Tag: substances, objects and energy

The Pollutant Standards Index, or PSI, is a type of air quality index, which is a number used to indicate the level of pollutants in air. The PSI is reported as a number on a scale of 0 to 500. The index figures enable the public to determine whether the air pollution levels in a particular location are good, unhealthy, hazardous or worse.

Tidal power is taken from the Earth's oceanic tides. Tidal forces are periodic variations in gravitational attraction exerted by celestial bodies. These forces create corresponding motions or currents in the world's oceans. Due to the strong attraction to the oceans, a bulge in the water level is created, causing a temporary increase in sea level. When the sea level is raised, water from the middle of the ocean is forced to move toward the shorelines, creating a tide. Because the Earth's tides are ultimately due to gravitational interaction with the Moon and Sun and the Earth's rotation, tidal power is practically inexhaustible and classified as a renewable energy resource.

Biodegradable pollutants:

Those pollutants which can be broken down into simpler, harmless, substances in nature in due course of time (by the action of micro-organisms like certain bacteria) are called biodegradable pollutants. Domestic wastes (garbage), urine, faecal matter, sewage, agriculture residues, paper, wood, cloth, cattle dung, animal bones, leather, wool, vegetable stuff or plants are biodegradable pollutants.

Non-biodegradable pollutants:

Those pollutants which cannot be broken down into simpler, harmless substances in nature, are called non-biodegradable pollutants. DDT, plastics, polythene, bags, insecticides, pesticides, mercury, lead, arsenic, metal articles like aluminum cans, synthetic fibres, glass objects, iron products and silver foils are non-biodegradable pollutants.

Cleanliness and less use of insecticides, proper disposal of organic wastes, sewage and industrial effluents, broder roads and shifting of factories out of the residential areas all help in reduction of pollution. 

Environmental pollution has following effects:

1. Effects on Humans: The effects of environmental pollution on humans are mainly physical, but can also turn into neuro-affections in the long term.

2. Effects on Animals: Environmental pollution mainly affects animal by causing harm to their living environment, making it toxic for them to live in

3. Effects on Plants: As for animals, plants, and especially trees, can be destroyed by acid rains (and this will also have a negative effect on animals as well, as their natural environment will be modified), ozone in the lower atmosphere block the plant respiration, and harmful pollutants can be absorbed from the water or soil.

4. Effects on the Ecosystem: In short, environmental pollution, almost exclusively created by human activities, has a negative effect on the ecosystem, destroying crucial layers of it and causing an even more negative effect on the upper layers.

Nuclear fallout, or simply fallout, is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast or a nuclear reaction conducted in an unshielded facility, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave have passed. While deforestation, soil erosion and increasing deserts can be controlled, nuclear fallout causes genetic mutation in humans and destruction that cannot be controlled or cured.

People all across the globe use these energy sources to generate electricity for homes, business, factories and schools. We use this energy to light bulb, run computer, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners etc. We use energy to run our cars and trucks. Both the gasoline used in our cars, and the diesel fuel used in our trucks are made from oil. Since, renewable sources are not used on much wider scale and use of Non-renewable sources cause pollution to the environment and may extinct if used in a hazardous manner, so the need of the hour is to conserve these resources and use them in an efficient manner to minimize the wastage and making this planet a better place to live in.

Petroleum and natural gas are formed by the anaerobic decomposition of remains of organisms including phytoplankton and zooplankton that settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions, millions of years ago. Over geological time, this organic matter, mixed with mud, got buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure caused the organic matter to chemically alter, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in oil shales, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. Despite these heat driven transformations (which may increase the energy density compared to typical organic matter), the embedded energy is still photosynthetic in origin.

There is a wide range of organic, or hydrocarbon, compounds in any given fuel mixture. The specific mixture of hydrocarbons gives a fuel its characteristic properties, such as boiling point, melting point, density, viscosity, etc. Some fuels like natural gas, for instance, contain only very low boiling, gaseous components. Others such as gasoline or diesel contain much higher boiling components.

Otto cycle is the typical cycle for most of the cars internal combustion engines that work using gasoline as a fuel. To reduce pollution LPG is used as a source of clean fuel. Blast furnace gas may be combined with natural gas or coke oven gas before combustion. Hence all of the above are used for internal combustion of engines.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) can now be used as a fuel for gas-fueled captive power plants. Natural gas as fuel source has a significant number of benefits versus diesel including reduced emissions and reduced fuel costs.

Natural gas can be used to generate electricity in a variety of ways. The most basic natural gas-fired electric generation consists of a steam generation unit, where fossil fuels are burned in a boiler to heat water and produce steam that then turns a turbine to generate electricity. It is a non-renewable resource. Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel found in close proximity to and with natural gas.