This assignment will be smaller than the other assignments. Its aim is to a) get you to use the internet

to acquire knowledge and insight, b) summarize this comprehensively and c) present it in a short 3

minute presentation.

Topic: The composition of an everyday article: Origin and Issues

Remember the aim of this unit: “This is a general education unit that introduces students to the technical, social, economic and environmental aspects that lie behind the production and use of mineral and energy resources in Australia and the rest of the world. The end products of these resources are familiar to us as steel for cars, aluminium for pots and pans, crude oil for petrol and coal for electricity. Nowadays, we have to consider acid rain, the greenhouse effect, heavy metal pollution, oil spills, radiation, land degradation and land rights. Scarcity and resource exhaustion are also concerns.”

This assignment is designed to lead you into the main themes of the unit by asking you to investigate the significance of metals, energy and minerals in our everyday life. You are asked to look into the make-up of an everyday article e.g car (or specific parts of these), bicycle, refrigerator, airconditioning system, fan, oven, cutlery, pots, washing machine, watches, mobile phones, computers (or parts of those), paint etc. and look into 2 of the main minerals/metals/resources used for this article, their production, environmental issues with their production etc.

You will need to write a short, 1 page summary of your findings, and produce a short 3 min. presentation. This presentation (audiofile and separate ppt file; or a movie as .mov or .avi if you prefer) will be made available to everybody in the class and form part of the “lectures” i.e. information given in this unit. In addition, normally when you view other presentations you learn a lot of how to do a presentation by seeing yourself what worked and did not work.

There are two parts that need to be submitted for this assignment:

Part 1: Short summary of your findings (1 page maximum), including the following

a) present the everyday article you decided to concentrate on

b) summary of main resources used to manufacture the article including minerals, metals, energy

required to produce the article

c) concentrate on 2 of the main minerals/metals/resources used for the article – give the main

world suppliers (countries) of this mineral/metal, their history price development, and issues

with the environmental and/or societal impact associated with the mining of the resource you

have identified

Part 2: Presentation

a) Prepare a powerpoint presentation maximum of 5 slides (to be submitted)

b) record a short 3 minute presentation of your findings (video or audiofile with specific reference

to slide no. of your presentation with home video/camera/phone). Be sure to adhere to suggestions (size, clarity etc) in the “How to give a presentation” (Appendix 1). Your presentation will be made available to your fellow students to view and content will be tested in the end of year exam.

Your commodities are:

Surname starting with:

Item:

Choose two of the following commodities

A-B

iPad/Smartphone

Cu, REE, Li, In

C-D

Car

Al, Fe, Cu, plastic, Pt, REE

E-I

Widescreen TV

Plastic, Ag, Cd, REE, In

J-L

Paint

Zr, Pb, Ti, Plastic

M-R

Batteries

Pb, Zn, Cd, Li, Ni

S

Cement

Ca, Fe, Al, coal

T-V

Solar Panels

Si, Cd, Ge, Ga, Ru

W-Z

Lights & smoke detector

Am, W, Ar, N

Uranium Mining and Nuclear Waste Disposal

Australia has the largest reserves of uranium of any country in the world. Australia is the second largest exporter of uranium with annual export income of more than 990 million dollars. However, despite the considerable economic benefits of mining and exporting uranium, any new mine proposal is met with fierce public opposition. A permanent repository for nuclear waste has yet to be built on any continent, but the quantity of nuclear waste from power-generating facilities continues to increase.

For example, Europe is intensifying its search for a feasible underground storage sites for nuclear waste. France, along with Britain, Japan and Russia, currently reprocess their nuclear waste and then hold it in an interim storage facility. Germany is also in need of a permanent way of storing nuclear waste (See link below). http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,672147,00.html

In 1971 a salt mine in Morsleben, Germany was chosen as repository for nuclear waste. However, storage of nuclear waste was terminated in 1998 after problems with the geological structure of the salt dome.

