Published on EGEE 401: Energy in a Changing World (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/egee401)

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Introduction

Unit 5: Environmental Solutions: Technical and Legislative Approaches – Lesson 10: Assessment and Technical Solutions

About Unit 5 and Lesson 10

In this lesson, we will consider several approaches for addressing environmental impact—Stabilization Wedges, Life Cycle Thinking (Assessment) and Green Economy (steady state).

The Stabilization Wedges framework provides a system for creating an integrated plan to curb carbon emissions using current technologies. This framework will give us the opportunity to bring together many of the concepts and technology options explored in this course.

Life Cycle Thinking is an holistic approach that considers the environmental (and social) impacts of products (and services) through all phases of the life cycle: raw products, manufacture, distribution, use/reuse/maintenance, and disposal. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology for quantifying the overall impact of a product on the environment. This methodology also builds on the earlier lessons from this course—the carbon cycle, energy sources, and the environmental outcomes of our energy usage.

In a green economy, the full costs of protecting the environment and appropriate conditions and treatment of workers must be considered. A no-growth steady state economy is an economy scaled to operate within ecological limits.

What will we learn in Lesson 10?

With the successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • understand and explain to others “stabilization wedges”;
  • recommend multi-faceted approaches for managing carbon emissions;
  • apply life cycle assessment principles to your everyday activities and decision making;
  • critically evaluate inherent assumptions in economic thinking relative to environmental impact and planetary limits.

What is due for Lesson 10?

The table below provides an overview of the requirements for Lesson 10. For details regarding the assignment, refer to the page(s) noted in the table.

Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates.

Lesson 10 Requirements
REQUIREMENT LOCATION SUBMITTED FOR GRADING?
Reading: (Stabilization Wedges):
  • "A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check," Scientific American
  • "Stabilization Wedges Introduction"

Page 2-4

No

Reading: (Life Cycle Thinking):
  • Read "A Brief History of Life-Cycle Assessment"
  • "Greening The Economy Through Life Cycle Thinking," (selected sections), UN and SETC
  • "Life-Cycle Assessment of Energy and Environmental Impacts of LED Lighting Products (Part I: Review of the Life-Cycle Energy Consumption of Incadescent, Compact Fluorescent, and LED Lamps)", (selected sections), DOE
  • Scan closely "The Lifecycle of a Jean"
Page 5 No
Reading: (Green Economy):
  • "Envisioning the Good Life" (selected sections), CASSE
Page 6 No
Lesson 10 Activity: Complete Lesson 10 Activity. (It's in Canvas, under Module 5) Page 6 Yes
Unit 5 Discussion Forum: "Envisioning a Sustainable World" (It's in Canvas, under Module 5) Page 7 Yes

Questions about EGEE 401?

If you have any questions, please post them to our Questions about EGEE 401? Discussion in Canvas. Use this Discussion for general questions about course content and administration. I will check it daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate or have a related question.

 


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/egee401/node/1772