Energy and its Impact on the Environment
                     Energy and its 
Impact on the 
Environment
Introduction
Energy and environmenta l  problems are  c lose ly  
re lated,  s ince i t  i s  near ly  imposs ible  to  produce,  
t ransport ,  or  consume energy wi thout  s ignifi cant  
environmenta l  impact .  
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 2
Environmental problems 
The environmental  problems di rect ly  re lated to 
energy product ion and consumption inc lude ai r  
pol lut ion,  c l imate  change,  water  pol lut ion,  thermal  
pol lut ion,  and so l id waste disposal .  The emiss ion of  
a i r  pol lutants f rom foss i l  fue l  combustion is  the 
major  cause of  urban ai r  pol lut ion.
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 3
Burning fossil fuels 
Burning foss i l  fue ls  is  a lso the main contr ibutor  to 
the emiss ion of  greenhouse gases.  D iverse  water  
pol lut ion problems are  associated wi th energy 
usage.  One problem is  o i l  sp i l l s .
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 4
Disadvantage
In a l l  petro leum-handl ing operat ions,  there  is  a 
fi ni te  probabi l i ty  of  spi l l ing o i l  e i ther  on the  earth 
or  in  a body of  water.  Coal  mining can also po l lute  
water.
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 5
Changes in groundwater flow 
Changes in groundwater fl ow produced by mining 
operat ions  often br ing otherwise unpol luted waters  
into contact  with certain mineral  mater ia ls  which 
are  leached from the soi l  and produce an ac id mine 
drainage.  Sol id  waste  is  a lso a by-product  of  some 
forms of  energy usage.  
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 6
The eff ect of power plants on the 
landscape
Al l  power  p lants  have a  physical  footpr int  ( the 
locat ion of  the  power p lant) .  Some power plants are 
located ins ide ,  on,  or  next  to an exist ing bui ld ing,  
so  the footpr int  is  fa i r ly smal l .  Most  large power 
p lants requi re  land c lear ing to  bui ld  the  power 
p lant .
Source: www.eea.europa.eu 7
Nuclear power plants produce different 
kinds of waste
Nuclear power p lants do not  produce greenhouse 
gases or  PM,  SO2,  or  NOx,  but  they do produce two 
genera l  types of  radioact ive  waste:
Low- level  waste,  such as contaminated protect ive  
shoe covers ,  c lothing,  wip ing rags,  mops,  fi l ters ,  
reactor  water  t reatment res idues,  equipment,  and 
tools ,  i s  stored at  nuclear  power p lants .
Source: www.eia.gov 8
Climate change
The sc ient ifi c consensus on g lobal  warming and 
c l imate change is  that i t  i s  caused by 
anthropogenic  greenhouse gas emiss ions,  the 
major i ty  of  which comes from burning foss i l  fue ls  
wi th deforestat ion and some agr icul tural  pract ices  
being also major  contr ibutors .
Source: www.eia.gov 9
Biofuel use
Biofue l  i s  defi ned as sol id ,  l iquid or  gaseous fuel  
obtained from re lat ive ly  recent ly  l i fe less  or  l iv ing 
b io logical  mater ia l  and is  d iff erent f rom foss i l  
fue ls ,  which are der ived from long-dead bio logical  
mater ia l .  Var ious p lants  and plant-der ived 
mater ia ls  are  used for  biofuel  manufactur ing.
Source: www.eia.gov 10
Thank you
Presentation title 20XX 11