Reducing exposure to indoor air pollution from household energy use can be achieved through interventions in of the following areas:
* Emissions source and energy technology (fuel– stove combination).
* Housing design and ventilation.
* Behavior and time–activity budget. (more…)
Important research over the past few decades has illustrated that indoor air pollution and indoor smoke from solid fuel poses i ...
Indoor air quality (IAQ) research deals with the presence, levels, health effects, and control of physical, chemical, and biologica ...
Exposure to air pollutants and air pollution problem are very high in indoor environments in developing countries. Smith has es ...
Lack of access to cleaner energy and the negative outwardnesses associated with energy consumption tend to cycle of poverty for ...
Coal is still used to a small extent for home heating and cooking. In the homes of more affluent nations, coal is used for recreati ...
The winners in hydropower and other large dam projects are those who gain electricity, domestic water supplies, sanitation, drought relief, sustainable irrigation, flood control, improved water transport, industrial and employment opportunities, food security, better roads, telecommunications, and other benefits. As well, other economic multipliers may arise and whole regions may flourish. This is an impressive list and is the very basis of modernization and liberation from the drudgery of traditional low technology rural life. Electricity, radio, and domestic water supplies completely transform the lives of those who gain these goods, and better health and education are the most obvious outcomes. (more…)
The water levels of most of the world’s rivers fluctuate with seasonal rains, melting snows, or droughts, and in the arid zones ...
Up to around 1980, hydropower research and development (R&D) efforts focused mainly on improving turbine efficiency, reducing c ...
The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was formed in 1998 by a joint initiative of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Worl ...
Hydropower, also known as hydroelectric power, is the use of water to produce power. Harnessing water to perform work has been ...
The first step in categorizing potential benefits and costs is determining the relevant scope of the analysis. We have concluded th ...
The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was formed in 1998 by a joint initiative of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Bank (WB) after a historic meeting of leading dam proponents and opponents in Switzerland, with proceedings reported by Dorcey and others. The WCD was asked to discover the truth about the hydropower energy facts, hydropower energy pros and cons, cost, effect, and benefit of large dams and it functioned independently for 2 years at a cost of $10 million. The money was well spent, and at the end of that period the WCD produced a comprehensive report and numerous support documents, and then dissolved itself. The report and support documents remain on the Internet available to all, and they have changed forever the debate about dams. (more…)
The water levels of most of the world’s rivers fluctuate with seasonal rains, melting snows, or droughts, and in the arid zones ...
Hydropower, also known as hydroelectric power, is the use of water to produce power. Harnessing water to perform work has been ...
The winners in hydropower and other large dam projects are those who gain electricity, domestic water supplies, sanitation, dro ...
Up to around 1980, hydropower research and development (R&D) efforts focused mainly on improving turbine efficiency, reducing c ...
Some of alternative fuel sources are by no means new. For centuries people have harnessed the power of running water for a vari ...
Transportation is another sector that has increased its relative share of primary energy use. This sector has serious concerns as it is a significant source of CO2 emissions and other airborne pollutants, and it is almost totally based on oil as its energy source. An important aspect of future changes in transportation depends on what happens to the available oil resources, production and prices. At present, 95% of all energy for transportation comes from oil. (more…)
Under both former President Bush and new President Obama, the U.S. government has vowed to reduce reliance on imported oil. The ...
Global energy consumption in the last half century has increased very rapidly and is expected to continue to grow over the next ...
From prehistory until the Industrial Revolution, most energy sources used by humans were localized (i.e., available within 5–10 mil ...
Do we have the resources? Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine which ran on biodiesel vegetable oil in the late 1800s. At the ...
One study that does address the peak-oil scenario directly is a 2005 report conducted for the National Energy Technology Labora ...
Taxation of energy in the United States, the federal government does not impose an energy tax or a general sales tax that is broadly applicable to energy. However, excise taxes are imposed on certain fuels, and there are a number of income tax provisions specific to the energy sector. There are three separate categories of taxes and fees that affect energy use: (1) excise taxes/fees that primarily affect energy demand; (2) income tax provisions that primarily affect energy supply by operating on the after-tax rate of return on investment; and (3) income tax provisions that primarily affect the demand for specific energy sources. (more…)
Various provisions in the federal income tax treat energy producers more or less favorably than other businesses. By changing t ...
The primary purpose of all forms of taxation, whether on energy or on non-energy items, is to raise money for the government to fin ...
Economists have overwhelmingly favored fuel taxes over fuel economy standards as a means to reduce fuel or gasoline consumption ...
Federal Excise Taxes placed on specific energy sources tend to reduce energy demand for these energy sources in both the short ...
A number of countries have vehicle tax incentives programs designed to reward purchasers and owners of alternative fuel-efficient v ...
