quiz 3 lecture vocab Flashcards
(37 cards)
1
Q
Pop Growth: Implications
A
- inc. demand for: food, water, energy, other nat res.
- host country demog changes:
- migrants are younger & childless or w/ young children
- voluntary migs are better educated, motivated than non immigrants
- uneven distribution of impacts; cocentrated in urban areas
2
Q
Pop Growth debate: neo-malthusians
A
- Neo-malthusians:
- pop growth causes misery / env. degredation
- limited carrying capacity
3
Q
Pop growth debate: economists
A
- pop growth is source of progress
- stimulates:
- inc. efficiency
- resource substitution
- conservation
- innovation
- ppl live longer and better now than when pop was smaller
- policies & markets are the problem, not pop growth
4
Q
Pop growth debate: Inequality Argument
A
- pop growth, env. deg, misery all caused by unequal social structural arrangements
- LDC econ stagnation caused by:
- poverty, inequitable trade policies, ongoing dependencies / neo-colonialism
- large multinational corps are destroying env, not indigenous pop
- hunger caused by poverty & high food prices, not overpop
- 22 most food-def African nations could meet needs w/ just 11% of surplus held by neighbors
- Thailand: rice prod increased 30%, exports increased 9x faster -> per capita rice has dropped
- China has 1/2 India’s cropland per person, but India has more widespread/severe malnutrition
5
Q
there’s enough food for 2800/cal/day/person, but…
A
- 30 million americans malnourished
- 1/3rd world grain fed to animals
- smaller % of world is hungry, but that’s of a much larger number, so more actual people are hungry
6
Q
Benefits of biotechnology
A
- early maturing crops
- more efficient users of solar energy for prim. prod.
- more resistant to: droughts, pests, salinity, etc
7
Q
Sustainable Agriculture examples
A
- Agro-ecology / low-input farming
- more labor-intensive traditional practicies
- use ecological principles of diversity, interdependence, & synergy to improve productivity
- multiple cropping, rotation, inter-cropping, mixed farming (plants + animals)
8
Q
Population is Stabilizing (rate of growth falling) due to…
A
- socio-economic development -> falling birth rates
- family planning programs
- global diffusion of feminism & women’s rights
- increasing death rates due to misery, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, other diseases, disasters, etc
9
Q
Energy Dependence
A
- energy mediates human-environment interactions & sustainability
- we are always producing and consuming energy
- inc. living standards = inc. consumption
10
Q
OPEC
A
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
- created in 1960 at Baghdad Conference
- Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, S. Arabia, Venezuela
- 70s: took control of oil production: 63% of global supplies
- 73: Arab-Israeli war -> Oil Embargo
- World economic decline / human misery
- triggered MDC changes:
- IEA
- conservation / efficiency / energy alts
- such that Iran War (79) did not have same impact
11
Q
IEA
A
- International Energy Agency, Paris-based, autonomous, intergovernmental org.
- created in 1974 in response to 1973 oil crisis
12
Q
When energy prices spike (cyclical), political reaction will be to… (4)
A
- boost production (Bush Sr & Jr), opposed by env’s
- change behavior w/ BTU tax (Clinton), opposed by consumers
- increase efficiency (Clinton, Obama)
- fund alternatives (Obama)
… depending on their political stance
13
Q
2 reasons US has military bases in foreign countries…
A
- protect economic interests
- protect geopolitical interests
14
Q
Predicament
A
Chronic problem leading to a crisis, if left unattended
inter-crisis predicaments:
- gas hogs still predominant
- cheap gas
- efficiency, conservation, & alternative efforts are less predom.
