"Understanding the Future of Sustainable
Energy"
Challenges
Climate Change
Pollution
-Ozone
-Acid Rain
-Sulfur dioxide
-Particulate Matter
-Nitrogen Oxides
-Carbon Monoxide
Energy Standard
Scale
Economic
National Security
Our primary means of energy generation is through the combustion of fossil fuels. Through combustion the chemical energy stored in fossil fuel is converted to heat (thermal energy) then to electricity or motion. Combustion is used in automobiles, airplanes, ships, as well as in most power plants. In the combustion process carbon dioxide and small amounts of pollution are formed. Carbon dioxide is a prime forcing factor for global climate change and just small amounts of pollutant emissions is a health risk for the public. Concerning pollution includes ozone, acid rain, sulfur dioxide, particular matter, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide.
Pollution is a serious health concern through out the country
(Source: U.S. EPA).
Current air quality in the U.S. can be found at http://www.airnow.gov
Through policy and technology advancement improvements in pollution emission reductions have been made. However, with increased population significant efforts will have to be made to continue the downward trend in pollutant emissions. It will be very difficult and unlikely that pollutant concentrations can be brought below non-health effecting values with our current energy strategy. Below is a description of the most important pollutants.
Total National Emission Trends
(Data from U.S. EPA)
Header: Looking down from the Hollywood Hills, air pollution is visible in downtown Los Angeles on a late afternoon. (source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Los_Angeles_Pollution.jpg)