of hydropower typically involves damming up a high-
discharge stream, impounding a large volume of water, and releasing it as
desired, rather than operating subject to great seasonal variations in discharge.
- Hydropower is a very clean energy source in that the water is not polluted as it
flows through the generating equipment.
- No chemicals are added to it, nor are any dissolved or airborne pollutants
produced.
- The water itself is not consumed during power generation; it merely passes
through the generating equipment.
- Hydropower is renewable as long as the streams continue to flow.
- Nearly one-third of U.S. electricity-generating plants are hydropower plants;
worldwide, about 6% of all energy consumed is hydropower.
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patterns. These issues, together with relatively high costs, have so far prevented
widespread development of wave energy.
Wind Energy
- The winds are ultimately powered by the sun, wind energy can be regarded as a
variant of solar energy.
- It is clean and, like sunshine, renewable indefinitely (at least for 5 billion years
or so).
- Wind power has been utilized to some extent for more than two thousand years;
the windmills of the Netherlands are probably the best-known historic example.
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- Wind energy is dispersed, not only in two dimensions but in three: It is spread
out through the atmosphere. Wind is also erratic, highly variable in speed both
regionally and locally. The regional variations in potential power supply are
even more significant than they may appear from average wind velocities
because windmill power generation increases as the cube of wind speed.
- As with other physically localized power sources, the technological difficulty of
long-distance transmission of electricity will limit wind power’s near-term
contribution in areas of high electricity consumption until transmission
efficiencies improve.
- Even where average wind velocities are great, strong winds do not always blow.
This presents the same storage problem as solar electricity, and it has likewise
not yet been solved satisfactorily.
- At present, wind-generated electricity is used most commonly to supplement
conventionally generated power when wind conditions are favorable, with
conventional plants bearing most or all of the demand load at other times.
- The ultimate potential of wind energy is unclear. Certainly, blowing wind
represents far more total energy than we can use, but most of it cannot be
harnessed.
- Most schemes for commercial wind-power generation of electric power involve
“wind farms,” concentrations of many wind generators in a few especially
favorable windy sites.
- The limits to wind-power use then include the area that can be committed to
wind-generator arrays, as well as the distance the electricity can be transmitted
without excessive loss in the power grid.
- About 1000 1-megawatt wind generators are required to generate as much
power as a sizable conventional coal- or nuclear powered electric generating
plant.
- The units have to be spread out, or they block each other’s wind flow. Spacing
them at four windmills per square kilometer requires about 250 square
kilometers (100 square miles) of land to produce energy equivalent to a 1000-
megawatt power plant.
- Other concerns relating to wind farms include the aesthetic impact (the
generator arrays must naturally be very exposed); interference with and deaths
of migrating birds and bats; the noise associated with a large number of
windmills operating; and disruption of communications—TV, radio, cellular
telephones, perhaps even aircraft communications.
Biofuels
- Biofuels has become a catchall for various ways of deriving energy from
biomass, from organisms or from their remains.
- Biomass-derived energy is ultimately solar energy, since most biofuels come
from plant materials, and plants need sunlight to grow.
- Biofuels could also be thought of as “unfossilized fuels” because they represent
fuels derived from living or recent organisms rather than ancient ones and
hence have not been modified extensively by geologic processes acting over long
periods of time.
- The possibilities for biofuels are many. Most of these fuels fall into three broad
categories: wood, waste, and alcohol fuels.
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- Some are used alone, others “cofired” (burned in combination with conventional
fuels).
- All biofuels are burned to release their energy, so they share the carbon-
dioxide-pollution problems of fossil fuels.
- Some, like wood, also contribute particulate air pollutants. However, unlike the
fossil fuels, biofuels are renewable.
- In principle, biofuels can be produce and replenish on the same time scale as
they are consumed. This is their appeal, together with the fact that we can
produce themmdomestically, thus reducing dependence on energy imports.
- To the extent that more forests and grasslands are cleared to provide additional
cropland for biofuel production, that land-use change will increase net
greenhouse-gas emissions by decreasing carbon “sinks”
Waste-Derived Fuels
- Most of the truly waste-related biomass fuels involve agricultural or other
wastes that would historically have been burned in a field or dumped in
a landfi ll.
- For example, there is increasing interest in burning waste plant
materials after a crop is harvested. The combustible portion of urban
refuse can be burned to provide heat for electric generating plants.
- More-extensive use of incineration as a means of solid-waste disposal,
both in the United States and abroad, would further increase the use of
biomass for energy worldwide.
- Some waste-derived fuels are liquids. Research is ongoing on ways to
derive inoffensive liquid fuels from animal manures, which are rich in
organic matter.
- Some diesel-powered vehicles can run on biodiesel, a general term for
fuels derived from vegetable oil or animal fats (including wastes), or a
blend of such oil with petroleum diesel fuel.
- Another waste-derived biomass fuel growing in use, biogas, could be
called “gas from garbage.” When broken down in the absence of oxygen,
organic wastes yield a variety of gaseous products. Some of these are
useless, or smelly, or toxic, but among them is methane (CH4), the same
compound that predominates in natural gas.
- Sanitary-landfi ll operations are suitable sites for methane production as
organic wastes in the refuse decay. Straight landfill gas is too full of
impurities to use alone, but landfill-derived gas can be blended with
purer, pipelined natural gas to extend the gas supply.
Alcohol Fuels
- One biofuel that has received special attention is alcohol.
- It was extensively developed mainly for incorporation into gasohol.
- Gasohol as originally created was a blend of 90% gasoline and 10%
alcohol, the proportions reflecting a mix on which conventional gasoline
engines could run.
- Its popularity waned when oil prices subsequently declined, though most
gasoline still contains some ethanol (the most common type of fuel
alcohol).
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- Substantial concerns about ethanol fuels are also being raised as world
production rises sharply.
- One important consideration is that to grow, harvest, and derive
ethanol from corn or other starting plant material takes energy.
Depending on the process, indeed, it can take more energy than is
released burning the ethanol. Thus the alcohol fuels as currently
developed are not a major new source of energy as a way to reduce
dependence on imported liquid petroleum.
References:
Bukoski, J. (2015, March 23). Post-Fukushima: The impacts on Japanese public opinion of nuclear power.
