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Southern California no place for nuclear waste dump. In a bold and ominous initiative, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently proposed storing large amounts of highly radioactive nuclear waste on site at nuclear power plants for 60 years after a plant closes and perhaps centuries after that. San Onofre began producing nuclear waste back in 1968, and if the NRC has its way it will remain there until 2074 or possibly centuries longer. The NRC calls this time frame “short-term storage.” The plan assumes that someday there will be a permanent national repository. If not, San Diego County will become a nuclear waste dump indefinitely.
Storing nuclear waste is so dangerous, so technologically difficult, and so politically untouchable that a final resting place may never be found. What is too dangerous for storage 2,200 feet underground in a remote section of Nevada will be permitted to be stacked openly in a parking lot next to Interstate 5 a few hundred feet from the ocean. The short history of the GEIS plan is quite revealing. Sustainability :: Qualitative Life Cycle Assessment :: Sustainability Guide :: SolidWorks Sustainability. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) describes the process of evaluating the environmental impacts of a product at each stage of its life and overall. While full LCAs can be intensively data-driven, as will be described in the following section, sometimes a qualitative assessment is all that is required. This is often called a Qualitative LCA or a Qualitative Matrix LCA. Such evaluations can be used as stand-alone decision tools, but often they serve to identify the design options worth more detailed analysis.
Evaluations can be text-based or scored, but there are no standard axes or rating systems so organizations can adopt whatever metrics work for their purposes. Evaluation approaches become even more effective when adopted by more than one company, or even by a whole industry. The scoring system is based on points awarded based on meeting various criteria. Qualitative LCA and the Three Choices Impacts – Any Scope – All life cycle stages Metrics – Generally scores [1] Edmund E.
Beginner’s guide: How to do an LCA for FREE, Life cycle assessment tools and data | LinkCycle. Embedding sustainability intelligence into business decision-making is not only a forward-thinking strategy that improves humankind’s relationship to the environment, but is a strategy to ensure a business’s viability in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. In this new “environment,” businesses have a leg up if they understand how their operations and supply chain relationships hurt and help the planet.
Such intelligence can augment decisions about procurement, marketing, design, supplier and customer relationships, and in the office. These decisions can include sourcing materials that reduce upstream impacts on the environment, to marketing environmental performance of your services, or even having the credibility to be able to influence policy that affects your industry. But such “sustainability intelligence” is not easy to come by, and can involve hiring costly consultants who have the data and know the methodologies and standards.
STRATEGIZE: Ask the right question PART 1: Tools OpenLCA. Biomass and the Sugar Industry in Brazil’s Energy Matrix | nexsteppe. The challenge is to meet this growing demand for energy in a reliable, scalable, cost-effective and sustainable manner. Several forms of renewable energy, from solar to wind to hydroelectricity already exist or are being developed to meet this challenge. All will be needed. There is one form, though, that is unique in its ability to provide everything from dependable heat and power to year-round, baseload (and also dispatchable) electricity to liquid transportation fuels and chemicals, all in a readily scalable manner. This source of renewable energy is biomass, and it is one for which Brazil is advantaged in climate, geography, infrastructure and know-how. the Brazilian sugar industry has the opportunity to continue to play a leading role in meeting Brazil’s energy needs and serving as a leader in the global development of the biobased industries Anna Rath CEO NexSteppe Brazil’s sugar industry already plays a large role in Brazil’s overall energy matrix as a producer of ethanol.
ENERGY FACTS: HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER. Hydro-electric power plants convert the kinetic energy contained in falling water into electricity. The energy in flowing water is ultimately derived from the sun, and is therefore constantly being renewed. Energy contained in sunlight evaporates water from the oceans and deposits it on land in the form of rain.
Differences in land elevation result in rainfall runoff, and allow some of the original solar energy to be captured as hydro-electric power (Figure 1). Hydro power is currently the world's largest renewable source of electricity, accounting for 6% of worldwide energy supply or about 15% of the world's electricity. In Canada, hydroelectric power is abundant and supplies 60% of our electrical needs. FIGURE 1: Simplified view of the hydrologic cycle in which water is raised by solar energy and can perform work as it falls back to sea level (177K). History of Hydro Power The first recorded use of water power was a clock, built around 250 BC. Hydro-electric Power Plants Conclusions. Bedload. Earth Revealed.
