sustainable energy options - university of iceland · primary vs. secondary ... ⇨london smog:...

UAU212F Spring 2012

Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 1

Sustainable Energy Options

UAU212F

ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

Throstur Thorsteinsson [email protected]

Pollution: refers to the occurrence of an unwanted change in the environment caused by the introduction of harmful materials

- introduced through a) Point Sources b) Area Sources c) Mobile Sources

Contamination: making something unfit for a particular use through the introduction of an undesirable material.

Toxicity: Materials that are poisonous to living things.

Carcinogen: a type of toxin that increases the risk of cancer.

Synergism: the interaction of different substances resulting in a total effect greater than the sum of the effects of the separate sources.

Terminology

⇨ Infectious Agents ⇨ Toxic Heavy Metals ⇨ Organic Compounds ⇨ Radiation ⇨ Thermal Pollution ⇨ Particulates ⇨ Asbestos ⇨ Electromagnetic Fields ⇨ Noise Pollution

Categories of Pollutants

⇨ High atomic weight

⇨ Mercury, Lead, Cadmium, Nikkel, Gold,

arsenic, selenium, chromium, tallium

⇨ Been around since the stone age

⇨ Stored in living tissue – accumulate over time ⇨ biomagification in tissue.

⇨ 10% of energy moved, but 100% of THM.

Toxic Heavy Metals

⇨ Biomagnifications: the accumulation or

increase in concentration of a substance in

living tissue (e.g. fatty tissue) as it moves

through a food web.

⇨ Body burden: the quantity of metals that is

toxic to humans. ⇨ Drinking water inorganic mercury

Maximum contaminant level: 2 ppb (0.002 mg/L)

Toxic Heavy Metals

⇨ Pathways: ⇨ Cadmium from burning coal.

⇨ is absorbed by plants from ash. ⇨ Concentration increases from ash to plant to humans

⇨ Mercury from burning coal, processing metals ⇨ Goes into waterways and is methylated by bacteria

⇨ creating Methyl mercury (CH3HG).

⇨ Absorbed by fish ⇨ Concentration increases up food chain

Biomagnification

UAU212F Spring 2012


⇨ Radiation: ⇨ Radiation from nuclear power plants

⇨ Natural radiation

⇨ Thermal pollution ⇨ Heat released into water

⇨ Changes average water temp and dissolved oxygen –

causing changes in biota

Radiation and thermal pollution

⇨ Small particles of dust ⇨ Asbestos

⇨ Soot

⇨ Road dust

⇨ Cause respiratory illnesses, cancer etc. ⇨ Depending on type.

⇨ Size matters – the smaller the more dangerous

Particulates

⇨ Radiation from electromagnetic fields ⇨ Power lines

⇨ Cell phones

⇨ Appliances

⇨ TV’s

No conclusive link to heath effects.

Electromagnetic fields

⇨ Defined as unwanted sound ⇨ Intensity measured in decibels (dB)

⇨ Average level at home 45 dB

⇨ Jet engine taking off 120 dB

⇨ Hearing loss 110 dB

⇨ But what really is noise pollution?

⇨ Anything above 80 dB is potentially dangerous.

Noise Pollution

⇨ Changes in Abundance

⇨ Changes in Distribution

⇨ Changes in Birth Rates

⇨ Changes in Death Rates

⇨ Changes in Growth Rates

General Effects of Pollutants

UAU212F Spring 2012


⇨ The idea that in spite of the fact that full

scientific certainty is often not available to

prove cause and effect, we should still take

cost-effective precautions to solve

environmental problems where there exists a

threat of potentially serious and/ or

irreversible environmental damage

Precautionary Principle

POLLUTION HISTORY Very brief

Houses of Parliament, London

- Sun breaking through the fog

(Claude Monet, 1904)

Pittsburg

Pittsburg, USA in 1940.

Victorian times - London

1838 - 1901

Beijing 2008

Around the Olympics in

2008 a lot of concern

regarding air pollution

Two major historic events

⇨ Two event changed people’s awareness for

air quality

⇨ Donora, W-Pennsilavania 1948

⇨ London in 1952 – “The killer fog”

Cairo smog

UAU212F Spring 2012


Donora

1948

At least 21 people died due to this pollution event

Donora

1910 Zinc plant

Donora Zinc Works of the American Steel and Wire Company is dimly seen through fume-laden smoke and fog in 1948.

Donora

Nurses Betty Tropak and Eleanor Novak supervise oxygen treatment for two of forty persons hospitalized by fume-laden smoke and fog.

The killer smog

⇨ Occurred in London in December 1952.

