ME 217: Energy, Environment & Society

Fall 2014

Photo by Bobby Magill

Mechanical Engineering
ME217 Energy, Environment & Society
 About the instructor

Prof. Andrea Mammoli

Office: ME436A (4th floor, southwest corner of ME building)

T: 2779215
W: http://www.me.unm.edu/~mammoli/me217.html
E: mammoli@unm.edu

Office hours: T 3:30P to 6:00P

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 Course syllabus
1. Introduction and Motivation
2. Energy basics 10. Photovoltaics
3. Techno-socio-economic 11. Solar thermal
considerations
12. Wind energy systems
4. Environmental impacts of
energy use 13. Biomass & Biofuels

5. Fossil fuel resources 14. Energy efficiency

6. Stationary combustion systems 15. Energy storage

& the electric power grid 16. Transportation
7. Carbon sequestration 17. Options for the future
8. Nuclear energy systems 18. Geoengineering
9. The solar resource

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 Textbook
Sustainable Energy

Richard A. Dunlap

First Edition, 2014

Cengage Learning

ISBN-13: 978-1133108689
ISBN-10: 1133108687

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 Other references
MacKay, D. Sustainable
Kreith, F. and Kreider, J. Energy Without the Hot Air.
Principles of Sustainable UIT Cambridge UK 2009.
Energy. CRC Press 2011 Download free pdf at
http://www.withouthotair.co
m/ or buy paper copy

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 Assessment

●
Class participation 10%
●
Homework 30%
●
Midterm test 25%
●
Final test 35%

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Why should we care about energy?
●
Energy is the prime mover for the economy –
without abundant and cheap energy there is no
economy
●
Fossil reserves are finite, and we are burning
through them fast
●
Fossil reserves are not found uniformly around
the world, and increasing demand creates
geopolitical instability
●
Consumption of fossil fuels is affecting the
composition of the atmosphere and the climate

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 The good news
●
Sustainable energy technology is improving by
the day, and many technologies are becoming
economically attractive.
●
There is tremendous opportunity in many areas
including R&D, design, manufacturing, economics,
policy development and others.
●
Sustainable energy has the potential of renewing
the world's economic outlook.
●
It's good for the planet and for future
generations.

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 Historical perspective
●
Humans are omnivores – use energy from animal & vegetable
sources
●
3-2M years ago: energy management via shelter, clothing,
hunting
●
1M years ago: man learns to control fire
●
10000-8000 years ago: domestication of animals
●
5000 years ago: nonferrous metals using wood as energy
source
●
3500 years ago: ferrous metals
●
3500 years ago: wind power on Nile vessels
●
2000 yeas ago: water-powered mills used by Romans

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 Large energy events in antiquity

216 BC: Carthaginians vs. 200 BC: Great Wall of China

Romans ●
300,000 men for 10 years
●
100,000 men ●
Average energy output:
●
10,000 horses 21 MW
●
Average energy output: 9 MW

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 Energy normality today

Palo Verde nuclear plant (AZ)

3942 MW peak capacity
2,055 full-time on-site employees

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 Energy and economy
●
The human development
index (HDI) measures
standard of living
●
HDI goes up with energy
consumption, but with
diminishing returns
●
> 50 GJ/year/capita of
energy use produces a good
standard of living
●
Energy consumption of
human body at rest: 100W
or 3.15 GJ / year

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HDI around the world

http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries

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 The finite nature of fossil reserves
●
Underlying global demand for energy by
2050 could triple from its 2000 level if
emerging economies follow historical
patterns of development.
●
Ordinary rates of supply growth --
taking into account technological,
geological, competitive, financial and
political realities -- could naturally boost
energy production by about 50%.
●
This gap – this Zone of Uncertainty – will
have to be bridged by some
combination of extraordinary demand
moderation and extraordinary
production acceleration. So, we must
ask: Is this a Zone of Extraordinary
Opportunity or Extraordinary Misery?

http://www.shell.com/home/content/future_energy/scenarios/

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 Where is the oil?
Proven reserves (conventional & unconventional).
Ease of extraction depends on resource type.
http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=reserves

