Study Guide for 6011 Midterm
Week 1: How Energy Impacts Our Health
• Explain how energy influences human health
• The more energy usage a person has, generally the better they are living. Also generally extends our lives.
• Energy protects form a lot of things...i.e. Refrigerator has temperature control protecting us from types
of contamination that readily killed people a few 100 years ago.
• Energy can also influence human health depending on the types of energy. Sustainable energy
improves public health, reduces air/water pollutants (cancer, asthma, mercury in fish) , industrial accidents, economic
and health impacts of fossil depletion, and climate change (heat wave deaths, disease, crop loss). Fossil fuel burning can
lead to air pollution etc.
• Define ethical considerations on what is meant by sustainable development
• Some ethical considerations are that sustainable development means living in a way that does
not compromise the future generations ability to lice
• Explain how each major energy source is used and their percent contribution in the US energy mix
• Petroleum - 37% mostly used for transportation fuels, asphalt, plastics etc.
• Natural Gas- 29% - Natural gas is mostly utilized for electricity, agriculture (fertilizer), and building
heated w/ NG. Cyclical use in nature (winter>summer) Hydro fracking has made cheaper
• Coal - 14% has been shrinking and been replaced by natural gas.
• Nuclear - 9%
• Hydro - 3% (possibly shrinking due to droughts and the fact that we’ve dammed most of big rivers already.
• Renewable - 8% (Biomass, Wind,Solar, Geothermal)
• Using systems thinking to evaluate the health impacts of fossil fuel use at the local and global level
• Health impacts of fossil fuel on a local level include decreased air quality and an increase
of the NAAQS 6 criteria air pollutants which can lead to many pulmonary and cardiovascular issues.
• Globally: Excessive fossil fuel usage is increasing amount of carbon emissions and
leading to climate change. As the health of the world deteriorates, drought, wildfires, etc. are leading
to decreased health of populations as a whole.
• Explain health impacts of unconventional extraction (e.g., Tar Sands, Mountaintop Removal, Hydro
Fracturing) as well as changes to infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, rail)
• Canadian Tar Sands (CTS) - oily sand scooped by trucks & boiled to separate oil derivative from
sand (water floats the oil to the top)
• Health Implications: Climate change: causes erosion and deforestation. Also soil is a living object
full of microbes and nutrients, so after this process, hard for things to grow in sand, stripped soil. Adds to carbon
emissions and climate change
• Infrastructure Changes: CTS is very hard to move, so limited, would require a pipeline to
effectively export to other nations
• Mountaintop Removal
• How it Works: Blowing the top off a mountain in order to go after coal
• Health Implications: Mountain tops are usually acidic and have arsenic/ mercury
accumulations. When the mountain top is used to fill a valley, these harmful compounds may enter the water
supply.
• Hydraulic Fracturing
• How it works: Once a site has been identified, drill a mile below surface past water aquifers, steel
casing inserted and cement is pumped through out bottom and btw casing and the hole to serve as a barrier btw well
and water. Drilling continues to kick-off pt. Where they start drilling at an angle until horizontal. More cement
added. After this drilling rig is removed and valve is put at surface. Water and gel is used to clean out well bore w/
a bit. Perforating guns go to predetermined depth creating perf tunnels that are about 30 in long and ⅓ in diameter.
Fleet of pump trucks then used to send water/sand mixture deep into well-bore and out into perf tunnels. This
fractures the rock, & when pressure is relieved fractures can grow 2
• 200-400 ft. Fractures provide trapped natural oil or gas an easy path into well-bore. Process
of perforation repeated entire length of pipe/horizontal part
• Health Implications: Takes a lot of diesel trucks that add air and noise pollution. Also produces
methane emissions and methane is an extremely strong GHG. Additionally, flowback water is salty, full or
chemicals and radiological waste, and is too dirty to put anywhere. Shale industry 4.1 times more lethal than others
• Infrastructure changes: needs to be moved by rail, but is more explosive than conventional crude
oil (oil spill and explosions on the rise w/ unconventional oil)
• Explain how water is used in electricity production
• In most of all electricity production, we just boil water. We take steam (water
, explosion) through a turbine, and the steam turns a turbine and creates electricity.