Retrieved August 10, 2020, from Yale Environment Review: https://environment-review.yale.edu/post-
fukushima-impacts-japanese-public-opinion-nuclear-power-0
BusinessMirror. (2019, November 15). EDC’s Kidapawan geothermal power plants back online. Retrieved
August 10, 2020, from Business Mirror: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/11/15/edcs-kidapawan-
geothermal-power-plants-back-online/
Dinglasan, R. R. (2013, March 12). Overpopulated, Metro Manila is sinking —and flooding— fast. Retrieved
August 2, 2020, from GMA News Online:
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/298939/overpopulated-metro-manila-is-sinking-and-
flooding-fast/story/
Inhabitat. (2007). Portugal builds world’s first commercial wave farm! Retrieved August 10, 2020, from
Inhabitat: https://inhabitat.com/portugal-builds-worlds-first-commerical-wave-farm/
Montgomery, C. W. (2011). Environmental Geology, Ninth Edition. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New
York, NY 10020: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Rathi, A. (2017, May 16). The land known for its windmills produces barely any wind power. Retrieved August
10, 2020, from Quartz: https://qz.com/984521/the-netherlands-is-known-for-windmills-but-it-produces-
very-little-wind-power/
Roque, V. (2016, October 10). SOLECO raises first pico hydro power plant in the Philippines. Retrieved
August 10, 2020, from Power Philippines: https://powerphilippines.com/soleco-first-picohydro-
powerplant-ph/
The Mail Man. (2016, March 1). PH Largest Solar farm up in Batangas. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from
Tech Blade: http://www.techblade.ph/2016/03/ph-largest-solar-farm-up-in-batangas.html
WESTEND61. (n.d.). A gondola on the Canal Grande passes under the Rialto Bridge. Retrieved from GETTY
IMAGES: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/italy/venice/top-activities-
things-to-do/
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Introduction
Solid waste management refers to the method of collecting and treating solid waste. In this
module, the sources of solid waste will be identified as well as the impacts, treatment and
prevention of solid waste will be discussed.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcomes
Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the engineer's role in
the manipulation of materials and resources.
Select appropriate design treatment schemes and efficient safety measures for waste
disposal and explain their effect if implemented in the community and in the workplace.
Topic Outcomes
Define solid waste and determine its impacts and treatment, prevention and protection
related to solid waste pollution.
Recommend treatment, prevention, and protection ways related to solid waste based on
existing rules and standards."
Identify the sources of solid waste and discuss how to control them
SOLID WASTE
• these are the discarded solid substances generated from human activities and having no
more value with respect to its economic, physiological or technological process
• solid waste in a broader sense corresponds to any domestic, industrial and agricultural
resources that are considered already useless.
Source: http://mizenvis.nic.in/KidsCentre/SolidWastes_2971.aspx?format=Print
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Organic waste- These are the wastes generated during the preparation of food like
vegetables, flowers, leaves, fruits, and other wastes from market places.
Biodegradable wastes –Wastes that come from plants or animals that can be degraded by
other living organisms, often used for composting, If processed, this can be a source of
heat, electricity and fuel. These include human waste, manure, sewage, slaughterhouse
waste.
Non-biodegradable wastes - Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms
Combustibles – These are usually organic waste having low moisture content. Examples
are paper, wood, dried leaves, etc.
Toxic wastes – Examples are old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans,
fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.
Recyclables – These wastes can be recycled or used again for the same or different
purpose. These includes paper, glass, metals, plastics, etc.
Construction wastes - These wastes consist of unwanted materials that are produced
directly or indirectly from the manufacturing, assembly and other construction processes.
Examples of these are rubble, roofing, broken concrete, nails, electrical wiring, etc.
Hazardous wastes - These waste are considered harmful and dangerous and can consist
of medical waste, industrial waste and hospital waste.
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A. Residential
One of the main sources of solid waste come from households. These places generate huge
amount of solid waste that includes food wastes, plastics, paper, glass, leather, cardboard, metals,
yard wastes, ashes and special wastes such as electronics, tires, batteries, old mattresses and used
oil.
B. Industrial
One of the leading contributors to solid waste are the manufacturing industries,
construction sites, fabrication and power plants. The solid waste are generated from housekeeping,
food and packaging, construction and demolition materials, medical and hazardous wastes.
C. Commercial
Existence of many commercial facilities and buildings are significant factors considered in
the generation of solid waste particularly the hotels, restaurants, stores and office buildings. These
facilities produce lots of solid wastes ranging from plastics, food wastes, metals, paper, glass,
wood, cardboard materials, and other hazardous wastes.
D. Institutional
Institutions such as schools, prisons, military barracks and other government centers can
also generate solid wastes. Example of wastes produced in these places consist of glass, plastics,
food wastes, wood, paper, metals, cardboard materials, electronics as well as various hazardous
wastes.
E. Construction and Demolition Areas
Many solid wastes generated can also be attributed to the construction and demolition sites.
The solid wastes produced in these sites usually consist of steel materials, concrete, wood, plastics,
rubber, copper wires, dirt and glass.
F. Municipal Services
Urban centers also greatly contribute to the generation of solid waste. Among the solid
waste brought about by the municipal services are those from street cleaning, wastes from parks
and beaches, wastewater treatment plants, landscaping wastes and wastes from recreational areas,
including sludge.
G. Agriculture
Agricultural wastes like pesticides, spoiled foods and some hazardous materials are
produced from farms, orchards, dairies and vineyards.
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H. Biomedical
Biomedical wastes refer to the wastes generated by hospitals and biomedical equipment
and chemical manufacturing firms. These include syringes, bandages, used gloves, drugs, paper,
plastics, food wastes and chemicals. Biomedical wastes should be disposed of properly to avoid
environmental and human problems as well
Leachates from garbage dumps seep into the soil can pollute underground water.
Scavengers, stray animals and insects can invade the garbage and clutter the waste that
can damage the atmosphere and can spread various diseases
Food and water supply, if gets contaminated with pathogens present in solid wastes, may
result in cholera, jaundice, hepatitis, gastro enteric diseases etc.
Waste plastics and rubber pollute the atmosphere with toxic fumes while organic solid
wastes emit obnoxious odor upon decomposition that make the environment polluted.
Hospital and clinic wastes if not properly handled can cause transmission of diseases.
Solid wastes can result in water logging that facilitates breeding of mosquitoes resulting
to the spread of diseases like malaria and plague.
The main goal, therefore, of solid waste management is to reduce and eradicate the adverse
effect of solid waste to individual’s health and to the environment as well so that economy will be
developed and the quality of life will be improved. It also aims to convert solid waste into
something valuable and as a beneficial resource.
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landfill problems can be minimized and the negative impacts on the environment will be lessened.
Below is the hierarchy of 5R’s. It can be seen that recycling is the last recourse after trying to
refuse, reduce, reuse, or repurpose.
REFUSE
REDUCE
REUSE
REPURPOSE
E
RECYCLE
1. Refuse
The first in the hierarchy of 5R’s is refuse and this is the best way to minimize waste.
Every business should learn how to refuse waste; they should not buy non- recyclable products
and should be clever in their purchasing decisions and setting standards as early as possible so
that in the process, the organization will become used to refuse waste. When buying products,
refusing unnecessary product packaging is also advised.
2. Reduce
Reducing the amount of waste is one of the best things that all of us can do. Avoiding too
much use of resources can help reduce the waste and therefore, there is less waste to manage.
Listed below are some tips on how to reduce the waste.
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3. Reuse
One important thing that an individual can do is to reuse waste materials. Start by
focusing in one area of your business or home. You can replace all of the single-used items
with reusable materials and in so doing, the waste material will not end up in landfill but can
be used up again. As a consequence, you will not be prompt to buy a new product. This can
also save money, energy and resources. Listed below are some tips on how to reuse waste.
Unwanted toys, books and clothes can be given to hospitals, schools or care centers
Plastic containers, wrapping papers and boxes can be saved and can be used again
Old jars can be reused for storage
Buy second hand items in stores or online trading websites
Bring used household stuffs to a resource recovery center
Source: LEARNZ
Fig. 3. Reuse shopping bags to reduce waste. Fig. 4. Be creative and find ways to reuse waste
material.