The United States is also still struggling to find a suitable place for its accumulating nuclear waste (see link below).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/science/earth/06yucca.html

While Australia does not use any uranium for power generation and thus produces no high-level radioactive waste, the possibility of building a repository for global high-level nuclear waste in a remote area of Western Australia, the so-called Pangea Concept, was proposed in 2001. While its major proponent, Pangea Resources International, a multinational company, ceased operations in 2001 its key players have established ARIUS, an Association for Regional and International Underground Storage”. Some people argue that, since Australians are prepared to enjoy the economic benefits of exporting uranium, we should also be prepared to take responsibility for some its wastes. This issuehas recently been in the news again as the discussion on a suitable location in Australia continues (See for example articles in The Sydney Morning Herald). Earth scientists are well placed to inform this debate from a safety pint of view (eg, see Prof Mike Sandifords’ (Melbourne University) discussion at http://jaeger.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/msandifo/Policy/nuclear.html).

Topic: You are asked to consider the advantages and disadvantages of uranium mining and of building a repository for global high level nuclear waste in Australia.

Research Component (65%)

In no more than 1 page per part, you are asked to:

a. Describe and briefly evaluate the benefits and costs to Australia of uranium mining.

b. Explain why Western Australia is considered a prime location for establishing a high-level nuclear waste repository.

c. Outline the potential benefits of building such a repository.

d. Outline the potential problems of building such a repository.

Individual Component (35%)

As an individual, you are asked to respond to the following (max 1 page per part):

a. In your opinion, should Australia allow mining of its uranium deposits? If so, under what conditions? Justify your answer.

b. Discuss whether you would support building of a high-level waste repository facility in Australia, giving reasons for, and reservations in, your answer.

c. If you are in favour of building such a repository, explain how you would go about selling the idea to the Australian public and government; if not, offer your preferred solution to the issue of global nuclear waste

A brief introduction to the assignment and summary are also expected. Accurate referencing of all sources of information is essential.

Due Date: Friday 24/4/15

Some starting Material

Texts from Resources (iLearn))

- Outlook for the uranium industry

- Pangea Technical report

Useful webpages

- World Nuclear Association: http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf48.html

- Australian Government (2010) "Radioactive Waste Management"

http://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiationprotection/factsheets/is

- US Environmental protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/docs/radwaste/

- Leslie Lai and Kristen Morrison(2008) "Nuclear Age Peace Foundation", "Nuclear Energy Fact Sheet".

http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-energy-&-waste/nuclear-energy-factsheet.Htm

Carbon Capture and Storage – Australia’s role in combating Global Warming

Many people consider that global warming, caused primarily by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide

(CO₂) concentrations from burning fossil fuels, could have catastrophic effects. Possible outcomes are:

- increased global temperatures, resulting in destruction of ecosystems and spread of tropical diseases

- higher incidence of droughts, floods and severe storms, and associated crop failures, starvation and deaths

- melting of polar ice caps, resulting in rising sea level, and inundation and displacement of low lying communities; e.g., Sydney!

- possible changes in oceanic circulation patterns, which could potentially cause sudden drastic changes in climate.

Australia is one of the highest per-capita energy consuming countries in the world. Australia is also almost unique in deriving a large majority of its electrical energy from burning coal, the most CO2- intensive fuel that exists. Energy and Industrial Processes contributed to almost three-quarters of Australia's total net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2006 and 2007. Coal contributed to about 37% of these. 

One technically possible way of substantially reducing GHG emissions from coal-fired power stations would be to capture the CO2, compress it and transport it by pipeline and/or ship to a secure storage location. Capture of the CO2 can in principle be done in two different ways:

- after the gas turbine ‘cycle’ in a power station; or

- after fuel combustion in a conventional (pulverised coal or natural gas) power station, by extraction of CO₂ from flue (exhaust) gas as it passes up the chimneys.

The main option for storage of CO2 from a large point source such as a power station is deep underground, either in depleted oil and gas fields, or in un-minable coal mines or in saline aquifers located in sedimentary rocks.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) GHG 2008 report estimates that global Carbon Capture andStorage (CCS) in electricity generation and industrial processes could be responsible for 15-20% of emissions reductions (5-10 Gt CO2 per year) in a range of scenarios. One of the advantages of CCS is that it’s relatively compatible with the current energy supply infrastructure and has well defined health, safety and environmental practices. As such, it is seen by many as one of few technologies available to mitigate CO2 emissions at a large scale (IEA). A serious disadvantage of carbon capture is that retrofitting existing plants with capture technology appears too costly. Therefore, it is proposed that only newly built power plants are subjected to mandatory immediate carbon capture retrofits.

