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Energy and Environment, 4 creditsPrintable

Coordinator: Paulina Bohdanowicz Student Assist. Paulina Bohdanowicz

Examiner: Björn Palm Course nr: 4A1613

Date/period: Period 3,4In brief: The objective is to provide a thorough understanding of the

effects on the environment of energy conversion, power generation and energy utilization, as well as available mitigation measures.

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Aim

Upon completing the course the student should have a throughout understaning of global energy situation and the interactions between the human activities in the energy field and the environment. Furthermore the student should have a comprehensive knowledge of available management systems and tools as well as technical mitigation methods relevant to the energy field and applicable within the existing legal framework.

 

Syllabus

Within the course framework an overview is given of the impacts of large scale energy generation on the environment, including the issues of acid rain, ozone layer depletion and global climate changes, followed by the global energy situation and possible/probable future energy scenarios. The mechanisms of pollutant transport in the atmosphere are dealt with, followed by a discussion of the concepts of environmental management systems and tools, such as environmental impact assessment, life cycle analysis, and material flow analysis.

Furthermore technical mitigation methods available at various stages of energy cycle are presented and analysed, both on the generation as well as utilisation side, i.e. possible alternative fuels, clean combustion technologies and flue gas cleaning, as well as energy conservation and energy efficiency relevant to the end-users. Finally legal and economic tools for energy policy are presented, including international agreements and programs, as well as economic mechanisms.

Within the course curriculum students are invited to particpate in the Worldwatch Institute presentation on the State of the World which takes place at KTH every February under the auspices of Pro et Contra.

This year the topic is:State of the World 2005: Redefining Global Security

Security concerns remain high on the world's agenda, but terrorism is only symptomatic of a far broader set of complex problems that require more than a military response, writes the award-winning Worldwatch Institute team in State of the World 2005: Redefining Global Security. Acts of terror and the dangerous reactions they provoke are symptomatic of underlying sources of global insecurity, including the perilous interplay among poverty, infectious disease, environmental degradation, and rising competition over oil and other resources. http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2005/ "We need a policy of 'preventative engagement': international and individual solidarity and action to meet the challenges of poverty, disease, environmental degradation and conflict in a sustainable and nonviolent way," writes Green Cross International Chairman and former Soviet president Mikhail S. Gorbachev in the Foreword to State of the World 2005.  http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2005/tocid/224/ And the seminar will be held on February 15, 2005, 13.30-17.00, in room Q1

In response to the recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (Nov 18, 2004) and its entering into force on February 16, 2005, the course given in the Spring 2005 will include a series of lectures on the issues of global warming and climate change, with invited speakers including Mr. Bert Bolin - the founding chair of the IPCC 1988-1997.

Project work focuses on analysing various technologies used today for power generation and final energy utilisation, from the point of view of their impact on the environment and their sustainability in a long-term perspective.

 

A study visit(s) to a relevant facility is/are arranged (Hammarby Sjöstad - GlasHusEtt and ...).

During the curricular years since 1998/99 to 2003/2004, an excursion was organized to the hydroelectric power plant system along the Lulea River (Northern Sweden), with visits to the power plants at Suorva/Vietas, and Porjus,  accompanied by seminars on the environmental effects of generating hydroelectric power, given by specialists from Vattenfall Utveckling AB (Stockholm) and Vattenfall Hydropower AB (Stockholm and Porjus). A similar visit is being considered for this year.

Group 2004

 

Group 2003

uollerim 6000 year