ENVR 1301-Oscar Molina

  Air Pollution Basics Sulfur Pollutants Sulfur gas is colorless and has a pungent smell. Naturally volcanoes release sulfur pollutants in the air but since the Industrial Revolution sulfur pollutants have increased. Wildfires are another source of sulfur in the air. Anthropogenic emissions of SO2 have increased enormously since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Sulfur dioxide reaches the atmosphere when things are burning, whether that is fossil fuels or burning resources. Emissions in 1860 were about 5-million tonnes, compared with about 150-million tonnes in 2000. (Freedman) Although there is technology to help reduce sulfur emissions from the energy industry, we are still going to see an increase of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere due to the growth and reliance of coal and natural gases. Overexposure to sulfur gas can severely damage vegetation. Sulfur dioxide can lead to circulatory and lung issues for humans and animals that are overexposed. “It is rare...

  1. Exploratory Probe basic facts and knowledge found in the reading and video. The solar farm that is built in Gorgia is helping the community. The county that are building these solar farms are getting much needed tax revenue. They expect 8 million dollars of tax revenue to flow into the county and of the 8 million 5 million will go to the school system. Silicon ranch will also set up scholarships for people that want to learn about the industry. 2. Diagnostic Probe motives or causes.   Walton EMC which is the company that supplies electricity to the county relied on coal for half of their energy production in 2010. Now natural gas is the majority with   renewable only making less than 1% of the energy but since the opening of the farm should increase to 15% to 20%. The American Southwest has large amount of land available and sunshine to entice solar farms to be built. People in this region do not care about climate change but just want cheaper electricity. ...

  Renewable energy is energy that can be readily available within a short time frame. These renewable energy sources are called alternative energy because most countries do not rely on them as their main source of power. (Mutiti) Most countries run on non-renewable sources like fossil fuels and nuclear. These countries call this energy conventional energy. During the 1970s the world went through an energy crisis that increased interest in alternative energy. The hazards associated with nuclear power and the dwindling supplies of fossil fuels sparked this interest. The main argument for the use of renewable energy is that the resources used are easily reproduced. While an energy source like solar is considered unlimited or completely renewable there is another category called semi-renewable. These are sources in theory that can be produced at least as quickly as it is used. Since the world’s reliance on non-renewable energy is high these resources will eventually run out and becom...

  The term “clean coal” has been used to confuse and mislead people into thinking mining coal for energy can be done without any danger to the environment. Clean coal is just a term used to make the coal industry better for the environment than it is . Although mining coal has become cleaner than what it was in the past it still produces large amounts of pollution for the environment and, there are better resources to use that are cleaner than coal. The term washing coal is used the same way as clean coal. The process of mining clean coal is when coal plants collect the carbon dioxide emitted from the smokestacks and bury it underground in a way of limiting global warming. (Plumer) This process would not only help reduce pollution from the coal industry but for all industrial industries. While it sounds like we have found a solution to coal’s global warming problem the technology still new, so it is very expensive and complex. Only one plant in the United States is open and opera...