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 ...
Indoor air quality (IAQ) research deals with the presence, levels, health effects, and control of physical, chemical, and biological factors in indoor environments, including homes, workplaces, and vehicles. IAQ research in industrialized countries has examined hundreds of specific factors (e.g., temperature, various chemicals, and mold), sources of pollution environment (e.g., environmental tobacco smoke, occupational factors, consumer cleaning products, and moisture), and control technologies (e.g., ventilation). (more…)
Important research over the past few decades has illustrated that indoor air pollution and indoor smoke from solid fuel poses i ...
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 ...
Reducing exposure to indoor air pollution from household energy use can be achieved through interventions in of the following a ...
Exposure to indoor air pollution from the combustion of solid fuels has been implicated, with varying degrees of evidence, as a ...
Acid deposition and the associated particulate nitrates and sulfates are implicated in the deterioration of certain sensitive ecosystems, decreased visibility, negative human health effects, and increased degradation of certain stone building materials and cultural resources, especially those made of limestone and marble. Fine particulate nitrate and sulfate particles associated with acid deposition are implicated in aggravating cardiorespiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis, especially in urban areas. In many cases estimating the impact of acid deposition on various ecosystems can be a difficult process because acid deposition is only one of many impacts that can effect a response. However, wet and dry acid deposition has been documented as a major factor in the following ecosystem responses. (more…)
The formation of acidic deposition is largely from the combustion of fossil fuels and the smelting of sulfide ores. Minor natur ...
The increased use of fossil energy since the industrial revolution, and especially since 1950, has been the major cause of incr ...
Although underground coal mines operations are not as visible as surface mining, their overall environmental impact can be greater ...
Historically, mining companies have extracted the earth’s resources wherever economics made it feasible, secure in their knowledge ...
Although some scientists and critics still dispute that human caused greenhouse gases are causing climate change, the majority of scientists and climate experts assert that global warming is a serious problem that could have devastating consequences unless action is taken to reduce fossil fuel emissions. In 2007, for example, the Nobel Prize–winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body charged by the United Nations with summarizing the best climate science, concludes that evidence of the warming of our climate is “unequivocal.” (more…)
Still hotly debated by some, human-induced global warming is now accepted in the scientific community. Earth’s average yearly tempe ...
Since the early 1960s, climate change and air quality have become major and often controversial issues in many countries and am ...
Addressing global warming, however, is a highly complex and daunting endeavor. Many climate experts have urged the world to stabili ...
Earth’s climate is a complex system of interacting natural components. These components include the atmosphere, the ocean, and the ...
Options for dealing with the threats of climate change include both adaptation to inevitable changes and mitigation, or lessening, ...
Options for dealing with the threats of climate change include both adaptation to inevitable changes and mitigation, or lessening, of those changes that we can still affect. One possible adaptation would be to adjust our agricultural practices to the changing regional patterns of temperature and rainfall. Another would be to build coastal defenses against the inundation from sea-level rise. Only mitigation, however, can prevent the most threatening changes. (more…)
Earth’s climate is a complex system of interacting natural components. These components include the atmosphere, the ocean, and the ...
Scientists study Earth’s climate not just from observation but also from a theoretical perspective. Modern-day climate models succe ...
Although some scientists and critics still dispute that human caused greenhouse gases are causing climate change, the majority of s ...
Still hotly debated by some, human-induced global warming is now accepted in the scientific community. Earth’s average yearly tempe ...
Addressing global warming, however, is a highly complex and daunting endeavor. Many climate experts have urged the world to stabili ...
Currently, site reclamation is planned for during the permitting process and is incorporated into the mining operation. However, this was not always the case. Many mine sites were legally abandoned in an un-reclaimed or poorly reclaimed condition because mining was completed before environmental regulations went into effect. These abandoned mines are scars on the landscape and cause most of the water pollution attributed to mining. These old mines are considered abandoned because, in most countries, no one is legally required to reclaim the land or to treat the water. A similar problem occurs at mine sites that are or were operated by companies that have gone bankrupt. (more…)
Although underground coal mines operations are not as visible as surface mining, their overall environmental impact can be greater ...
