EVS ASSIGNMENT

Sem-2
Naman Jain, 59 , HRM B

Answer 1.
Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from
natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished.
For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing,
even if their availability depends on time and weather.
Renewable energy is energy from a source that does not get
exhausted even when used repeatedly. It replaces itself
naturally, which means it is ideally available in
abundance to be used in a continuous manner. As the
civilization evolved, human soon realized the importance
of finding other means of energy, apart from fossil fuel,
which is exhaustible and harmful to nature.

Importance of Renewable Energy in Developing

Countries

• Studies showed that almost 40% of the population

still relied on old fashioned methods of fossil fuel as
they could not afford the highly-priced new renewable
fuels. Now one may think, how renewable energy is
costly? As a matter of fact, renewable energy is not
costly, but the infrastructure demands certain
engineering process that creates an initial cost. This
is the cause of the vast disparity in the economies
between the developing and developed countries.
• While the price of fossil fuels is mounting, we are
able to control and decrease the cost of energy through
renewable energy in a more sustainable manner. It is
also cleaner and safer for the planet as it emits low-
carbon. The disadvantages of other fuels have become
the advantage of investing in renewable energy.
• Non-renewable energy sources such as crude oil and coal
are still the primary source of energy in developing
countries. Most of them import these fossil fuels from
other countries that produce them. At this rate of
consumption, these un-renewable sources of energy such
as coal mines and oil wells, will soon dry out. So
it is essential to know for a fact that fossil fuels
are at the risk of rapidly getting over.The pollution
caused by fossil gases has always been known, and the
world is now more aware of the health hazards caused
by it. An alternative source of energy is now
imminent.
• Technology and the costing related problems around the
installation of renewable energy can be resolved by
collaborating with developed nations. An increase in
manufacture and a decrease in consumption of energy
should be promoted to see a growth in income, wealth,
and living standards. This will give developing
countries a chance to be equal with developed
countries. Industries and corporates should show
responsibility for cleaner energy. This also opens the
gates of these emerging nations to learn technology and
provide job opportunities.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy is the transformation of heat, the energy that
comes from the sun. It has been used for thousands of years
in many different ways by people all over the world. The
oldest uses of solar energy is for heating, cooking, and
drying. Today, it is also used to make electricity where
other power supplies are not there, such as in places far away
from where people live, and in outer space.

Uses of Solar Energy

• As heat for making hot water, heating buildings
and cooking
• To generate electricity with solar cells or heat engines

• To take the salt away from sea water.

• To use sun rays for drying clothes and towels.

• It is used by plants for the process of photosynthesis.

• To use in cooking (Solar cookers).

Advantages:
1. Solar power is pollution free and causes no greenhouse
gases to be emitted after installation.
2. Reduced dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels.
3. Renewable clean power that is available every day of the
year, even cloudy days produce some power.
4. Return on investment unlike paying for utility bills.
5. Virtually no maintenance as solar panels last over 30
years.
6. Solar can be used to heat water, power homes and
building, even power cars.
7. Excess power can be sold back to the power company if
grid intertied.
8. Can be installed virtually anywhere; in a field to on a
building.

Disadvantages:
1. High initial costs for material and installation and
long ROI (however, with the reduction in cost of solar
over the last 10 years, solar is becoming more cost
feasible every day)
2. Needs lots of space as efficiency is not 100% yet
3. No solar power at night so there is a need for a large
battery bank
4. Some people think they are ugly (I am definitely not one of
those!)
5. Devices that run on DC power directly are more expensive
6. Lower solar production in the winter months
7. Cloudy days do not produce as much energy
8. Solar panels are not being massed produced due to lack of
material and technology to lower the cost enough to be
more affordable .

WIND ENERGY-
Wind power or wind energy is the use of wind to
provide mechanical power through wind turbines to
turn electric generators for electrical power. Wind power is
a popular sustainable, renewable energy source that has a
much smaller impact on the environment compared to
burning fossil fuels.
 Uses of Wind Energy-
1. One of the most popular uses of wind energy is to
generate electricity. As the wind starts to move the
blades of the turbine, a generator starts to turn which
then produces electricity.
2. Another use of wind energy is in transportation.
Civilizations have for many thousands of years made use
of wind energy for sailing.
3. A more enjoyable use of wind energy is for sports and
activities that rely on the power of the wind.
4. You may not be aware that wind energy can also be used
for pumping water through the use of a wind pump. Wind
pumps have a similar look to a traditional windmill
but instead of milling grain, they can pump water.

