The document outlines the syllabus for an energy and environment course. Module IV focuses on various types of environmental pollution including air, water, soil, marine, noise, thermal and nuclear pollution. It defines each type of pollution, discusses causes and effects, and methods for control and prevention. The module also covers solid waste management, disaster management, and the role of individuals in preventing pollution with case studies.

1. Energy and Environment: A practical approach
(As per Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, Karnataka
Syllabus for 15ME564 Open Elective under CBCS)
Course Objectives
1. Understand energy scenario, energy sources and their utilization
2. Learn about methods of energy storage, energy management and economic analysis
3. Have proper awareness about environment and eco system.
4. Understand the environment pollution along with social issues and acts.
Course Outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Summarize the basic concepts of energy, its distribution and general Scenario.
2. Explain different energy storage systems, energy management, audit and economic
analysis.
3. Summarize the environment eco system and its need for awareness.
4. Identify the various types of environment pollution and their effects.
5. Discuss the social issues of the environment with associated acts.

2. Syllabus
Module
No
Topic Page No
1
Module – I Basic Introduction to Energy
Energy and power, forms of energy
primary energy sources, energy flows
world energy production and consumption
Key energy trends in India: Demand of Electricity
Access to modern energy
Energy production and trade
Factors affecting India’s
energy development
Economy and demographics
Policy and institutional framework
Energy prices and affordability
Social and environmental aspects, Investment
2
Module – II Energy storage systems
Thermal energy storage methods, Thermal energy, storage systems
Energy saving,
Energy Management: Principles of Energy Management,
Energy demand estimation, Energy pricing
Energy Audit: Purpose, Methodology with respect to process Industries
Characteristic method employed in Certain Energy Intensive Industries
Economic Analysis: Scope, Characterization of an Investment Project
3
Module – III Environment
Introduction, Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies
- Definition, scope and importance, Need for public awareness.
Ecosystem: Concept, Energy flow, Structure and function of an ecosystem
Food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids
Forest ecosystem, Grassland ecosystem, Desert ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems, Ecological succession
4
Module – IV Environmental Pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of Air pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of water pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of soil pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of marine pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of noise pollution
Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of thermal pollution
Nuclear hazards , Solid waste Management
Disaster management Role of an individual in prevention of pollution
Pollution case studies
5
Module – V Social Issues and the Environment:
Climate change, global warming
acid rain, ozone layer depletion,
Nuclear accidents and holocaust Case Studies.
Wasteland reclamation, Consumerism and waste products
Environment Protection Act, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act, Wildlife Protection Act,
Forest Conservation Act, Issues involved in enforcement of environmental legislation

3. Module – IV Environmental Pollution: Definition, Cause, effects and control measures of - Air pollution, Water
pollution, Soil pollution, Marine pollution, Noise pollution, Thermal pollution and Nuclear hazards , Solid waste
Management, Disaster management Role of an individual in prevention of pollution, Pollution case studies.
Question Bank
1. Explain environmental pollution
2. Explain Air pollution, its causes, effects and its control measures
3. Explain water pollution , its causes, effects and remedial measures taken to prevent water pollution
4. Explain Soil pollution
5. Explain noise pollution its causes, effects and its control measures
6. Explain nuclear hazards with one case study
7. Explain thermal pollution and its causes, effects its control measures
8. Explain Marine pollution its causes, effects and its control measures
9. Describe solid waste management. What practices are adopted for SWM in your city
10. Explain disaster management by citing a real example
Environmental pollution
Pollution: Pollution of air /water/soil are said to exist if the levels of gases, solids or liquids present in air/water/soil
are high enough to harm humans, other animals, organisms or materials.
The various examples of effects of pollution are as follows
Increase in Juvenile asthma due to air pollution
London Smog which killed about 4000 people
Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 which took 4000 lives
Due to increased standards of living there is rise in industries, power generation and vehicle usage which are
dominantly contributing to the pollution
Pollution can be indoor pollution too due to usage of mosquito repellants, cleaning agents, and pesticides etc which
cause toxic conditions. Building materials such as asbestos, glass fiber, paints, glues and varnishes too are heath
hazards.
Air pollution, its causes, effects and its control measures
Pollution of air is said to exist if the levels of gases present in air are high enough to harm humans, other animals,
organisms or materials.
In India alone more than 10 lakh deaths are accounted to smoking itself annually. Hence India has taken the lead in
2008 to ban smoking in public places. Both smokers and passive smokers carry the risk of getting cancer, respiratory
problems, lung cancer, heart diseases, cancer of mouth, throat, pancreas, voice box, and esophagus
Due to indoor air pollution it is estimated by World Health Organisation (WHO) that
There are 4 to 20 lakh of premature deaths in India of children under 5 years of age due to acute respiratory
infections.
It is also observed that wood stoves used extensively in rural areas are highly polluting due to incomplete
combustion of biomass and the smoke is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes per day.
The various constituents of air pollution are carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone, Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulphur,
Particulate Matter (PM) and lead.
The various air pollution control technologies include devises for fine particles and coarse particles
1. Settling Chamber- The coarse particles settle down by virtue of their weight
2. Cyclone Separator for coarse particles which get separated due to their mass and cyclone effect
3. Fabric filter for finer particles
4. Electrostatic precipitators used in coal based power plants, sugar industries
5. Wet collectors also known as scrubbers
6. Catalytic converters used extensively in automobiles to convert the harmful gases like CO to CO2, NOx to
N2 and HC to H2O and CO2.