4. Repurpose
If an item cannot be refused, reduced or reused, the option will be to repurpose. This
method is also referred to as upcycling. Repurposing requires creativity because you have to
think of all possibilities on how each product will serve more than one purpose. Example of
this is the binder clip, you have to think of different ways on how the binder clip can be used
aside from its own purpose like for holding power cords and charger in place; tin cans can be
used for keeping pencil, ball pens and other office supplies in place and can also be used as
decorative vase, etc. Everyone should be encouraged to repurpose items which they think they
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no longer need and once you have done this, a brighter tomorrow is coming on our way. So let
us start to repurpose!
5. Recycle
Another form of reprocessing waste materials is through recycling. In this way, new
product is formed. Common example of this is the recycling of plastic bottles to make plastic
chairs, plastic buckets, etc. Most commonly, paper, cardboard, aluminum, glass, tin and
plastics are example of wastes that can be recycled. Organic wastes can also undergo recycling
like composting and worm plants.
Source: LEARNZ
Fig. 5. Wastes that can be recycled.
Challenge: What reusable products can be used to replace the following items in order to
reduce wastes? plastic containers, paper towels, disposable diapers, disposable batteries, plastic
cups
1. Waste generation
This pertains to some actions that focused on distinguishing materials that are not
functioning anymore or valueless to the owner and are subjected for disposal
2. Onsite handling, storage, and processing
Storage corresponds to a system for keeping the waste generated that has been
discarded prior to collection and disposal. For easier collection, disposal or storage
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facilities like waste bins can be located at places that generate plenty of waste. To determine
the size and quantity of storage facilities, several factors like the number of users, type and
quantity of waste as well as the frequency of emptying must be considered and should
make sure that the facilities are safe.
5. Disposal
This is the final phase of waste management that involves activities with the
purpose of disposing waste materials in locations such as landfills or in places that converts
waste-to-usable materials facilities.
recognize
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I. Thermal Processes
A. Solid Waste Incineration
B. Pyrolysis
C. Pyrolysis / Gasification
D. Conventional Gasification
E. Plasma Arc Gasification
II. Biological Processes
A. Composting/ Aerobic Digestion
B. Anaerobic Digestion
III. Other Processes
A. Recycling
B. Landfill
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Volume Reduction
The volume of solid wastes is reduced by an average of 90% depending on
its composition, likewise, the weight of the solid is lessened by 70- 75%.
Stabilization of wastes
The organic components of the waste stream undergo oxidation that
makes the output(ash) more inert than the input(solid waste)
Sterilization of waste
Incineration of solid wastes can destroy the pathogens before it is disposed
particularly the clinical or biomedical waste.
B. Pyrolysis
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Source: https://www.slideshare.net/tanviralam31337/municipal-solid-waste-msw-to-energy
Fig. 8. Schematic Diagram for MSW to Energy via Pyrolysis
C. Pyrolysis / Gasification
D. Conventional Gasification
A thermal method where carbonaceous materials are converted into syngas using a
limited amount of air or oxygen.
The gasification condition ranges from 800-1600 °C
In this process, the conventional gasification reactor is injected with steam to
produce CO and H2
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Source:https://www.slideshare.net/tanviralam31337/municipal-solid-waste-msw-to-energy
Fig. 9. Schematic Diagram for MSW to Energy via Pyrolysis/Gasification
Source:https://www.slideshare.net/tanviralam31337/municipal-solid-waste-msw-to-energy
Fig. 10. Schematic Diagram for MSW to Energy via Plasma Arc Gasifiation
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Particle Size
Materials should undergo either grinding, chipping, and shredding to increase the
surface area on which microorganisms can feed.
A compost mixture that is more homogeneous increases pile insulation that helps
sustain optimum temperatures
Mixtures having very small particles is not also advisable because they might
prevent the air from flowing freely through the pile.
Moisture Content
Compost pile must have sufficient moistness for microorganisms to survive
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Water carries the substances within the compost pile so that the nutrients in organic
material can be accessible to the microbes
Oxygen Flow
Decomposition can occur faster by aerating the pile
Aerating the pile can be done by using series of pipes, or bulking agents like wood
chips or shredded newspaper
Too much oxygen is not recommended because it can lessen the moisture content
the pile that can delay the composting process
Temperature
For microorganisms to have optimal activity, a temperature of at least 140° F is
needed
To promote a speedy composting and to destroy pathogens and weed seeds,
accurate temperatures must be used, if not, rooting might occur.
Fig. 11. Food Waste for Composting Fig. 12. Compost from Food Waste
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Source: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/fabe-6611
Fig. 13. Anaerobic digestion of Organic Waste
Source:https://www.metropolitantransferstation.com.au/blog/modern
-waste-management-techniques
Fig. 14. Examples of waste segregation for recycling process
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Benefits of Recycling
Recycling Symbol #1
One of the most common recyclable plastics is PET or PETE (polyethylene
terephthalate)
Examples of these are the plastic bottles like soft drinks, beer bottles, mouthwash
bottles, salad dressing, and vegetable oil bottles but their caps cannot be recycled
Recycling Symbol #2
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is another highly recyclable material.
This in the form of milk jugs, household cleaners, detergent, shampoo, conditioner,
and cereal box liners. Just empty and clean them but caps cannot be recycled.
Recycling Symbol #3
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or vinyl (V) is slightly more toxic than PET and HDPE
When recycling them, you need to be extra careful
Examples of these can be found in blister packaging, wire jacketing, and siding
windows.
Recycling Symbol #4
Plastics like the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) has many applications but
unfortunately, is not accepted in most recycling programs
Examples of these plastic come in squeezable bottles, frozen food, dry cleaning,
shopping bags, and some furniture.
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Recycling Symbol #5
Yogurt containers, syrup and medicine bottles, caps, and straws belong this kind of
material
These are polypropylene (PP) which are more accepted by recycling programs
although not yet widely accepted
To dispose, check if your curbside pick will take it, and if not, take it to a
community center or throw them in the designated trash bin
Recycling Symbol #6
This is the typical Styrofoam or the polystyrene (PS)
This is classified as a probable carcinogen and therefore not accepted for recycling
by most state programs.
Most materials that contain PS are egg cartons, meat trays, carry-out containers and
compact disc cases
B. Sanitary Landfill
The most common solid waste disposal method is the sanitary landfill. The refuse collected
is basically spread out in thin layers and compressed. In the design of modern landfills, the
lowermost part of the landfill is enclosed with several water resistant liner like thick plastic and
sand. This is done to safeguard the groundwater from contamination due to leaching and
percolation. To prevent seepage of water, it is shielded with sand, clay, topsoil and gravel. In
addition, sanitary landfill should be well managed to ensure that it will not damage the environment
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On the contrary, dumps are open hole in the ground where wastes are thrown and
buried and rats and insects thrive and is not environmentally regulated so it becomes health
hazard.
Source: https://wasteaid.org/closing-worlds-dumpsites/
Fig, 17. Picture of dumpsite
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Technical requirements:
Better planning
Proper design and construction
Continuous maintenance during and after waste filling.
Environmental requirements:
Environmental aspects are the most important aspects in any appropriate
Solid Waste Management system.
