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SourceS and MethodS

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RENEWABLE ENERGY: Sources and Methods

Copyright 2010 by Anne Maczulak, Ph.D.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maczulak, Anne E. (Anne Elizabeth), 1954Renewable energy : sources and methods / Anne Maczulak.

p. cm.(Green technology)Includes bibliographical reerences and index.ISBN 978-0-8160-7203-3 (hardcover)ISBN 978-1-4381-2748-4 (e-book)1. Renewable energy sourcesJuvenile literature. I. itle.J808.2.M33 2010621.042dc22 2009010352

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Book printed and bound by Bang Printing, Brainerd, MNDate printed: December 11, 2009Printed in the United States o America

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Preace ix

Acknowledgments

Introduction iii

1 Earths Energy Sources 1

Te Worlds Appetite or Energy 2

Case Study: Western Energy Crisis, 20002001 6

Renewable or Nonrenewable 8

Oil 10

Suns Energy Stored in the Earth 14

Carbon Economics 16

Our Renewable Energy Resources 20

Smart Energy Grids 22

Social Aspects o Alternative Energy 24

Energy Programs in the Global Community 26

Te U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and

Environment 28

Conclusion 28

2 Recycling 31

Te Grassroots History o Recycling 33

How Recycling Saves Energy 35Industrial Raw Materials rom Waste 39

Recycled Materials Chemistry 1

High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) 2

Minerals and Metals 4

Contents


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Case Study: Recycling during World War II 46

Rubber Recycling 48

Conclusion 49

3 GasolineAlternativeVehicles 51

Evolution o Alternative Vehicles 53

Biouels 57

Case Study: oyotas Prius 58

Synthetic Fuels 62

Battery Power 64

Combustion 65

Fuel Cell echnology 66

Nuclear Fission and Fusion 69Natural Gas Fuels 70

Next Generation Hybrids 72

Conclusion 74

4 Biorefneries 75

odays Renery Industry 77

Pipelines 80

Te U.S. Department of Energy 81

Case Study: Alaskas Oil Economy 84

Biorening Steps 86

Developing the Biorening Industry 89

Conclusion 91

5 InnovationsinCleanEnergy 93

Alternative Energy Emerging 94

Wind, Wave, and idal Power 97

Solar Power 101Solar Films 108

Hydropower and Geothermal Energy 109

Nuclear Energy 113

Direct Carbon Conversion 117


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Fuel Cells 120

Conclusion 124

6 GreenBuildingDesign 125

Building Green Comes o Age 127

Controlling Energy and Heat Flows 129

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

(LEED) 131

Cooling and Ventilation 138

Insulation 140

Daylighting 142

Windows echnology 144

Water Conservation 146Case Study: Four Horizons House, Australia 147

Managing Waste Streams 150

Of the Energy Grid 151

Conclusion 154

7 EnergyromSolidBiomass 156

Te Earths Biomass 158

ypes o Biomass 160

Te Phosphate Bond 163

Conversion to Energy and Fuels 164

Te Energy Value o Garbage 166

A Biomass Economy 167

Case Study: Te Chicago Climate Exchange 169

Conclusion 171

8 FutureNeeds 172

Appendixes 174

Glossary 184

FurtherResources 190

Index 199


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xx

Preface

T rst Eart Day too p a on Apri 22, 1970, an ourr main y

aus a handul o arsightd popl undrstood th damag ingin it ai y on t nvironmnt. Ty un rstoo a so t at natura

rsours o not ast orvr. An inrasing rat o nvironmnta isastrsazar ous wast spi s, an w o sa strution o orsts, an watr

an ot r rsours onvin Eart Days oun rs t at saving t nvi-ronmnt would rquir a dtrmind ort rom sintists and nonsin-tists a i . Environmnta sin t us tras its irt to t ar y 1970s.

Environmnta sintists at rst a a ar tim onvining t woro onoming a amity. Sma ai y angs to t nvironmnt ar mor

iu t to s t an sing xp osiv vnts. As it appn t nviron-mnt was ing assaultd y oth small damags and hug disastrs. T

u i an its a rs ou not ignor string wast umps, i nsssaus y po ution, or strt s o an no ongr a to sustain i

Environmnta aws gan to ta s ap in t a o owing t rstEart Day. Wit t m, nvironmnta sin grw rom a uriosity to aspia ty taug t in un r s o univrsitis.

T on ition o t nvironmnt is onstant y anging, ut a mosta sintists now agr it is not anging or t goo . Ty agr on onothr thing as wll: Human ativitis ar th major rason or th inrd-il harm dalt to th nvironmnt in th last 100 yars. Som o ths angs annot rvrs . Environmnta sintists t r or sp it t irnrgis in a rssing t r aspts o o ogy: aning up t amaga ra y on to t art , anging urrnt uss o natura rsoursand dvloping nw thnologis to onsrv Earths rmaining naturalrsours. Ts o jtivs ar part o t grn movmnt. W n nwt no ogis ar invnt to u t o jtivs, t y an o tiv y

a grn t no ogy. Grn no ogy is a mu tivo um st t atxp ors nw mt o s or rpairing an rstoring t nvironmnt. T


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x Renewable Energy

st ovrs a road rang o sujts as indiatd y th ollowing titls oah ook:

Cleaning Up the Environment

Waste reatment

Biodiversity

Conservation

Pollution

Sustainability

Environmental Engineering

Renewable Energy

Eah volum givs ri historial akground on th sujt andurrnt thnologis. Nw thnologis in nvironmntal sin ar thous o th rmaindr o ah volum. Som grn thnologis ar morthortial than ral, and thir us is ar in th utur. Othr grn th-nologis hav movd into th mainstram o li in this ountry. Ry-ling, altrnativ nrgis, nrgy-int uildings, and iothnologyar xampls o grn thnologis in us today.

Tis st o ooks dos not ignor th importan o loal orts yordinary itizns to prsrv th nvironmnt. It xplains also th rol

playd y larg intrnational organizations in gtting dirnt ountrisand ulturs to nd ommon ground or using natural rsours. Grnhnology is thror part sin and part soial study. As a iologist, Iam nouragd y th innovativ sin that is dirtd toward rsuingth nvironmnt rom urthr damag. On goal o this st is to xplainth sinti opportunitis availal or studnts in nvironmntal stud-is. I am also nouragd y th ddiation o nvironmntal organiza-tions, ut I rogniz th hallngs that must still ovrom to halturthr dstrution o th nvironmnt. Radrs o this ook will alsoidntiy many hallngs o thnology and within soity or prsrving

Earth. Prhaps this ook will giv studnts inspiration to put thir uniqutalnts toward laning up th nvironmnt.


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xx

Acknowledgments

Iwou i to t an t pop w o ma t is oo possi Appriation gos to Boi MCuthon who hlpd turn my unrndan t ortia i as into ar, straig t orwar i ustrations. Tan s

a so go to E iza t Oa s or provi ing p otograp s t at rount t pastan t prsnt o nvironmnta t no ogy. My t an s a so go to Jo iR o s, w o is a onstant sour o nouragmnt. Fina y, I t an FranDarmstadt, xutiv ditor, and th talntd ditorial sta at Fats On Filor t ir va ua p.


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xx

Hun r s o gnrations av r i on a air y s ort ist o nrgysours to prorm work. Wood, oal, oil, and natural gas srvdw as u s or provi ing at an or oo ing; win an watr

powr sawmi s an s ips at sa. But t uman popu ation i notonn its to a simp i . Communitis xpan an n nwtyps o v i s. Ts ommunitis soon gan growing at a pathat outstrippd natural rsours. Som parts o th world ran out orsours astr t an ot r rgions, ut t y maintain t ir stronggrowing onomis y importing matria s rom rsour-ri arasForsts gan isapparing, an a ngs in mining oa inrasCru oi rsrvs a so am inrasing y iu t to n an tapand vntually sintists ould alulat a utur point in tim whn thwor s oi rsrvs wou gon.

Pop noti somt ing s as ar y as 1950: T s is a turn

avy wit po ution. no ogy a rtain y roug t nw onvninsto ivi ization, ut t s t no ogis a so intro u pro ms to a gn-ration l with th jo o nding ways to halt th harm ing don tot nvironmnt. Gra uats in p ysis, mistry, nginring, io ogyan o ogy wou soon as to apt t jo o rinvnting t waysoity us an rus matria s or ma ing nrgy.

Renewa e energyors an a vantag ompar wit ot r isi-plins in nvironmntal sin aus o th radth o nw thnolo-gis mrging vry ay in t is . A t oug U.S. nrgy t no ogison ntr squar y on xtrating oa an ru oi , nw t no o-gis gan to ontri ut to ovra nrgy onsumption. T nuc earenergy in ustry grw in t 1950s ut ovr tim its promis immNular powrs utur rmains vry unrtain, and, as ommunitis

av rsist nu ar nrgy or a varity o sa ty onrns, oa , oian natura gas again ominat wor nrgy pro utiont s t r

Introduction


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xi Renewable Energy

nrgy sours supply 87 prnt o nrgy nds worldwid. Sin th1970s, world nrgy prodution has n ld y mammoth oil ompa-nis, oal produrs, and powr utilitis that us ithr nular or non-nular nrgy sours.

T rst warning o a sa hang in world nrgy supply ourrdin th 1970s whn a nwly stalishd oil cartelin th Middl East tookontrol o th rgions plntiul supply o hap oil. Amrians larnd toadjust to nw spd limits and highr pris. Latr, drivrs ontndd withgas rationing in whih ul purhass wr limitd. Prhaps th gasolinpump would somday run dry.

As th U.S. oil supply rom orign shors gan to look a it lssrtain, nvironmntal xprts intrjtd mor disquiting nws. Tywarnd, rst, that th Earths oil supply would rah a point o dimin-ishing rturns and, sond, that ul missions wr aumulating todangrous lvls in th atmosphr, nough to aus gloal tmpra-turs to ris. T puli ound it diult to imagin that an xtra artrip to th stor ould in som way mak th Earths tmpratur ris.Many popl thror ignord th impnding gloal limat risis andontinud driving ar and ast, nouragd y th at that th sin-ti ommunity was immrsd in a hatd dat ovr whthr gloalwarming truly xistd.

