1. Energy Sources and Sustainability
Sustainability at Suffolk University SF 197-A-09
09/21/09

2. Energy for Sustainability
Pattern of economic, environmental, and social progress that meet the needs of the present day without reducing the capacity to meet future needs.
Sustainable energy
Patterns of energy production and use that can support society’s present and future needs with least life-cycle economic, environmental, and social costs.
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

3. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Definitions
Life-cycle
The cost of a product from acquiring its original raw materials to manufacturing, transporting, and using it to its final disposal
Life-cycle analysis
Captures full cost over an extended time period.
Coal-burning: considers not only the carbon emissions but the full range of economic, environmental, and social costs and benefits, processing, and transport, power-plant operations, waste disposal
Photovoltaic array: includes the consideration of costs of materials acquisition, production process, and waste disposal.
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

4. Important considerations
Sustainable energy goes beyond short-term economic effects to consider environmental, social, security, and long-term economic implications of energy choices
Sustainable energy aims to sustain the availability of energy to meet the needs of future generations.
Renewability or abundance of the energy resource for long term reliability
Life-cycle
Economic benefits and costs, including cost-effectiveness and national and local economy effects
Environmental benefits and costs, including local, regional and global effects
Social benefits and costs, including effects on human health, communities, equity, and the disadvantaged
Security benefits and costs, including energy, environmental, and national effects
“present-thinkers” and “future-thinkers”
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

5. Environmental Limits of Fossil Fuels
Global Climate Change Trends
Rising global emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases
Rising global concentration of CO2
Rising global mean temperature
Retreating polar ice caps due to higher temperatures
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

6. Energy for Sustainability (2008)

7. Energy for Sustainability (2008)

8. Response to Global Warming
Mitigating climate change by reducing GHG emissions through technology, planning, and policy
Policy directions
Kyoto protocol
European Union and other countries
U.S. stats and cities
Adapting to climate change by
Lessening the impacts using technology and planninh
Anticipating effects and modifying practices so that we can leave with those effects in the future
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

9. Additional Information
Table 2.5 p. 59 Environmental Impacts of Energy Sources
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

10. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Nuclear Power
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

11. Nuclear Power (MIT Study)
Costs are key factor: private investors are not willing to make risks without large government support
Safety
Proliferation of radioactive materials
Radioactive waste storage
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

12. Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Energy conversion efficiency – is the effectiveness of converting one form of input energy to another more useful form. If we can convert more useful energy out of a unit energy we are converting energy more efficiently
Energy functional efficiency – is the useful performance we can get out of the energy we consume.
Energy conservation – is defined as behavioral changes made by individuals or communities to save energy by cutting back on the functions energy provides.
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

13. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Energy Intensity
Energy Intensity
Indicates how much a national economy is dependent on energy per unit of economic output or gross domestic product (GPD)
If energy efficiency is low therefore efficiency is high in that economy
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

14. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Energy Consumption
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

15. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Energy Efficiency
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

16. Renewable Energy: Wind Power
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

17. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Photovoltaic Power
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

18. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Bioethanol Fuel
Energy for Sustainability (2008)

19. Energy for Sustainability (2008)
Oil is a nonrenewable resource and production continues to increase to meet growing demand.
Scientific consensus that the global climate change forced by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions is occurring
Global consumption of energy continues to increase at 2% per year
Fossil fuels with their CO2 emissions and other environmental effects still provide more than 85% of our energy
Renewable energy contributes only to a small share of U.S. and global commercial energy\Energy efficiency improvements have helped reduce energy intencity of the economy
Energy for Sustainability (2008)