EGEE 102
Energy Conservation for Environmental Protection

Review and Extra Resources

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Review

Review Sheet Lesson 4 – Energy and the Environment

  • Fossil fuels
    • Natural gas, Petroleum, Coal
  • Fossil fuel composition (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur, Minerals)
  • Products of Combustion
    • Primary pollutants
      • Carbon Dioxide (majority), Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Lead
    • Secondary Pollutants
      • Difference between primary and secondary
    • Particulate matter
      • Primary particles
      • Secondary particles
  • Health and environmental effects of
    • CO2, CO, SO2, NOx, Lead
    • PM
      • Very Small (smaller than 0.1 μm)
      • Intermediate (between 0.1 μm and 2 μm) Most dangerous
      • Coarse size (larger than 2 μm)
  • Global and Regional effects of Secondary Pollutants
    • Greenhouse effect - What is it?
    • Greenhouse gases and GWP
      • CO2, H2O, CH4, N2O, Other gases [CFC-12, HCFC-22,Perfluoromethane (CF4), Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)]
    • CO2 and temperature fluctuations (pre-industrial and current concentrations and temperature changes)
    • Global warming:
      • What is it?
      • Difference between greenhouse effect and Global warming
      • Factors affecting Global climate change
      • Potential consequences on global temperature, change in sea levels, polar icecaps, precipitation levels, etc.
      • What is known for certain?
      • What is likely but uncertain?
      • What is uncertain?
    • Solutions for global warming
  • Acid Rain and Ozone
    • Acid Deposition, Basic chemistry of formation, gases responsible for acid deposition
      • Wet deposition
      • Dry Deposition
      • pH scale (ranges from 0 to 14)
        • pH of 7 is neutral
        • pH less than 7 is acidic
        • pH greater than 7 is basic
      • Effects of acid rain on human health, vegetation, aquatic life, visibility, and materials
    • Ozone
      • Good Ozone (stratospheric ozone) vs. Bad Ozone (ground level ozone)
      • Ozone Hole (Dobson units)
      • Effects of Ozone depletion – basic chemistry
      • Ground level Ozone and Photochemical smog formation- Basic chemistry
      • Health and Environmental effects
      • Your power in protecting the environment

Test Yourself

The questions below are your chance to test and practice your understanding of the content covered in this lesson. In other words, you should be able to answer the following questions if you know the material that was just covered! If you have problems with any of the items, feel free to post your question on the unit message board so your classmates, and/or your instructor, can help you out!

  1. What is the difference between primary and secondary pollutants?
  2. How can scientists extrapolate historical climate changes by analyzing ice cores?
  3. What is the greenhouse effect? Explain the difference between greenhouse effect and global warming? Which gases contribute to the greenhouse effect?
  4. Explain how ozone is formed at the ground level with the help of the basic reactions. Which end users of energy are responsible for the emissions of the compounds involved?
  5. Explain how the stratospheric ozone layer is being destroyed. Which sector is responsible for the emission of the gases that are responsible for this?
  6. What is acid rain? How is it formed? What are the effects of acid rain?
  7. List five steps that you, as an individual, can take to reduce potential global warming, and explain how each of these steps will reduce the emissions.
  8. List 5 ways in which you, as an individual, can reduce gaseous emissions that contribute to acid rain.
  9. State the arguments that scientists are making who say that global warming is not due to burning of fossil fuels.
  10. What are the effects of ground level ozone?
  11. Briefly describe the methods by which information is gathered and used to show that the planet is warming up.