Sustainable Energy 26/01/2011 07:20:00

←
← Wind Energy
← History
← 5000 B.C: wind propelled boats across the Nile River
← First practical windmills were in 7th century in Afghanistan
← 19th century: settlers in America began using windmills to pump water
for farms, it created electricity for homes and industrials.
←
← 1887: First windmill in Scotland
←
← World’s fastest growing renewable energy
←
← How it works?
← Wind blows turbine
← Turbine connected to a generator
← Energy then goes to the energy grids or transferred into batteries
←
← Advantages
← Generates electricity
← Does not produce any pollutants or dangerous bi-products
← Cheapest form of energy available today
← Farmers can use it and earn income with it
← Does not use fossil fuels or non-renewable sources of energy
←
← Drawbacks
← Wind turbines can be damaged or destroyed during a storm or with
lightning
← Does not eliminate energy problems
← Wind does not blow at the same speed all the time.
← Fatal for birds
← Turbines contribute to noise pollution.
← Slower the wind speed, the louder the noise.
←
← Where is energy used?
← Denmark -> 20% of energy from off-shore windmills
← US produces the most energy: 35,159 megawatts
← China 2nd and Germany 3rd .

← Developed/Developing countries
← Developed-> used often as a second source of energy
← Developing countries -> not used often
← Africa accounts for 0.5% of total use
← While the US and Europe account for much more.
← Wind turbines are very expensive.
←
← Conclusion
← Green Energy
← Renewable
← Yet it is often used as a secondary energy, which means that we still
need to find another source of energy to compensate.
←
← Hydro-power
← Hydropower: conversion from the movement of water to useful
energy: electricity
←
← History
← Used by the Greeks to turn wheels for using wheat
← 1889: 200 electric plants of hydropower in the United States
← 1920: Hydropower generated 25% of the United States energy
← 1940: 40% of energy produced by hydropower in the United States
←
← How it works?
← Reservoir/ Dam
Water falls and turns a turbine
Travels to the generator and creates energy
Advantages
Cheap/ Low cost of exploitation
Long term of use
Not very expensive to upkeep
No difficulty of transport of the energy
No pollutant trash

Drawbacks
Construction of the dam and turbines creates noise
Drought
Pollution of water that is stocked
Some residues helpful -> helps protect certain species of plants
The water can also freeze.
Dams can burst/break (Shakidor Dam)

Where is it used?
China
United States
South America

Developed/Developing countries
Large infrastructure
Expensive
Advanced technologies
Qualified employees/ universities

Conclusion
Renewable Source of Energy
Does not deplete
High initial cost… but savings can be made
Low emission
No residual debris

Solar Energy
History
1938: Edmond Becquerel’s findings
1954: Bell Laboratories lead to the creation of solar panels

Advantages
It saves money -> does not require fuel. Sun is free
Low maintenance
Operate silently
Do not emit smells
Environmentally friendly
Does not reject any polluants
Does not contribute to Global warming.
Does not have any carbon emissions
Reduces reliance on other sources of energy

Disadvantages
Cost of solar energy is high
Solar panels require a large area for installation
Need a large number of solar panels
Depends on the location of the sun
Clouds and pollution of the air also influence the production of solar energy

Solar energy?
Energy form the Sun, in the form of light and heat
Thermal Energy: Solar panels collect and use heat energy from the sun
Panel heats the air and then water inside the panel is warmed.
Electric Energy: Photovoltaic Panel transforms light energy into electrical
energy.
Panel connected to a grid.
Creates energy.
Where is it used?
Germany, Spain, Japan, United States

Developed/ Developing
Cost of energy is a challenge
Developed countries can maintain the costs
Developed countries have the resources

Conclusion
Renewable energy
Environmentally friendly
No detrimental effect on the planet
Reduce poverty in developing countries (Togo)

Geothermal Energy
History
Word from Greek
Geo -> Earth
Therm -> heat
14th century: First use in France
How does it work?
In the center of the earth is a reservoir of heat
Heat will go up and turn a turbine which creates energy.
Some will leave as steam but some of it will enter the earth again and create
a cycle.
Geo-thermal reservoirs
Volcanoes
Fumaroles
Hot springs
Geysers
Located near plate boundaries

Advantages
Does not create pollution
Less expensive
Less dependency on oil and coal
Geothermal energy can never run out
No cost of transportation, purchasing

Drawbacks
Difficult to find locations for plants
Rock needs to be soft
Sufficient heat in the rocks is needed
Sustainability
Hard to find the areas
Surveys of the land

← Where is it used?
Ring of fire
Pacific Ocean
Geysers -> Iceland
Kenya
Indonesia
Philippines
Central America

Developed/Developing countries
Turkey is one of the first five countries of direct use of geothermal energy
China, United States, Iceland, Turkey, New Zealand

Conclusion
Geothermal energy is used everyday
Does not pollute
Environmentally friendly
Safe for the future