ADVANTAGES:
• Wind is a reliable and infinite renewable energy resource
• Wind energy is cost effective, and prices are dropping
still

• Wind energy reduces carbon emissions when used instead of

fossilfuels

• Few running costs when the turbines are up and running.

• Offshore wind farms can take advantage of offshore wind
flow, without affecting the landscape view.
DISADVANTAGES:

• Wind energy can be unpredictable as the amount of

electricity generated is dependent on the speed and direction.

• Wind farms can affect the visual appearance of the

landscape

• Wind turbines can damage the habitats of birds and

marinelife.

• Wind farms can be expensive to construct

Answer 2.

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in

conjunction with the nonliving components of their
environment, interacting as
a system. These biotic and abiotic components are linked
together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy
enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated
into plant tissue. By feeding on plants and on one another,
animals play an important role in the movement
of matter and energy through the system.

The collection of all ecosystems is known as the biosphere. It

can be separated into two categories, biomes
(land) and aquatic life zones (water). Within these two
categories are abiotic and biotic entities, the former
being non-living components of an ecosystem, such as water,
air and nutrients, while the latter is all biological
components, from plankton to humans.

Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

Energy is what drives the ecosystem to thrive. And while
all matter is conserved in ecosystem, energy flows through
an ecosystem, meaning it is not conserved. Energy enters all
ecosystems as sunlight and is gradually lost as heat back
into the environment.
However, before energy flows out of the ecosystem as heat, it
flows between organisms in a process called energy flow. It's
this energy flow that comes from the sun and then goes from
organism to organism that is the basis of all
interactions and relationships within an ecosystem.

Pyramid of Energy

• It is a graphical structure representing the flow of energy

through each trophic level of a food chain over a fixed
part of the natural environment. An energy pyramid
represents the amount of energy at each trophic level and
loss of energy at each is transferred to another trophic
level.
• Energy pyramid, sometimes called trophic pyramid or
ecological pyramid, is useful in quantifying the energy
transfer from one organism to another along the food chain.
• Energy decreases as one moves through the trophic levels
from the bottom to the top of the pyramid. Thus, the energy
pyramid is always upward.
Energy Flow Process

STEP 1- Energy enters ecosystems as sunlight and is

transformed into usable chemical energy by producers such
as land plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria.
STEP 2- Once this energy enters the ecosystem via
photosynthesis and is converted into biomass.
STEP 3- By those producers, energy flows through the food
chain when organisms eat other organisms. Grass uses
photosynthesis, beetle eats grass, bird eats beetle and so
on.

Food Chain
The order of living organisms in a community in which one
organism consumes other and is itself consumed by another
organism to transfer energy is called a food chain. Food
chain is also defined as “a chain of organisms, existing in
any natural community, through which energy is transferred“.
Every living being irrespective of their size and habitat,
from the tiniest algae to giant blue whales, need food to
survive. Food chain is structured differently for different
species in different ecosystems. Each food chain is the vital
pathway for energy and nutrients to follow through the
ecosystem.
In a certain food chain, each organism gets energy from the
one at the level below. In a food chain, there is reliable
energy transfer through each stage. All the energy at one stage
of the chain is not absorbed by the organism at the next
stage.

How Energy Flow Affects the Food and Energy Pyramids

• Energy flow can be described through food chains as the

transfer of energy from one organism to the next,
beginning with the producers and moving up the chain
as organisms are consumed by one another. Another way
to display this type of chain or simply to display the
trophic levels is through food/energy pyramids.
• Because energy flow is inefficient, the lowest level of the
food chain is almost always the largest in terms of
both energy and biomass. That's why it appears at the
base of the pyramid; that's the level that's the largest.
As you move up each trophic level or each level of the
food pyramid, both energy and biomass decrease, which
is why levels narrow in number and narrow visually
as you move up the pyramid.
• Think of it this way: You lose 90 percent of the
available amount of energy as you move up each level.
 Only 10 percent of the energy flows along, which cannot
support as many organisms as the previous level. This
results in both less energy and less biomass at each
level.
• That explains why there's usually a greater number of
organisms lower on the food chain (like grass, insects
and small fish, for example) and a much smaller number
of organisms at the top of the food chain (like bears,
whales and lions, for example).
Biogeochemical Cycles OR Nutrient Cycle