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 Climate change I: CO2 emissions
Some facts:
●
Historically steady
concentration 280ppm
●
Concentration now ~400ppm
●
Rapid increase from direct
and indirect measurements
starting in late 1700s
9
●
2010 emissions: 36.7 x 10
tons CO2 equivalent
●
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions
are increasing concentration

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 Climate change II: effect of CO2
●
CO2 is a greenhouse gas
●
Visible radiation from sun
passes through atmosphere
(mostly) and heats surface
●
Infrared heat from surface
absorbed by GHGs (CO2, CH4,
N2O etc.)
●
Effective emissivity of earth
surface decreased – higher
temperatures needed to
maintain thermal equilibrium
●
These effects can be measured,
they are not an opinion!

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 Climate change III: so what?
●
Climate is a very complex and
highly nonlinear system
●
Strong interactions of
atmosphere, ocean, biosphere
●
Models are full of uncertainty:
●
Clouds
●
Ocean absorption
●
Forest growth
●
Ice sheets & shelves
●
Most models predict a 2ºC average
increase in surface temperature
with a doubling of CO2

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Possible consequences

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 Possible consequences
●
Nutrient availability shifts in
coastal upwelling zones
●
Zones of depleted oxygen
(dead zones) become larger
and longer-lasting
●
Shifts occur in the
geographic ranges and die-
off rates of some ocean
species
●
Corals and mollusks
experience declining
calcification rates and corals
exhibit more frequent
bleaching events

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 Possible consequences
●
Average area burned by wildfire
per year in parts of western
United States increases by two to
four times per degree of warming
●
Decrease of fire risk in grasslands,
which may wither into deserts
●
Disturbances arise from changes in
the frequency and timing of fire,
pests, and disease
●
Predictions of fire risk are difficult
because they do not yet account
for feedback in ecosystem
●
Detailed predictions of rainfall at
the local level also difficult

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 And more...
●
Decrease in annual runoff
●
Increase in severe precipitation events
●
Heat-related deaths increase, cold-related deaths drop
●
Insect-borne diseases shift location
●
Respiratory illnesses, asthma increase
●
Increased risk of water contamination
●
Sea level rise impacts coastal communities
●
Damage from severe weather increases
… and many others

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 Factual assertions:
●
global fossil-fuel burning emits over 37 billion tons of
carbon dioxide equivalent per year;
●
if CO2 concentrations are doubled then average
temperatures will increase by 1.5–5.8◦C in the next
100 years;
●
a temperature rise of 2◦C would cause the Greenland
ice cap to melt within 500 years;
●
the complete melting of the Greenland ice cap would
cause a 7-meter sea-level rise.
Answering these is a scientific question – they are either true
or false, more or less likely, etc.
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 Ethical assertions:
●
it’s wrong to exploit global resources in a way that
imposes significant costs on future generations;
●
polluting should not be free;
●
we should take steps to ensure that it’s unlikely that
CO2 concentrations will double;
●
politicians should agree to a cap on CO2 emissions;
●
countries with the biggest CO2 emissions over the
last century have a duty to lead action on climate
change.
The answer to these questions is not either true nor false – it
depends on our values or judgement – best left to politicians?
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 A major ethical assertions

“Sustainable development should meet the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs”

●
What is a “need” anyway?
●
How many generations in the future do we care
about?
●
What about population growth?
●
Should we just go back to subsistence farming?

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Is energy the real problem?

Energy is not the

only GHG emitter,
but certainly it is
the biggest.

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 Who's responsible?

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 Historical emissions

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The macro energy budget

Total 99.75 quads

(1015 Btu) or
29.2 x 1012 kWh

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 Sources
●
MacKay: Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air,
chapter 1
●
Shell International BV, Shell Energy Scenarios to
2050 - An era of volatile transitions
●
Australian Academy of Science: The Science of
Climate Change – Questions and Answers
●
National Research Council: America's Climate
Choices
●
National Research Council: Warming World –
Impacts by Degree

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