Nuclear Energy

History
Nuclear plants generate electricity with nuclear reactions
The notion of atom has existed for a long time
But we only recently discovered its energy
During the WWII it was used as a bomb
Later the scientists concentrated on a more peaceful use
Nuclear energy is now used for research and medical uses
1942 -> we enter the nuclear age
1951 = a reactor produces nuclear energy for the first time
1954= Soviet Union becomes the first nuclear power plant to produce
energy
Nuclear production grew a lot in the 80’s in the United States
In the 21st century production slowed

How it works?
Steam power plant fueled by radioactive elements, like uranium
Atoms split apart which generates energy
Energy heats water and creates steam
Steam pushes turbines, which forces coils of wire to interact with a magnetic
field, this generates an electrical current

Where is it used?
16% of the world’s energy is supplied by nuclear power
US has the most plants = 104
France gets the highest percentage of its electricity from nuclear energy

Developed/ Developing countries

Developed countries do not find funds to invest, cannot afford it
Developed countries are very wealthy and have technical superiority, thus
they can invest in nuclear energy
Main consumers: US, FRANCE
Developed countries rely on nuclear energy

Advantages/ Disadvantages
Nuclear energy will be produced even after coal and oil become scarce
Nuclear energy is “eco-friendly”
Nuclear plants require less space
Nuclear energy= release a million times more energy than other energy
sources
Easy to transport
Expulsion to radiation
Waste contains very unstable elements and is radioactive
Security issues
Depends on Uranium
Takes a long time and is expensive to build
Accidents can be devastating
Chernobyl

Sustainable Development?
Security of supply
Economic arguments
Rising prices of fossil fuels
Is harmful to the environment, but reduces carbon energy
Urban Planning and Sustainable Development
26/01/2011 07:20:00
← I)Case Study: New York, A Northern Megapolis
←
← 1) New York is a thriving and prospering city with significant financial
activity, tourism, culture, college education, and scientific research.
However, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Today, 1 out of
5 New Yorkers is poor, and 14% of working households live under the
poverty line. Consequently, the richest people of the city earn five times
more than the poorest, presenting a huge gap. As the city advances towards
luxury buildings, the gap increases (1 out of 4 households spend 50% of
their income on rent).
← 2) Housing in New York city has become very expensive. Today, the
city invests the most to build luxury buildings instead of housing projects.
Therefore, most of the population must pay an important sum of money on
rent and housing. Consequently, households that cannot afford it become
homeless (35,000 homeless in New York City). New York is facing an
affordable housing shortage.
← 3) Document 2 shows the gap between the rich and the poor. It shows
a “damaged neighborhood”, an area in South Bronx where the less
privileged live.
← 4) In New York city, one can observe contrasts between each borough
and contrasts inside each borough. One can observe that boroughs such as
Brooklyn and the Bronx have more people living under the poverty line than
Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Consequently, inside each borough,
one can observe neighborhoods that have more people living under the
poverty line (Northern Manhattan, Upper East Brooklyn).
← 5) The poor in New York city are mostly situated in Harlem, the Bronx
and some areas of Brooklyn. In these areas, the housing is less expensive,
which explains why the poorest people live in these neighborhoods.
← 6) Harlem is situated in Northern Manhattan. It has been a poor
neighborhood for a long time, but it is become richer and richer. It has shed
its image of a black ghetto and is valued for its architecture and culture.
More and more people are moving to Harlem, it is becoming a popular
neighborhood.
← 7) New York is the 2nd most car-using city in America. The large
amount of cars sometimes causes traffic in the city. This traffic has an
economic impact. Every year, the city loses 6 billion dollars because of traffic
delays. The great amount of cars also accounts for the large energy
consumption (40,000 mega joules per year/ per inhabitant) and a high level
of carbon emissions and pollution in the city.
← 8) New York City is very dependant on cars and transportation (2nd
most car-using city in America). Many people need to use cars or public
transportation to get to work, and to get around the city. This explains the
important energy consumption of New York City inhabitants (40,000 mega
joules/ per inhabitant), and their dependency on cars.
← 9)One can conclude that the use of cars is primordial. However, such a
high dependency causes impacts on the environment (carbon emissions,
pollution, large consumption of energy) and impacts on the economy.
← 10) The city of New York has decided to fight against pollution by
decreasing green house gas emissions by 30%, enlarging parks, cleaning
rivers, planting 1 million trees, and removing 3,000 hectares of brownfield
sites. The city is also trying to reduce energy usage, and remove taxes on
hybrid cars to incite the population to buy them.
← 11) The image shows that the city is working hard to create clean
urban spaces. Creating a pedestrian area in Times Square reduces the
amount of carbon emissions previously caused by the large amounts of cars
and traffic.
← 12) The creation of the High line is also contributing to the city’s goal
of creating clean public spaces. The project was a green way to transform an
unused rail road. The High line creates a new urban park in which people can
walk without making a negative impact on the environment.
← Recap:
← New York city has a population of 22 million, and represents one of the
most powerful cities in the world, and a center of world economy. The city is
composed of 5 boroughs: the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn,
Manhattan. The city, however, also deals with social and spatial inequalities
and tries to move toward urban sustainable development.
←
←
 26/01/2011 07:20:00
←