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December 2, 2009

December 2, 2009. Solar panel costs 'set to fall'. Ch. 16 (wastes).

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December 2, 2009

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  1. December 2, 2009 Solar panel costs 'set to fall' • Ch. 16 (wastes) The cost of installing and owning solar panels will fall even faster than expected according to new research. Tests show that 90% of existing solar panels last for 30 years, instead of the predicted 20 years. According to the independent EU Energy Institute, this brings down the lifetime cost. The institute says the panels are such a good long-term investment that banks should offer mortgages on them like they do on homes. At a conference, the institute forecast that solar panels would be cost-competitive with energy from the grid for half the homes in Europe by 2020 - without a subsidy.

  2. Why decreased landfills? • Materials management • Incentives for ‘green buildings’ • New technology incentives • Waste exchange programs • Fresh Kills, NY • Recycling • Reduce, recycle, reuse (3 R’s) • Yard materials banned from landfills http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/index.htm

  3. http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_free/000848.html

  4. Recycling rates of selected products, 2008 http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/index.htm

  5. Hazardous Wastes • Types of hazardous wastes • Plastics, pesticides • Medicines • Leather, textiles • Oil, gas, petroleum • ~40% used oil put in drains or ground http://epa.gov/indicators/roe/html/roeLandWa2.ht

  6. http://maps.grida.no/go/collection/vital-waste-graphics-2 Http://www.cspo.org/gck/home/repositories/environment/waste.html

  7. Aerial view of Love Canal, NY Disposal of Hazardous Wastes • ‘Dilute and disperse’ and ‘concentrate and contain’ • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) • Primary national law governing disposal (1976) • Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) • Superfund (1980) http://www.eoearth.org/article/Love_Canal,_New_York

  8. Disposal of Hazardous Wastes • Deep well injection • Characteristics of site? • Problems? http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/wells_class1.html http://www.texasep.org/html/wst/wst_4imn_injct.html

  9. Surface impoundment of creosote wastes near the Clark Fork River, MT Disposal of Hazardous Wastes • Surface impoundment • Secure landfill http://people.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=landfill.htm&url=http://www.santekenviro.com/StkHome.html http://www.deq.mt.gov/HazWaste/RCRA/rcra_fact_sheets/bnsf/RCRABNSFFactSht.asp

  10. TSCA Incinerator, Oak Ridge, TN Disposal of Hazardous Wastes • Incineration http://www.bechteljacobs.com/tsca/ http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/external/PublicActivities/EmergencyPublicInformation/OakRidgeReservationFacilities/tabid/321/Default.aspx

  11. In-situ Chemical Oxidation Disposal of Hazardous Wastes • Alternatives • Source reduction • Recycling • Fertilizers • Microbial breakdown • Land treatment units • Chemical treatment • Neutralization, oxidation

  12. What is Radioactive Waste? • Materials (solid or liquid) with unstable isotopes • Release radiation upon decay • Radioactive decay • Emission particles • Half life (= rate of decay) • 238U (4.5 billion yrs) • 14C (5730 yrs) • 222Rn (<4 days)

  13. Typical Radiation Exposure • 360 mrem/person/yr • Radon (200 mrem), Cosmic/Terrestrial (55 mrem) • Medical X-rays (53 mrem) • Internal (39 mrem) • Consumerables (10 mrem) • Other (3 mrem) • Levels of exposure • 0 – 5,000 mrem (OK) • 5,000 – 25,000 (cancers) • > 600,000 (almost always FATAL) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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