2-19-09: Pollution Economics. We will introduce and discuss the notion of material and energy balances. Material balances can be applied to ANY control volumes including our classroom, a lake, the oceans, or the atmosphere. The concept of pollution will stem from these discussions, and you will learn how economic development is inherently linked to pollution. A cost-benefit analysis of pollution will be presented to define "optimal" pollution. We will discuss market-based instruments such as taxes, disposal deposits, and tradable discharge permits, as means to abate pollution.

Homework	Prepare for Tradable Discharge Permit Simulation

2-24-09: Tradable Discharge Permits. An in-class simulatoin is used to improve understanding of tradable discharge permit (TDP) programs. We will divide into several teams (firms) and place bids on the price of a TDP. Bidding continues until the market clears. Through this exercise you will learn how industry-wide cost savings can be realized through a TDP scheme.

2-26-09: Pollution Prevention: Source Reduction, Recycling, Treatment Disposal. The application of materials balances to simple processes will be discussed. The homework stems from this lecture.

Homework	Prepare for the last lecture: read "Life-Cycle Concepts, Product Stewardship, and Green Engineering" by Rosselot and Allen

3-03-09: Life Cycle Analysis . An in-class example is conducted to better understand the environmental impacts of producing, distributing, and utilizing plastic vest-type shopping bags compared to those of traditional paper bags. The goal of this lecture is to teach students how to objectively design, execute, and interpret a life-cycle analysis. You will be introduced to Carnegie Mellon's eiolca.net impact estimator. The lecture will end with a quiz over the entire two-week unit.