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Environmental aspects of energy –
introductory remarks
Filip Černoch
cernoch@mail.muni.cz
State of the global environment
• Five concerning trends:
• 1) Population growth
• 2) Economic development
• 3) Decline of life support ecosystems
• 4) Global atmospheric changes
• 5) Loss of biodiversity (variety and variability of life)
• Fossil fuels facilitate these trends.
System theory
• Set of components that function
together to act as a whole.
(Separated by boundaries).
• Open vs. closed systems.
• Earth as a system.
Human population in large cities (feedbacks)
Feedback – when output of
the system also serves as an
input, leading to changes in
the state of the system.
Systems tend to dynamic
equilibrium, from time to
time disrupted by natural
and human-induced
disturbances → changes
over time.
Positive/negative feedbacks.
„Save our planet“ vs. „Save our society“
Source: Česká
televize
Sources
• Mechteacher.com: Thermodynamic System and its Types
• Botkin, D.B.; Keller, E.A.: Environmental Science: Earth as a Living
Planet.