EES 110 Ashford University Sustainable Energy Systems Discussion

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Sustainable Energy Systems

Post-Instruction Assignment Questions

Please answer the following questions as you complete each lesson within the Module.

• What are some of the challenges in setting priorities and measuring improvements in environmental sustainability for governments, businesses, and communities?
• Explain the differences between linear, open-loop industrial systems, and closed systems, which often offer environmental benefits.
• How do renewable energy sources make only indirect contributions to greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions? Distinguish between direct and indirect GHG contributions.
• Although natural gas produces fewer overall greenhouse-gas emissions during its extraction and use than other fossil fuels, name two challenges that remain before natural gas could be considered a cleaner and safer energy source.
• What are some of the potential benefits and risks of advanced nuclear reactors?
• What are some of the features and advantages of smart grids and intelligent electrical networks?
• How could smart appliances and electric cars potentially serve to stabilize the electrical grid if the supply from wind turbines is interrupted?
• How do different ways of generating electricity contribute to varying levels of carbon emissions in each country?
• If nuclear-power fuel rods could be recycled, how much energy could they supply? What additional advantages does pyroprocessing confer for nuclear waste? Would these factors make nuclear energy a preferred primary energy source?
• Natural-gas production has nearly doubled in the United States since 2010, and similar production booms are occurring in other countries. What are the advantages of natural gas over coal, along with its overall disadvantages as a sustainable energy source?
• What factors are making solar energy increasingly cost efficient compared to fossil fuels, and what are additional potential benefits from the growing solar-power industry?
• Aside from political actions, what events could interrupt oil supplies for highly industrialized nations that import a significant percentage of their fuel for transportation?
• What are the long-term strategies advocated for reducing dependence on oil? Should markets or policy predominate in determining energy supply in the United States?
• How do the environmental advantages and disadvantages of biofuels differ for highly industrialized and developing countries?
• What are the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel source over oil-derived fuels? What major factor is inhibiting the adoption of hydrogen as a widely available energy source?
• As human demand for energy grew, what factors contributed to energy crises in the past? What factors could lead to fewer energy crises in the future?
• Why is it important to use the same scale (units of measure) in different product assessments in order to determine the largest environmental impact of the various components?
• It has been calculated in the UK that lettuce has a greater environmental-resource impact than bacon. This is not true in many locations in the United States; explain why.
• What geographic comparative advantages should be considered when purchasing food, as well as food miles, for maximizing food production efficiency and minimizing its negative environmental impact?
• Explain the implications for Earth’s environment as average global biocapacity decreases while the average annual global carbon footprint increases.
• What reasonable action could you take that would have the largest impact in reducing your ecological footprint?
• Explain the difference between debtor nations and creditor nations from an ecological-footprint perspective. What factors lead to uneven consumption?
• Which single issue did the 2018 EPI identify as the leading global environmental health risk?
• Is considering the triple bottom line sufficient to avoid greenwashing, or should industry also adhere to the systems-thinking approach and quantitative tools such as lifecycle assessments?
• Explain the components of the value chain in a company’s product.

Problem-Solving Metrics, and Tools for Sustainability

Post-Instruction Assignment Questions

Please answer the following questions as you complete each lesson within the Module.