All elements in the earth are recycled time and again. The
major elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous,
and sulphur are essential ingredients that make up organisms.
Biogeochemical cycles refer to the flow of such chemical
elements and compounds between organisms and the physical
environment. Chemicals taken in by organisms are passed
through the food chain and come back to the soil, air, and
water through mechanisms such as respiration, excretion, and
decomposition.
As an element moves through this cycle, it often forms
compounds with other elements as a result of metabolic
processes in living tissues and of natural reactions in the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, or lithosphere.
Such cyclic exchange of material between the living
organisms and their non-living environment is called
Biogeochemical Cycle.
Following are some important biogeochemical cycles −
• Carbon Cycle- Carbon enters into the living world in

the form of carbon dioxide through the process of

photosynthesis as carbohydrates. These organic compounds
(food) are then passed from the producers to the consumers
(herbivores & carnivores). This carbon is finally
returned to the surrounding medium by the process of
respiration or decomposition of plants and animals by
the decomposers. Carbon is also recycled during the
burning of fossil fuels.
• Nitrogen Cycle- Nitrogen is present in the atmosphere in
an elemental form and as such it cannot be utilized by
 living organisms. This elemental form of nitrogen is
converted into combined state with elements such as H,
C, O by certain bacteria, so that it can be readily
used by the plants.
• Water Cycle- The evaporation of water from ocean,
rivers, lakes, and transpiring plants takes water in the
form of vapors to the atmosphere. This vaporized water
subsequently cools and condenses to form cloud and
water. This cooled water vapor ultimately returns to the
earth as rain and snow, completing the cycle.
• Oxygen Cycle- The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical
transitions of oxygen atoms between different oxidation
states in ions, oxides, and molecules through redox
reactions within and between the spheres/reservoirs of
the planet Earth.
• Phosphorus Cycle- The phosphorus cycle is the process by
which phosphorus moves through the lithosphere, hydrosphere,
and biosphere.
• Sulphur Cycle- The sulfur cycle is the collection of
processes by which sulfur moves between rocks, waterways
and living systems. Such biogeochemical cycles are
important in geology because they affect many minerals.

Importance of Nutrient Cycling in Ecosystem

All living organisms, biomolecules and cells are made up of
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus. These
elements are essential for life. It is important to recycle
and continuously replenish nutrients into the environment
for life to exist.
Nutrient cycling is important for:

• It is required for the transformation of nutrients from

one form to another so that it can be readily utilised
by different organisms, e.g. plants cannot take atmospheric
nitrogen and it has to be fixed and converted to
ammonium and nitrate for uptake.

• Transfer of nutrients from one place to another for

utilization, e.g. air to soil or water.

• Nutrient cycles keep the ecosystem in equilibrium and help

in storing nutrients for future uptake.

• Through nutrient cycling, living organisms interact with

the abiotic components of their surroundings.
Answer 3.

Environmental issues are defined as problems with the

planet's systems (air, water, soil, etc.) that have developed
as a result of human interference or mistreatment of the
planet. These include pollution, over-population, waste
disposal, climate change, global warming, greenhouse effect,
etc.
Various environment protection programs are being practised
at the individual, organizational and government levels
with the aim of establishing a balance between man and
environment. One of the biggest threats to public health in
Delhi ( i.e where our college CVS is located) is because of
rising air pollution in the city. The Respirable Suspended
Particulate Matter (RSPM) values in many parts of Delhi exceed
the permissible value in most parts of the city almost
throughout the year. In May 2014, the World Health Organisation
declared Delhi to have the worst air quality in the world.
It is no wonder then that the Air Quality Index in Delhi
averages in the Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy range. Consequently,
more and more people are getting unwell due to lung and
related infections and children, the elderly and the sick are
the worst affected. In December 2015, in what was an
unprecedented decision, the Government of NCT of Delhi shut
down schools and our college too due to air pollution..

