VCE Environmental Science

Unit 4 of VCE Environmental Science is about Ecologically Sustainable Development, including the Environmental Management Systems of government and businesses. Every reputable organisation in Australia should be considering the impacts of climate change on their business – even if they are skeptical of the anthropogenic causes of global warming, changing climate will affect resource managment, agriculture, manufacturing, transport and consumer spending. An Emissions Trading Scheme (or Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) will result in rising energy costs and hopefully provide opportunities for increased recycling, improved renewable energy technologies and greater uptake of low-emission vehicles. Companies that plan for climate change, using Environmental Risk Assessment principles, will be most prepared to act to reduce the threats to their economic, social and environmental sustainability.

At Hawkesdale P12 College we aim to reduce our energy use from from the grid and reduce solid waste going to landfill by recycling. In September our 5.5 KWh photovoltaic solar system was installed. This was made possible through a federal government grant from the National Solar in Schools program ($50,000) and a state government grant of $15,000. You can see our current energy production and total since installation at the Sunny WebBox site. By using renewable energy we hope to reduce our carbon footprint and educate students and the community about the benefits of solar power.

The 350 network, supported by World Vision Australia, is a group of over 200 organisations around the world who support a target of 350ppm of carbon dioxide so that our atmosphere is “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted”. The 24th of October is International Day of Climate Action – you can join a local action or register your own here.  Calculate how much carbon dioxide you produce each year using this Energy Requirements Survey.

This post is part of a global project “Blog Action Day 2009” about climate change. From the previous post: More information about Co-generation Plants from the Energy Globe Portal. More on heat-pump technologies, cogeneration and refrigeration research from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

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We were pleased to welcome Matt Boyce, Environment and Sustainability Manager at Midfield Meats, into our class today. Matt spoke generally about the company and his role and more specifically about the EMS at Midfield and the new co-generation plant. As a food processing industry, large amounts of water and energy are used and consequently, high greenhouse gas emissions are released. The EMS, produced in 2005,  also addresses noise, dust, odour, solid waste and waste water. As power and water are two of the most costly inputs into the company, Midfield planned to implement projects that would address cost savings in these areas.

An Adelaide company, SBA Engineering, have installed the Combined Heat and Power generator, which is leased by Midfield. By installing the plant, Midfield aim to reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%.  For example, since the plant was installed in April, electricity use from the grid has been reduced from around 1,150MWh to 600 MWh per month, a decrease of 48%.  Use of natural gas, a ‘cleaner’ fuel that produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions, has increased by about 33%. The cogeneration plant runs in conjunction with a geothermal bore, which also reduces energy costs by supplying water at a higher temperature than the town supply (40C compared to 15-18C). The geothermal water is treated, using reverse osmosis, heated by the cogeneration plant and the water used for cleaning within the plant.

The company are also in the planning stages of a biodiesel plant, turning animal fat (tallow) into fuel. The plant will have the potential to produce 12 million litres of biodiesel each year, reducing vehicle emissions by almost 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide gas equivalent  each year. This biodeisel, a renewable fuel without the issues of ethanol (turning food into fuel) will be used by the freight division of the company and excess fuel sold on the wholeslae market.

Natasha’s Quiz here.

Kara’s Quiz here.

Carly’s Quiz here.

Jamie’s Quiz here.

Thomas’s Quiz here.

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Here is a copy of your task sheet for SAC 1B – Comparing Energy Sources: sac-1b-comparing-energy-sources

World of Energy – Gas Fact Sheet

Mortlake Gas-fired Electricity Generator – The power station

Origin Energy – Mortlake Power Station Project; The Pipeline

Renewable Energy Resources: Wind, Solar, Hydro and Biomass

Facts about Natural Gas as an energy source from ActewAGL

Natural gas facts from Country Energy

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Although scientists have not agreed as to whether we have reached ‘peak oil’ or not, it is clear that fossil fuels are unsustainable – we cannot use oil, coal and gas indefinately – they are finite resources. Governments and industry are spending millions of dollars investigating renewable energy sources, including:

• wind energy
• solar (passive and photovoltaic)
• hydroelectricity
• geothermal energy
• biomass (including ethanol, biodiesel, bagasse, biogas and others)
• tidal and wave power

Check out the links on the Energy page for more information about fossil fuels and renewable energy. When I am away on Wednesday morning, watch the Clickview videos about renewable energy. Draw up a table listing the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas) and the renewable energy sources listed above.

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This first unit of work – Energy – includes looking at exothermic (releasing energy) and endothermic (absorbing energy) reactions. On Tuesday we did several chemical experiments that showed how reactions between two substances can cause both increases or decreases in temperature. Physical changes can also be exothermic (condensation and freezing) or endothermic (melting and evaporation). Think about how the kinetic energy of the molecules in the substance changes – are they slowing down and releasing energy to the environment or are they speeding up and taking energy from their surroundings? Read more about exothermic and endothermic reactions here.

You need to know the First (the law of conservation of energy) and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.

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If you suffered through last week’s heat wave, you’ll be hoping that a spell like that won’t happen for another 70 years! But, if many of the world’s scientist’s predictions are correct, we are likely to see this kind of weather more frequently in the future. How did you keep cool last week? One of the common solutions in the developed world to the uncomfortable conditions caused by extreme heat is air conditioning, which is a major power user. If we could harness the sun’s energy to power our air conditioners we would be saving tonnes of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere.

In this course we will be studying the natural environment and how humans have affected our natural systems over time. During first semester we look at Energy and the Greenhouse effect, with a case study comparing one fossil and one non-fossil fuel.

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Professor Ross Garnaut has warned that the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu’s wetland system and the Murray-Darling Basin are all at risk from the warmer, drier temperatures and rising sea-levels caused by climate change. Professor Garnaut released his draft review of the social and economic effects of a carbon emissions scheme yesterday. “The risk can be substantially reduced by strong and early action by all major ecomonies”, he said in a speech to the National Press Club.

On the same day, Origin Energy has finally committed to building a $640 million gas-fired power plant at Mortlake. The 1,000 MW facility will be built in stages and, when completed, will produce enough electricity to power up to 1.5 million homes. Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, claims that the gas-fired plant will emit 70% less greenhouse gases than a brown coal fired plant.

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Are you looking for a case study of where wind power is used in Victoria? Although it is still being established, the wind power development at Daylesford is particularly interesting as it is community owned. Read the article from the Age Newspaper (July 2nd, 2008) and consider the extent that this development meets the goals of Ecologically Sustainable Development.

Hepburn Renewable Energy Association

Sustainability Victoria: Myths and facts about wind power.

Sinclair Knight Mertz: Wind farms help Australian Greenhouse targets

Department of Primary Industries: Wind Projects in Victoria (current and proposed)