In th 1990s, Vi Prsidnt Al Gor spok or a growing onsortiumo sintists who had n ollting vidn o rising tmpraturs in

th atmosphr. Ty warnd th puli that missions rom all ormso transportation, rtainly a larg portion rom ars and truks, wraumulating in th atmosphr and intrring with th Earths normalhating and ooling yls. By th nd o th dad, a small numr oautomakrs ord drivrs a nw opportunity, that is, a ar powrd y adual gasolin-ltriity systm. T numr o xprts onrnd ovrEarths warming trnd inrasd, and th ovrwhlming majority o thmwarnd that limat hang was ausd not y natur ut y humans.Som drivrs trid th nw gasolin-ltri vhils and ound that thyonsrvd gasolin and ut missions. But this shi in thinking did notsway most U.S. ar uyrs or ig U.S. automakrs that quatd drivingwith havy vhils with ig ngins, drivn at high spds.

It is diult to idntiy a dning momnt that turnd th tid towardlss-polluting nrgy sours, ut y th start o th nw ntury mostpopl had dvlopd a rsh outlook on th nvironmnt. T numrs


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o popl who agrd that th plant might indd warming passdth numrs o skptis. A nw ommunity mrgd: Popl who wantdaltrnativ nrgis or thir ars, puli vhils, and houss. Rnwalnrgy sours that ypassd th nd or ossil uels am mor than

a urious ida or staunh nvironmntalists; rnwal nrgy joindth mainstram. Politiians who on sod at th notion o a warmingplant hangd ours and gurativly wrung thir hands ovr th pro-lm o gloal warming. oday, any politiian would oolish to run oro without rst dvising a lar and asil nrgy plan or onsrvingossil uls.

In 1988, th World Mtorologial Organization (WMO) and thUnitd Nations Environmnt Programm (UNEP) stalishd a tam osintists, govrnmnts, and poliy xprts alld th Intrgovrnmn-tal Panl on Climat Chang (IPCC). T IPCC has takn th lad inassssing th urrnt knowldg on gloal tmpraturs andgreenhouse

gas uildup in th atmosphr. Ordinary itizns ound limat hangsuh a omplx issu to grasp that thy on ovrlookd th ral vidnor thm: rising sa lvls, dying orsts, an inras in intious dis-ass, and dilitatd oan osystms, to nam a w lus. T IPCChas drawn togthr all o ths issus and ommuniats th prolmsth unknowns, and th possil plans or ringing gloal warming undrontrol.

Rnwal nrgis, and in partiular low-mission nrgis, mak

up a ruial part o th IPCCs proposals on limat hang. By rad-ing th organizations priodi rports on limat hang, a nonsintistquikly larns that no singl ara o xprtis will solv gloal warming. Itis a massiv prolm ausd y a trmndous inras in industrial ativi-tis that gan with th industrial rvolution. But advans in rnwalnrgy hold th gratst potntial or ating a plant that humanity hasaltrd.

Renewable Energy rviws th urrnt status o rnwal nrgythnologis, a ritial sujt sin th world now inrass its nrgyonsumption twn 1 and 3 prnt vry yar. It ovrs th urrntrat o nrgy onsumption and th onsquns o ontinuing at thisrat. T ook xplains how th main onvntional orms o nrgyoal, oil, and gasontriut to onomis, ut its main thm is thrmarkal divrsity o idas that ar orn vry day in th ld o altr-nativ nrgy.


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xi Renewable Energy

T rst haptr rviws th Earths nrgy sours rom th ossiluls that hav n dpndd upon or th past ntury to a nw approahto nrgy prodution and distriution. T sond haptr disussshow ryling plays a part in nrgy onsrvation y managing natural

rsours and allowing industris to nd nw uss or ommon matrialsand produts. Chaptr 2 also ovrs nw thnologis in ryling andsom o th aras whr ryling an improv.

Chaptr 3 ovrs th important topi o altrnativ ul vhils,whih will rtainly a ruial pi o a nw nrgy utur. T haptrxplains why nw vhils annot dsignd and produd as an isolatdtask, ut rathr thir suss dpnds on oopration twn automak-rs, ul ompanis, and th puli. T haptr also dsris th th-nologis hind iologially asd uls, synthti uls, attris, and ullls, on o th nwst thnologis in altrativ nrgy.

Chaptr 4 provids inormation on th iorning industry, whihmaks nw uls or transportation or hating y using plant-mad om-pounds, mainly thanol. It disusss also th promis o iorning andth daunting hallngs ahad or this industry i it hops to ath up withth ossil ul industry. Chaptr 3 also provids a spial look at piplinsin ul transport.

Chaptr 5 dsris innovations in lan nrgy sours that ar ingpursud mainly aus thy do not aus as muh air pollution as os-sil uls. T haptr xplains th advantags and disadvantags o solar,

wind, watr, and gothrmal nrgis. It also ollows th ooks thm inmphasizing th inrdil numr o options and nw idas mrging inths nrgy thnologis.

T nxt haptr provids a primr on nw mthods or onstrutinguildings that ar dsignd or nrgy and rsour onsrvation. Nwuls or vhils may onsumd in th utur at rats that xd thirprodution. Nw uildings onront th sam hallng; utur onstru-tion projts will inrasingly adhr to prinipls that rdu wast, rusmatrials whnvr possil, and onstrut a uilding that will onsrvnrgy. Chaptr 6 ovrs th latst thnologis in hating and ooling,lighting, insulation, windows, and wast managmnt.

Chaptr 7 dsris th us and th prditions or biomass as animportant nrgy sour to onsrv ossil uls. It ovrs th natur oiomass, why it ats as an nrgy sour, and th disions that an mad today to mak iomass a valual nrgy sour or th utur. T


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haptr also disusss th mrging usinss o uying and slling ar-on in intrnational markts, surly on o th most innovativ idas tomrg rom th rnwal nrgy arna.

Renewable Energy ors an nouraging array o thnologis or

oth th nar utur and long-trm planning. I only hal o ths nwthnologis om into ing, soity will hav ratd a vry good hanat saving th Earth rom its dangrous ours.


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E

nrgy is th primary or in th univrs. Enrgy dns th Earthsiomes an sustains i . A i , rom sing - micro es to u

w a s, xists in a ontinuous pross o onsuming, using, an storingnrgy. Human ommunitis wor in t sam way as ot r ommunitis

ith rgard to nrgy managmnt. Any ommunity onsums ul to pro-du nrgy, ut th ommunity must also onsrv som o th ul or thnxt gnration. Tis conservat on o nrgy sours rom on gnrationto t nxt is t prinip in sustaina i ity, t pross y w i asystm survivs or a prio o tim. No systm in io ogy asts orvr, anthis is also tru or sustainaility. Sustainaility prolongs th tim that livingthings an surviv, ut it annot nsur that li will go on orvr.

T Eart s rsours an a its atura capita . Capita is anyasst t at as va u. Natura apita , maning t ings in natur su astrs, rivrs, oa , an wi i , must manag in t sam way t atrsponsil popl manag thir mony. A prson who posssss $10,000ut spnds vry pnny o it in a singl month has not onsrvd mon-tary apita . Tat prson rtain y wi not a to sustain a om orta i sty . By ping a u gt an ma ing pru nt pur ass, t sam

amount o mony wi ast ar ongr; t is is onsrvation.A savings aount ontaining $10,000 with no othr orm o inom

rprsnts a nonrenewable resource. On th mony has n spnt, no

mor mony wi magia y appar. In trms o natura apita , Eart smain nonrnwa rsours ar oi , natura gas, oa , mta s, minra san an . Nonrnwa rsours an t oug t o as p t w n t nrgy ndd to xtrat thm rom th Earth osts mor than th nrgyvalu o th rsour itsl.

Earths Energy Sources


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A prson an onsrv $10,000 y gtting a jo and arning monyto rnw any unds spnt ah month. In th sam way, th Earth on-tains renewable resources that rplnish ovr tim: orsts, plants, wildli,watr, lan air, rsh soil, and sunlight. Rnwal rsours may tak a

long tim to rplnishorsts an tak 100 yars to maturor a shorttim, suh as sunlight that rturns ah morning.

Living sustainaly mans onsrving nonrnwal rsours yintllignt us o rnwal rsours. Evn rnwal rsours must managd arully or ls thy too an disappar astr than thy arrplad. T world is now xprining this vry prolm aus inmany plas orsts, plants, wild animals, lan watr, lan air, and rihsoil hav om dpltd or natur an rpla thm.

Sustainal us o rsours dpnds on th prinipls o onsrva-tion and rsour managmnt. Sin th 1960s, som popl hav knownthat onsrvation o nonrnwal nrgy sours is o paramount impor-tan. At th sam tim, popl must put inrasd ort into using rnw-al nrgy sours rom th Sun, wind, and watr. Tis haptr xaminsth rnwal nrgy sours availal today, aspts o managing thssours, and nw thnologis that will ruial or utur gnrations.

Tis haptr rviws th urrnt stat o nrgy us in th world andovrs spi haratristis o rnwal and nonrnwal nrgis.It ovrs th ways in whih soity has om to rly on oil. It ontrastssuh dpndn on ossil uls with th nts o swithing to rnwal

nrgy sours. T haptr also inluds spial topis rlatd to nrgyus suh as aron managmnt and th mhanism y whih utilityompanis distriut nrgy to onsumrs.

T W ATT

World nrgy onsumption has inrasd rapidly sin th industrial rv-olution introdud mhanizd prodution mthods. Howvr, sin thrst Earth Day on April 22, 1970, th puli has grown inrasingly on-sious o th nvironmnt and th nd to prudnt in th us o naturalrsours. T rat o nrgy onsumption has slowd in th Unitd Statssin th 1980s, ut Amrians ontinu to us nrgy lavishly ompardwith vry othr part o th world.

Amrians onsum aout 100 quadrillion British thermal units(Btu) yarly. (An ngin urning 8 illion gallons [30 illion l] o gasolin


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produs aout 1 quadrillion [1015] Btu o nrgy; 1 Btu quals th nrgyrlasd in urning on woodn math.) T Unitd Stats onsums mornrgy than it produs, so it must import th dirn. T ollowingtal shows how th Unitd Stats urrntly uss its nrgy sours.

Eltri powr prodution uss th iggst portion, aout 40 prnt,o all nrgy usd in th Unitd Stats. ransportation onsums 28.5 pr-nt o th ountrys nrgy us, industry uss 21.1 prnt, and rsidn-tial and ommrial uildings us 10.4 prnt.