Environmental protection must be considered for all phases of SWM.
Social requirements:
This is the most challenging of all requirements considering that it is very
difficult to motivate the communities and other stakeholders, especially
people living in the vicinity at shorter distances from disposal sites
Economic requirements:
The minimum possible overall cost should be ensured and the benefits
through proper solid waste management should be maximized.
Institutional requirements:
There must be a responsible institution capable of managing the overall
planning, operation, and maintenance of solid waste landfill sites
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Infrastructure damage
Example of this is the damage to access roads by heavy vehicles
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Bell, Shelby (2020, Jan 21), The 5R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle. Available:
https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/the-5-rs-of-waste-recycling. ((Accessed: July 18, 2020)
Composting. Available:https://www.suez.co.uk/en-gb/our-offering/communities-and-
individuals/what-happens-to-waste/food-and-garden-waste/composting (Accessed: July 20,
2020)
Difference Between Sanitary Landfills and Open Dumps You Must Know. Available:
https://helpsavenature.com/about. ((Accessed: July 27, 2020)
Jamal, Haseeb. (2020, March 01), Requirements of Solid Waste Disposal Sites.
Available:https://www.aboutcivil.org/Requirements-Solid-Waste-Disposal-Sites ((Accessed: July
27, 2020)
Jamal, Haseeb. (2020, March 01), Sanitary Landfills Vs. Dump Sites. Available:
https://www.aboutcivil.org/Sanitary-Landfills-vs-Dump-Sites((Accessed: July 27, 2020)
Leblanc. Rick (2019, Oct. 11). An Introduction to Solid Waste Management. Available:
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/reduce-reuse-and-recycle-the-waste-management-hierarchy-
2878202 (Accessed: July 17, 2020)
Leblanc. Rick (2019, Nov. 20) The Waste Management Hierarchy. Available:
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/an-introduction-to-solid-waste-management-
2878102(Accessed: July 17, 2020)
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ENGG 413- Environmental Science and Engineering
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Solid Waste Management: Types, Sources, Effects and Methods of Solid Waste Management.
Available:
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/waste-management/solid-waste-management-types-sources-
effects-and-methods-of-solid-waste-management/9949. (Accessed: July 17, 2020)
Waste Management Waste Disposal(2018, Oct. 17) Modern Waste Management Techniques:
Available:
https://www.metropolitantransferstation.com.au/blog/modern-waste-management-techniques
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
WATER POLLUTION
Introduction
In this lesson you will learn about water pollution, its causes and effects,
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcome 2 (Syllabus)
Topic Outcomes:
Water Pollution
(Discussion is heavily based on Environmental Science (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2015).)
- All industries that generate wastewater e.g. from factories due to use of
water in manufacturing, power plants from their cooling and washing
activities, and sewage treatment plants. They discharge pollution from
specific locations, such as drain pipes, ditches, or sewer outfalls. These
sources are discrete and identifiable, so they are relatively easy to monitor
and regulate. It is generally possible to divert effluent from the waste
streams of these sources and treat it before it enters the environment.
- Scattered or diffuse, having no specific location where they discharge into a
particular body of water. Include runoff from farm fields and livestock, golf
courses, lawns gardens, construction sites, logging areas, roads, streets, and
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
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Pathogenic Organisms
- The most serious water pollutants in terms of human health worldwide
- Among the most important waterborne diseases are typhoid, cholera,
bacterial and amoebic dysentery, enteritis, polio, infectious hepatitis, and
schistosomiasis. Malaria, yellow fever, and dengue are transmitted by insects
that have aquatic larvae.
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Oxygen Levels
- The amount of oxygen dissolved in water is a good indicator of water quality
and of the kinds of life it will support.
- Water with an oxygen content of 6 ppm will support game
-
- and other desirable forms of aquatic life.
- Water with less than 2 ppm oxygen will support mainly worms, bacteria,
fungi, and other detritus feeders and decomposers.
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- Eutrophication
- Oligotrophic (oligo = little + trophic = nutrition) – rivers and lakes that have
clear water and low biological productivity.
- Eutrophic (eu + trophic = truly nourished) – waters that are rich in
organisms and organic materials. Eutrophication is an increase in nutrient
levels and biological productivity.
- As with BOD, nutrient enrichment sewage, fertilizer run-off, even
decomposing leaves in street gutters can produce human-caused increase in
biological productivity called cultural eutrophication. This can also result
from higher temperatures, more sunlight reaching the water surface, or a
number of other changes.
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
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Inorganic Pollutants
- Some toxic inorganic chemicals are released from rocks by weathering, are
carried by runoff into lakes or rivers, or percolate into groundwater aquifers.
This pattern is part of natural mineral cycles. Humans often accelerate the
transfer rates in these cycles thousands of times above natural background
levels through the mining, processing, using, and discarding of minerals.
- Toxic inorganic chemicals introduced into water as a result of human
activities have become the most serious form of water pollution.
- Among the chemicals of greatest concern are heavy metals, such as mercury,
lead, tin, and cadmium.
- Super toxic elements, such as acids, salts, nitrates, and chlorine, that
normally are not toxic at low concentrations may become concentrated
enough to lower water quality or adversely affect biological communities.
- Many metals, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, tin, and nickel, are highly
toxic in minute concentrations.
- Metals are highly persistent, therefore, they can accumulate in food webs
and have a cumulative effect in top predators – including humans.
- Currently the most widespread toxic metal contamination problem in North
America is mercury released from coal-burning power plants.
- Mine drainage and leaching of mining wastes are serious sources of metal
pollution in water.
- Nonmetallic Salts - Some soils contain naturally high concentrations of
soluble salts, including toxic selenium and arsenic.
- Salts, such as sodium chloride, that are non-toxic at low concentrations also
can be mobilized by irrigation and concentrated by evaporation, reaching
levels that are toxic for many plants and animals.
- Globally, 20% of the world’s irrigated farmland is estimated to be affected
by salinization, and half that land has enough salt buildup to decrease yields
significantly.
- The largest human population threatened by naturally occurring arsenic in
groundwater is in West Bengal, India, and eastern Bangladesh. Arsenic
occurs naturally in the sediments that make up the Ganges River delta.
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Organic Pollutants
- Include drugs, pesticides, and other industrial substances
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
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Oil Spills
- Oil spills from shipwrecks and well blowouts, such as the 2010 explosion of
the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, can be disastrous for
ecosystems and local economies.
- According to the Smithsonian Institution, by far the greatest amount of oil
leaked into the ocean every year comes from routine, intentional oil
dumping. By their estimates, vehicle maintenance, urban runoff, bilge
pumping, and other human activities release about 2.4 billion liters (644
million gal) of oil annually, most of which eventually ends up in the sea. This
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is ten times as much as from natural oil seeps and about 2o times as much
as shipwrecks and well spills.
- On July 3, 2020, an oil spill from a power barge in Iloilo City due to an
explosion and the oil reached Guimaras.
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Thermal Pollution
- Raising or lowering water temperatures from normal levels can adversely
affect water quality and aquatic life.
- Water temperatures are usually much more stable than air temperatures, so
aquatic organisms tend to be poorly adapted to rapid temperature changes.
- Lowering the temperature of tropical oceans by even one degree can be
lethal to some corals and other reef species.
