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Fossil fuel
resources are finite and are nonrenewable on the human time scale.
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Before fossil fuels can be burned, they must
be extracted from the Earth; these extraction processes cause
substantial environmental and human health impacts.
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Oxides and particulates, which are basic
products of any combustion, are released whenever fossil fuels are
burned.
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Burning of fossil fuels also releases metals
and volatile organic compounds that are present in fuels—whether put
there by nature or by humans.
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After the burning of fossil fuels releases
pollutant gases, chemical reactions in the atmosphere produce new
pollutants; these are called secondary air pollutants.
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People are exposed to the particulates and
pollutant gases that result from burning fossil fuels mainly via
inhalation; these pollutants have both respiratory and
nonrespiratory health impacts.
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People are exposed to the mercury and lead
released by burning fossil fuels mainly via noninhalation pathways;
both of these metals are neurotoxicants.
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The atmospheric warming that results from
burning fossil fuels is an anthropogenic enhancement of the
naturally occurring greenhouse effect of gases in the troposphere.
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Global climate change is more than just
warming.
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Global climate change is expected to have
substantial human health impacts.
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The 2005 Kyoto Protocol is an international
agreement that commits the signatories to reduce greenhouse
emissions.
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The U.S. regulatory framework uses a
combination of approaches to control air pollution.
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For the most part, the nuclear fuel “cycle” is
actually a linear series of events.
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The front end consists of the steps before the
actual production of power in a nuclear reactor.
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A nuclear reactor produces energy (heat)
through the deliberate splitting of uranium atoms and the ensuing
controlled chain reaction. This process creates radioactive isotopes
as byproducts.
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Disposal of the highly radioactive spent fuel
from nuclear power reactors raises difficult technical and political
challenges at the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
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The disposal of low-level radioactive wastes,
though these wastes are less hazardous and easier to manage than
high-level wastes, is proving to be a thorny problem.
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Each major stage of the nuclear fuel cycle
poses some health risks.
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The risk of exposure to ionizing radiation
must be managed at each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle.
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Our current dependence on fossil fuels can’t
continue indefinitely, and our large scale, centralized power
systems are inherently brittle.
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The level of energy consumption and the degree
of dependence on fossil fuels in the United States and other
industrialized countries is not sustainable, and it will not be an
option for less developed countries in the years to come.
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Some renewable options (wind power,
hydropower, solar energy, geothermal energy) are especially
attractive in that they don’t rely on fuels at all. But this does
not mean they are without environmental impacts.
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Alternative technologies that use
nontraditional fuels—biomass fuels, nontraditional fossil fuels, and
hydrogen fuel cells—all have important limitations.
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New fuels have been developed that are blends
of fossil and nonfossil fuels, or are derived from fossil fuels.
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The hydrogen fuel cell is attractive in
principle but raises practical questions.
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The Energy Policy Act of 2005, though it gives
modest supports for alternative energy, gives much greater support
to traditional energy sectors.