4. Water pollution, its causes, effects and remedial measures taken to prevent water pollution
Pollution: Pollution of water is said to exist if the levels of gases, solids or liquids present in water are high enough
to harm humans, other animals, organisms or materials.
The various forms of water pollutants are
1. Disease causing agents like bacteria, viruses, parasitic worms from domestic sewage and animal waste
2. Oxygen demanding waste like organic waste that is decomposed by oxygen consuming bacteria in water.
Increased population of these bacteria’s depleting the dissolved oxygen gas in water and in absence of
oxygen fish and other aquatic life die.
3. Water soluble inorganic chemicals such as acids, salts, toxic metals make water unfit to drink and harm
aquatic life and reduce the crop yield. Acid also accelerates corrosion in metals
4. Organic chemicals like oil, petrol, plastics, pesticides, cleaning solvents, detergents, water soluble and
insoluble chemicals
5. Suspended matter or sediments cloud the water and decrease the ability of organisms to find food.
6. Radioactive substances are biologically amplified to higher concentration as they pass through food chain
and webs. Ionizing radiation from such isotopes can cause cancer, birth defects and genetic damages.
7. Heat from cooling water of power plants reduces the dissolved oxygen in water and makes aquatic life
vulnerable to disease, parasite and toxic chemicals
Sources of water pollution can be
Industry effluents
Domestic sewage
Fertilizers and pesticides from agriculture
Leachate from solid waste disposal sites
Water treatment plants are used by industries, organizations and even educational institutions.
Sewage treatment plants are used by educational institution, municipalities to treat the sewage and recycle
the water for non potable usage.
Effluent treatment plants (ETP) are deployed by industries to make their effluents eco friendly before final
discharge from the plant or being reused
Water filtration techniques include Reverse osmosis plants, Ultra violet radiations, distillation or planted filter
method.

5. Soil pollution
Pollution of soil is said to exist if the levels of gases, solids or liquids present in soil are high enough to harm the
growth of plants and other organisms on it. Soil pollution and water pollution are closely connected
1. Sources of soil pollution are
2. Agricultural chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides
3. Dumping of waster including garbage , untreated sewage
4. Industrial effluents
5. Nuclear waste
6. Mining waste etc
Dilution is one easy way of reducing the effect of pollutants. In dilution, we run large quantities of water provided
the soil has good drainage facilities
Other method is vapour extraction in which air is injected into the soil to remove organic compounds that evaporate
quickly.
Bioremediation method uses bacteria and other microorganisms to clean up the soil
In photo remediation, plants whose roots absorb pollutants are used. The pollutants are stored in plant stem and
leaves
Noise pollution its causes, effects and its control measures
Noise is any unwanted sound by human beings. These sounds that intrude our daily activities can be termed as noise
pollution
Noise can be from construction activities, road, air and rail transport, industrial noise or even neighborhood ad
recreational noise
The unit for measurement of sound is decibels which are in logarithmic scale.
Noise can effect hear loss, effect sleep, cause annoyance and leads to communication interference
In severe and prolonged cases of noise pollution the individual’s cognitive and psychological performance can be
affected.
Noise pollution can be controlled at the source or in the path of the noise or by receiver getting away from the
source. . For example lubricate the machines, tighten the loose nuts or reduce the vibrations and noise.
If we are unable to control noise at source then in the path noise can be controlled by adopting few measures viz.
covering the noisy machines in an enclosure, sound proofing of building etc.
Now days we find all diesel generating sets being enclosed in acoustic chamber to avoid noise pollution.