15
Q
Crisis
A
rapidly deteriorating situation leading to disaster, if left unattended
- ‘73, ‘79, mid 90s, 2000s, recently
16
Q
energy problems: source
A
- source probs: oil supplies will run out… how soon depends on efficiency, conservation, alts; finding new sources; world economic growth
- supply-side policies: subsidies, cheap gas
- externalized cost / lack of demand-side policy
- gas hogs still ~50% sales
- ~30bill/yr military protection
- env./social costs of energy prod/consumption
17
Q
energy problems: pop growth, econ dev., distribution probs
A
- MDCs are 20% of global pop, use 75% world energy
- 1 US = 3 in Japan = 6 in Mexico = 531 ethiopeans
18
Q
energy problems: policy & geopolitical
A
- supply-side policies: subsidies, cheap gas
- externalized cost / lack of demand-side policy
- gas hogs still ~50% sales
- ~30bill/yr military protection
- env/social costs of energy prod/consumption
19
Q
energy problems: sink
A
- might be more pressing than source probs
- greenhouse gas emissions
- oil spills, other pollutants
- Coal Production:
- 80% of NOx & SO2 gases
- forest damage from acid rain
- 65,000-200,000 die/yr
- mercury, a carcinogen
- more radioactive particles per unit energy than nuclear
- If costs could be internalized it’d drive efficiency, conservation, alternatives
20
Q
present system: oil
A
- relatively cheap
- easy to transport
- high yield of net useful energy
- multiple uses / versatile
- greenhouse & other gas emissions
21
Q
present system: coal
A
- very abundant
- high yield of net useful energy
- cheapest source of inustrial heating/electricity
- highly polluting
22
Q
present system: natural gas
A
- more efficient than coal
- versatile: industry / transportation / power
- fewer pollutant than any other fossil fuel
- highly concentrated in just a few areas
- methane emission leakage & incomplete combustion has warming effect 25x > CO2
23
Q
present system: nuclear
A
- zero CO2 or other greenhouse gasses
- highly controversial: long-lived low-level radiation & storage concerns
- risks of: exposure, meltdown, accidents,
- Three Mile Island, PA (TMI)
- radioactive gas escaped, lawsuits cost 2x cost of plant
- chernobyl meltdown: more radiation than Hiroshima/Nagasaki combined -> fallout in much of Europe, some Alaska
- Three Mile Island, PA (TMI)
- planning, construction, regulation is unfavorable
- slow growth… likely a failing techno-option
24
Q
controversy is…
A
a good thing, as it forces action, conversation, etc
25
present system: renewables
* really the oldest "tech"
* could provide 50% of orld energy needs in next 50 yrs, or less than 50 yrs if we increase efficiency
* science/principles well established, but large scale commercial availability is "impractical & unaffordable"
* which is a CULTURAL argument not based in reality
26
present system: biomass
* traditional fuels: wood, charcoal, dung, plant residue
* low net yield, dirty -\> black carbon, CO2, CO
* major cause of deforestation, erosion, desertification, degredation, biodiversity loss in LDCs
* used to produce biofuels
* biogas anaerobic digesters make methane from biomass
* 6million in China, 750k in India
* residue -\> fertilizer
* seasonal variability
* ethanol from corn and others
27
present system: hydropower
* salmon / dam / climate change dilemma
* 0 emissions, long lifespan
* can be useful for irrigation
* highly dependent on topography / seasonal hydrological variability
* displaces ppl/wildlife, destroys habitat, descreases siltation
* just 13% of world potential used, but most of the remainder in China, India, S. America
28
present system: wind
* N. Dakota is "saudi arabia of wind", more power potential than local demand, 90% of US wind potential
* "wind parks" on 10% of earth's land could produce 2x projected 2020 demand
* req's no water for cooling, produce no CO2 or other air pollution
* kills birds, but more die in alternative venues
* land can be re-used for grazing, crops
* 3x cheaper than nuclear
* cheapest if subsidized at same rate as coal, oil, gas
* UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, produce 2x US amount
29
present system: solar
* could supply world needs fro Equatorial regions
* variably available, needs storage / backup
* US: active/passive solar investments lower than 70s
* Jordan, Israel, Australia, new housing in Arizona/Florida: domestic hot water from solar
* scale: portable up to megawatt plants
* production/infrastructure is costly
* land can't be used for anything else
* Growing rapidly because
* cheapest way to supply 2 billion villages in LDCs
* generator price keeps dropping
* Fukushima -\> domestic/industrial PVE subsidies
* EU nations switching FF subsidies to wind/PVE
* corporations: PR
30
passive solar heating
captures sunlight directly via structures, stores & releases as low temp heat
31
active solar heating
specially designed collectors, usually on roofs, concentrate solar energy, heating a medium, which is then distributed elsewhere (shower, floorboards, etc)
32
PVE
* photovoltaic energy
* no pollution, no moving parts, no water
* made of silicon, 2nd most abundant mineral
33
present system: hydrogen fuel
* energy from H2 gas via electrolysis
* abundant, but takes more energy to make than you get out of it
* 2.5x more energy by weight than gasoline
* no greenhouse gasses, just water
* stored in tanks, or safely as hydrides; transported by pipeline
* versatile: industry / transportation / heating
34
present system: efficiency
* cheapest, easiest, fastest way to solve current energy predicament
* '75-2000, US economy grew by 50% but energy intensity dropped by 40% via improved tech, policies, marketing
* BUT: success bred complacency
* oil prices fell, consumers saw less need for eff.
* Reagan taunted it as 70s relic, froze CAFE standards
* GM said could hit 33mpg by 85... rolled back to 26
* Bush Jr. said "you don't need to conserve; we'll go get the oil for you"
* energy plan of 2001 put off raising CAFE
* McCain/Kerry amendment for 36mg did not pass
* 2004 fleet avg was lowest since 1980
35
CAFE
corporate average fuel economy
36
efficiency 2
* power sector could cut rates by 40% & CO2 emissions by 50% w/ upgrades
* 2.7mpg gain would displace Persian Gulf imports
* companies that pursued efficiency make more money
* things to do:
* efficient lighting: save 120 power plants
* efficient electric motors: 150 power plants
* eliminate waste (lighting empty places)
* better architecture -\> passive solar
* efficient appliances
37
barriers to energy efficiency
* renewables get lower tax breaks / subsidies
* issue-attention cycle
* fragmented energy policies, split by fuel type; net effects: supply-side policies, less favor for alts
* need for global articulation of energy policies
