Energy and the Environment (EVSC20006)

Modern human societies have developed an apparently insatiable appetite for the production and consumption of energy, which has brought with it far-reaching adverse consequences to the environment. Energy is a well-understood aspect of science; thermodynamics describes the fundamental principles that determine the efficiency with which energy can be harvested, stored, produced, transmitted or consumed. The environmental impacts of the production and consumption of energy are less fully understood and have to be balanced against the availability of key resources, the cost of managing those resources, the efficiency with which they may be utilised and the political and ethical consequences of obtaining them.

This subject provides a quantitative survey of the chemistry and physics behind conventional and alternative energy sources, including fossil fuels, bio-fuels, the capture of energy from solar, geothermal, hydro and wind sources and their storage, and the generation of energy from nuclear fission and fusion processes. Each energy source is assessed in terms of its environmental impacts, its dependence on critical or scarce resources and the social or political consequences of reliance on that energy source with respect to long-term sustainability.