DPR514 Energy and Environment Dec 2012 – April 2013

Compulsory course

Intended learning outcomes

Course description

Assessment scheme

Course (lecture & reference) material

Project guideline

model questions (to be uploaded)

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Intended learning outcomes:

- Describe, in an overall sense, the major existing, emerging and new energy technologies and assess the overall impact of the use of non-renewable and renewable energy sources from the sustainable development point of view;

- Identify the adverse ecological impact of energy use, and construct suitable mitigation measures to diffuse the adverse ecological impact by carrying out extensive reference;

- Comprehend the social and economical impacts of energy consumption, and identify and avoid subscribing for energy intensive and hence unsustainable lifestyles in development planning or otherwise

- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security and sustainability issues;

- Select appropriate energy management tools and reference materials and perform an energy management task;

- Scrutinize the energy implications of development options, critically analyse the sustainability dimension of a specific energy technology or related processes/activities, and propose energy systems suitable for a sustainable Sri Lanka and the national energy policies and strategies required to make it a reality.

Course description:

Course coordinator: Prof. R Shanthini (accessible at 071-5326835 / admin@rshanthini.com)

Evaluation panel:

Course credits: 3 GPA credits

Pre-requisites: None

Contents	Time allocated (clock hours)
	Lectures and discussion	Project	Assign-ment
Energy basics: energy; power; forms of energy; thermodynamic laws; entropy; exergy; combustion fundamentals	03
Energy technologies: electricity generation from non-renewable energy sources (coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear); electricity generation from renewable energy sources (hydro, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, solar biomass, and wind); energy technologies in transport; energy technologies in other primary and secondary energy consumption modes (heating, cooling, agriculture, and electronic devices); new and emerging energy technologies (fuel cells, energy storage, hydrogen economy, and other alternatives to energy use)	15
Energy impacts: ecological impacts of energy use in global scale and their mitigation (greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and climate change); ecological impact of energy use in local scale and their mitigation (acid rain, particulate pollution, thermal pollution and related impact, fresh-water exploitation, and altering land use); economical and social impacts of energy consumption (economic growth, human development, and sustainability inclusive of rebound effect of energy consumption on development, resource depletion, and energy-intensive unsustainable lifestyles)	09
Energy management: energy management basics; demand-side management; life-cycle assessment; energy-audits; carbon and ecological footprints; clean development mechanism	06
Energy implications of development options in Sri Lanka: energy sources, energy conversion technologies, energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security, and sustainability issues; Workshop on developing sustainable energy systems in Sri Lanka via (white paper) drafting of appropriate national energy policy and strategies	03		06
Literature survey-type project on energy and environment: project focuses on the societal, economical and ecological impacts of a specific energy technology or related processes/activities and mitigation measures (to be) adopted to diffuse the ecological impacts.		12
TOTAL (equivalent hours)	36	06	03

Assessment scheme:

Assessment	Percentage marks
Continuous assessment		50
Active participation in the class and during project presentations	20
Project report	10
Oral examination of the project report	10
Critical review of another project report	10
Final examinations		50

Course (lecture & reference) materials:

Module 01: Energy Basics (to be held on Dec 29, 2012)

Contents: Energy; power; forms of energy; thermodynamic laws; entropy; exergy; combustion fundamentals

Lecture materials	Energy basics	ppt
Reference Materials	Shanthini, R. 2009. Thermodynamics for beginners. ISBN: 955-589-090-0. Published by University of Peradeniya: Science Education Unit.	selected chapters
	What is Exergy?	paper
	Combustion Fundamentals	a chapter

Module 02: Conventional Energy Technologies (held on Dec 31, 2011)

Contents: Conventional energy technologies in electricity generation from non-renewable energy sources (coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear), in vehicular transport, and in other primary and secondary energy consumption modes (heating, cooling, agriculture, and electronic devices)

