Energy and the Environment
From Thermal-FluidsPedia
As nonrenewable energy sources are depleted, the level of pollution in the environment is rising. Because fossil fuels make the bulk of our energy use today, most pollution is combustion generated. The harmful effects of these pollutants on the environment are becoming more pronounced, as evidenced by increased level of toxins in our atmosphere, rise in global warming, and depletion of ozone in the stratosphere. In addition to fossil fuels, the burn-up of nuclear fuel has resulted in pile up of tremendous amount of nuclear waste. Unlike other pollutants that can become ineffective in periods of many months or years, the nuclear waste material remains radioactive for a very long time and practically permanent relative to the span of human life.
References
(1) Toossi Reza, "Energy and the Environment:Sources, technologies, and impacts", Verve Publishers, 2005
Further Reading
Meadows, D. H., et al., The Limit to Growth, Universe Books, 1972. Also see, The Limit to Growth: The 30-Year Update, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004.
Diamond, J., Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Penguin Group, USA, 2004.
Cleveland, C. J., Encyclopedia of Energy, Elsevier Direct Science, 2004.
The International Journal of Energy, Science Direct Elsevier Publishing Company.
Applied Energy, Elsevier Publishing Company.
Journal of Energy Resource Technology, ASME International.
The Energy Journal, The quarterly journal of the IAEE’s Energy Education Foundation, (http://www.iaee.org/en/publications/journal.aspx).
External Links
Energy Citation Database, US Department of Energy (http://www.osti.gov/energycitations).
Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov).
US Department of Energy (http://www.doe.gov).
The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty (http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html).
The Club of Rome (http://www.clubofrome.org).
The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org).