Midterm Reviews (transportation)

Question 1

list 3 reasons that passenger transportation mode differ from each other

Answer 1

Transportation mode lifetime
Transportation mode km Traveled
Passenger km Traveled

Question 2

Name 3 reasons why 2 cars may have different environmental footprint.

Answer 2

Same vehicle:
Overall roads traveled influence road grade
Accelerations varied
Velocity maintained differed

Different vehicles
Drag coefficients differ
Rolling resistances differ
Engine efficiency differ

Question 3

what are fossil fuels?

Answer 3

a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms.

Question 4

how important are fossil fuels in our economy?

Answer 4

Most transport of goods
Mature infrastructure built around it
Reliable supply
Used in electricity generation

Question 5

What are advantages to fossil fuels?

Answer 5

> Extensive infrastructure

>Effective conversion of petroleum into derivatives

Question 6

Fossil fuel industry is often said to be inefficient. Name 2 reasons why?

Answer 6

When combusted, they make heat

Long transportation associated (long supply chain implying non local)

Question 7

How important are fossil fuels in electricity generation?

Answer 7

About 40% of electricity comes from coal

Petroleum is major part of transportation

Question 8

What are 3 concerns associated with fossil fuel economy?

Answer 8

Society dependent on (athuman scale) finite fossil resources
Economic dependency
Big inefficiencies
Pollute air, water, soil

Question 9

what are some of the upstream impacts of fossil fuels?

Answer 9

Coal mining:
─ Polluted streams and rivers
─ Deaths (mining, railway crossings)
• Natural gas:
─ Land use from pipelines and extraction
─ Leakage of methane from pipelines (~2%)
• Oil:
─ Refinery emissions and hazardous waste
─ Oil spills

Question 10

what is cogeneration? Is it a problem?

Answer 10

AKA combined heat and power
Use of a power station to simultaneously generate both ELECTRICITY and HEAT
This is more economical and boosts overall efficiency. 52% vs 33%

Question 11

name three things that a co generation heat can be used for (facility smoke berkeley southside)

Answer 11

This plant runs on natural gas

• make electricity
• heat building with it
• can be used as laboratory or industrial processes (steam)

Question 12

Name 1 thing to benifit to diesels engines.

Answer 12

Last longer
More energy efficient
More miles to gallon than gasoline engines but have high NOx and particulate matter

Question 13

Conversion from mile to km

Answer 13

1.60934 km=1 mile

Question 14

Provide 5 arguments in support to LCA

Answer 14

Pro: 
life cycle review (manufacturing maintenance and end of life)
Systematic
Documental 
Formal process
Complete picture 
Emissions water use and resource use 
Internationally used

Question 15

Name 3 solutions to water pollution.

Answer 15

Plug the leaks

Less pollutants running in fertilizer

Recycle water within buildings

Question 16

What’s the dead zone?

Answer 16

Low oxygen waters that make it hard for aquatic life to live in. This is usually caused by
runoff into larger bodies of water that reduce the amount of oxygen. One example is runoff of Mississippi river into the gulf of Mexico.

Question 17

What’s california water dilemma?

Answer 17

Dry seasons (each year) and drought
• Floods (too much water in spring)
• 75% of water is in north of state, 75% of demand in south
SOLUTION: Largest water works project in human history (lots of jobs for civil engineers!)

Question 18

How is water used in california in relation to people and agriculture.

Answer 18

20% to people

80 % to agriculture

Question 19

What’s meant by primary treatment, secondary treatment, and tertiary treatment

Answer 19

Primary- Remove suspended particles by sedimentation (BOD, some N, P and pathogens)

Secondary- Remove dissolved BOD via biological degradation (bacteria)

Tertiary- Additional treatment, specific to situation (nutrients, particles, pathogens,
trace organics)

Question 20

What is sludge treatment?

Answer 20

Collecting solids in wastewater and disposing of it in landfill (or burning for energy )

Question 21

What is a functional unit in LCA?

Answer 21

Unit of analysis. Transportation: car per mile driven, passenger comparison. Its basically a unit you want to observe in LCA

Question 22

Name 3 environmental problems with water distribution.

Answer 22

Not using Local uses of water
Recycle so not to transport and keep it local
Landscaping demand is very high