The Australian Government decided to provide AU$2.4 billion support investment in large-scale integrated Carbon Capture and Storage pilot projects in Australia. Currently, there are four of these projects underway in Australia: The Otway Basin Pilot Project and Monash Energy Project in Victoria, the Gorgon Project in Western Australia, and the CS Energy Project in Queensland. This would imply that CCS is a viable and sustainable way of reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

However, carbon capture and storage is a very complex issue and it has many aspects which need to be considered when deciding on its feasibility such as for example the available technology, cost and safety perception among the public of long term carbon storage.

A problem which is only relevant to Australia has been pointed out by a preliminary study by the GEODISC group of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies. They found that the largest storage potential is in Western Australia but almost all of the biggest point sources emitters are in eastern Australia. As a result, Australia only has the potential to store 100-115 Mt per year of CO2, corresponding to 27%-31% of total annual CO2 emissions (Bradshaw et al., 2002). Therefore, according to the GEODISC group, carbon storage is at best a partial solution and Australia would do well to continue with and expand the development of efficient energy use and renewable sources of energy.

World wide, around 20 carbon capture and storage pilot projects have been proposed (Gibbins and Chalmers 2008) but large-scale feasibility has yet to be demonstrated. In 2008, G8 countries agreed to commit to large scale projects with deployment projected to be in 2015. With capture technologies well understood but remaining to be demonstrated at a large commercial scale, CCS is not expected before 2020.

Research Component (65%)

In no more than 1 page per part, you are asked to:

1. Describe what the reasons could be for Australia wanting to contribute to the development of CCS while developing countries such as India and China continue to build power stations but are not at the forefront of CCS.

2. Describe and evaluate what the main concerns are of Carbon Capture and Storage.

3. Describe how CCS will affect the cost of electricity for an average Australian house hold and what the main contributions to this change in cost are.

4. Tabulate the current contribution of each of the main renewable energy sources (e.g., wind, solar) to Australia's electricity supply. Briefly evaluate the importance of each energy source to Australia's overall electricity supply.

Individual Component (35%)

As an individual, you are asked to respond to the following (max 1 page per part):

1. Explain if you think CCS is a feasible option for Australia in reducing its carbon emissions and also explain why.

2. Compare the time that is needed for CCS to become large scale to

- firstly, the timing of the global CO2 reduction targets which the G8 has set themselves

- and secondly, the time it takes to plan and build a new power station

Give your view on how this could affect the development of CCS

3. What alternatives would you present if CCS would turn out not to be viable? Name at least three and explain why you think these options are most likely to tackle the problem of reducing CO2 emissions.

Material (to start with)

Texts from Resources (iLearn)

- NSW first carbon storage

- World energy and climate change

- Coal and GHG (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Emissions Australia

- Clean energy for Australia

- Clean energy for Australia summary

- Sorting out the facts from fiction

- ACA Garnaut

- ACA Garnaut extra

- Development of Electricity Generation and Technologies

Useful webpages

- http://iea.org/ccs/

- http://www.ga.gov.au/ghg/index.jsp

- http://www.worldcoal.org/carbon-capture-storage/

- http://www.co2crc.com.au/

Due Date: Friday 22/5/15

We will be using a custom designed and built, online learning tool; “The ReadinGAME”. This game is designed to operate on a calender week cycle (from Sunday to Sunday), and involves you being able to ask a question related on the weeks material from the readings and lectures. You will then be able to answer questions posed by other students, and most importantly, you will not only be able to score points for correctly answering the questions, but you will also be able to comment and discuss the questions, and rate whether they are good/not so good questions etc.

Importantly, in the process you will be learning and reinforcing the weeks material as well as having a lot of fun- it can be quite addictive.

To play, follow the link in iLearn, and simply ask a question relevant to the weeks material. You will then be able to play, by answering other questions and watching how your score accumulates. You will also be able to give feedback on other peoples questions and monitor your performance. There are multiple scoring paths, and different types of scores to achieve, depending on you interests.

At the end of the semester there will be a quiz worth 10% of question derived from the ReadinGAME.

Quizzes and practical assignments at roughly fortnightly intervals

Final exam on material from lectures, assignments and pracs.