Lecture Materials	Conventional energy technologies	ppt
Reference Materials	Thermal electricity – How it works	weblink
	Gas turbine basics	weblink
	Nuclear reactor How a nuclear reactor works	weblink weblink
	Working of a four stroke petrol engine	weblink

Module 03 & 04: Energy Impacts (held on Jan 07 & 14, 2012)

Contents: Ecological impacts of energy generation from non-renewable energy sources in global scale (greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and climate change) and local scale (acid rain, particulate pollution, thermal pollution and related impact, fresh-water exploitation, and altering land use), and probable mitigation measures

Lecture Materials	Module 03 - Energy impacts	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt (can’t open)
	Module 04 - Energy impacts continued	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt
Reference Materials	Global warming – Natural Resources Defense Council, USA Global warming – NASA Earth Observatory, USA Global warming – National Geographic	weblink weblink weblink
	Climate change – US EPA	weblink
	Energy Impacts – Union of Concerned Scientists	weblink
	The Energy – Water Collision: 10 things you should know	pdf

Modules 05, 06 & 07: Renewable Energy Technologies and Impacts (held on Jan 21 & 28 and on Feb 11, 2012)

Contents: Use of renewable energy sources in electricity generation, in transport, and in other energy consumption modes, their ecological impacts, and probable mitigation measures

Lecture Materials	Module 05 - Renewable energy technologies (hydroelectric, solar photovoltaics, and solar thermal or concentrated solar power), and their ecological impacts	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt
	Module 06 - Renewable energy technologies (wind and bioethanol), and their ecological impacts	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt
	Module 07 - Renewable energy technologies (biodiesel), and their ecological impacts; Life cycle assessment.	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt
Reference Materials	MacKay David JC. 2009. Sustainable energy without the hot air. Cambridge: UIT Cambridge Ltd.	website
	Jacobson Mark Z. Review of solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security. Energy & Environmental Science 2009: 2: 148-173	pdf
	Leung DYC and Yang Y. Wind energy development and its environmental impact: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2012: 16: 1031–1039	pdf
	Dominguez-Faus R, Powers SE, Burken JG, Alwarez PJ. The Water Footprint of Biofuels: A Drink or Drive Issue? Environmental Science & Technology 2009: 43: 3005–3010	pdf
	Sander K and Murthy GS. Life cycle analysis of algae biodiesel. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2010: 15: 704–714. DOI 10.1007/s11367-010-0194-1	pdf
	Life Cycle Associates, LLC. Feb 2009. Assessment of Direct and Indirect GHG Emissions Associated with Petroleum Fuels: For New Fuels Alliance. LCA.6004.3P.2009	pdf

Module 08: New and Emerging Energy Technologies (held on Mar 03, 2012)

Contents: Fuel cells; energy storage; hydrogen economy; other alternatives to energy use

Lecture Materials	Module 08 – Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Economy	ppt
Reference Materials	Energy system aspects of hydrogen as an alternative fuel in transport	pdf
	The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs	weblink

Module 09: Economical and Societal Energy Impacts (held on Feb 25, 2012)

Contents: Economic growth; human development; sustainability inclusive of rebound effect of energy consumption on development; resource depletion; energy-intensive unsustainable lifestyles

Lecture Materials	Module 09 – Economical and Societal Energy Impacts.	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt
Reference Materials	The Rebound Effect: an assessment of the evidence for economy-wide energy savings from improves energy efficiency, October 2007, UK Energy Research Centre	pdf
	Energy critical elements	pdf
	China’s rare earths industry and its role in the international market	pdf

Modules 10 & 11: Energy Management (held on Mar 10 & 17, 2012)

Contents: Energy management basics; energy audit; demand-side management; life-cycle assessment; carbon and ecological footprints; clean development mechanism

Lecture materials	Module 10 – Energy management basics, Energy audit, Demand-side management Life-cycle assessment (already covered), and Exergy analysis	ppt
	Module 11 – Exergy analysis continued, Carbon and ecological footprints (already covered), and Clean development mechanism	ppt
Reference materials	Demand-side Management – a case study	pdf
	A uniform environmental metric based on exergy	pdf
	Training Plant Staff About Energy Efficiency	pdf
	Quantifying Global Exergy Resources	pdf