Listyl and a ountrys typ o onomis at th rat at whihrsidnts onsum nrgy. Many o th highst nrgy onsumrs produvry littl o th nrgy thy us within thir ordrs. Luxmourg, orxampl, onsums a rathr larg amount o nrgy pr apita, yt it pro-dus almost non o its nrgy. T ountris that in th past dad havonsistntly usd th most nrgy pr apita pr yar ar th ollowing:

U.S. Energy Consumption

Energy Source

Consumed

Percent of

Total Energy

Consumption

Main Sectors Using

the Energy Source

petroleum 39.3 transportation; industry;

residential and commercial;

electric power production

natural gas 23.3 transportation; industry;



coal 22.5 industry; residential and

commercial; electric power

production

nuclear power 8.2 electric power production

renewable sources 6.7 transportation; industry;



Source: Energy Inormation Administration (EIA)


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Qatar, Unitd Ara Emirats, Bahrain, Luxmourg, Canada, and thUnitd Stats. T Unitd Stats (as a nation) onsums mor than 21 pr-nt o all th nrgy onsumd gloally; China is th nxt iggst on-

sumr at 15 prnt. Appndis A and B list th top nrgy-onsuming(rud oil) ountris and nrgy onsumption trnds, rsptivly.

National nrgy apptits orrlat with a ountrys industrialization.T Intrnational Enrgy Assoiation (IEA) has stimatd that dvlopdountris us aout 3.4 million tons (3.1 million mtri tons) o nrgysours (on an nrgy-quivalnt asis with oil), ut dvloping ountrisus only 1.7 million tons (1.5 million mtri tons).

T worlds onsumption o rnwal and nonrnwal naturalrsours an xprssd y a alulation alld th ecological ootprint.An amount o nrgy as larg as 100 quadrillion Btu is diult to imagin,ut an ologial ootprint puts rsour onsumption into undrstandaltrms. T ologial ootprint quals th amount o land and watr nddto sustain li and asor wasts. Tis an alulatd or a singl prson,a ountry, or th ntir plant. Sin th mid-1980s, th worlds populationhas xdd its ologial ootprint. In othr words, popl ar onsuming

Te worlds human population has exceeded its ecological ootprint by about 20

percent. Each year, the average person on Earth uses more resources and produces more

wastes than the planet can produce or absorb, respectively. Some o the consequences

o exceeding the ecological ootprint have already become evident: depleted sheries,

diminished orest cover, scarcity o reshwater, and buildup o wastes.


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rsours astr than th Earth an rpla thm. Popl ar al to noti thts o a growing ologial ootprint whn thy s pollutd watr and airshrinking orsts and grasslands, or inrasing gas and ltriity osts.

T typ o nrgy sours usd y soity ats th ologial oot-

print in two dirnt ways. First, som rsours rquir that th land disturd to xtrat th rsours, whih produs larg amounts odangrous wast. For xampl, oal mining ompanis somtims rmovntir mountaintops to gt at th oal undrnath, and thn oal urningputs missions into th air that ausglobal warming. Sond, y rduingth us o rsours that damag and pollut th nvironmnt and rpla-ing thm with rnwal and nonpolluting rsours, popl an rduthir ologial ootprints. At this point in history, vry individuals goalshould to rdu thir ologial ootprint as muh as possil whilmaintaining an aptal listyl.

Countris rdu thir ologial ootprints in th sam way as po-pl. Countris an minimiz dpndny on ossil uls, nourag th

Oil, natural gas, and coal have provided the bulk o world energy consumption since the

Industrial Revolution. O nonossil uel energies, nuclear power currently produces about

6 percent o world energy demand, biomass combustion 4 percent, and hydroelectric

dams 3 percent. Renewable energies can only have a meaningul eect on ecological

ootprints i people simultaneously reduce their use o ossil uels.


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dvlopmnt o rsours as altrnativs to ossil uls, prt pollutionlanup mthods, and dsign thnology that russ most o th wast mat-rials that soity produs. Countris also must ovrom ostals rom pol-

In the warm summer o 2000, the western United States experienced a sudden increase in

energy prices, power outages, and power rationing by utility companies. Many amilies strug-

gled through rolling blackouts in which utility companies rationed electricity to conserve a alter-

ing power supply. In July, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) news release assured

that the commission ordered its sta to conduct an investigation o electric bulk power markets

so that it can determine whether markets are working e ciently and, i not, the causes o the

problems. Bulk power markets reerred to buyers and sellers o electricity throughout the coun-

try. FERCs statement began the unveiling o a serious aw in the U.S. energy supply that would

have an impact on fnancial markets around the world.

T e western energy crisis o 20002001 began with a drought that lowered water levels and

reduced the amount o electricity that hydroelectric powerplants could produce. Electricity reserves

at Caliornias energy utilities ell to low levels, so these companies bought more electricity rom

Washington and Oregon, which had excess amounts. At the same time, the nations wholesale sup-

ply o electricity called thepower grid urnished irregular amounts o electricity at varying prices. A

crisis began to heighten. Caliornia electric companies were required by law to charge no more or

electricity than certain predetermined prices. Companies in other states that controlled the grid,however, charged whatever price they liked. Caliornias electricity costs rose higher and higher.

Caliornia stumbled into its energy crisis because in 1998 the state deregulated its electric

industry, meaning electric supply and distribution to customers occurred on a competitive sup-

ply and demand basis. T e goal o deregulation was to decrease overall energy costs or custom-

ers. But the electricity shortage in 2000 made it di cult or Caliornia to buy cheap electricity to

keep inexpensive energy owing. Utility companies began purchasing electricity at high prices as

out-o-state electricity sellers knew they could take advantage o Caliornias problem. T e prices

in short-term electricity sources, called spot markets, uctuated, and energy availability in the

state turned into a day-to-day emergency.

Caliornia might have weathered its energy shortall until the autumn, but the out-o-state

companies controlling electricity supply increased the pressure even more. Electric wholesalers

such as Reliant Energy, Dynegy, and Enron began illegally manipulating electricity prices and sup-

ply. Many wholesalers created alse data to imply that they too had run short o electricity so

Case Study: Western Energy Crisis, 20002001


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E E S

itis, intrnational rlationships, and th stat o thir onomis. T sidarCas Study: Wstrn Enrgy Crisis, 20002001 on pag 6 dsris howths ators at a ountrys aility to ontrol its ologial ootprint.

that they could claim that they were orced to raise prices. Incredibly, these companies devised

plans to sell the same electricity over and over and invented schemes that urther skewed normal

supply and demand patterns. T e FERC investigation later explained in summarizing its fndings,

One scheme in particular . . . is designed to create an illusion o power owing in a circle rom

John Day in Oregon to Mead in Nevada [large energy utilities], through the critical congested

[electricity] pathways in Caliornia, without any input o power whatsoever. Enron and similar

companies sold electricity, but they ailed to deliver it. By 2001, Pacifc Gas and Electric in north-

ern Caliornia fled or bankruptcy, and Southern Caliornia Edison needed emergency help to

avoid the same ate.

Rolling blackouts continued through the winter and into 2001. FERCs investigation mean-

while had made progress in untangling a complicated and multibillion dollar world o buying and

selling electricity. By the end o 2001, FERC had collected evidence o numerous irregularities by

the energy brokers who had held Caliornia hostage to high-energy prices. Further investigations

led to the downall o several wholesale energy companies and jail time and fnes or their execu-

tives. Various leaders proposed that the ederal government take over the nations energy supply,

but the National Energy Development ask Force reused to stop deregulation because the taskorce elt deregulation made the economy stronger.

T e sight o wealthy executives pleading their cases to judges caught the nations attention

more than the root cause o Caliornias energy crisis. T e crisis illustrated the importance o

maintaining a steady, reliable energy supply to households, but the nations massive power grid

also required diligent control. Caliornia had learned several lessons as well. It had ailed to build

enough power plants to keep up with population growth, and no one had anticipated an unusu-

ally cold winter in 2000 or a severe drought that summer that lowered water levels in reservoirs.

Hydroelectric plants generated less energy due to the lowered water levels, but demand or power

rose, and the crisis also made prices or natural gas rise.

T e western energy crisis ruined careers, destroyed companies and jobs, and wiped out bil-

lions o dollars in retirement savings. It demonstrated the intricate ways in which energy has

become woven into state and national economies. Any uture sustainable practices in energy use

will need the support and oversight o government and good business decisions.


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Renewable Energy

WA WA

T onpt o rnwal vrsus nonrnwal rsours provids thornrston o sustainaility. Rnwal rsours ar rplad y natural

prosss ovr tim, ut vn ths must onsrvd so that thy ar notusd up astr than natur an rpla thm. Convrsly, nonrnwalrsours suh as oil or minrals ar ormd in th Earth ovr millions oyars. Earth an rplnish nonrnwal rsours, ut this ours ovrons suh as th millions o yars ndd to transorm organic mattr intoossil uls. Do popl hav any ral han to at th ntir plant andprsrv its natural walth? Environmntalists think vryon an inddmak a dirn in uilding sustainaility y ollowing th thr rsrdu, rus, and ryl. Ts ativitis onsrv oth rnwal andnonrnwal rsours, as dsrid in th ollowing tal.

Enrgy ompanis would wis not to dplt rsours astr thanth Earth rplas thm, a pross known as recharging. Howvr, rpln-ishmnt o rnwal rsours has om inrasingly diult auso a growing world population. Although many ators ontriut to

Te worlds countries dier in energy use, per country and per capita. Tis satellite image o the planets city lights

shows where most energy is consumed. In general, countries that produce a large volume o goods and services

(high gross domestic product) also consume the largest amounts o energy. Te U.S. Department o Energy has

joined other energy agencies in projecting that world energy consumption will double in the next 50 years. (NASA)


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E E S

Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

Renewable

Resources

How These Resources

Replenish Themselves

air Earths respiration and plant and animal

respiration

animals reproduction

orests reproduction and germination

grasses and plants reproduction and germination

microbes sexual and asexual reproduction

nutrients (carbon,nitrogen, phosphorus,

sulur, etc.)

decomposition o plant and animal wastesollowed by biogeochemical cycles

soil Earths sediment cycle

sunlight activity at the Suns core

water biological reactions, including respiration

wind climate, tides, and weather

NonrenewableResources

How These ResourcesBecome Depleted

coal mining or energy production by burning

land development or population expansion

metals mining or industrial use

natural gas extraction or energy production by burning

nonmetal minerals mining and other extraction methods or

industrial use and other commercial uses

petroleum extraction or energy production by combustion

and industrial uses

uranium nuclear energy production


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0 Renewable Energy

population growth at unsustainal rats, two important historial dvl-opmnts may hav had th largst impat on population aus thyinras li span. First, th dvlopmnt o th mirosop 275 yars agold to gratr knowldg o miros and an inrasing undrstanding

o disas. Sond, onvnins introdud y th industrial rvolutionallviatd th nd or manual laor in many industris. In short, li hadom lss physially dmanding, and mdiin had rdud th inantmortality rat and lngthnd li spans. Populations in dvlopd anddvloping rgions gan to undrgo exponential growth, whih mansthat th numrs o humans inras at an inrasingly astr pa ovr ashort priod o tim.

