Chem20204 Environmental Chemistry

Titles of few selected papers are incuded in Additional Resources. You may also refer to Environmental Science & Technolgy, a premier scientific journal devoted to environmental issues and Energy & Fuels.  for energy issues.  The leading journals Nature and Science often carry discussion on  "hot" environmental issues.   For literature search, you may use  ISI Web of Science.  Use Chemistry Library Link to access the database and other journals

• Select  topics/issues/case study/policies related to environmantal chemistry   
• Presentation/report topics need to be approved first.  
• Submit your abstract/outline for approval
• Requests made after this date will not be considered for presentation or report writing.

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Suggested Topics for presentation/report

- Need Title and brief outline (a brief paragraph or bulleted items) by Jan 31.

1. Treaties and policies related to environmental issue

2. Ozone hole and air pollution
  -Smog and its effect  (… impact on Beijing Olympics)
   -Particle pollution  and health impact
  -EPA versus California (recent lawsuit to set emission standards)

3. Global Warming
    - Impact of fossil fuels and ways to control carbon emission
    - The choices  - carbon cap vs. carbon tax
    - Kyoto Treaty  Pros and Cons
    - Depletion of polar bears, melting of ice caps..... what are the long term consequences?

 4. Fossil Fuels
    - Meeting the energy demand with fossil fuels
    - Alternate fuels
    - Clean energy from fossil fuels and CO2 sequestration
    - Could building more coal fired power plants be the best alternative to meet our energy demand?

 5. Nuclear Energy
    -Pros & Cons of Nuclear Energy
    - Impact on global politics
    - Treating nuclear waste

 6. Hydrogen Economy and Fuel Cells
    -Strengths and weakness of fuel cell technology
    - Will fuel cells be a viable technology for automotive industry?

 7. Renewable Energy
    - Why or why not biofuels? How green are biofuels?

    - What are the consequences of promoting biofuels?
    -  Pros and Cons of harvesting solar and other renewable forms of energy? 
    -  Can solar be the only alternative to meet our rising demand?
    - Energy conservation measures
    - 2007 Energy bill signed by the President (how it meets or fails to meet the energy challenge)

 8. Water Pollution
    -Pollution from excess use of Pesticides, herbicides etc
       - Green Chemistry

 9. Remediation of Polluted water

 10. Environmental impacts of Nanotechnology

 11. Impact of pollution on human health

 12. A case study
- GE &PCB dumping in Hudson River, Love Canal, Superfund site, Threat to Columbia river from leakage of nuclear storage at Hanford site
- an environmental issue that is being debated in your hometown