⇨ Coal ovens caused the pollution, which

lasted for a week. ⇨ Visibility was only a few meters,

⇨ SO2 levels rose to 7x the normal level,

⇨ CO to 2x the normal level

London 1952

Air pollution

HEALTH

EFFECTS

UAU212F Spring 2012


Health effects

•Coughing

•Astma

•Lung damage

•Cardiovascular disease

•...

Life expectency is reduced by

400 days due to smoking

40 days due to traffic accidents

60 days due to PM pollution

Ref: C. Johansson (2005)

Health effects

⇨ Small particles can

travel deep down into

the lungs

Soot in bronchiloe

Some headlines

⇨ Exposure to ambient particulate matter and

cigarette smoke linked with increased

mortality risk

⇨ Dust linked to health problems

⇨ Air pollution reduces lung function

⇨ Air pollution linked to early form of dementia ⇨ It is thought the fine particles in air pollution can pass

through the lungs and lodge in the brain where they

cause inflammation which is associated with dementia

UAU212F Spring 2012


Headlines continued

⇨ Air pollution could boost blood pressure

⇨ Polluted air impairs neurons that regulate

heart rate in mice

Air Pollution

Regional, Local

Throstur Thorsteinsson [email protected]

Air quality / quality of life

“And this little warning light flashes when the air outside becomes too polluted to breathe.”

Air pollution

Presence of substances in high enough levels to

threaten health, survival or activities of

humans or others

⇨ Sources ⇨ Natural

⇨ Anthropogenic

⇨ Impact ⇨ Local

⇨ Transboundary

Environmental impact

where does the cost come from?

⇨ Recovery:

damage to fragile ecosystems, water and air

pollution, and waste disposal

⇨ Refining:

soil, water and air pollution

⇨ Delivery and Use:

energy to power automobiles, produce

electricity, etc.

Environmental impact

⇨ Household Scale ⇨ Carbon monoxide

⇨ Local (community) Scale ⇨ Fuel-derived air pollution/urban pollution.

⇨ Electric Power sector - particles, NOx and SOx, lead e.g.

Local pollution

⇨ Car exhaust - Small particles, NOx, SOx, VOC - Smog

⇨ Oil Spills: impact on water and terrestrial ecosystems,

very difficult to clean.

⇨ Local impact from extraction

UAU212F Spring 2012


Env. impact

⇨ Regional scale ⇨ Acid Rain

⇨ Global Scale ⇨ Climate change

Stationary and Mobile Sources of Air Pollution

⇨ Two Sources of Air Pollution

1. Stationary Sources: have a relatively fixed location

⇨ Point Sources

⇨ Area Sources

⇨ Fugitive sources (from pressurized equipment)

2. Mobile Sources: move from place to place while

emitting pollutants ⇨ Ex. Airplanes, vehicles

General Effects of Air Pollution

⇨ Visual quality of the environment ⇨ Discoloration, clarity

⇨ Health of Vegetation, Animals, Soil

⇨ Water Quality ⇨ Acidity, heavy metals

⇨ Natural and Artificial Structures

⇨ Human Health (dose response)

⇨ Indoor, outdoor

Dynamics of air pollution

How does concentration change? ⇨ Transport

⇨ Transboundary pollutants

⇨ Dilution ⇨ Mixing in the atmosphere

⇨ Transformation ⇨ Physical, chemical, photochemical

⇨ Removal ⇨ Rainout, washout, fallout

Modelling transport of pollutants

Gaussian Plume

⇨ Is the most accepted computational approach to

calculating the concentration of a pollutant at a certain point.

⇨ Describes the transport and mixing of the pollutants.

⇨ It assumes dispersion in the horizontal and vertical direction will take the form of a normal Gaussian curve with the maximum concentration at the center of the plume.

Gaussian Plume

UAU212F Spring 2012


Primary vs. Secondary

Pollutants

⇨ Primary Pollutants ⇨ Those emitted directly into the air

⇨ S02, CO, Hydrocarbons, particulates

⇨ Secondary Pollutants ⇨ Produced through reactions between primary

pollutants and normal atmospheric compounds

⇨ Ozone, Acid rain

Major Local and Transboundary

Air Pollutants

⇨ Sulfur Dioxide ⇨ Nitrogen Oxide ⇨ Carbon Monoxide ⇨ Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants ⇨ Volatile Organic Compounds ⇨ Particulate Matter ⇨ Hydrogen Sulfide ⇨ Hydrogen Fluoride