- Raising water temperatures can have similar devastating effects on sensitive
organisms.
- Oxygen solubility in water decreases as temperatures increase, so species
requiring high oxygen levels are adversely affected by warming water.
- Humans cause thermal pollution by altering vegetation cover and runoff
patterns, as well as by discharging heated water directly into rivers and
lakes.
The cheapest way to remove heat from an industrial facility is to draw cool
water from an ocean, river, lake or aquifer, run it through heat exchanger
to extract excess heat, and then dump the heated water back into the
original source.
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A thermal plume of heated water is often discharged into rivers and lakes,
where raised temperatures can disrupt many processes in natural
ecosystems and drive out sensitive organisms.
Electrical power plants, metal smelters, petroleum refineries, paper mills,
food-processing factories, and chemical manufacturing plants all use and
release large amounts of cooling water.
To minimize thermal pollution, power plants frequently are required to
contract artificial cooling ponds or cooling towers in which heat is released
into the atmosphere and water is cooled before being released into natural
water bodies.
- Japan, Australia, and most of western Europe also have improved surface-
water quality in recent years.
- Sewage treatment in the wealthier countries of Europe generally equals or
surpasses that in the United States.
- Sweden serves 98% of its population with at least secondary sewage
treatment and the other 2 percent have primary treatment.
- Poorer countries have much less to spend on sanitation.
- More than 100 million Chinese live in areas without sufficient fresh water.
It’s estimated that 70% of China’s surface water is unsafe for human
consumption, and that the water in half the country’s major rivers is so
contaminated that it’s unsuited for any use, even agriculture.
- According to the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency, the country’s
ten worst polluted cities are all in Shanxi Province. Factories have been
allowed to exceed pollution discharges with impurity. 3 million tons of
wastewater are produced every day in the province, with 2/3s of it
discharged directly into local rivers without any treatment. Locals complain
that the rivers, which once were clean and fresh, are now visibly polluted
with industrial waste.
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Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
Water Quality
Source Reduction
- The cheapest and most effective way to reduce pollution is usually to avoid
producing it or releasing it to the environment in the first place.
- Elimination of lead from gasoline has resulted in a widespread and
significant decrease in the amount of lead in surface waters in the United
States.
- Careful handling of oil and petroleum products can greatly reduce the
amount of water pollution caused by these materials.
- The banning of DDT and PCBs in the 1970s has resulted in significant
reductions in levels in wildlife.
- Industry can reduce pollution by recycling or reclaiming materials that
otherwise might be discarded in the waste stream.
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
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- Over the past 100 years, sanitary engineers have developed ingenious and
effective municipal wastewater treatment systems to protect human health,
ecosystem stability, and water quality.
Primary Treatment
- The first step in municipal waste treatment. It physically separates large
solids from the waste stream. As raw sewage enters the treatment plant, it
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passes through a metal grating that removes large debris. A moving screen
then filters out smaller items. Brief residence in a grit tank allows sand and
gravel to settle. The waste stream then moves to the primary sedimentation
tank, where about half the suspended organic solids settle to the bottom as
sludge. Many pathogens remain in the effluent, which is not yet safe to
discharge into waterways or onto the ground.
Secondary Treatment
- Consists of biological degradation of dissolved organic compounds. The
effluent from primary treatment flows into a trickling filter bed, an
aeration tank, or a sewage lagoon.
- The trickling filter is simply a bed of stones or corrugated plastic sheets
through which water drips from a system of perforated pipes or a sweeping
overhead sprayer. Bacteria and other microorganisms in the bed catch
organic material as it trickles past and aerobically decompose it.
- Aeration tank digestion tanks is also called the activated sludge process.
Effluent from primary treatment is pumped into the tank and mixed with a
bacteria-rich slurry. Air pumped through the mixture encourages bacterial
growth and decomposition of the organic material. Water flows from the
top of the tank, and sludge is removed from the bottom. Some of the sludge
is used as an inoculum for incoming primary effluent. The remainder would
be valuable fertilizer if it were not contaminated by metals, toxic chemicals,
and pathogenic organisms. The toxic content of most sewer sludge
necessitates disposal by burial in a landfill or incineration.
- Where space is available for sewage lagoons, the exposure to sunlight, algae
aquatic organisms, and air does the same job more slowly but with less
energy cost. Effluent from secondary treatment processes is usually
disinfected with chlorine, UV light, or ozone to kill harmful bacteria before it
is released to a nearby waterway.
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- There are two basic methods used to purify water of dissolved minerals:
filtration and distillation.
- In a filtration system, the water is passed through fine filters or membranes
to screen out dissolved impurities. An advantage of this method is that it
can rapidly filter great quantities of water. A disadvantage is that the
method works best on water not containing very high levels of dissolved
minerals.
- Distillation involves heating or boiling water full of dissolved minerals. The
water vapor driven off is pure water, while the minerals stay behind in
what remains of the liquid. This is true regardless of how concentrated the
dissolved minerals are, the method works fine on seawater as well as on less
saline waters. The disadvantage is the nature of the necessary heat source.
Furnaces fired by coal, gas, or other fuels can be used, but any fuel may be
costly in large quantity, and many conventional fuels are becoming scarce.
- Desalinated water may be five to ten times more costly to deliver than
water pumped straight from a stream or aquifer.
- In areas such as the arid Middle East, the more-acute need for irrigation
water has made desalinated seawater a viable agricultural option
economically.
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Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
Water Remediation
Reference:
Andal, E. (2019). Retrieved from Scoopnest:
https://www.scoopnest.com/user/ABSCBNNews/1118341419855491074-ayon-sa-denremb-
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Main Topic 2: Natural Resources and Pollution in the Environment
at-cenrohindi-lumot-kundi-mga-water-hyacinth-ang-naglutangan-sa-calumpang-
river-sa-b
Slavikova, S. P. (2018). Major Causes and Effects of Soil Erosion on People and the
Environment, Retrieved from Greentumble on August 8, 2020:
https://greentumble.com/causes-and-effects-of-soil-erosion/
Yap, T. (2020).Governor raises alarm over spread of oil spill to Guimaras, Retrieve
August 8, 2020 from Manila Bulletin:
https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/08/governor-raises-alarm-over-spread-of-oil-spill-
to-guimaras/
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Green Engineering
Introduction
This lesson discusses the definition of green engineering, and its principles. Green
engineering in building design will be focused, and energy audit will be discussed.
Learning Outcomes
ILO 2 - Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the engineer's role in the
manipulation of materials and resources.
ILO 3 - Select appropriate design treatment schemes and efficient safety measures for waste disposal
and explain their effect if implemented in the community and in the workplace.
Topic Outcomes:
• Solve the electricity and water consumption reduction using different green engineering
practices
Green Engineering
On a typical day, what are the activities that you do that use energy and water? How about
resources? Can you have a day without using any of the three?
These are essentials and we cannot avoid using them. However, due to depleting resources,
we, as engineers, scientists and professionals must learn to design systems, operations and
structures in which people can reduce their resource usage even without them knowing.
According to EPA (2017), green engineering is the “design, commercialization, and use of
processes and products that minimize pollution, promote sustainability, and protect human
health without sacrificing economic viability and efficiency.”
