Environmental sustainability PDF

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Name of the Student
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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
ABSTRACT
The sustainable development of the mankind is the key to human survival in the planet. The
growing anthropogenic impact on the environment has made the planet vulnerable for the
existence of life. The continuous degradation of the environment and depletion of its resources to
satisfy human demand has left the environment in a state that can no longer be reversed. It is
time that that alternative sources of energy production and sustainable methods are identified and
put to practice to reverse the impacts thus created. The paper will look into the different energy
storage systems and how they are used to store energy created from non conventional sources.
The cleaner sources of energy have huge potential and optimum utilization of these resources can
solve the existing issues of global energy requirements. Human technology is yet to develop to
full tap the energy from sources of nature and the report will also look into the various
applications and technologies that are being developed to tap the energy and store in different
forms. The environmental impacts, their advantages and disadvantages will also be reviewed in
the paper. The paper will also review and understand the competitive options that include Solar
PV Panels and Wind turbines. The paper concludes with recommendations of these technologies
and a review of current and future prospects in the field of sustainable energy development.

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Energy storage systems: the pros and cons..................................................................................5
Advantages of Energy Storage Systems: The Pros..................................................................6
Disadvantages of the Energy storage Systems: The Cons.......................................................7
Commercial application of energy storage systems....................................................................7
Environmental impact of storage systems...................................................................................9
Cost effective recommendations: Solar PV and Wind turbine systems....................................12
Solar PV Panels.....................................................................................................................12
Wind Turbines.......................................................................................................................13
Energy Storage Systems: The Future Prospects........................................................................15
Geothermal Energy................................................................................................................15
Fly Wheel Storage System.....................................................................................................16
Tidal Energy..........................................................................................................................16
Super Conducting Magnetic Storage.....................................................................................17
Ongoing Research: Microbial Fuel Cell and Bio Fuels.........................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................20

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
With the growing environmental issues and the degradation of the environment, the
world has started to look into alternatives and means that can provide sustainable growth and
allow for more concrete development with lesser anthropogenic impact on the environment.
Since the advent of time, the goal of necessary development has been dependent on energy
extensively. The journey from non renewable fossils fuels to cleaner renewable fuels happened
with the growing consciousness of the environment. The concept for sustainable development
developed with the first Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Earth summit first
addressed issues regarding environmental pollution and degradation of the environment. Prior to
the 1970s very efforts were made to integrate and evaluate environmental degradation and it’s
the social and economic impact (Barrow, 2006). Initially the concept of environmental
management started with natural resources management which later was modified into
sustainable environment management. The natural resources management was not promulgating
and addressing the interest of the environment and a need for sustainable development arose to
prevent the environment. The energy supplies of the world are majorly contributed by non
renewable resources mostly petroleum and coal. The U.N General Assemble adopted ‘Agenda
2030’ in 2015 for achieving Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs which is dedicated to
ensure sustainable plans for energy for all. The Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030 for
Sustainable development focuses on cleaner and environment friendly energy. The introduction
of Solar PVs and Wind Turbines as sources of sustainable energy have gained momentum and
over the years and is being promoted to meet the SDGs goal (Barton and Infield 2004).

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYThe issue that comes with creating safe energy and reducing the environment impact is
the storage of the energy and the life cycles assessment of these storages and the kind of impact
they have in the environment. The report will look into the several kinds of storages that are
available, the impact that they have on our environment, the sustainability of the non-
conventional sources of energy and the way they create scope for sustainable environmental
management.
Energy storage systems: the pros and cons
The recent growth of the several renewable sources of energy it has become important to
store the produced energy in storage systems. The future will see constant rise in production of
energy mostly from renewable energy resources and the storage systems will be influential in
determining the use of these sources of energy in the time to come. Decentralized electrical
production from renewable sources yield more productivity and assures supply with fewer
environmental hazards. The character of production of renewable sources being unpredictable
requires proper systems of storage that would ensure uninterrupted power supply. The renewable
energy resources fluctuate in their productions and therefore it is mostly important to have
adequate storage facilities for the power being generated. The importance of storage systems
therefore is paramount in any site of energy production. The section will look into the several
concepts and types of storage systems that are being used to store energy produced form non
conventional means (Dash, 2010).
Generally, storages are done in dry cells mostly including lithium ion for lower
capacities. Higher capacity intakes are generally stored in system with complex structures which
include mostly compressed air and flow batteries and fuel cells. Though compressed air and fuel
cells are relatively younger technologies and field results are still not confirmed. Fly wheels and