Week 1: How Energy Impacts Our Health
• Explain how energy influences human health
• The more energy usage a person has, generally the better they are living. Also generally extends our lives.
• Energy protects form a lot of things...i.e. Refrigerator has temperature control protecting us from types
of contamination that readily killed people a few 100 years ago.
• Energy can also influence human health depending on the types of energy. Sustainable energy
improves public health, reduces air/water pollutants (cancer, asthma, mercury in fish) , industrial accidents, economic
and health impacts of fossil depletion, and climate change (heat wave deaths, disease, crop loss). Fossil fuel burning can
lead to air pollution etc.
• Define ethical considerations on what is meant by sustainable development
• Some ethical considerations are that sustainable development means living in a way that does
not compromise the future generations ability to lice
• Explain how each major energy source is used and their percent contribution in the US energy mix
• Petroleum - 37% mostly used for transportation fuels, asphalt, plastics etc.
• Natural Gas- 29% - Natural gas is mostly utilized for electricity, agriculture (fertilizer), and building
heated w/ NG. Cyclical use in nature (winter>summer) Hydro fracking has made cheaper
• Coal - 14% has been shrinking and been replaced by natural gas.
• Nuclear - 9%
• Hydro - 3% (possibly shrinking due to droughts and the fact that we’ve dammed most of big rivers already.
• Renewable - 8% (Biomass, Wind,Solar, Geothermal)
• Using systems thinking to evaluate the health impacts of fossil fuel use at the local and global level
• Health impacts of fossil fuel on a local level include decreased air quality and an increase
of the NAAQS 6 criteria air pollutants which can lead to many pulmonary and cardiovascular issues.
• Globally: Excessive fossil fuel usage is increasing amount of carbon emissions and
leading to climate change. As the health of the world deteriorates, drought, wildfires, etc. are leading
to decreased health of populations as a whole.
• Explain health impacts of unconventional extraction (e.g., Tar Sands, Mountaintop Removal, Hydro
Fracturing) as well as changes to infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, rail)
• Canadian Tar Sands (CTS) - oily sand scooped by trucks & boiled to separate oil derivative from
sand (water floats the oil to the top)
• Health Implications: Climate change: causes erosion and deforestation. Also soil is a living object
full of microbes and nutrients, so after this process, hard for things to grow in sand, stripped soil. Adds to carbon
emissions and climate change
• Infrastructure Changes: CTS is very hard to move, so limited, would require a pipeline to
effectively export to other nations
• Mountaintop Removal
• How it Works: Blowing the top off a mountain in order to go after coal
• Health Implications: Mountain tops are usually acidic and have arsenic/ mercury
accumulations. When the mountain top is used to fill a valley, these harmful compounds may enter the water
supply.
• Hydraulic Fracturing
• How it works: Once a site has been identified, drill a mile below surface past water aquifers, steel
casing inserted and cement is pumped through out bottom and btw casing and the hole to serve as a barrier btw well
and water. Drilling continues to kick-off pt. Where they start drilling at an angle until horizontal. More cement
added. After this drilling rig is removed and valve is put at surface. Water and gel is used to clean out well bore w/
a bit. Perforating guns go to predetermined depth creating perf tunnels that are about 30 in long and ⅓ in diameter.
Fleet of pump trucks then used to send water/sand mixture deep into well-bore and out into perf tunnels. This
fractures the rock, & when pressure is relieved fractures can grow 2
• 200-400 ft. Fractures provide trapped natural oil or gas an easy path into well-bore. Process
of perforation repeated entire length of pipe/horizontal part
• Health Implications: Takes a lot of diesel trucks that add air and noise pollution. Also produces
methane emissions and methane is an extremely strong GHG. Additionally, flowback water is salty, full or
chemicals and radiological waste, and is too dirty to put anywhere. Shale industry 4.1 times more lethal than others
• Infrastructure changes: needs to be moved by rail, but is more explosive than conventional crude
oil (oil spill and explosions on the rise w/ unconventional oil)
• Explain how water is used in electricity production
• In most of all electricity production, we just boil water. We take steam (water
, explosion) through a turbine, and the steam turns a turbine and creates electricity.