Energy Flows
In order to understand one of the concepts in green engineering used in designing buildings
and products, it is important to understand energy flows.
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Heat can be transferred into or out of a system and work can be done on or by a system, but a
system cannot contain or store heat or work,
The transfer of energy as heat is always from the higher-temperature medium to the lower-
temperature one. Moreover, heat transfer stops when the 2 mediums reach the same
temperature.
1. Conduction - energy transfer from the more energetic particles to the adjacent less energetic
ones, by direct contact
2. Convection - transfer between a solid surface and the adjacent liquid or gas that is in motion
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is one application of the reduction of heat transfer from one surface to
another. Here, the heat or coldness of an object is being trapped using an insulating
material.
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Standard insulation materials are not as effective in reducing radiant heat transfer, which is the
primary mode of heat transfer in buildings in the tropics. However, there are other ways to feel
cooler inside a building. Aluminum foil under the roof prevents up to 97% of the radiant heat.
Radiant barrier is a highly reflective, low emitting material installed at the underside surface of
the roof deck. Other insulating materials are: rockwool, foam, laminated aluminum foil.
Thermal comfort
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
- In our typical bahay kubo, we have long eaves to shade us from the sun; we use large
windows in every wall to give way for air to pass through. Thatched roofing and shade
from trees are used to reduce radiation from the sun. The house is on stilts for flood
protection and for ventilation.
With these techniques, they made a modern version of our bahay kubo in Palawan.
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Made with bamboo for the walls and anahaw for the roofing, cured to have longer lifespan, this
installation is open for all guests and is made to be off-the-grid. It has solar panels for the
electricity; solar tubes for illuminating the living room during daytime, low hp ceiling fan, and
solar thermal heater for peanut oil used as cooking fuel. Water comes from rainwater collector
with filtering system.
In general, the graph below can be used to modify the air temperature depending on the
humidity of the surroundings (Zimmer, et al., 2015):
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
● Shading
● Reflection
● Insulation
● Ventilation
● Evaporation
● Heat sinks
Design possibilities:
Building layout
•Orientation of the main rooms and the openings - e.g. you do not want your room to be
facing west because this direction receives most of the sunlight, thus the heat. Windows should
also face north and south. If this is unavoidable, make sure to use awnings or shading to your
windows.
•Size and details of openings and walls - Windows facing east and west should be smaller
than those facing north and south. They should also be placed to maximize the airflow at body
level. Louvers are effective for directing airflow as well as keeping out direct sunlight. Window to
wall ratio must be 10-30% in bedrooms and 20-30% in living rooms. Also, tint used in car
windows can also be used in window buildings.
•Provision of verandas and balconies - These, with plants placed in the structure, can divert
heat, thus lessening what will enter the room or building.
•Roof type and details - The trend now in roofing is covering parts of it with vegetation,
reducing the urban heat island effect (Sunlight hitting concrete surfaces produces hotter
surroundings than when it hits vegetation, making one increase their AC electric consumption.
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
ACs release heat outside the building, making the outside surroundings hotter, thus creating a
vicious cycle). If that’s not possible, reflective insulation, 30-45 degrees roof pitch, and/or
thatched or clay roofs can be used.
•Zoning and space planning - Wind direction and positioning of structures are important
considerations in green engineering. For example, because it is not considered in Manila, thus
the air coming from exhausts of vehicles is circulating in one area because the buildings are
preventing it from escaping. Moreover, fresh air cannot easily pass through these structures,
making the air more polluted.
Air flows
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Main
Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Source: https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/6431909_f1024.jpg
Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/21/14/bf/2114bf1719d66295fe5a09a754ee340f.jpg
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Utilize wind from east, with openings facing north and south (sun protection)
Evaporation
Roof color
- About 10% AC electricity savings can be achieved with proper roof color, i.e. use lighter
colors such as white and cream.
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Conclusion
1. Windows
○ Most common way
○ combination with a light colored wall increases the amount of light available from
a window.
○ Clerestory windows and Vertical windows
2. Light shelves
○ Placing a white or reflective metal light shelf placed to reflect light to upper
surfaces
○ Effective way to enhance the lighting from windows
○ Combine with a projecting eave to protect windows from direct sun.
3. Solar tubes
○ Placing a white or reflective metal light shelf placed to reflect light to upper
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
surfaces
○ Effective way to enhance the lighting from windows
○ Combine with a projecting eave to protect windows from direct sun.
Carbon Footprint
● Carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted that one is responsible for,
expressed in units of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
● Why CO2? Methane is 21 times better at absorbing the sun’s energy than CO2 and N2O is
about 300 times more effective than CO2.
But CO2 is more abundant.
● From Kyoto Protocol Computations:
Carbon Dioxide = 1 CO2e
Methane, CH4 = 21 CO2e
Nitrous Oxide, N2O = 310 CO2e
Other Gases – HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 = range 600 – 23900x CO2e
Recommendation: Measure emissions from the six GHGs covered by the Kyoto Protocol
where relevant for you
● In our scale, these are the kg CO2 (University of Exeter, 2015):
○ Electricity: 0.5 kg CO2 per kWh
○ Diesel: 2.68 kg CO2 per L
○ Gasoline: 2.31 kg CO2 per :
○ LPG: 1.51 kg CO2 per L
■ Current and avoided Emissions may be computed using this
● Guidelines for computation:
○ Location-dependent, e.g. electricity cost may be different in Luzon vs Visayas
○ Size-dependent, e.g. different rooms may have different consumption
○ Assumption of values must be realistic, e.g. research may be needed
○ May contain margin of error
○ There is no constant equation
● Energy savings may be computed in this manner (unit=kWh/yr):
Energy Audit
- systematic approach for decision-making in the area of energy management.
- attempts to balance the total energy inputs with its use, and serves to identify all
the energy streams in a facility.
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
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1
(Example) The amount of Assuming Easy
electricity 10 PHP
Provide proper savings by per kWh:
labelling of all sealing of gaps Monetary
switches to avoid can be up to savings =
confusion when 10%. Assuming 10 PHP *
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Avoided
emissions =
17,971.14 kg
CO2
Avoided
emissions =
12,579.80 kg
CO2
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Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
1
(Example) Higher Easy to
efficiencies moderate
In the future, mean
replace damaged moderate
or destroyed consumption
pumps with high and with
efficiency motors sufficient
(HEMs). Highly quality output.
efficient motors
are usually
labelled with IEC
marks. (C)
References
Anastas, P.T., and Zimmerman, J.B., (2003)"Design through the Twelve Principles of Green
Engineering", Env. Sci. and Tech., 37, 5, 94A-101A.
Fairconditioning. (n.d.). Radiant Barriers. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Fair
Conditioning: http://fairconditioning.org/knowledge/passive-design/radiant-barriers/
Lim, L. (2011, June 9). Japanese Told To Beat The Heat With Hawaiian Shirts. Retrieved
July 25, 2020, from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137009383/japanese-told-to-
beat-the-heat-with-hawaiian-shirts
Lower, S. (2018). "Radiation Conduction Convection" by Stephen Lower is licensed under
CC BY 3.0 http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/pre/pre-3.html
University of Exeter. (2015, January 22). Calculation of CO2 emissions, Retrieved from:
https://people.exeter.ac.uk/TWDavies/energy_conversion/Calculation%20of%20CO2%20emissi
ons%20from%20fuels.htm
Zimmer et al. (2015) Zero Carbon Resorts for Sustainable Tourism Training Manual (Reduce),
Manila.