Exponntial population growth is th singl most signiant a-tor in humans inrasing ologial ootprint. In this dad, humans

hav n dplting rsours 21 prnt astr than Earth an rhargthm. Environmntal sintists on dsri this prolm as th numro plant Earths that popl nd to support thir ativitis. At prsnt,humans nd 1.21 Earths to support urrnt onsumption o rsours.

Crud oil, also alld ptrolum, is a thik liquid ound in undrgroundrok ormations. T ptrolum industry xtrats rud oil out o th

ground and thn rns it into produts suh as gasolin. Crud oilontains a omplx mixtur o ompounds mad o aron hains withhydrogn moluls attahd to ah link in th hain. Extratd rud oilalso ontains small amounts o sulur, oxygn, and nitrogn ompoundsmixd with th hydrocarbons. T prinipl o oil rning is to rmovrud oils impuritis, that is, anything that is not a hydroaron.

Oil rnris lan up rud oil y hating it to driv o th impuri-tis. Tis hating stp to puriy a liquid is alld distillation. Light, vola-til (asily vaporizd) matrials suh as gass lav rud oil rst, and thlast volatil omponnts, suh as asphalt, rmain in th mixtur th lon-

gst. Rnris rovr th ollowing omponnts rom rud oil, listdrom th most to th last volatil: gass, gasolin, aviation ul, hatingoil, disl oil, naptha solvents, grass, luriants, waxs, and asphalt.

Rnris urthr distill som o th omponnts to ollt spihmials alld ptrohmials. Dirnt industris hav a nd or


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E E S

spi ptrohmials that vary mainly y th typs o hydroarons

thy ontain. Ptrohmials urrntly go into th prodution o th ol-lowing matrials: organi solvnts, pstiids, plastis, synthti rs,paints, and som mdiins.

Prsnt gloal rud oil rsrvs still ontain nough to last svraldads. At som point, howvr, nding nw rsrvs, drilling, andxtrating th oil will not our ast nough to mt th worlds oil app-tit. T Unitd Stats rahd that ritial point aout 1970 whn rudoil prodution or th rst tim stoppd inrasing in this ountry andgan dlining. T Unitd Stats turnd to imports rom Saudi Araia,Mxio, Canada, Vnzula, Nigria, and Iraq, plus small amounts rom

othr ountris, to mak up th dirn. Ovrall, U.S. oil supplis omrom th plas listd in th ollowing tal. T rst o U.S. oil rquir-mnts om rom domsti sours mainly in th Gul o Mxio. Oall U.S. oil prodution, th Gul o Mxio supplis mor than twi thamount o oil rom any othr rgion.

Crude oil exploration, extraction, and rening make up a multitrillion dollar

industry. Te United States has 33 oil reneries employing more than 65,000 people.

Service stations employ another 100,000 workers. Any transition to new uels must

be coordinated with the oil industry in order to protect world economies. Many

scientists have considered new uses or reneries, perhaps by modiying operations

to make natural gas or biomass uels.


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Renewable Energy

T xat amount o rud oil in th worlds oil rsrvs has not ndtrmind vn though xprts hav trid various mthods to alulatth rmaining volum. Author Sonia Shah pointd out in hr 2004 ookCrude: Te Story o Oil, T siz o oil rsrvs is gnrally alulatd

Sources of U.S. Crude Oil, 2008

RegionPercent ofTotal U.S.

Consumption

Individual Regions

Contributing at Least10 Percent

(Percent of total imports from

the regions main suppliers in

parentheses)

mj ss

North America 33.56 Canada (52); Mexico (38); United

States (7)

Arica 19.95 Nigeria (42); Algeria (24); Angola(20)

Middle East 17.05 Saudi Arabia (64); Iraq (24); Kuwait

(10)

South America 15.98 Venezuela (66); Ecuador (13);

Europe 11.54 Russia (24); United Kingdom (18);

Netherlands (13); Norway (13)

mi ss

Asia 1.86 Vietnam (2); Azerbaijan (1); China

(1)

Oceania (Australia,

New Zealand,

Pacifc islands)

0.06 Australia (100)

Source: Jon Udell


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E E S

y rsrvoir nginrs mployd y oil ompanis. On oil ompanisdtrmin what thy liv is an aurat alulation o an oil rsrvssiz, ths ompanis may rlutant to mak th inormation pulior th thr ollowing rasons: (1) to prott th status o thir ountrys

oil import or xport ativitis, (2) to ttr ontrol ul pris, and (3) toprott national surity.

Estimating an oil rsrv starts y drilling an appraisal wll to gaugth xtnt o th undrground rsrv and to sampl undrground rokor gologists to study. Gologists an mak prditions on th pro-aility o nding oil asd on th onstitunts o rok. Yt vn withth most snsitiv statistial tsts and th most advand ptrohmis-try, Shah wrot, what th oily sampls on th la tal rval aout thormations undr th ground is limitd. Ptrohmistry is a spialtyin hmistry rlatd to th haratristis o ompounds ound in rudoil. Shah also quotd ptrolum gologist Rort Stonly o th RoyalShool o Mins in London, England: Until w hav atually produdall o th oil that w vr shall, w ar involvd with a gratr or lssdgr o unrtainty. o ompliat mattrs, oil ompanis hangthir ndings ovr tim as thy us mor sophistiatd mthods to al-ulat oil rsrvs, and ountris may hdg th truth aout thir oilrsrvs or politial rasons.

Dspit th unknowns rgarding oil rsrvs, sintists and nonsin-tists an agr on th ollowing aturs o world rud oil:

T ollowing nations hold th largst oil rsrvs, in ordr:Saudi Araia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Unitd Ara Emirats,Kuwait, Vnzula, Russia, Liya, and Nigria.

T Unitd Stats onsums th most oil (almost 21 mil-lion arrls pr day), aout thr tims th nxt largstonsumr.

China and Japan onsum th nxt largst volums, morthan 7 and 5 million daily arrls, rsptivly.

Saudi Araia holds th largst oil rsrvs, aout 262 illionarrls, ollowd y Canada with aout 180 illion arrls.

T U.S. oil onsumption gap is inrasing, whih maksth ountry mor dpndnt on oil imports and uls thatrpla oil.


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Renewable Energy

O all ountris in th world, th Unitd Stats has th largst andastst-growing onsumption gap, alulatd as ollows:

oil consumption oil production = consumption gap

China ollows losly hind th Unitd Stats in oil onsumption,and sin 1993 China has also om an oil importr aus its rsrvsannot mt its dmand. Evn th vast oil lds in astrn China hav ndlining sin 1980. As oil-produing ountris nd thir oil rsrvsmor and mor diult to rah, altrnativ uls om a ritial nd.T dision to mphasiz altrnativ and rnwal nrgy sours thr-or an attriutd to two ators: (1) th pollution ausd y urningptrolum uls, and (2) th invital dlin o oil rsrvs.

T T ATT nrgy stord in th Earths rud oil originally am rom th Sun. Ovrthousands o yars, gnration upon gnration o all typs o li on Earththrivd, did, and thn domposd. T domposd organi mattr au-mulatd undr th Earths oans and migratd into dp sdimnts. TEarths mantl xrtd trmndous prssur on ths organi ompoundsand th aron-hydrogn sustans am liquidth oil rsrvs po-pl dpnd on today. Humans annot rpliat th pross y whih Earthormd rud oil, ut thy an dvlop othr ways to tak advantag o th

ultimat sour o all th nrgy, in all its orms, on Earth today, th Sun.Li on Earth uss th Suns nrgy ithr in an indirt or dirt

mannr. T worlds oil rsrvs hav stord th Suns nrgy or millionso yars as a omplx mixtur o aron ompounds. Whn popl usrnd ptrolum produts to run ngins, thy ar using th Suns nrgyindirtly. By ontrast, a hous hatd y sunlight oming in through win-dows is using th Suns nrgy in a dirt mannr.

Enrgy is th aility to do work. Walking, typing on a kyoard, andhating a room ar xampls o ations that rquir nrgy. Civilizationhas dvisd ways to us th Suns nrgy that th Earth stors in th ol-lowing six orms:

ltrial nrgy rom th ow o ltrons

mhanial nrgy in things suh as ngins

light or radiant nrgy rom th Sun


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E E S

hat

hmial nrgy in th onds that hold mattr togthr

nular nrgy in th nuli o atoms

Sunlight travls to Earth in th orm o nrgy alld ltromagntiradiation. Eltromagnti radiation movs through spa at th spd olight, 186,000 mils pr sond (300,000 km/s), and havs lik a wav in apond with troughs and paks. A wavlngth is th distan rom pak to pakor trough to trough in any typ o wav. Sunlight ontains a rang o wav-lngths in whih ah orrsponds to a spi lvl o nrgy. For xampl,long-wavlngth radio wavs arry a low amount o nrgy ompard withshort-wavlngth, high-nrgy X-rays. T ntir radth o th Suns radia-tion and rang o wavlngths is alld th electromagnetic spectrum, and

sin on rrs to ltromagnti wavs as rays, suh as osmi rays. Tollowing tal dsris th Suns ltromagnti sptrum.

Th e Electromagnetic Spectrum

Electromagnetic

Wave Type

Approximate

Wavelength

Range (m)

General Energy

Content

cosmic


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Renewable Energy

T Suns ltromagnti radiation originats rom nular usionrations in whih normous amounts o hydrogn gas rak apart toorm hlium and nrgy. Up to 99 prnt o th hydrogn omins toorm hlium moluls and only 1 prnt o th usion rations pro-

du nrgy availal to th solar systm. Tat small prntag o thSuns total nrgy nonthlss rprsnts a trmndous amount o nrgy.T Sun produs 38633ergs o nrgy pr sond quivalnt to 386 1018megawatts. o put ths units o nrgy into prsptiv, th xplosion o2.2 pounds (1 kg) o N rlass 1 mgawatt o nrgy.

