19 research outputs found
Ethical Considerations in Risk Communication Practice and Researchâ€
Risk communication is a growth industry. The increasing size of Risk Analysis is just one reflection of a more general flood of publications, workshops, research projects, as well as serious efforts to communicate or to tell others how to communicate. The National Research Council has recently issued a summary report on the topic.(’) Amid all this activity, there is a simmering conflict regarding the ethical status of risk communication. Some people hold it to be an unabashedly good thing, an essential activity if lay people are to make informed decisions regarding risks. Others have a darker view. For example, Sheila Jasanoff suggests that “risk communication is often a code [word] for brainwashing by experts or industry”.(2) In this editorial, we offer a framework for analyzing the ethical status of that subset of communications composed of messages from technical experts to the lay public.</p
Can the U.S. Have Reliable Electricity?
Nuclear power plant operators have greatly increased reliability over the past two
decades. What can the electric power industry as a whole learn from their
experience
Water Impacts of CO<sub>2</sub> Emission Performance Standards for Fossil Fuel-fired Power Plants
We employ an integrated
systems modeling tool to assess the water
impacts of the new source performance standards recently proposed
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for limiting CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The implementation
of amine-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) for 40% CO<sub>2</sub> capture to meet the current proposal will increase plant water use
by roughly 30% in supercritical pulverized coal-fired power plants.
The specific amount of added water use varies with power plant and
CCS designs. More stringent emission standards than the current proposal
would require CO<sub>2</sub> emission reductions for natural gas combined-cycle
(NGCC) plants via CCS, which would also increase plant water use.
When examined over a range of possible future emission standards from
1100 to 300 lb CO<sub>2</sub>/MWh gross, new baseload NGCC plants
consume roughly 60–70% less water than coal-fired plants. A
series of adaptation approaches to secure low-carbon energy production
and improve the electric power industry’s water management
in the face of future policy constraints are discussed both quantitatively
and qualitatively
Power Play: A More Reliable U.S. Electric System
U.S. utilities have a lot to learn about avoiding power outages. They can benefit from the experience of foreign utilities, other U.S. industries, and even their own nuclear power plants.</p
The U.S. Electric Power Sector and Climate Change Mitigation
Measured by environmental impact and economic importance, the electricity industry is one of the most important sectors of the American economy. The generation of electricity is responsible for 38 percent of all U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and one third of all U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This sector is the largest single source of these emissions. It is also the largest source of sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOX), small particles, and other air pollutants.
At the same time, electricity is critical to the U.S. economy. Recent annual national expenditures on electricity totaled $250 billion—making the electricity sector’s share of overall GDP larger than that of the automobile manufacturing industry and roughly equal in magnitude to that of the telecommunications industry. Expenditures alone, however, understate the importance of electricity to the U.S. economy. Nearly every aspect of productive activity and daily life in a modern economy depends on electricity for which there is, in many cases, no close substitute. As the most desirable form of energy for many uses, electricity use has grown faster than GDP. The Internet and computers would not operate without very reliable, high-quality electricity. Electricity also plays a major role in delivering modern comforts and easing household tasks, from running heating and cooling systems to washing clothes and dishes. It plays an even more important role in the commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors, where it provides lighting and powers a variety of machines. In short, it is hard to imagine a modern economy functioning without large amounts of reliable, high-quality electricity.</p
Regulatory and Policy Needs for Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
What does it take to establish geological sequestration (GS) of CO2 as an acceptable method of greenhouse gas emissions reduction
Reducing U.S. Residential Energy Use and CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions: How Much, How Soon, and at What Cost?
There is growing interest in reducing energy use and emissions
of carbon dioxide from the residential sector by deploying cost-effectiveness
energy efficiency measures. However, there is still large uncertainty
about the magnitude of the reductions that could be achieved by pursuing
different energy efficiency measures across the nation. Using detailed
estimates of the current inventory and performance of major appliances
in U.S. homes, we model the cost, energy, and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions
reduction if they were replaced with alternatives that consume less
energy or emit less CO<sub>2</sub>. We explore trade-offs between
reducing CO<sub>2</sub>, reducing primary or final energy, or electricity
consumption. We explore switching between electricity and direct fuel
use, and among fuels. The trade-offs between different energy efficiency
policy goals, as well as the environmental metrics used, are important
but have been largely unexplored by previous energy modelers and policy-makers.
We find that overnight replacement of the full stock of major residential
appliances sets an upper bound of just over 710 Ă— 10<sup>6</sup> tonnes/year of CO<sub>2</sub> or a 56% reduction from baseline residential
emissions. However, a policy designed instead to minimize primary
energy consumption instead of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions will achieve
a 48% reduction in annual carbon dioxide emissions from the nine largest
energy consuming residential end-uses. Thus, we explore the uncertainty
regarding the main assumptions and different policy goals in a detailed
sensitivity analysis
Hurricane Modification and Adaptation in Miami-Dade County, Florida
We investigate tropical cyclone wind and storm surge
damage reduction for five areas along the
Miami-Dade County coastline either by hardening buildings or by the
hypothetical application of wind-wave pumps to modify storms. We calculate
surge height and wind speed as functions of return period and sea
surface temperature reduction by wind-wave pumps. We then estimate
costs and economic losses with the FEMA HAZUS-MH MR3 damage model
and census data on property at risk. All areas experience more surge
damages for short return periods, and more wind damages for long periods.
The return period at which the dominating hazard component switches
depends on location. We also calculate the seasonal expected fraction
of control damage for different scenarios to reduce damages. Surge
damages are best reduced through a surge barrier. Wind damages are
best reduced by a portfolio of techniques that, assuming they work
and are correctly deployed, include wind-wave pumps
Managing Soil Carbon
Restoring soil carbon is essential to enhancing soil quality, sustaining and improving food production, maintaining clean water,and reducing increases in atmospheric CO2. Short-sighted farming practices have resulted in loss of an estimated 4 + 1 gigatons (Gt) of carbon from soils of the United States, and 78 + 12 Gt from the world's soils, a large fraction of which ended up in the atmosphere( 1). Soil carbon loss has come principally from plowing that turns over the soil, making it susceptible to accelerated erosion( 2). This is exemplified by the Dust Bowl era in the United States and is a serious issue in most developing countries</p
Communicating Risk to the Public
As the recognition of risks in our society increases, so does the volume of communications about those risks. </p