6. Earplugs can be used to avoid the noise pollution in industries and on roads.
Nuclear hazards with one case study
Nuclear radiation exposure in high dosage for long period of time can cause birth defects, cancer and genetic
damage. In 1986, Chernobyl Russia nuclear reactor exploded which was a very serious accident. To contain the
radiation helicopters dropped 5000 tonne of lead and boron and thus smothered the radioactive gases. Though there
are many safety features and safeguards built in they do not ensure a total defense against human error and
unforeseen problems. More than 1000 square km of land was contaminated.
Similarly more recently in Japan the Fukishima nuclear power plant was seriously damaged during earthquake.
Nuclear power plants produce nuclear wastes which can be categorized into low level, intermediate level and high
level nuclear wastes. Low level wastes can be reduced in volume by compression and containment or by
incineration.
The intermediate level wastes can be encased in bitumen or concrete and stored.
The high level wastes which are more dangerous must be encased in bitumen or concrete isolated and stored
indefinitely by burial. It would be better if this waste can be reprocessed.
Thermal pollution and its causes, effects and its control measures
The process of heating up of a body of water through run off or discharge. Heat or hot water results from many
industrial processes especially thermal power plants, nuclear power plants. We need to grow more trees and
vegetation which provide shade and not try to cut them down. Warm water rejected in water bodies’ harms marine
animal life. As the temperature of water increases, the dissolved oxygen in water reduces resulting in suffocation of
some plant and animal species. Warm water increases the metabolic rate of fish and reduces their life expectancy.
Thermal pollution can be classified in two types as thermal shock and thermal enrichment. Sudden change in
temperature due to hot water is termed thermal shock and can harm fish and aquatic life.
Thermal enrichment harmful effects outweigh the benefits.

7. Marine pollution its causes, effects and its control measures
Industrial discharges, agricultural pesticides/fertilizers run offs, human and domestic waste, oil leaks spills all
constitute marine pollution. This affects marine life. Fertilizers rich in nitrogen lead to coastal Eutrophication.
Increased nutrients such as phosphorous, nitrogen lead to increased photosynthetic activity resulting in cloudy water
covered with a shiny and smelly mat of algae and cyanobacteria. When these algae die, they fall into the bottom of
the lake and get decomposed. This uses the dissolved oxygen content of water and thus the fishes die. Of late traces
of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium are found in the fish catch.
Solid waste management.
Domestic waste, oil industry waste, E waste, factory waste, construction waste, plastic waste, industry waste
agricultural waste, biomedical waste all constitute solid waste and needs to be managed properly.
In cities the municipal corporations collect the segregated waste from individual households. These are disposed off
suitably. Organic waste is composted, plastics and metals are taken for recycling and the waste is dumped outside
the city limits.
We should avoid, minimize, recycle, treat and dispose waste properly.
Disaster management