T Sun mits nrgy as gamma rays, whih travl outward into spa.As th gamma rays travl toward Earth, thy los nrgy in th orm ohat. By th tim th Suns radiation rahs Earth, th gamma rays havn transormd to radiation mainly in th visil rang o light, maninglight that popl an s. Photosynthti organismsplant li and sommirosaptur th Suns radiant nrgy, alld solar nrgy, whnsunlight hits th Earths sura. T Earth stors solar nrgy in hmi-al onds produd during photosynthsis. Plants us part o this nrgy.Animals that at th plants or photosynthti miros thn riv thirnrgy. Whn largr animals pry on smallr animals, th prdators gta portion o th solar nrgy and so on until solar nrgy transrs up anntir ood hain. Animals us th nrgy or moving, rathing, think-ing, and untions that kp thm aliv. At ah point in whih th Sunsnrgy transrs rom on typ o living thing to anothr, a small amount

o nrgy dissipats as hat. Tis gradual loss o th Suns nrgy ollowsth sond law o thrmodynamis, whih stats that som nrgy is lostwhnvr nrgy hangs rom on typ to anothr.

A prson, a plant, or a miro annot transr solar nrgy as a allo light, so living things us anothr typ o urrny to mov nrgy romorganism to organism. T lmnt aron srvs as this urrny. Pho-tosynthsis uilds aron-ontaining ompounds, alld organi om-pounds, to stor nrgy. Whn animals at plants or othr animals, thygt most o th nrgy thy nd rom organi ompounds.

CA CC

Caron is th sixth most aundant lmnt on Earth ut rprsnts only0.09 prnt o th mass o th Earths rust. Caron ours naturally inall living lls and is a main omponnt in protins, ats, arohydrats,


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E E S

nuli aids (doxyrionuli aid [DNA] and rionuli aid [RNA]),and vitamins. In at, o all li-sustaining ompounds on Earth, onlyminral salts, watr, and oxygn gas lak aron. T Earths ossil ulsoal, oil, and natural gasalso ontain aron as thir main lmnt

aus thy originally am rom living things millions o yars ago. Onth Earths sura, orsts, th oan, and ossil uls at as th main ar-on stors.

Humans ar lik any othr living organism; thy annot xist with-out aron. Caron thror has om a valual ommodity in soi-ty. Howvr, it also rings two harms to th nvironmnt. First, aronin th orm o th gass aron dioxid (CO

2) or mthan (CH

4) maks

up part o th atmosphrs grnhous gass. Grnhous gass havaidd li throughout th Earths history y holding in th Suns hatnrgy and making th plant a tmprat pla or li to volv. Sinaout 1900, howvr, grnhous gass hav uilt up in th atmosphrand ausd avrag gloal tmpraturs to ris. Sond, aron om-pounds givn o in th omustion o ossil uls omin with othrlmnts in th atmosphr to orm aids that lad to aid rain. Aid rainhas had vry damaging ts on plant and tr halth and th normalhmial onditions in th oan. T Earths aron thror prsntspopl with a di lmma: Popl nd aron as a nutrint, ut thy musttak ar to manag th us o aron ompounds to avoid harming thplant.

Carbon economics rprsnts a mannr o kping trak o nialorms o aronas an nrgy storag matrialand harmul orms oarongrnhous gass. Caron onomis onsists o uying or sll-ing aron units, alld aron osts, on a world trading markt, simi-lar to how stoks ar ought and sold on th Nw York Stok Exhang.In North Amria, usinsss ondut aron transations on th Chi-ago Climat Exhang, whih opnd in 2003. T Univrsity o Chiagoonomist Ronald Coas dvlopd th onpt o trading aron units inth 1960s. Coass journal artil T Prolm o Soial Cost xamindth rlationships twn usinss ations and th wll-ing o ommu-nitis in th ontxt o th nvironmnt: T standard xampl is that oa atory th smok rom whih has harmul ts on thos oupyingnighoring proprtis. Moving th atory or shutting it down taks josrom th ommunity. A ommunity may thror did that it is willingto ndur th disadvantags or th advantag o kping its livlihood.


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Renewable Energy

Coas wrot, W ar daling with a prolm o a riproal natur. Inothr words, popl somtims tak riproal ations. Tis mans that

thy might somtims hoos a harmul ours o ation i th gains othat ation outwigh th losss.

Caron onomis tris to ahiv gratr gains whil lssning thill ts o aron in th world. T ollowing tal prsnts th mainaspts o aron onomis.

Caron trading plays a ntral rol in aron onomis, ut manypopl qustion whthr aron trading atually ontriuts to pollutionand gloal warming. A prson or ompany that stays low its allowallimit o missions may sll xtra aron units to ompanis that hav

xdd thir missions targt. Critis o aron trading say that th plansimply allows pollutrs to ontinu polluting as long as thy ar willing topay a . Caron trading rwards usinsss that produ low missionsy making it possil to arn xtra mony y slling aron rdits. Car-on trading also givs pollutrs xtra tim to ahiv missions limits thatwill om stritr ovr tim.

Carbon or emissions trading, the buying and selling o carbon, has been praised as one o the most innovative

methods or getting industries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Te Chicago Climate Exchange serves

as the main trading house in the United States. Other climate exchanges operate in Europe (the largest climate

exchange), Canada, Australia, China, and Japan, with several new exchanges due to open. Climate experts have not

yet ound evidence that the exchanges have aected global warming.


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E E S

Carbon Economics

Carbon Transaction Description

carbon dioxide equivalent

(CO2e)

a measure used to indicate the global warming

potential o a gas emission relative to CO2

credits amount o CO2e that a business can sell i that

business conducts activities known to limit

greenhouse gas emissions

markets places or institutions that bring buyers and

sellers o carbon credits together

carbon trading (also

emission trading)

the scheme whereby companies sell CO2e to

polluters (also called carbon osetters)

osets a unit o CO2e that can be purchased by a

polluter to be applied against that polluters

excess emissions (oten used interchangeably

with carbon credits)

domestic tradable quota the entire process o buying and selling CO2e

or the purpose o rationing the use o ossil

uels and thereby lowering greenhouse gas

emissions

tax a tax levied on any polluter that exceeds its

legal limit o emissions, based on the amount

o emissions over the limit

direct payment payment rom a governing agency to any

business that produces less emissions than

its allowable limit, based on the amount o

emissions under the limit

cap and trade system in which a limit is set on the amount o

emissions allowed by a businessthe capwhich, i exceeded, the business must buy

osets on the carbon trading market

assigned amount unit a tradable unit o CO2

in the orm o 1 ton

(0.91 metric ton) o CO2e


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0 Renewable Energy

T intrnational traty alld th Kyoto Protocolhas akd arontrading as a nt to th nvironmnt, and aording to th ChiagoClimat Exhang, Appliation o xil, markt-asd mhanisms orrduing grnhous gas missions has ahivd widsprad intlltual

and politial support. Tis road aptan o missions trading wasrtd in th Kyoto Protool, whih stalishd svral missions trad-ing mhanisms. Tough th Chiago Climat Exhang has statd thataron trading maks good usinss sns and nvironmntal sns,othrs disagr. Caron markt analyst Vroniqu Bugnion said in thSan Francisco Chronicle in 2007, Hav thy [aron markts] ahivdany ral rdutions in grnhous gass? Tr is not muh vidn oa rdution. It may too soon to tll i aron trading an slow gloalwarming, ut th World Bank has prditd that aron trading will soonom th largst ommoditis markt in th world. From 2005 to 2006,th gloal aron markt mor than dould th amount o aron quiv-alnts that movd twn uyrs and sllrs. Tis amount ros 63 prntin 2007 and 83 prnt in 2008. In 2008 alon, 5.4 illion tons (4.9 illionmtri tons) o aron quivalnts hangd hands.

WA C

Swithing rom ossil ul urning or nrgy prodution to rnw-al nrgy sours lowrs th total amount o aron rlasd into th

atmosphr as CO2 gas. Six main typs o rnwal nrgis hav nmployd in industrializd plas or this purpos and ar listd in thollowing tal. As th tal shows, rnwal thnologis may ithrmodrn advans in nrgy gnration or anint thnologis that somparts o th world ontinu to us. Solar, watr, and wind nrgy plus thurning o organi wasts togthr aount or 7 prnt o nrgy on-sumption in th Unitd Stats and aout 20 prnt worldwid. Fossil ulsand nular powr supply th rst.

O th main typs o rnwal nrgy, only iomass puts CO2

into thatmosphr. Burning iomass ors a good nvironmntal hoi only ith rat o urning iomass dos not xd th rat o nw plant growthon Earth. Put anothr way, plants must al to rmov mor CO

2rom

th atmosphr than urning puts into th atmosphr.Many rnwal nrgy sours do not produ usal nrgy dirtly,

and quipmnt must onvrt on typ o nrgy into anothr orm. For


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E E S

Renewable Forms of Energy

Energy

Source

Percent of

RenewableSources Description Product

biomass 53 burning o plant

materials and animal

wastes

heat and

gas

hydropower 36 water owing rom

higher to lower

elevations through dams

electricity

wind 5 capture o wind by

turbines

electricity

geothermal 5 tapping steam and hot

water rom the Earths

mantle

heat and

electricity

solar 1 absorbing and storing

heat rom the Sun

heat and

electricity

mgig lgis

hydrogen uel burning hydrogen gas power ormovement

nanotechnology using the unique

properties o materials

on the size scale o

molecules or atoms

electricity

i lgis

water water wheels, dams,

weight

power,

motion

wind windmills, sails power,

motion

movement (kinetic energy) animals, human exertion power,

motion


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Renewable Energy

xampl, th nrgy ontaind in wind turns a turin, whih powrsa gnrator that maks ltriity. Enrgy ontaind in motion, suh aswind or owing watr, is kinti nrgy. Somtims kinti nrgy hlpsonvrt on orm to anothr, suh as th wind turin mntiond hr, or

kinti nrgy itsl might usd. An ox pulling a plow aross a ld isan xampl o kinti nrgy at work.

AT

An nrgy grid or a powr grid onsists o a larg distriution ntwork thatarris ltriity or natural gas rom produrs to ustomrs. T UnitdStats ontains a larg ltrial powr grid, ut smallr rgional gridsalso supply ltriity to ustomrs in, or xampl, southwstrn stats.T U.S. natural gas grid onsists o thousands o mils o undrgroundpips that distriut natural gas throughout th ontiguous 48 stats.