Before the passage of regulations dictating mined land reclamation and mine water discharge standards, streams and rivers down-grad ...
Historically, mining companies have extracted the earth’s resources wherever economics made it feasible, secure in their knowledge ...
Federal Excise Taxes placed on specific energy sources tend to reduce energy demand for these energy sources in both the short ...
Coal is an important energy source and energy consumption in United States as well as worldwide. It will remain so for many yea ...
Another large source of renewable carbon supplies is waste biomass. It consists of a wide range of materials and includes municipal solid wastes (MSW), municipal biosolids (sewage), industrial wastes, animal manures, agricultural crop and forestry residues, landscaping and tree clippings and trash, and dead biomass that results from nature’s life cycles. Several of these wastes can cause serious health or environmental problems if they are not disposed of properly. Some wastes such as MSW can be considered to be a source of recyclables such as metals and glass in addition to energy. Thus, waste biomass is a potential energy resource in the same manner as virgin biomass. (more…)
Another large source of renewable carbon supplies is waste biomass. It consists of a wide range of materials and includes munic ...
Estimation of the future technical potential of biomass as an energy source is dependent on assumptions with respect to land av ...
Bioenergy produced from biomass is sometimes called a carbon-neutral energy source, because the same quantity of carbon released wh ...
The future development of energy crops, to the level at which they would replace residues as the major bioenergy fuel source, will ...
Agricultural and forestry residues provide the largest proportion of biomass used for the production of biomas bioenergy. Some esti ...
Another large source of renewable carbon supplies is waste biomass. It consists of a wide range of materials and includes municipal solid wastes (MSW), municipal biosolids (sewage), industrial wastes, animal manures, agricultural crop and forestry residues, landscaping and tree clippings and trash, and dead biomass that results from nature’s life cycles. Several of these wastes can cause serious health or environmental problems if they are not disposed of properly. Some wastes such as MSW can be considered to be a source of recyclables such as metals and glass in addition to energy. (more…)
Another large source of renewable carbon supplies is waste biomass. It consists of a wide range of materials and includes munic ...
Estimation of the future technical potential of biomass as an energy source is dependent on assumptions with respect to land av ...
Bioenergy produced from biomass is sometimes called a carbon-neutral energy source, because the same quantity of carbon released wh ...
The future development of energy crops, to the level at which they would replace residues as the major bioenergy fuel source, will ...
To date, most discussion and research relating to the various of biomass role in mitigating CO2 emissions has been focused around i ...
The convention aims not only at stabilizing CO2 emissions in developed countries but also at ultimately reducing man-made CO2 emissions globally so as to stabilize the global climate. Environmental degradation cannot be singled out as an independent matter among various global issues. (more…)
Biomass has been a main energy sources in the world since the beginning of civilization. It has been important in development p ...
Over the last decade, the number of countries researching the potential of biomass and bioenergy for energy services rose rapid ...
Renewable energy sources cannot run out and causes so little damage to the environment that its use does not need to be restric ...
Estimation of the future technical potential of biomass as an energy source is dependent on assumptions with respect to land av ...
Climate change caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect is one of the most significant global environmental issues. Increased emiss ...
The first step in categorizing potential benefits and costs is determining the relevant scope of the analysis. We have concluded that, at this level of analysis, it is appropriate to limit the scope to the benefits and costs associated with the types of electricity generation that offshore wind, waves, and ocean currents might be displacing. Therefore, we consider externalities associated with offshore alternative energy plus those associated with coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and conventional hydroelectric power. (more…)
10 benefits of Solar Energy: No 1 Solar energy is renewable. We never have to worry about running out of sunlight or usi ...
Public acceptance (PA) clusters are defined by a number of rather intangible commonalties dealing with social values and public ...
If water is put on the floor on a cleaning operation, it tends to dry rapidly after a short time. In this position, we say that ...
Natural gas is found mainly in underground reservoirs and in coal beds. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that consist primarily of ...
Extensive insulation repairs are usually done by contractors having the specific skills and equipment appropriate to the type o ...