Module 12: Energy Implications of Development Options in Sri Lanka (held on Mar 24, 2012)

Contents: Energy sources, energy conversion technologies, energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security, and sustainability issues

Lecture materials	Module 12 - Energy Implications of Development Options in Sri Lanka	Part01_ppt Part02_ppt (can’t open)
Reference materials	Greenhouse gas emission mitigation in the Sri Lanka power sector supply side and demand side options	pdf
	Sri Lanka Energy Balance 2007: An Analysis of Energy Sector Performance	pdf
	Sri Lanka: Environmental Issues in the Power Sector	pdf
	Asian energy and environmental policy: Promoting growth while preserving the environment	pdf
	A participatory systems approach to modeling social, economic, and ecological components of bioenergy	pdf
	NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY AND STRATEGIES OF SRI LANKA	pdf
	Policy options to promote energy efficient and environmentally sound technologies in small- and medium-scale industries	pdf
	Policies and Regulations affecting Biomass-related Energy Sector Development in Sri Lanka	pdf
	Sri Lanka_Renewable Energy Report	pdf

Module 13, 14 & 15: Presentations and discussion on the Literature Survey-type Project on Energy and Environment (discussion held on Feb 11 and assessments will be held on Mar 31 and Apr 07, 2012)

Contents: Presentations by the students their literature survey-type projects focusing on the societal, economical and ecological impacts of a specific energy technology or related processes/activities, and mitigation measures (to be) adopted to diffuse the negative impacts, and discussion on the presentations.

Project guideline (to be modified after consulting with the students):

Literature survey type project suggestions:

- In-depth assessment of the overall impact of the use of a selected non-renewable or renewable energy technology from sustainable development point of view

- Critical analysis of the sustainability dimension of a specific energy technology or related processes/activities

- Identification of the adverse societal and ecological impacts of energy production or use and construction of suitable mitigation measures to diffuse the adverse impacts

- Identification of energy intensive and hence unsustainable lifestyles and proposing innovative, alternative lifestyles and the paradigm shift required

- In-depth study of energy sufficiency (conservation), energy efficiency, energy security and energy sustainability issues;

- Scrutinizing the energy implications of a selected development option

Workshop type project suggestions:

Comprehensive proposal of energy systems suitable for a sustainable Sri Lanka and the national energy policies and strategies required to make it a reality (groups are allowed)

Any other project ideas of your choice: subjected to the approval of the course instructor (that is me)

Approval for the selected projects:

- Preliminary proposal consisting of the project topic chosen, objectives, activities proposed to attain the objectives and the timeline shall be emailed to admin@rshanthini.com before noon, 19^th January 2013.

- Proposal for the selected project finalized and emailed to admin@rshanthini.com before noon, 26^th January 2013

Content of the report:

Clear statement of the system studied; objectives of the study; methodology used; results obtained; critical analysis of the results obtained; discussion and concluding remarks.

Format of the report:

Format is entirely of your choice. However, formal referencing to the sources referred to is very important. Your writing should be short and snappy (that is, to the point) and factual. Keep in mind that word to word reproduction of material available elsewhere without crediting the source (known as plagiarism and is a serious offence).

Project report submissions deadline: On or before 4.00pm, 16^th March 2013

Submission mode:

Two hardcopies must be handed over AND a softcopy must be emailed to admin@rshanthini.com in *.doc or *.pdf format (not in *.docx or any other format)

Important Note:

Attendance throughout the entire presentation sessions and workshops, and active participation by way of questioning the presenters are compulsory for all students.

Project #

Name

Reg. No. HD/MDP/ 12/13

Presentation Schedule

Project Title

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email: admin@rshanthini.com

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updated on Dec 29, 2012