Convntional nrgy grids that hav n usd or many yars distri-ut nrgy in a on-way ashion. A larg powr plant gnrats ltriity,whih ntrs high-voltag powr lins that tak th ltriity to smallr,loal ltri utilitis. Hydroltri dams and coal-fred power plantssupply most o th ltriity on this typ o nrgy grid. T nal on-sumrhouss or usinsssthn draws ltriity o th grid and paysor th amount takn. Tis systm has n onvnint or ustomrs, utit has also n wastul. Evn though ustomrs pay or th ltriity

thy tak, a signiant amount o nrgy is wastd whn popl do notturn o or unplug ltroni dvis whn not in us. On th othr nd oth grid, oal-rd plants gnrat a trouling amount o missions vni thy ar quippd with mission-rduing dvis suh as scrubbers.Hydroltri dams also riv lam or harming riparian ecosystems yrlasing hotprocess waterinto th nvironmnt.

Smart nrgy grids improv on onvntional nrgy distriution intwo ways. First, smart nrgy grids maximiz th us o altrnativ nrgysours that supply ltriity without ausing th nvironmntal harmassoiatd with dams and oal urning. Larg powr plants and thou-sands o mils o powr lins an liminatd y th us o smart nrgygrids. Sond, smart nrgy grids an dsignd to liminat or mini-miz wast y allowing a typ o two-way ow o ltriity. Ts gridsmak it asir or onsumrs to pay or what thy us rathr than whatthy tak.


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A smart nrgy grid is mad up o two main omponnts: a powr

plant and a omputrizd systm that onstantly monitors ltriityusag. Futur smart grids will likly us rnwal nrgy sours. Tomputrizd monitoring systm kps tas on th tims and loationso highst ltriity us and an rdirt powr at any momnt romlow-us loations to high-us loations. Advand smart grids may soononnt to in-hom smart applians, whih also sns pak usag tims.T applians snd inormation to th grid to indiat a lssr or gratrnd or ltriity. Tis two-way ommuniation twn th onsumrand th nrgy grid is alldeedback and is th ky lmnt in rgulatingnrgy us in a mor rsponsil mannr. In tims o high and suddnpowr usag, suh as vnings whn omputrs, kithn applians, andhating or ooling systms all run at on, smart grids pars out nrgy ina staggrd ashion to rdu strain and wast on th ntir systm.

Lou Shwartz and Ryan Hodum, writing or RnwalEnrgyWorldom in 2008, xplaind, In th Unitd Stats . . . although th transmission

Smart grids will contain the ollowing: eedback systems to monitor peak and low energy usage periods, redirection

o extra energy to places with a temporary energy demand, devices or storing wind and solar energy, alternate

emergency routes to avoid system breakdowns, and accommodations or smart appliances, electric vehicles, and

other new technologies as they become available.


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Renewable Energy

grid is 99.97 prnt rlial, ri powr intrruptions hav ost th oun-try narly $100 illion ah yar; apart rom nhand rliaility, smartgrids promis to inras iny o powr distriution and usag, withorrsponding savings in powr and powr onsumption. China urrntlyis planning to ovrhaul its ltriity supply y adopting smart nrgy grids,and Europ and Australia hav also mad invstmnts in smart systms.

CA ACT

ATAT Homownrs and usinsss on it th xpns o nw altrnativnrgy sours as a rason or staying with onvntional nrgy supplidy powr plants. Solar nrgy indd arris a larg pri tag, and insom ass th mony savd on smallr ltri ills dos not pay or th

Engineers design smart energy grids by studying the peak energy use periods o the

grids customers. In the United States, most peak energy patterns ollow the graph

shown here. Energy use alls during the night and peaks in the middle part o the day.

More in-depth studies would show that dierent activities have diering energy usage

patterns. For example, a large actory working three shits has a dierent pattern than a

small oce building.


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E E S

systms purhas pri and installation until dads latr. For this ra-son, many popl rgard altrnativ nrgis suh as solar a luxury itm

In impovrishd parts o th world, millions o popl ar starvingand thy ar not worrid aout int nrgy supply. But sustainal

us o nrgy in dvloping parts o th world nourags th us o loalrsours, rdus halth-thratning pollution, and rats jos. No onhas provn that sustainal nrgy an hlp allviat povrty. Sustainalpratis do, howvr, mak popl mor awar o thir nvironmnt and itspotntial dstrution. Dvloping rgions urthrmor do not hav to undohaits assoiatd with th industrializd world, suh as th us o numrousltroni dvis, larg nrgy-dmanding homs, and high-maintnanluxuris (swimming pools, sports ars, vido gam onsols, t.). Bauso this, industrializd nations and intrnational organizations an hlpdvloping parts o th world uild sustainaility rom th ground up.

Countris that hav n mird in povrty or gnrations and whihnow ar taking old stps toward industrialization hav gon rom ingnrgy-int plas to high nrgy-onsuming plas. T IEA xptsChina and India to aount or mor than hal o world nrgy dmandapproahing th yar 2030. Both ountris rly on oil and oal or powr,and thir powr plants produ normous pollution. BBC orrspondntJams Rynolds dsrid a situation in Chinas Shanxi Provin: At atmpratur o 10C (14F), in th gry-lu dawn, two shoolhildrnhav a thanklss jo to omplt. Ty ar mant to swp away th soot,

dirt and grim rom th shool gat. But this villag is surroundd y oalmins and powr stations, so it is impossil to gt anything lan. Tirnvironmnt rtainly would hav lookd ttr i ths ountris haduilt thir industrial rvolutions asd on sustainal uls rathr thannonrnwal and polluting ossil uls.

Som ountris that hav n uilding strong industrializd ono-misChina, India, parts o th Middl East, South Korahav dvlopdxisting onvntional nrgis rathr than nw thnologis. Tir ladrsmay mphasiz ommr ovr nvironmntal prottion. Whn a largountry or small ommunity dids on th typs o nrgy sour it willus, th dision nompasss mor than luprints or powr plants andpowr lins. Enrgy disions should asd on ah rgions onomy,its loal rsours, and th willingnss and aility o ladrs to work withitizns in making th orrt nrgy hois. T U.S. dral govrnmnthas dvlopd svral agnis that monitor nrgy law, valuat nw th-


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Renewable Energy

nologis, and guid th popula on how to mak sound nrgy onsrva-tion hois. T sidar T U.S. Hous Suommitt on Enrgy andEnvironmnt on pag 28 disusss on suh organization.

A TA CT

T Gloal Enrgy Ntwork Institut has n working sin 1986 to hlpdsign a gloal systm or distriuting nrgy. As part o th San Digoinstituts plan, th nw ntwork would distriut powr drivd mainlyrom rnwal nrgy sours. T sintist R. Bukminstr Fullr laidout his vision or th gloal nrgy ntwork: Eltrial-nrgy intgrationo th night and day rgions o th Earth will ring all th apaity into us

at all tims, thus ovrnight douling th gnrating apaity o humanityaus it will intgrat all th most xtrm night-day paks and vallys.T gloal ntwork in this way has th potntial o moving nrgy around

Te Earths temperature is rising or reasons that cannot be attributed solely to natural cycles. Human activities

that have increased with population growth have caused a rise in the globes overall average temperature. Some

o the many methods that combine to produce enormous databases on temperatures around the world are

weather station readings, satellite ocean and landmass measurements, ocean and atmospheric readings, polar ice

permeability, and polar ice and glacier melt rates.


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th world to plas whr nrgy is ndd most. Fullrs ar-rahing planrquirs larg invstmnts in mony and tim plus ommitmnt amongnations. Surly a gloal nrgy grid would prsnt larg ostals along thway to suss.

A gloal nrgy ntwork rquirs that ladrs gathr nrgy xprts towork on spi phass o uilding suh a ntwork. T IEA, or instanhas rprsntativs rom 20 industrializd ountris working on urrntnrgy qustions. Eah yar, th IEA prsnts an updat on th worldsnrgy usag and prodution, rgions with ovronsumption, and orsidas or utur nrgy managmnt. T ollowing list ontains th IEAsmost rnt osrvations on gloal nrgy:

All urrnt nrgy trnds ar not sustainal.

Oil will likly rmain th lading nrgy sour.Oil lds hav dlind, so undisovrd oil rsrvs will ndd to sustain urrnt onsumption.

Countris must ooprat on holding th avrag gloaltmpratur ris to 3.6F (2C).

Arrsting urrnt gloal tmpratur ris rquirs lowr-ing missions in oth industrializd and nonindustrializdrgions.

T world ontains divrs onomis and ustoms, so uildinga gloal nrgy program will vry diult. For xampl, a standardnrgy grid annot mt Nw York Citys nds in th sam way it wouldsrv Mongolia. IEAs dirtor Nouo anaka statd in a 2008 prssrlas, W annot lt th nanial and onomi risis [o 2008] dlayth poliy ation that is urgntly ndd to nsur sur nrgy supplisand to urtail rising missions o grnhous gass. W must ushr in agloal nrgy rvolution y improving nrgy iny and inrasingth dploymnt o low-aron nrgy. By low-aron nrgy, anaka

mans solar, wind, watr, and nular sours in pla o urning ossiluls or wood. T IEA and othr intrnational organizations put on-sidral orts into alaning th ways to minimiz nrgy onsump-tion, stop nvironmntal day, and addrss soial issus suh as povrtyAppndix C lists th major intrnational groups with ativ nrgy poliyprograms and plans or rahing sustainaility.


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Renewable Energy

CC

T Earths nrgy sours hav n suint or sustaining human li

sin its inption. Humanity in th urrnt ra dpnds mainly on os-sil ulsptrolum, natural gas, and oalto kp industrializd and

unindustrializd ountris running. Tis plan has workd or gnra-

tions, ut sin th 1970s and 1980s sintists hav snt out alarms rgard-

ing th human populations insatial apptit or nrgy. Som sholars

hav alulatd that popl ar naring a point at whih mor than hal o

T

he U.S. House o Representatives Committee on Science and echnology has fve subcom-

mittees: space and aeronautics; technology and innovation; research and science education;investigations and oversight; and energy and environment. T e Committee on Science and ech-

nology was ormed by Congress in 1958 in response to the Soviet Unions launching o the Sputnik

spacecrat the year beore. Feeling that the United States might be alling behind in the technol-

ogy race, Congress asked or increased programs in science and innovative technologies. T e BBC

reported at the time o the launch, T ere have already been calls or an immediate review o U.S.

deenses, given the implications o the technological leap ahead by a political enemy. New studies

would be designed not only or space ight, but also physics, weapons, and environmental studies.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the public turned its attention increasingly to the environment. Air

and water pollution, hazardous wastes, environmental accidents, and the loss o species and theirhabitats seemed to aect every region. In literature, ecologist Rachel Carson alerted readers to

the dangers o pesticides in her 1962 book Silent Spring, and a 1966 science fction novel by Harry

Harrison, Make Room! Make Room!, provided the story line or a 1973 movie Soylent Green, which

popularized the termgreenhouse efect. People were becoming aware o the real problems o gas

emissions, chemical-leaking dumpsites, and wastes pouring into the ocean. T e environmental

subcommittee began to gain an audience or developing new ideas or repairing environmental

harm.

