Energy and the environment
BI BN BM BR
L Spriggs
4.5 points * 65 hours * Full-year subject * Gippsland/Distance * Prerequisites: Entry to BEng course
This subject draws on material from a wide range of disciplines to introduce students to the concepts and relationships associated with human energy use. A comprehensive model is devised to provide an integrated framework for considering energy use and its effects on the environment. The model highlights energy resource classification, extraction and processing; patterns of energy use; environmental (including sound) effects of energy technologies and systems; economic, ethical and political implications of energy distribution and use, and energy planning. Students are encouraged to evaluate current energy problems (eg ehanced Greenhouse effect) and to consider innovative strategies for more environmentally friendly energy practices.
Assessment
Three assignments: 100%
Prescribed texts
Patterson W C The energy alternative Optima, 1990
Recommended texts
Neueson, M (ed.) Managing the human impact on the natural environment Belhaven Press, 1992
Patterson W C The energy alternative McDonald Optima, 1990
`Energy for Planet Earth' Scientific American Special issue, September 1990