Workshop Report on Quantifying Environmental Damage from Energy Activities

摘要

Data and methods for quantifying environmental damage from energy activities were evaluated. Specifically, discussions were designed to identify the types and amounts of pollutants emitted by energy technologies that may affect the environment adversely, methods of estimating spatial and temporal changes in air and water quality resulting from these emissions, spatial and temporal distributions of ecosystems at risk, dose-response functions for pollutants and ecosystems at risk, and environmental and economic variables to be used to measure damage. Emphasis was on available data and on several methods for quantitative estimation of effects of energy on the environment. Damage functions that could be used to quantitate effects of ozone and sulfur oxide on agricultural crops and trees, effects of altered stream depth and velocity patterns on river fish species, and sensitivities of lake chemistry and biology to acid rainfall are listed. Also described are methods for estimating effects of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and several other atmospheric pollutants on selected terrestrial communities by using computer modeling techniques. With these techniques, quantitative estimates of the effects of energy on the environment could be developed within one to two years. Brief discussions about effects of nutrient and trace metal discharges on terrestrial ecosystems and about impacts of petroleum hydrocarbon, heat, biocides, and entrainment on aquatic ecosystems are also included. (ERA citation 04:052147)