Due to licensing agreements, online viewing of the videos for this resource is restricted to network connections in the United States and Canada. 1. Down to Earth Surface conditions of the planets Venus and Mars are compared with those of Earth, and scenes of Earth's living landscapes lead into a discussion of how unique Earth truly is. Major topics addressed in the series, including plate tectonics, natural resources, seismology, and erosion, are introduced in this program. 2. The Restless Planet Early Greek astronomers believed that Earth was the center of the universe. However, this notion changed dramatically over time, especially after the invention of the telescope. This program traces the development of astronomical theory with discussions of the discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.
Sea Level Rise. Core samples, tide gauge readings, and, most recently, satellite measurements tell us that over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) has risen by 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). However, the annual rate of rise over the past 20 years has been 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year, roughly twice the average speed of the preceding 80 years. Over the past century, the burning of fossil fuels and other human and natural activities has released enormous amounts of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. These emissions have caused the Earth's surface temperature to rise, and the oceans absorb about 80 percent of this additional heat.
The rise in sea levels is linked to three primary factors, all induced by this ongoing global climate change: Thermal expansion: When water heats up, it expands. About half of the past century's rise in sea level is attributable to warmer oceans simply occupying more space. Consequences How High Will It Go? Rachel Sussman: The world's oldest living things | Talk Video. Rob Dunbar: Discovering ancient climates in oceans and ice | Talk Video. Greenhouse effect.
A representation of the exchanges of energy between the source (the Sun), the Earth's surface, the Earth's atmosphere, and the ultimate sink outer space. The ability of the atmosphere to capture and recycle energy emitted by the Earth surface is the defining characteristic of the greenhouse effect. Another diagram of the greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions.
Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases.[1][2] Solar radiation at the frequencies of visible light largely passes through the atmosphere to warm the planetary surface, which then emits this energy at the lower frequencies of infrared thermal radiation. Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible. History. The Greenhouse Effect | A Student's Guide to Global Climate Change.
If it were not for greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere, the Earth would be a very cold place. Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm through a process called the greenhouse effect. Play the video to learn more » (<a href="../.. /flash/1-2-1/ghgeffect-featured-alt2.html">Alternative version</a>) The Earth gets energy from the sun in the form of sunlight.
Learn more about radiation. (<a href="greenhouse-effect-popup1-alt.html">Alternative version</a>) Learn where the term “greenhouse effect” comes from. (<a href="greenhouse-effect-popup2-alt.html">Alternative version</a>) Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm through a process called the greenhouse effect.
What Is Radiation? You might hear the word radiation and think that it's a bad thing. These types of radiation are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which means they involve energy traveling in the form of a wave. What's in a Name? Top of page. Conserve California - Watershed Locator. ES 22 - Professor Leonard's Website. Environmental. Science. 1. Environmental Science 22. Lifornia State Water Project- Have you ever wondered where the water you drink and use comes from? To reach many of us, water must travel long distances through complex delivery systems such as the California State Water Project. The SWP is the nation's largest state-built water and power development and conveyance system.
Planned, designed, constructed and now operated and maintained by the California Department of Water Resources, this unique facility provides water supplies for 25 million Californians and 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland. Scope The California State Water Project is a water storage and delivery system of reservoirs, aqueducts, powerplants and pumping plants. The Project makes deliveries to two-thirds of California's population. The Project is also operated to improve water quality in the Delta, control Feather River flood waters, provide recreation, and enhance fish and wildlife. Size Financing Annual Costs Annual payments by SWP contractors total about $600 million per year (1996). Delta smelt. Because of its one-year life cycle and relatively low fecundity, it is very susceptible to changes in the environmental conditions of its native habitat.[4] Efforts to protect the endangered fish from further decline have focused on limiting or modifying the large-scale pumping activities of state and federal water projects at the southern end of the estuary.
Taxonomy and evolution[edit] The delta smelt is one of five currently recognized species within the Hypomesus genus, which is part of the larger Osmeridae family of smelts. The genus has been subject to many revisions since it was first classified by Gill in 1863.[6] The first major revision occurred in 1963, when the Osmeridae family was reexamined by Canadian ichthyologist Donald Evan McAllister. Habitat[edit] The delta smelt is endemic to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA where it is distributed from the Suisun Bay upstream through the Delta in Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano and counties. Notes[edit] Stormy-weather-does-not-mean-an. ES 1 - Professor Leonard's Website.