By the 1980s, the ederal government was tackling mounting problems in waste disposal,

environmental hazard, pollution controls, environmental health, and new energy sources. Ater

the 1994 national election, the U.S. House o Representatives reorganized the Committee on

Science and echnology into subcommittees to cover specifc ocus areas. Dana Rohrabacher o

Caliornia became the chairman o the new Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. oday,

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment


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ptrolum has n usd up. Tough natural gas and oal sm to rmainplntiul, no rational prson an dny that thy too will rah an nd.

T onpt o sustainaility rlats to rsours othr than nrgy

as wll: land, lan watr, lan air, and th trmndous spis divrsityEnrgy sustainaility ouss on thnologis to slow th rat at whih po-pl dvour ossil uls. Tis slowing will om aout only i two things hap-pn. First, nw thnologis in rnwal nrgy must rpla ossil ulsas th main nrgy sour. Sond, popl must mak srious attmpts toonsrv all nrgy us rom oth nonrnwal and rnwal sours.

the chair is held by Brian Baird o Washington. T e subcommittee continues its role in evaluating

new approaches to energy use and conducting hearings with experts on the eects o ossil ueluse on pollution and global warming.

T e Subcommittee on Energy and Environments jurisdiction has now expanded to the ol-

lowing main areas:

Department o Energy research, laboratories, and other science activities

renewable energy technologies

nuclear power materials, wastes, and saety

ossil uel energy and pipeline research

alternative energy sources

energy conservation

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) activities in weather,

climate, and ocean conditions

T e subcommittee encourages academic and government researchers to move quickly in

developing the areas listed above. T ese topics are no longer projects or the uture; they have all

now become urgent. Although government has been accused o moving too slowly in times o

crisis, environmental scientists have shown that climate change and natural resource depletion

are true crises without the luxury o time. Organizations such as the Subcommittee on Energy

and Environment can help the United States make the right decisions about building sustainabil-

ity in energy use and natural resources.


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0 Renewable Energy

Enrgy ovronsumption rtainly drivs rom mismanagmnt onrgy so that nrgy wast taks pla. Ovronsumption also omsrom th dsir to own mor things than ndd. Exssiv us o nrgyrsours also rlats to th growth rat o th human population. Evn

i vry prson adoptd a listyl that onsrvd nrgy, th populationwould simply ovrrun th Earths apaity to sustain it in many plas.Tis situation, dnd y th ologial ootprint, indiats that th worldan no longr ondut usinss as usual rgarding ul and ltriityonsumption.

Govrnmnt ladrs hav suggstd that th solution to an nrgy dtis to nd mor hiddn ossil uls in th Earth. Environmntalists oun-tr that suh xploration dos not solv th nrgy prolm and, in at,lads to mor pollution rom urning mor ossil uls. Rnwal nrgysours rom th Sun, watr, and wind or a mor sustainal uturthan th dpndn on ossil uls. Rnwal nrgis hav ostalsto ovrom to sur, ut non o th ostals appar to outsid omankinds ailitis. Prhaps th nxt gnration will know that rnwalnrgy has arrivd whn th us o nonrnwal uls sms osolt.

Rnwal nrgis hav no singl road to suss. Lik th tl-ommuniations industry and th omputr industry or it, nrgythnologys advans will proaly om rom dirnt approahs tomting a nd. Communitis dpndnt on rnwal nrgy will liklyus a omination o solar, wind, hydroltri, and vn nular nrgy.

Tis dirs littl rom th way in whih ountris today us oal, naturalgas, and oil. T nw and growing rnwal nrgy industry will attakth nrgy prolm rom many ronts in ordr to mt human nds.Evryon should also rmmr that sustainaility, howvr sussul,dos not last orvr. odays innovations in rnwal nrgy prolongsustainaility. Innovations that hav arly n imagind will nddto at sustainaility 100 yars rom now and yond.


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T

ation o ryling wasts sms to symoliz th ida o sustain-a i ity. Ry ing an on y a prson iving in a sma apart-

mnt or y a massiv atory. Ry ing u s two omponnts osustaina i ity. First, pop onsrv natura rsours y ry ing itmsthat industris us as raw matrials. Tis drass th dmand that indus-try puts on th nvironmnt y xtrating nw natural rsours rom thEart . Son , ry ing ssns t amount o wasts t at aumu at onEart . T simp ation o putting wasts into irnt ry ing ins a so

ps rmin pop o t amounts o wast t y pro u an mig t pthm think o ways to rdu it.

Most ommunitis in th Unitd Stats hav ryling programs in

i ami is, usinsss, an s oo s partiipat. Som ritis o ry- ing, owvr, av point out t at am itious ry ing programsowvr w -intntiona , o not p t nvironmnt. Ts ritis

l ryling uss mor nrgy than it taks to mak produts dirtlyrom natural rsours. In 1996, th New York imes writr John ir-ny initiat t ry ing at in is arti Ry ing Is Gar ag.irny stat t at an spa was a un ant spit vi n to t ontraryan t at an s or a wisr approa to wast isposathan ryling. Ryling may th most wastul ativity in modrn

mria, h wrot, a wast o tim and mony, a wast o human and

natura rsours. I irny s point mig t av sm rasona in996, to ay s ry ing t no ogy is suprior, an ry ing now p ays a

vita ro in sustaina i ity.T National Ryling Coalition (NRC) ountrd irnys opinion

ith data that show how ryling savs nrgy ompard with making

2

Recycling


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Renewable Energy

produts rom nw raw matrials. T ollowing ryld matrials savnrgy ompard with manuaturing thm:

aluminum, 95 prnt

plastis, 70 prntstl, 60 prnt

nwspapr, 40 prnt

glass, 40 prnt

T NRC urthr adviss all ommunitis to onntrat on th ol-lowing 10 itms or ryling, in ordr o importan to industry, to savth most nrgy and rsours ovrall in th nvironmnt: aluminum,polythyln trphthalat (PE) plasti ottls, nwspapr, orrugatd

ardoard, stl ans, high-dnsity polythyln (HDPE) plasti ottls,glass ontainrs, magazins, mixd papr, and omputrs. T ollowingtal shows that dspit th growth o ryling programs, th UnitdStats has room or improvmnt in ryling.

Recovery of Recyclable Materials

in th e United States

Material

Weight Generated

in Million Tons

(million metric tons)

Approximate Percent

Recovered for

Recycling

paper 86 (78) 50

plastics 29 (26) 11

glass 15 (13.6) 100

steel 14 (12.7) 48

aluminum 4 (3.6) 30

Source: Greenstar North America


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Ryling will not solv all nvironmntal ills. o ahiv sustain-aility, popl must do mor than ryl to onsrv natural rsoursBut ryling rtainly hlps lssn pollution, wast, and natural rsourdpltion, vn i it alon annot x ths prolms. Ryling thnology

ontinus to grow, and ntrprnurs hav invntd nw uss or wastswhil th ryling industry has ound ways to mak ryling lss xpn-siv and mor stramlind.

Tis haptr rviws th history o U.S. ryling programs and looksinto mthods in whih thnology has improvd nrgy savings. Thaptr disusss spialtis in th ryling industry suh as mtals andrur ryling. It also rviws th hmistry involvd in turning a wastmatrial into a ryld matrial. In addition, this haptr provids anxampl o on o historys largst ryling programs, whih took pladuring World War II. Wll-managd ryling programs hav ontriutdand will likly ontinu to aid in sustainaility.

T AT T

CC

Ryling has n part o ivilization or thousands o yars. In 1030b.c.e., Japan mployd an organizd systm o ollting wastpapror th purpos o turning it into nw ryld papr. Littl ryling orwast managmnt sms to hav takn pla during th Middl Ags.

Ryling rturnd, howvr, as a way to mak usinsss mor prot-al. In 1690, th Rittnhous Mill nar Philadlphia turnd rags romusd otton or linn into nw papr. England and th nw olonis sta-lishd a varity o ryling usinsss rom that point onward, rusingmtals, papr, and loth. By th mid-1800s in th Unitd Stats, pddlrswho travld door to door paid a w pnnis to amilis in rturn or anydisardd itms. T pddlrs thn rsold th itms to rasmn. By thnd o th ntury, som towns had st up ryling programs similar toth ursid pikup programs usd todayth rst ursid program

gan in Baltimor in 1875.Rylrs arvd out ntrpriss in larg itis in th arly 20th n-tury, putting aluminum ans, twin, rur, and urlap ags to nw ussCitis suh as Nw York uilt organizd ryling programs; Chiagoput its prisonrs to work sorting wast. World War I and II inrasdth nssity to salvag as muh rylal matrial as possil. For this


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Renewable Energy

purpos, th dral govrnmnt st up th Wast Rlamation Srviduring World War I to run a ryling ort. In World War II, th WarProdution Boards Salvag Division ran on o th most amitious ry-ling programs vr stalishd.

Prosprity rturnd in th yars ollowing World War II and with itam a varity o onvnin produts that nouragd disposal rathrthan rus. By th 1960s, hazardous wasts ratd srious halth thratson land and in watr. T puli and th U.S. Congrss gan to s wastas a srious national prolm, and y 1965 Congrss passd th SolidWast Disposal At to assist loal govrnmnts in stting up wast pro-grams. T aluminum industry took th lad y uilding a larg proj-t or rovring and rprossing vrag ans. Littl y littl, townsuilt ntralizd ryling ntrs to hlp tak in aluminum and papr.T ida lossomd, and within two dads th Unitd Stats had 10,000ryling ntrs.