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Introduction
Renewable energy will be discussed, along with their examples in the Philippines.
Moreover, concerns regarding and the factors affecting energy management of a country will
also be tackled.
Learning Outcomes
ILO 2 - Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the engineer's role in the
manipulation of materials and resources.
ILO 3 - Select appropriate design treatment schemes and efficient safety measures for waste disposal and
explain their effect if implemented in the community and in the workplace.
Topic Outcomes:
• Describe renewable energy resources and determine the advantages and
disadvantages of each type
Solar Energy
- conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms. Solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal
electricity are well estaSun radiation arrives outside the Earth with a specific spectral
distribution, which is modified throughout the atmosphere until reaching the Earth’s surface.
- The amount of solar energy available on a given location of the earth differs depending on the
Geographic latitude
Time of day
Year
Direct radiation - radiation from the sun that reaches the Earth without scattering. As it is the
only one with a known vector (solar vector), it can be concentrated using technological devices
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Directly converts solar energy to electricity Harnessing solar energy for thermal
applications – domestics, industries,
hotels, hostpitals, leisure, etc.,
Absorbs 80% incident solar radiation but Use thermal energy for space heating, fluid
convert only small portion to electricity and generate electricity
Release excess heat during the operation Has been accepted worldwide as solar
thermal power
- A solar thermal collector converts solar radiation into useful heat and its performance depends
both on optical and thermal features.
1. Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal System - The troughs concentrate sunlight onto a
receiver tube that is positioned along the focal line of the trough. Example: SEGS in
California, with 936,384 mirrors
The fluid medium (water, fused salt or air) is heated, thus directly or indirectly generating
overheated steam or high-temperature air to propel the generating set.
3. Linear Fresnel Solar Thermal System – one-axis solar tracking device, with the
parola divided into many small nearly flat mirrors with independent movement,
simultaneously focusing the linear absorber located in optical focus. E :Murcia,
Spain with 100MW/km2 land use
4. Parabolic Dish Solar Thermal System – heliostats with sunlight focused on the
engine with a cavity receiver on the focal point. One of the most efficient solar
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
5. Flat plate solar collectors – mostly used in heating water for showers. Example:
small-scale than other examples, used in heating water in swimming pools and
showers
*Heliostats – two-axis tracking mirrors which concentrate solar radiation maintaining the
reflected image at fixed position over the course of the day.
Solar Collector
Source: Wimmer et al. (2015)
Solar photovoltaics
- advantage: Module manufacturing is being done in large plants, which allows for
economies of scale, and it can be deployed in very small quantities at a time
Biomass Energy
- burning of wood, bark, branches, starchy roots, manure and other plant and animal materials
to produce energy
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- An example of this is San Carlos Biopower Inc. in Negros Occidental, which uses agricultural
wastes such as sugarcane trash, coconut husks and shells, woods, grasses and other energy
crops from nearby dedicated plantations as feedstock.
- Denmark, the energy-independent islands of Samsø and Ærø get some of their space heating
from biomass, both from agricultural wastes (such as straw) and biomass crops
- Heat generated by burning biomass in a boiler is used to produce steam. This steam is
used by a steam turbine which drivers a generator to produce electricity
- Other methods for turning biomass into fuel are shown below:
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Hydropower
- falling water produces energy which is harnessed as a valuable contribution to total energy
supply.
- To produce energy to power a country, dams are built. However, they can have unwanted
social and environmental effects, such as drought to the other side of the dam, endangering
freshwater biodiversity thus having impact in the fishing industry, and displacement of
communities.
- Example in the Philippines: Maria Cristina Falls and Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant, supplying
200 MW of electricity
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Wind
- Wind energy comes from capturing kinetic energy using turbines to generate electricity, and
can be onshore or offshore.
- In earlier times, windmills were used to pump water in farms and ranches.
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Source: “Pililia Wind Farm.png” by Rmnsantiago is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Potential for wind energy in the Philippines can be found on the redder parts of the map
below
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Sustainable Energy
Energy is the main driver of every nation’s economy, and what one chooses as their
sources has global environmental and financial effects. This is why “most important questions in
environmental science have some link to energy resources—from air pollution, climate change,
and mining impacts, to technological innovations in alternative energy sources (Cunningham
and Cunningham, 2012).”
Renewable and non-renewable are our options as energy sources. Non-renewable
sources, coal, oil and natural gas, cannot be relied on fully because of their effects on global
temperature. However, it is also not possible to be powered by 100% renewable energy (RE)
without relying on non-renewables (NRE) in the first decades of the plan. For example,
Denmark targets to use 100% RE in energy and transport sectors by 2050. In 2015, they are
producing 43% RE; in 2017 28.6% of their energy was still produced by NRE, and they
projected to eliminate coal from power production by 2030 (Ortis and Spigonardo, 2015). Thus,
to have a sustainable energy management system, one must have a good balance of RE and
NRE in their energy mix.
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Energy Mix
● refers to how final energy consumption in a given geographical region breaks down by
primary energy source.
● To meet its energy needs, each country uses the energy available to it, in different
proportions.
● While it varies significantly from one country to another, globally fossil fuels account for
over 80% of the energy mix.
WHY A MIX?
For each region or country, the composition of the energy mix depends on:
• The availability of usable resources on its territory or the possibility of importing them
• The extent and type of energy needs to be met
• Policy choices determined by historical, economic, social, demographic, environmental
and geopolitical factors
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• Hydropower
• Geothermal
• Biomass
• Solar, wind, ocean
• Biofuels – alcohol in diesel; jathropa
In comparison, here is the energy mix of South Korea and Germany in 2018:
The Philippines has higher energy production using coal than the 2 countries mentioned
above. Moreover, they both use nuclear power in their mix.
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Taking a look at PV, Wind and Coal, different stages of the life of the systems release different
percentages of carbon dioxide equivalents.
Fuel combustion during operations of coal-fired power plant emits vast majority of GHGs.
Moreover, for PV power plants, the majority of GHG emissions are upstream of operation in
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Meanwhile, REs are not without environmental effects. Shown below are some of the
disadvantages of RE compared to coal energy.
Wind Minimal during site Wind turbines disturb the Decommissioning has
monitoring and visual area of other minimal impact
testing, and unlikely people by creating
to trigger geological negative changes in the
hazards. natural environment
Vegetation clearing,
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
In terms of economic sustainability, however, shown below are the jobs and land
required for alternative energy sources.
Technology Land Use (m3 per GW-hr for Jobs (per TW-hr/yr)
30 years)
PV 3,237 175
In conclusion, since it will be a long time before the NREs will be 100% decommissioned and
will not be used anymore, having a “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything”
(BANANA) mindset can only hamper a nation’s growth and can also hinder one’s goal in
achieving 100% RE.
References
Bunye, Cruz, Marcelo and Tenefrancia. (2020). Energy 2020 Eighth Edition
. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Biology Dictionary:
https://biologydictionary.net/plant-cell/
Companies, Inc.