8. This world has seen several disasters in recent times. Tsunami in India in 2014, Super cyclone in 1999 in Orissa,
1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, 2010 oil spills, 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, 2015
earthquake in Nepal and so on.
The consequences of disasters include loss of life, injury, epidemiological threat, loss of crops, loss of housing,
damage to infrastructure, disruption in transport, communication etc. More recently there were floods in Chennai in
2016 and Mumbai in August 2017. Theses throw normal life out of gear.
Every nation, state, district administration now has disaster management teams ready to tackle such eventualities.
People are trained and resources are made available for rescue and relief operations. There is greater understanding
among nations to help in such disasters.
Module – V Social Issues and the Environment:
Climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, nuclear accidents and holocaust. Case Studies.
Wasteland reclamation, Consumerism and waste products, Environment Protection Act, Air (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act, Wildlife Protection Act, Forest Conservation
Act, Issues involved in enforcement of environmental legislation
Question Bank Social Issues and Environment
1. What do you understand by climate change? What are the reasons and its effects
2. Explain global warming with a neat sketch
3. Explain acid rain with suitable equations
4. What is ozone? Describe ozone layer depletion and its causes, effects and its control measures
5. Describe any one nuclear accident
6. Write short notes on Environment Protection Act
7. Write short notes on Air Protection Act
8. Write short notes on Water Protection Act
9. Write short notes on Forest Conservation Act
10. What do you understand by waste +land reclamation
Climate change? Its reasons and its effects?
Climate is a long term pattern of weather condition for a given area. Whether is condition of atmosphere at a
particular place and time such as temperature, rain, humidity etc?
Until middle of 20 th
century earth’s climate was generally regarded unchanging but now the change is observed in
many nations. There are various factors contributing to climate change which include flow of solar energy, condition
of atmosphere, currents and other processes of oceans etc. global warming too is responsible for climate change.
Human activities such as transportation, industries are contributing to the global warming and climate change too.

9. Global warming
The green house gas concentration in atmosphere was 280 ppm in the year 1750 and today in 2017 it stands at 400
ppm. There is considerable increase in GHG concentration in atmosphere mainly due to anthropogenic activities.
The per capita CO2 emissions in India are 1.5 ton/annum against 6.1 ton of China and 20 ton/annum by USA as on
2017. The earth is becoming warm as the GHG gases in atmosphere are acting like glass. They allow the sun rays to
enter the atmosphere and reach earth but do not allow the reflected energy to go back like glass does in a solar water
heater. Thus the atmosphere is getting heated up and in turn the earth is getting fever. GHG gases are required to
keep planet earth warm but increased levels are causing global warming. It is presumed that if this is not contained
then the ice glaciers in north and South Pole as well as Himalayan regions will all melt thereby increasing the water
levels in oceans. This will spell doom to the islands and low lying cities in coastal regions which will get marooned.
Acid rain with suitable equations
Air pollutants from industry such as oxides of nitrogen and sulphur react with water vapour in clouds and form weak
acids viz. nitric acids and suplhuric acids and fall on earth. This phenomenon is called acid rain. The major emitters
of polluting gases are the industry, the automobiles and the thermal power generating stations. These emit the oxides
of nitrogen and sulphur gases which being light go up in the atmosphere and combine with the clouds and precipitate
as acid rain.
The impact of acid rain was damaging on Taj Mahal and as such the honble supreme court of India directed the
industries responsible for the damage to shift out to avoid further damage to the monument. Acid rain affects the
buildings, plants, fishes, human life and even birds.

10. Ozone layer depletion and its causes, effects and its control measures
Ozone (O3) is a poisonous gas if it’s at ground level but is a protective gas if found in stratosphere. Ozone is
available at 17 to 50 kms above ground in atmosphere. It filters the harmful Ultraviolet (UV) rays from reaching the
earth. Thus it acts as a protective shield. Chlorine molecules found earlier in refrigerants (CFC) like Freon 12, Freon
22 and few aerosol sprays have damaging effect on ozone. They break the ozone into O2 and O and the chlorine is
again free to damage further ozone particles. It is stated that one chlorine atom destroys about a lakh of ozone atoms
in its lifetime. Hence the manufacture and use of CFC i.e. chloro fluoro carbons has been banned since 2000 and
alternate eco friendly refrigerant like R 134 a and R 410 have been introduced for refrigerators and air conditioners.
Nuclear accidents
Nuclear radiation exposure in high dosage for long period of time can cause birth defects, cancer and genetic
damage. In 1986, Chernobyl Russia nuclear reactor exploded which was a very serious accident. To contain the
radiation helicopters dropped 5000 tonne of lead and boron and thus smothered the radioactive gases. Though there
are many safety features and safeguards built in they do not ensure a total defense against human error and
unforeseen problems. More than 1000 square km of land was contaminated.
Similarly more recently in Japan the Fukishima nuclear power plant was seriously damaged during earthquake.
Nuclear power plants produce nuclear wastes which can be categorized into low level, intermediate level and high
level nuclear wastes. Low level wastes can be reduced in volume by compression and containment or by
incineration.