T rst Earth Day on April 22, 1970, signid a shi in th rlation-ship twn th puli and th nvironmnt. Communitis, amilis, andstudnts am ommittd to nvironmntal projts. Wast, pollution,haitat loss, and iodivrsity grw into topis o onvrsation among uni-vrsity prossors as wll as th puli. A nw typ o nvironmntalismalldgrassroots nvironmntalism gan. Community and shool ry-ling ladrs rmindd anyon who would listn that individuals ouldom togthr or a singl purpos and mak a dirn in aiding th

nvironmnt.In 1989, th Univrsity o Arizona arhaologist William Rathj ld

his studnts on an assignmnt thy alld th Garag Projt. T tamst out to invstigat landlls to larn aout how Amrians produd anddisardd wast. Rathj notd what thir olltions rvald: Dspit allo th onrn dirtd at ast ood pakaging and disposal diaprs, tharhaologial data dmonstratd that oth itms togthr aountd orlss than 2 prnt o landll itms. . . . By volum narly hal o all o thrus xavatd y th Garag Projt has n nwspaprs, magazins,pakaging papr and non-pakaging papr, suh as omputr printoutsand phonooks. Rathj also ound larg volums o onstrution anddmolition wasts, adding to a vast amount o rsours availal or ry-ling ut going to wast.

T Amrian puli mrad rtain aspts o ryling with mornthusiasm than othrs. For xampl, y 1995 Amrians had ryld


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mor than 47.5 illion aluminum ontainrs, ut thy did a poor jo inryling papr (as th Garag Projt showd). Som ommunitis tookryling mor sriously than othrs. Many Caliornia towns mradgrassroots ryling projts with suh nthusiasm that th stat govrn-

mnt took noti and adoptd many o th loal prosss. Nationwid,an nvironmntal organization alld th Grassroots Ryling Ntworkam a rsour or ommunitis that wantd to start thir own ry-ling programs. oday, ryling advoats work toward th ahiv-mnt ozero waste in whih nar 100 prnt o all wasts an put tous. T Zro Wast Allian o Portland, Orgon, has xplaind, Zrowast stratgis onsidr th ntir li-yls o our produts . . . Withthis undrstanding, wasts an prvntd through dsigns asd onull li-yl thinking. Indd, w should work to dsign our wasts,i any, so that thy hav utur appliations. Until soity ahivs su-ss in zro wast, ryling srvs an important rol in natural rsouronsrvation.

W CC A

wo typs o ryling xist or th purpos o onsrving naturalrsours and, whnvr possil, saving nrgy. Primary recycling,also alld losd-loop ryling, turns ryld matrials into nwproduts o th sam typ. For xampl, usd aluminum vrag ans

ar ryld into nw vrag ans. Secondary recycling, also allddownyling, ryls matrials into nw and dirnt produts, suhas usd plasti milk jugs usd or nw dking and outdoor urnitur.Nithr typ o ryling would sud i th osts o ryling a mat-rial xdd th osts o making th produt out o nw raw matrialsEvn i th dirn in osts is small twn a ryld produt anda nw produt, ryling hlps th ovrall nans o a ommunity yrduing th amount o wast that must ininratd, put in a landllor othrwis tratd.

Industris striv to us ryling prosss that dmand lss nrgythan manuaturing a nw produt rom raw matrials. Failitis alldmatrials rovry ntrs also hlp hold down osts y doing som o thwork or onsumrs and manuaturrs. On a ontainr o rylalmatrials has n dlivrd to th ntr, ithr y a rsidnt or a om-mrial wast haulr, th rovry ntr arris out th ollowing stps:


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Renewable Energy

sortingnonrylal rom rylal matrials and haz-ardous rom nonhazardous matrials

sparatingtyps o papr, plastis, glass, and mtals, suhas rown glass rom grn glass ottls

tratmntsnding nonrylal matrials to a nal dis-posal sit, suh as an ininrator or a landll

rovrysnding matrials to a usinss that uss thmas raw matrial, suh as stl snt to automakrs

T stps shown hr usually onsum lss nrgy than th stpsndd to mak a produt rom nw raw matrials. For many ryldmatrials, th sorting, prossing, and transportation us lss nrgy thanth ollowing stps ndd or making nw raw matrials: (1) xplora-tion, (2) xtration, (3) transportation, (4) prossing, and (5) wast trat-mnt. Aluminum ryling may th st xampl o how this works. A

Recycling begins with separating and sorting waste types to recover all the materials

that can be recycled. Sorting plays an important role in recycling because small

amounts o contamination, plastic mixed in with aluminum or example, decreases the

recycling eciency, which is critical to keep the recycling process cost-eective. Tese

sorters in an Oregon recycling plant are removing non-paper materials rom paper

wastes. (OregonLive.com)


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ryld aluminum an rquirs only 5 prnt o th nrgy that would ndd to mak th sam an rom virgin (nw) aluminum. T StopGloal Warming Organization asd in Caliornia has notd, Using 1ton [0.9 mtri ton] o ryld aluminum as opposd to 1 ton o virgin

aluminum would powr an Amrian houshold or ovr 15 months.Rylrs would lik to nd th sam inis in othr matrials suhas glass, papr, and plasti.

T ryling alan sht or som matrials dos not always workas wll as that or aluminum or two rasons. First, som ryling stpsost mor than nw matrials. Sond, somtims ryling simply an-not kp up with th amount o rylal wast that oms into rylingntrs. Whn ryling annot kp up with wast prodution, rylalitms aumulat. Jim Hogan, managr o a ryling ntr in YonkrsNw York, told th Lowr Hudson VallyJournal News in 2006, What-vr w an tak out o th wast stram is a plus. Crushd glass is [ostingus] wll ovr $100,000 a yar. Most o it gts usd as landll ovr . . . Tpotntial to sav nrgy in ryling th worlds wasts, thror, is on-ntd to ryling osts and savings.

Ryling savs nrgy and mony only i it mts two rquirmntsFirst, a suint amount o matrial must go into th ryling pross tomak ryling oth nrgy- and ost-int. Larg oprations usuallyost lss pr unit, in nrgy and in mony, than small prosss. Tis ph-nomnon is alld economy o scale, in whih ompanis riv advan-

tags y using matrials in ulk and produing larg quantitis o produtin a singl prodution run. For xampl, a wristwath mad y a ompanythat produs thousands o waths a yar osts lss to mak than a wathuilt y a singl wathmakr working in a small shop. Sond, thr must ustomrs or a ryld produt. High dmand or a ryld matrialallows th rylr or manuaturr to tak advantag o onomis osal. Consumrs thus kp th ntir ryling loop going in an intmannr.

T nd or vry high iny in ordr to mak ryling worth-whil has ausd som popl to ritiiz ursid ryling programs. In1996, th New York imes olumnist John irny wrot, Bliving thatthr was no mor room in landlls, Amrians onludd that rylingwas thir only option. . . . Ryling dos somtims mak snsorsom matrials in som plas at som tims. But th simplst and hap-st option is usually to ury garag in an nvironmntally sa landll.


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irnys onlusion works only i, as h livd, landll spa is plnti-ul. Landll spa in most stats has in at dwindld; wast managrshav alulatd that th last spa will usd up within 20 yars.

Othrs in addition to irny hav xprssd varid opinions on ry-

ling. T On Milwaukee magazin ditor Drw Olson xplaind in 2008,Anti-rylrs laim that gains drivd rom ursid pikup ar ost yth nd or mor truks, whih onsum mor gas and rat mor atmo-sphri pollution. Ty l that ryling advoats, aidd y th mdia,ratd a numr o myths aout ryling. In truth, not all rylinglads to th advantags njoyd y th aluminum industry. Most rylrsand manuaturrs must wath thir xpnss and nrgy us vry ar-ully to mak ryling work in thir avor.

Plasti ryling prsnts mor ostals than aluminum ryling.In 2007, Science Dailynotd, Whil major itis lik Nw York and SanFraniso hav shown that plastis ryling an don sussully on alarg sal . . . many muniipalitis ar still alling ar short o thir ry-ling goals. Handld orrtly, th U.S. Environmntal Prottion Agny(EPA) stats that ryling aluminum savs 95 prnt o th nrgy o vir-gin aluminum, ryling papr savs 60 prnt, ut ryling glass savs

Te recycling industry has made important advances in increased speed and

eciency o recycling and in nding new usesin business, this is called developing

new marketsor more materials. Tese bales o recycled materials have been

separated rom other wastes and perhaps sorted into additional categories. Baling

makes handling and transport easier, and overall this step will likely save uel and

money. (South Dakota Department o Environment and Natural Resources)


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lss than 50 prnt. For plastis, th inis o ryling dpnd onth typ o ompounds in th plasti. T gratst nds in ryling th-nology ar improvd inis in glass and plasti ryling so that thsmthods sav nrgy and mony.

TA AW ATA

WAT

Ryling iny has improvd aus o advand matrials sinand hmistry. Matrials sintists and hmists study th havior orylal wast whn rushd, hatd, xtrudd, or othrwis mad intonw produt. Shools suh as th Massahustts Institut o hnologyhav omind oth disiplins into a nw ara alld matrials hmis-

try. Matrials hmistry nompasss th ollowing sujt aras that an applid to ryling: organi and inorgani hmistry, physial hmis-try,polymers, iohmistry, and analytial hmistry.

Innovative Recycling

Waste Material New Use

bamboo microbe-resistant workout clothes

coconut odor-absorbing clothes

denim fber insulation or houses

inner tubes purses and handbags

paper cat litter

plastic outdoor blankets

soybean husks baby clothes and blankets

tires sealants, shoe soles, paint

tubs, sinks, and toilets terrazzo counters and oors


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As a mark o how sussul ryling has om, th industry now

manags mor than 1,000 ryld produt atgoris. Aout 80 dirntryld matrials srv as th raw matrials or making ths produts.Appndix D lists th important rylal matrials that go into making awid varity o produts sold to onsumrs today.

Entrprnurs also play a rol in th ryling industry y rovr-ing matrials that larg ryling usinsss annot us protaly. Manyuniqu uss hav om out o ths innovativ ryling shms. Exam-pls in th tal on pag 39 show that small usinsss with a good ida onhow to rus a partiular wast an ontriut to sustainaility.

Larg industris rat grat quantitis o wast that ost mony totrat or may tak up spa in landlls. Whnvr possil, industrissnd thir wast matrials to othr usinsss that an us thm as a rawmatrial. Industris rr to this ryling as benefcial use aus thyknow thir wasts will om a valud ommodity or anothr indus-

Industrial Recycling

Material Source Industrial Use

coal y ash i

renewable energy sources and methods

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