Green Engineering

Presented by:Jose Bilbao

Martha GarciaLuis Pimentel

Christine L. Seda

Pollution

• Industry– Construction– Landscape

• Soil Fertility• Surface water pollution

– Fossil Fuels• Greenhouse Gases• Global warming

Green Engineering

• Who Created Green Engineering?– 1994: The Office of Pollution Prevention– 1998: American Institute of Chemical Engineers

• What is Green Engineering?“The design, commercialization and use of

processes and products that are feasible and economical while minimizing the generation of pollution at the source, and the risk to human health and the environment."

Green Engineering

• Goals– Assess human and environmental impacts. – Categorize chemicals– Modernize outdated process.

• Incorporate Green Engineering into all aspects of engineering.

Green Technology

• Air pollution control• Air pollution dispersion

modeling• Alternative energy• Biofuel• Composting• Ecoforestry• Energy Conservation• Environmental Design

• Green Building• Hydrogen Technologies• Recycling• Renewable energy• Remediation• Solid waste treatment• Sustainable architecture• Sustainable energy• Sustainable development

Biofuel

• Any gas or liquid fuel derived from dry organic matter or combustible oils– Biomass

• Agricultural products• Agricultural waste• Household waste• Industry waste• Forestry waste

Biofuel

• Biodiesel– Transesterification– Reaction of oil with alcohol to remove glycerin– ASTM standards– 1990 Clean Air Act Ammendments

Biofuel

• Landfill gas– Gases excreted by landfills– 50 % methane – Generate electricity

Biofuel

• Advantages– Mitigates climate change– Renewable resource– Exhaust chemicals originated in the

atmosphere

Biofuel

• Biofuel supply– Phillips BioFuels: Vermont, United States– The Austrian Biofuels Institute: European

Union– Chemical Inc.: United States and Canada – VP Racing Fuels: United States – Hiperfuels: United States

Biofuel

• Equipment– Biofuel Systems: Worldwide– The Austrian Biofuels Institute: European

UnionPump

Agitator

Filter

Biofuel

• Standards Testing– Analytical Testing Services, Inc.: USA– Harris Testing Laboratories, Inc.: USA

Eco-Forestry

• Eco-Forestry is a term that collectively describes activities that sustainably utilize forest resources while maximizing benefits retained by the traditional resource owner.

Eco-Forestry

• Certification– Standards defined by local government

officials, industry and owners– Compatible with universal principles that

balance economic, ecological and social objectives

– Certified products can carry a label, which verifies that the timber or wood product originates from well-managed forests

Green Building

• “Green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy,water and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle.” (Wikipedia)

Green Building

• LEED Certification– Nationally accepted benchmark for Green

construction– Rating system varies with building type– Six areas of focus

• sustainable site development• water savings• energy efficiency• materials selection• indoor environmental quality • Innovation and design process

Green Building

• LEED Certification– LEED Platinum– LEED Gold– LEED Silver– LEED Certified

Platinum Certified LEED Building

Hydrogen Technologies

• Technologies for creating electricity from hydrogen.

Hydrogen Technology

• Goals– Shift from fossil-fuel supply infrastructure to a

safe and widespread hydrogen production, storage, and delivery system

• Developing hydrogen using renewables, such as biomass, solar, and wind

• Developing hybrid power systems that incorporate renewable energy and fuel cells

– Improving the materials, manufacturability, and operation of fuel cells

Hydrogen Technology

• Fuel Cells– convert hydrogen rich fuels into electrical

energy that can be stored– Systems compact and lightweight with no

major moving parts– Used in vehicles and motorcycles– Micro combined heat and power

Case Study

• Green cities:– National Geographic rated the top 10 green

cities in the U.S. • Air and water quality• Green space and design• Socioeconomic factors• Transportation • Recycling

Case Study

• “Greenest” city: Eugene, OR– Bike trails, clean air and water, parks,

wilderness areas, and vast amount of public owned wetland natural areas

– 85% of the city’s electricity comes from wind and hydroelectric power, greatly reducing greenhouse gases.

Case Study

• 2nd Place: Austin, TX– Offers customers one of the highest solar

power rebates in the country.– Have implemented programs to educate

homeowners and builders on green building– Austin’s Smart Growth Initiative: Designed to

preserve drinking water, proximity to mass transit, and maintain pedestrian friendly urban design.

Green Investment

• “Venture Capitalists Flock to Green Technology” by Ryan J. McCarthy– Green technology and money: “green”

companies are attracting more investment.– Money invested rose 35% in 2005.

Green Investment

• California Invests in Green Technology– An article in the San Francisco Chronicle

states that the state's two largest public pension funds will commit $1.5 billion over the next few years to invest in environmentally responsible companies and cutting-edge technologies, especially those associated with biotech, nanotech and energy.

Green Investment

• Green Investing Mindset:– "I believe it is the same thing with environmental

practices. The corporation that exploits the environment leaves behind both a damaged environment and, ultimately, a degraded company. We are long-term investors and want to make sure that the companies that we are investing in are healthy companies in 20, 30 years' time."

-Nicole St. Clair, manager of communications at the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies in Boston

Risks of Green Technology

In theory the advancement of Green Technology is flawless, but…

Pros Cons

• Alternative Energy Sources reduce burning fossil fuels

• Alleviate the dependence we have for Middle Eastern and Venezuelan Oil

• Possibly boost the economy by creating new jobs and entrepreneurs

• Alternative Energy Sources cause depletion of other resources such as farm land, water, etc.

• Politics would play great role

• Money, Money and more Money…

The downside…Green Building

• More difficult to design and Construct• Very high construction costs• Too much political influence involved

• Green Building - Practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment.

The downside…Ethanol

• Reports say that to replace 5% of fuel with ethanol would require 20% of arable land

• Farm lands would be overwhelmed• Ethanol production would increase the

demand for farmland thus increase the price for food!

• Ethanol - Ethanol fuel is a biofuel alternative to gasoline. It can be combined with gasoline in any concentration up to pure ethanol (E100).

The downside…Other Energy Sources

• Too Costly• Life spans in question• Adverse effects on economy

• Hydrogen Fuel – Fuel cell that burn off hydrogen

• Solar Fuel – Energy that comes from Solar Panels

• Wind Harvesting – Use of windmills to collect energy

The Future…Other Energy Sources• Possible end of Fossil Fuels• Political power shifts• Economies crashing• Wars• Countries struggling to survive• New environmental problems

Questions

Thank you for your time.

Questions???