Abstract

Energy, technical, social, political, economic, and environmental problems are all people related problems which will continue to increase along with the world's population. With the growing demands for more energy and minerals along with the constraints of protecting the environment, new approaches must be considered to these complex problems.

Energy sources, modifications, alternatives, and new developments must be considered for the present as short term resources (next 25- 30 years) and in the future as long range research necessary to develop and implement new technology (25 years on). Major energy sources and their environmental considerations are generally classified as:

I. FOSSIL FUELS - petroleum, natural gas and coal.
II. SOLAR - temperature and climatic effects.
III. NUCLEAR - fission and breeder reactors.
IV. ALTERNATIVE METHODS - wind, tide and waves, hydroelectric and geothermal techniques.

In the immediate future increased amounts of fossil fuels will be utilized for electrical generation and the concentrating and refining of metal resources. This approach to energy and related environmental problems must emphasize a "steady state" system. To meet these objectives recommendations are presented for: a decreased personal energy demand, better energy management, practical evaluations of the cost/benefit ratio required for energy to produce fuels and minerals, and new considerations of environmental impacts by the total system analyses of energy consumed and yielded.

Meeting Name

3rd Annual UMR-MEC Conference on Energy (1976: Oct. 12-14, Rolla, MO)

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Session

Environmental Constraints and Energy

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1977 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

14 Oct 1976

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