E&C Consultants. (n.d.). Making the right choices in sustainable energy management.
Retrieved July 25, 2020, from E&C Consultants:
https://www.eecc.eu/sustainable-energy-management
Lenzen and Munksgaard (2002). Energy and CO2 life-cycle analyses of wind turbines—review
6 339–362.
and applications. Renewable Energy, 2
Maennel, A.; Kim, H.-G. (2018). Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Potential
through Renewable Energy Transition in South Korea and Germany. Energies 2018, 11,
206.
Ortis, E. and Spigonardo, J. (2015, April 22). Making the Transition to a Low-carbon
Economy. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from Wharton School:
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-the-world-run-on-renewable-energy/
La fondation d’entreprise Total Editors. (2015, January 7). What is the Energy Mix.
Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Planete Energies:
http://www.planete-energies.com/en/medias/close/about-energy-mix
Statistics Explained. (2020, June 17). Glossary:Carbon dioxide equivalent. Eurostat, Retrieved
July 25, 2020,
from:https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Carbon_dioxide_eq
uivalent
Energy Company Numbers (2020). The Forms of Water. Retrieved July 25, 2020,
from: https://www.energycompanynumbers.co.uk/renewable-energy-explained/
Project Lupad (2016). PHOTOS: Maria Cristina Falls and Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant Aerial
View. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Biology Notes for IGCSE 2014:
http://igbiologyy.blogspot.com/2014/03/109-food-pyramids-of-numbers-biomass.html
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Sustainable Development
Introduction
This lesson discusses the definition of sustainable development, how the Sustainable
Development Goals were formulated, and the Philippines’ contribution to SDGs.
Learning Outcomes
ILO 2 - Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the engineer's role in the
manipulation of materials and resources.
ILO 3 - Select appropriate design treatment schemes and efficient safety measures for waste disposal and
explain their effect if implemented in the community and in the workplace.
Topic Outcomes:
• Describe sustainable development and its goals, and apply appropriate actions to each
problem specified by SDGs
Sustainable Development
We as humans are accustomed to have and care for our own territories. Contrary to this, all
our activities are tightly connected and interwoven. Environmental problems, e.g. forest fires
and ocean acidification, are not isolated occurrences, rather they are interconnected to one
another.
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Source: "Map of the Mekong river basin" by Shannon1 is licensed under CC
BY-SA 4.0
The river runs through China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. They all
depend on the river as one of their main sources of water. Now, there are 11 dams in China
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built on the upper Mekong, controlling the flow of water to the other countries. With no
proper agreement or treaties between the countries, no sustainable management to follow,
dams are built left and right, affecting everyone in the long run.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, though there is a Solid Waste Management law, a recent
study entitled "Plastic Wastes Survey in River Mouths Discharging to Manila Bay"
(Tanchuling, Osorio, 2020) shows that plastic wastes in different river mouths are composed
of film plastics e.g. single-use plastics mostly used in household product packaging, and
hard plastics e.g. shampoo bottles. These types of plastics mostly come from households
near the rivers and they are not directly affected by this. However, during the storms, a
flood of garbage is almost always seen washed ashore in Manila Bay.
It is therefore dangerous to think that we can place boxes around individual spheres and
address them independently. The approach that has developed for thinking and planning
comprehensively about the interlinked problems of economy, society and environment is
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
Using the most known definition by World Commision on Environment and Development
(1987), sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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member states, to protect human rights, and promote sustainable development. To
achieve this, international agenda were being adopted, tackling the biggest
problems that the world is facing. One of these agenda is the SDGs.
nited Nations
Source: U
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https://sdgs.un.org/goals and click on every goal. Moreover, as a summary, below are the
infographics, also shown in the website.For the Philippines, being among the 51 original
member state of UN since 1945, 151 indicators are being monitored, which you can read here:
https://www.coa.gov.ph/sdg/.
Source: “Goal 1: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
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https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1.
GOAL 2: ZERO HUNGER
Source: “Goal 2: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal2.
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GOAL 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Source: “Goal 3: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3.
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GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
Source: “Goal 4: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4.
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GOAL 5: GENDER EQUALITY
Source: “Goal 5: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5.
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GOAL 6: CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Source: “ Goal 6: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6.
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GOAL 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
Source: “ Goal 7: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal7.
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GOAL 8: DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Source: “ Goal 8: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8.
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GOAL 9: INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Source: “ Goal 9: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9.
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GOAL 10: REDUCED INEQUALITIES
Source: “ Goal 10: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal10.
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GOAL 11: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
Source: “Goal 11: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11.
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GOAL 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
Source: “ Goal 12: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12.
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GOAL 13: CLIMATE ACTION
Source: “ Goal 13: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13.
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GOAL 14: LIFE BELOW WATER
Source: “ Goal 14: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14.
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GOAL 15: LIFE ON LAND
Source: “ Goal 15: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal15.
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GOAL 16: PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS
Source: “ Goal 16: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16.
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GOAL 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
Source: “ Goal 17: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17.
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How is the Philippines faring in achieving SDGs?
As mentioned earlier, the Philippines is monitoring 151 indicators. Here are some notable
achievements and needs for improvement of the country per goal (Philippine Statistics
Authority, 2020):
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are entry-level.
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Household income per capita among Philippines’ Gini
the bottom 40% of the population and percentage (a measure
the total population increased in of wealth inequality, the
growth rates from 5.3% in 2015 to higher the %, the more
10.8% in 2018. unequal the distribution
(Expanded Maternity Leave Law of wealth is) increased
(from 60 to 105 days)) from 44% in 2015 to
47.9% in 2018.
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$32.72M in 2018. 2018.
(Enhanced National Greening
Program by DENR)
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References:
Caparas, R.M.Z. (2019, July 10). DOST Showcases Solutions to UN Sustainable Development
Goals in Science Fair. DOST-NCR, Retrieved July 25, 2020 from:
https://ncr.dost.gov.ph/view-article.php?view_id=dost-showcases-solutions-to-un-sustainable-de
velopment-goals-in-science-fair
Evangelista, A. (2018, July 26). The long wait to 'Zero Hunger'. Rappler, Retrieved July 25, 2020
from: https://rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/zero-hunger-bill-4-years-in-the-making
Philippine Statistics Authority (2020, March 4). SDG Watch, Retrieved July 27, 2020 from:
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https://psa.gov.ph/sdg
Tanchuling, M.A., Osorio, E. (2020). Plastic Wastes Survey in River Mouths Discharging to
Manila Bay. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020EGUGA..2211731T/abstract/
The World Bank Group. (2020). School enrollment, primary (% net). The World Bank Data,
Retrieved July 25, 2020 from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR
United Nations. (n.d.). About the Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved July 25,
2020, from:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 1: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 2: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal2.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 3: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 4: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 5: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 6: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 7: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal7.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 8: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 9: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9.
UNDP (n.d.). Goal 10: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal10.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 11: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27,
2020, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11.
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UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 12: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 13: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 14: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27,
2020, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 15: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27,
2020, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal15.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 16: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, UNDP, Retrieved: July 27,
2020, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16.
UNDP (n.d.). “Goal 17: Department of Economic and Social Affairs”, Retrieved: July 27, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17.
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