Transboundary Pollutants

Sulfur Dioxide

⇨ Colorless, highly corrosive and irritates the lungs, shortness of breath, narrow airways

⇨ Natural sources are volcanoes, sea spray , rotting vegetation and plankton

⇨ 50% of all sulfur in atmosphere is emitted from anthropogenic sources

⇨ Mostly from the use of fossil fuels, coal fired power plants, industrial processes

⇨ Precursor for acid rain

Sulfur Dioxide

⇨ Impact depends on: ⇨ Height of smokestack

⇨ Weather conditions ⇨ Wind

⇨ Stable, unstable

⇨ Precipitation

⇨ Velocity – exit

⇨ Diameter

⇨ Temperature ⇨ Ambient

⇨ Exhaust

Sulfur Dioxide – local impact

⇨ Impact on humans: enhances respiratory

diseases.

⇨ Impact on Plants: Many plants of

economic importance are sensitive to sulfur

dioxide including potatoes, cucumbers,

peas, gladiolus, tulips, grass and several

types of trees.

⇨ On Visibility : Can reduce levels of

visibility.

UAU212F Spring 2012


Acid Rain

⇨ High smokestacks emit SO2 into higher layers – becomes transboundary

⇨ Acid rain originates from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide particles – that become sulfate or nitrate particles

⇨ Travel long distances on wind currents ⇨ By combining with water vapor, these particles form

acids which fall to the earth as acid rain. ⇨ “Acid rain” includes both wet and dry acidic deposits ⇨ Precipitation with a pH lower than 5.6 is considered

acidic

Acidity Levels

© 2005 John Wiley and Sons Publishers

Acid Rain Acid Rain - Impact

⇨ Erodes buildings, fabrics,

books etc.

⇨ Visibility

⇨ Damages aquatic life

⇨ Releases heavy metals

⇨ Alters the chemical

equilibrium of soils

⇨ Affects vegetation

⇨ Health

Effect of SO2 pollution

Local pollutants

UAU212F Spring 2012


Carbon Monoxide

⇨ Colorless and odorless gas ⇨ Sources:

⇨ Natural (91%) Most released naturally by volcanic eruptions, fires, bacteria,

⇨ (9%) Poorly running automobiles emit large amounts by incomplete burning

⇨ Extremely toxic – causes heart disease long-term, or death within an hour if concentration is 1600 ppm or more - chemical suffocation

⇨ Hemoglobin in the blood is 200 times more attracted to carbon monoxide than oxygen (leading to oxygen starvation of the body)

⇨ Most hazardous to human health of all criteria pollutants

NOX

⇨ NO and NO2 ⇨ Sources: Emitted from burning of fossil

fuels (nearly all) ⇨ The impact of NOx is mostly as being a

primary pollutant that acts as a secondary pollutant through its acting as a precursor to acid rain – and as a major contributor to urban smog as it facilitates the creation of ozone.

⇨ Other impacts: respiratory effects

VOC

(Volatile organic compounds)

⇨ E.g. hydrocarbons, entirely made of carbon and hydrogen atoms

⇨ Examples include methane, butane, propane, and octane

⇨ Most emitted naturally by plant and animal emissions and decomposition (84%)

⇨ Industrial activities (used as solvents)/automobiles are a source of anthropogenic VOCs (16%)

⇨ Toxic, carcinogens, they react with other substances to form brown smog

Ozone and other

Photochemical Oxidants

⇨ At the earth’s surface, ozone (O3) is a pollutant - it irritates the respiratory system and damages plants - Impact depends on the dose

⇨ A secondary pollutant ⇨ Created from atmospheric interactions between

sunlight and NOx NO2 split to NO and O, reacting with O2 creating O3

VOC’s facilitate the reaction by enabling creation of additional NO2

Smog

⇨ A combination of the words “smoke” and

“fog”

⇨ Two different types of smog occur:

⇨ London Smog: original meaning of smog;

mixture of smoke, sulfurous particles and

soot with a fog (grey)

⇨ Los Angeles Smog: Photochemical

smog; dry air smog with ozone, peroxyacyl

nitrate (PAN) and formaldehyde (brown)

UAU212F Spring 2012


© 2005 John Wiley and Sons Publishers

When Smog becomes a problem?

⇨ In certain meteorological conditions ⇨ Stable air, not much wind ⇨ Sufficient emissions ⇨ Downwind distance ⇨ Amount of mixing due to Inversion layer ⇨ Sunlight

Inversion layer (IL)

⇨ Atmospheric inversion ⇨ Usually temps decline with increased height ⇨ IL is when warmer air is found above cooler air

⇨ High pressure areas ⇨ Warm air moving down, trapping colder air ⇨ Mountain effect traps the pollutants

⇨ Cooler air cannot rise ⇨ Polluted air gets trapped

⇨ Also possibly due to valley effect, cloud cover, humidity

Temperature

inversion

⇨ Dry adiabatic lapse rate:

1°C colder for every

100 m.