11. Environment Protection Act
UN conference on human environment was organized in 1972 and a fallout of it India enacted the environment
protection act in 1986. EPA is a comprehensive legislation for environment protection as the existing law as such as
air act, water act were on specific type of pollution. It’s a general and overreaching legislation to cater to the
growing environment concern enacted by the government of India.
In 1983, Hindustan Lever set up mercury in glass thermometer manufacturing unit at Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu
after the plant was closed at New York. Due to ignorance the employees were unaware of the damaging effect of
mercury. It was observed that about 23 workers died young and 550 more were affected by mercury poisoning. The
unit had also sold waste mercury to scrap dealers and dumped some quantity in its backyard. After the incident came
to light the unit was asked to repatriate 300 tonnes of mercury back to USA for recycling.
The Taj Mahal case was decided by the honble Supreme Court of India on the environment lawyer Mr. M C Mehta
plea and thus now the damage has been reduced. Similarly Mr. Mehta has filed a case on observing pollution in our
sacred river Ganga. Based on this public interest litigation (PIL) the Supreme Court has acted sternly and has greatly
supported the sustenance and improvement of our precious environment.
The Air (Prevention and control of pollution) Act 1981
The main provision of this act is to clean up our air by controlling air pollution. This act provides for limits beyond
which industry, vehicles, power plants are not permitted to release the various pollutants such as particulate matter,
CO, SOx, NOX, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) into the atmosphere. Pollution Control Boards have been
established both at centre and at state levels by the governments to measure pollution levels in the atmosphere and at
certain sources by testing the air. Now a day’s real time monitoring is undertaken t the source and the levels of
pollutants are displayed to the public through LED monitors.
The objective of the Air Act is

12. 1. To provide for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
2. To provide for the establishments of pollution control boards at state and centre to implement the act
3. To confer on the boards the powers to implement the provisions of the act
Penalties for violators include monitory penalties and even imprisonment
The Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Act
Pollution of water is mainly by industries, agriculture, households which contaminate the water. These pollutants
enter the water bodies such as open wells, lakes, rivers, ponds, seas, and cause health hazards. Governments are now
encouraging organic farming so as to reduce the pollution due to fertilizers and pesticides. State pollution control
boards and central pollution control boards do monitor the pollutants in water bodies as well as the pollutants of
industries at source at regular intervals.
Penalties for violators include monitory penalties and even imprisonment
Forest Conservation Act
In India extensive deforestation took place after independence for almost four decades as environment was not a
major issue at that point in time. This led the government of the day to enact the forest Conservation Act in 1980 and
was later amended in 1988. This act makes the conversion of forests for other applications very difficult. The forest
lands cannot be dereserved by the state governments without the consent of the central government. The basic
objective of the act is to conserve forests as natural heritage, preserve biological diversity and genetic resources.
Penalties for violators include monitory penalties and even imprisonment
Waste land reclamation
The land which is not in use is called waste land. Reclamation of wasteland means re-claiming it or to use it for
productive purpose. Wasteland reclamation is the process of turning barren, sterile wasteland into something that is
fertile.
Causes of waste land formation:
1. Over exploitation of natural resources.
2. Industrial and sewage wastes.
3. Due to soil erosion, deforestation, water logging, salinity etc.
4. Mining activities destroy the forest and cultivable land.
Objects of waste land reclamation:
1. To prevent soil erosion, flooding and landslides.
2. To avoid over exploitation of natural resources.
3. To improve the physical structure and quality of the soil.
4. To conserve the biological resources and natural ecosystem.
Methods waste land reclamation:
Drainage: Excess water is removed by artificial drainage. This is for water logged soil reclamation.
Leaching: Leaching is a process of removal of salt from the salt affected soil by applying excess amount and suitable
for habitation and cultivation. of water. Leaching is done by dividing the field into small plots. In continuous
leaching 0.5to 1.0cm Water is required to remove 90% of soluble salts.
Irrigation practices: High frequency irrigation with controlled amount of water helps to maintain better availability
of water in the land.
Application of green manure and bio fertilizers improves saline soil.
Application of gypsum: Soil sodality can be reduced with gypsum. Ca of gypsum replaces sodium from the
exchangeable sites. This converts clay back into calcium clay.