Federal Excise Taxes placed on specific energy sources tend to reduce energy demand for these energy sources in both the short and the long run. The federal government imposes excise taxes on almost all petroleum products (including petroleum additives) and coal (see Table 1). The federal government also imposes federal excise taxes on many transportation uses of methanol, ethanol, natural gas, and propane and imposes a fee on electricity produced from nuclear power plants and nuclear power electricity. (more…)
Economists have overwhelmingly favored fuel taxes over fuel economy standards as a means to reduce fuel or gasoline consumption ...
Taxation of energy in the United States, the federal government does not impose an energy tax or a general sales tax that is br ...
Analysis of future light-duty transportation energy use require estimates of the impact of fuel prices on travel and fleet fuel ...
Various provisions in the federal income tax treat energy producers more or less favorably than other businesses. By changing t ...
A number of countries have vehicle tax incentives programs designed to reward purchasers and owners of alternative fuel-efficient v ...
There are numerous possible applications for hybrid power systems. The most common examples are (1) remote AC network, (2) distributed generation applications in a conventional utility network, and (3) isolated or special purpose electrical loads.
The classic example of the hybrid energy systems is the remote, diesel-powered AC network. The basic goal is to decrease the amount of fuel consumed by diesel generators and to decrease the number of hours that they operate. The first addition to ‘‘hybridize’’ the system is to add another type of generator, normally using a renewable source. (more…)
The term hybrid energy system refers to those applications in which multiple energy unit conversion devices are used together t ...
The characteristics and components of a hybrid system depend greatly on the application. The most important consideration is wh ...
Renewable energy generators are devices that convert energy from its original form in the renewable energy source into electric ...
The primary electric drivetrain components for fuel cell vehicles are the same as those for any electric vehicle: traction motors, ...
It is easier and less costly to fit insulation in a new home than to retrofit. However, many existing houses have little or no insulation, and they will benefit from any improvements that can be made to the levels of insulation. In most houses, insulation can be reasonably easily added to roof spaces and under timber framed floors. It is more difficult to retrofit insulation to walls. It is advisable to add insulation during any renovation, and it can also be cost effective – especially in colder parts of the country – to remove internal linings in order to add wall insulation. (more…)
You must perform some sort of tour and visit of your home and property to find out exactly where it may need in applying insulation ...
Imprinted on every batt or blanket of insulation or on every bag of loose insulation is its R-Value. The higher Insulation R-Value, ...
If your house has no attic (most flat-roof houses don’t), chances are there’s a cockloft, a space between roof and ceiling, at ...
You know where to insulate, but there’s still one more thing you need to know about—vapor barriers. Well-insulated attics, craw ...
There are many efforts to make building more comfortable and to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from buildings. For many years ...
Smoke from biomass and coal combustion contains a large number of pollutants with known health hazards, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides (mainly from coal), formaldehyde, and polycyclic organic compounds (e.g., carcinogens such as benzo[a]pyrene). The concentrations of each of these pollutants vary among the different forms of solid fuels, with animal dung and crop residues having some of the highest level emissions to environment of particulate matter, one of the important indicator pollutants for health effects. (more…)
Exposure to indoor air pollution from the combustion of solid fuels has been implicated, with varying degrees of evidence, as a ...
Important research over the past few decades has illustrated that indoor air pollution and indoor smoke from solid fuel poses i ...
Indoor air quality (IAQ) research deals with the presence, levels, health effects, and control of physical, chemical, and biologica ...
In terms of aggregate health effects, household solid fuel use is currently the most important source of indoor air pollution i ...
Exposure to air pollutants and air pollution problem are very high in indoor environments in developing countries. Smith has es ...
Sir Arthur Eddington’s general address on subatomic energy at the 1930 World Power Conference in Berlin stirred the imagination of every scientist and engineer present. The challenge was clear: find a practical means of accessing, controlling, and using the enormous energy locked in the atom as predicted by Einstein’s remarkable mass–energy relation, E=mc2. On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi transformed Eddington’s visionary challenge into reality by producing the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile 1. Six decades later, nuclear energy now produces 16% of the world’s electrical power. (more…)
Nuclear fission and fusion Research and Development continues to account for nearly half of the total spending by IEA countries, al ...
ITMA Foundation, a group of researchers formed by Javier Belzunce, José Manuel Artimez, Ana Moran and Ruben Coto, has developed the ...
Geographers researching the development of nuclear power have shifted emphasis from commercialization, cost, risk, public acceptanc ...
Because a nuclear explosion in a nuclear power plant is impossible due to the low fuel enrichment, the worst conceivable accident i ...
Nuclear power plants have many different designs and shapes. Early technology restrictions in nuclear power plants make huge ...