UAU212F Spring 2012


Smog Temperature inversion

Example from Scotland.

EPA Air Quality Index

⇨ Method to convay information to the public

Hydrogen Sulfide

⇨ H2S ⇨ Highly toxic, corrosive, has a rotten egg

odour ⇨ Sources:

⇨ Natural: Geysers, volcanoes ⇨ Anthropogenic:

⇨ Petroleum production (as an additive) ⇨ Metal smelters ⇨ Paper mills ⇨ Geothermal power plants

Hydrogen Fluoride

⇨ Is toxic even in small amounts ⇨ Impact on plants and foraging animals

⇨ Sources: ⇨ Petroleum refining, aluminum production, glass

making

Air quality

SOURCES OF PARTICULATE

MATTER

UAU212F Spring 2012


Common sources of PM

⇨ Before ⇨ Burning of coals

Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904

Claude Monet

Sources of PM

⇨ Now ⇨ Traffic

⇨ Industry

⇨ Fires

⇨ Dust storms

⇨ More ...

Road wear 55%

Dust 25%

Salt 11%

Soot 7%

Brakes 2%

Reykjavik PM10

Ref. Bryndís Skúladóttir et al. 2003

Similar in Stockholm, but energy instead of dust. UK domestic (coal combustion) 23%, industry 18%, and transport 28% .

⇨ Many sources

⇨ Poorly

constrained

Traffic a complicated mess

Values in literature

(mg km-1)

Tires: 3.5 – 6.5 Brakes: 3.5 – 7.5 Emission: 1 – 18 (petrol) 32 – 62 (diesel) Road wear: 7.5 Road studded: 20 - 1200

Traffic

Traffic - the main source

⇨ NOx is almost entierly

due to traffic

⇨ Lot less dependent on

rain, humidity, than PM

⇨ So, can use it to

estimate traffic ...

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 3500

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Day of 2006

NO

x 3

0-m

in (

g m

-3)

NOx GRE 2006 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

-5

0

5

10

15

Time (year)

d18O

a) d18O (func of time)

Time (days)

Period (

days)

b) d18O Wavelet Power Spectrum

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0.25

0.5

1

2

4

8

16

32

64

128

0 2 4

x 105Power (d18O2)

c) Global Wavelet Spectrum

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 3500

200

400

600

800

Time (year)

Avg

variance (

d18O

2)

d) 5 - 6.5667 yr Scale-average Time Series

Strong daily variation

GHG

⇨ Accounting

⇨ Energy use as a fuel collected for each sector ⇨ Activity variables collected for each sector such as

aluminum production or amount of waste

Fractional shares in 2007

UAU212F Spring 2012


Transportation fuels Human influence on the atmosphere

GHG - Energy - Iceland

⇨ Energy authority collects data on energy use

by type and user

⇨ UST estimates emissions of CO2 based on

carbon and energy content of each fuel.

⇨ Emissions of other GHG a function of use

conditions,equipment and technologies

GHG – Transportation - Iceland

⇨ Energy authority

collects data on energy

use by type and user

⇨ UST estimates

emissions of CO2 based

on carbon and energy

content of each fuel.

⇨ Emissions of other

GHG a function of use

conditions, equipment

and technologies

BP Oil spills

Environment 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Number of oil spills # 300 213 170 122 142

Volume of oil spilled 106 l 2.2 1.0 3.4 1.2 1.7

Volume of oil unrecovered 106 l 0.4 0.3 0.9 0.2 0.8

Direct CO2 Mte 59.3 59.2 57 60.4 60.2

Indirect CO2 Mte 10.1 10.7 9.2 9.6 10.0

Direct methane Mte 0.24 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.22

Direct GHG Mte CO2e 64.4 63.5 61.4 65.0 64.9

Flaring (E&P) kte hydrocarbon 1241 1124 1718 2149 1671

Customer emissions Mte CO2 539 521 530 554 573

Env. and safety fines $ million 2.5 22.5 1.1 66.6 52.5

Environmental expenditure $ million 4026 3293 2520 2484 18400

Energy related pollution

More …

⇨ Land use

⇨ Visual effects

sustainable energy options - university of iceland · primary vs. secondary ... ⇨london smog:...

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