CAUSES
• The causes of air pollution in Delhi include vehicular
exhaust from the large number of vehicles that ply on its
roads, construction work, rising population and its
 demands to stubble burning in the neighbouring
agricultural states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

• Another cause that often gets overlooked are the weathering

Aravalli hills that are also being destroyed in many
parts of Delhi NCR in the name of development.

• In Delhi today, pollution is one of the most critical

problems facing the public and concerned authorities.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Delhi is
the fourth most polluted city in the world in terms of
suspended particulate matter (SPM). The growing pollution is
responsible for increasing health problems. The
deteriorating environment is the result of population
pressure and haphazard growth.

• Industrial development has been haphazard and unplanned.

Only about 20% of the industrial units are in approved
industrial areas; the remainder are spread over the city in
residential and commercial areas.

• Road transport is the sole mode of public transport; there

has been a phenomenal increase in the vehicle population,
which has increased from 2 lakh in 1971 to 32 lakh in 1999.

Water pollution is another hazard to public health. Many

households complain of receiving impaired quality water,
which is perhaps due to mixing of potable water with sewage
water due to break in the pipes. There is also an
undocumented dependence on ground water in Delhi, which is
concerning since many parts of Delhi are noting heavy metal
laden ground water.
High density of population in Delhi also poses threat to
public health. Noise pollution on the roads and some
localities of Delhi is a common problem. Quality of Life is
also significantly under question especially in slums, some
urban villages and in the always crowded Delhi Metro,
buses and marketplaces. There is also an year-round threat of
disasters such as epidemics, fire, etc.

Effects of poor air quality

Effects on children -
2.2 million children in Delhi have irreversible lung damage
due to the poor quality of the air. In addition, research
shows that pollution can lower children's immune system and
increase the risks of cancer, epilepsy, diabetes and even
adult-onset diseases like multiple sclerosis. Children are more
vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution as they
are growing and developing which means that they breathe a
higher rate of air per kilogram of their body weight. They
also spend more time outside and are thus more exposed to
it.
Effects on adults -
Poor air quality is a cause of reduced lung capacity,
headaches, sore throats, coughs, fatigue, lung cancer, and early
death. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in case
the particulate matter (≤ pp10) is not controlled, the
aerosols would work as virus carriers/host in the rapid
spread of the pandemic.
Prevention and Action
To create awareness regarding the environmental issue i.e air
pollution near our college area or we can say in whole Delhi,
the ECO CLUB of our college with the help of other societies
and other clubs of our college can take major steps for
prevention of this issue, Steps which can be taken are as
follows;
• Several activities can work to spread awareness among
students.
• On Environment Days and Earth Days or other
significant days, the club can hold competitions like
poster making, slogan making, speeches on the environment,
poem recitations, quiz competitions, skits, etc.
• Also, the schools can conduct workshops on cleanliness
and safety, health and hygiene,harmful effects of air
pollution, waste segregation—rallies for Earth,
plantation drives, cleanliness drives, and a lot more.
• Eco clubs functioning in colleges usually undertake
seminars, workshops, and paper presentations on topics
related to environmental issues and their prevention
measures.
• . The club can create awareness regarding environmental
issues. Also, the club could work to develop a clean and
green campus.
• Programs like Nukkad Nataks and even flash mobs are held
to generate awareness. Field visits are conducted to
nearby schools and orphanages to for an enriching
experience for students.
 • Field trips to environmentally important places like
polluted areas, wildlife sanctuaries, etc. create awareness
among students. Rallies, human chains, road marches are
all activities that can create an impact.
• Providing official sealed certificates to all the college
club members and also for participating in events. This
will act as a sense of appreciation for the people being
involved in such a great work for great purpose and
will surely help in boosting up of spirits.

Not only ECO CLUB but at individual or group level rest of

the people in the area can also participate, because its not
only the problem of one partical area infacts it is a
global threat along with many other like deforestration,
water pollution, noise pollution, global warming.

TOGETHER WE CAN ACHIEVE GREAT HEIGHTS.