13. Social Forestry programme: These programmes involve strip plantation on road, canal sides, degraded Forest land
etc.
Consumerism and Waste Products
The consumption of resources by the people is called consumerism. It is related to both increase in population size
as well as increase in our demand due to change in life style. If needs increases the consumerism of resources also
increases.
Objectives of consumerism.
1. It improves the right and powers of buyers.
2. It involves making manufacturer liable for the entire life cycle of a product
3. It forces the manufacturer to reuse and recycle the product after usage.
4. Active consumerism improves human health and happiness and also it saves resources. Sources of wastes are
agriculture, mining, industrial and municipal wastes.
Example for waste products. It includes paper, glass, plastic, garbage, food waste, Scrap, construction and factory
wastes. E- waste: Electronic equipments like computer, printers, mobile phones, calculator etc after usage thrown as
waste. Effects of waste: Waste from industries and explosives are dangerous to human life. Dumped wastes degrade
soil and make it unfit for irrigation. E-wastes contain more than 1000 chemicals which are toxic and cause
environmental Pollution. In computers lead is present in monitors, cadmium in chips and cathode ray tube, PVC in
cables. All these cause cancer and other respiratory problems if inhaled for long periods. Plastics are non-degradable
and their combustion produces many toxic gases.
Factors affecting consumerism and generation of wastes: People over population –Over population cause
degradation of sources, poverty and premature deaths. This situation occurs in less developed countries (LDC’s).In
LDC’s the per capita consumption of resources and waste generation are less.
Consumption Over population: It occurs when there are less people than the available Resources due to luxurious
life style per capita consumption of resources is very high. Consumption is more and waste generation is more.
Environment is also degraded.
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Textbook for Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses of all Branches of Higher Education by
University grant commission and Bharathi Vidyapeeth Institute of environment education and Research, Pune
2. De, B. K., Energy Management audit & Conservation, 2nd Edition, Vrinda Publication, 2010.
REFERENCE BOOKS:
1. Turner, W. C., Doty, S. and Truner, W. C., Energy Management Hand book, 7th edition, Fairmont Press, 2009.
2. Murphy, W. R., Energy Management, Elsevier, 2007.
3. Smith, C. B., Energy Management Principles, Pergamum, 2007
4. Environment pollution control Engineering by C S Rao, New Age International, 2006, reprint 2015, 2nd edition
5. Environmental studies, by Benny Joseph, Tata McGraw Hill, 2008, 2nd edition.
E- Learning
1. India Energy Outlook 2015(www.iea.org/.../IndiaEnergyOutlook_WEO2015.pdf)

14. About the Author
Dr. Suresh D. Mane is a senior academician and currently Professor and Principal at Girijabai Sail Institute of
Technology an AICTE approved technical institution since 2015.He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from
Karnatak University in 1990 and has served Indian Railways for over two decades. He pursued Masters in Energy
Systems Engineering from BVB CET Hubli under VTU, passed with distinction and secured rank to the university
in 2007. He undertook extensive research on energy and environmental issues on railway workshops from 2008 and
was awarded doctorate in February 2015. He is a certified energy manager and certified energy auditor from Bureau
of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India in 2007 (EA-8061). His area of research being energy and
environment he has presented and published many papers at international conferences at IIT Bombay, IISc
Bangalore, IIEST Shibpur, IGIDR Mumbai and many other reputed institutions in India.