REP Sustainability Practices & Environmental Impact 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which water-related environmental concern is most significant for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants using wet cooling in arid regions?
- Thermal pollution of nearby rivers
- High freshwater consumption in water-scarce areas (Correct answer)
- Groundwater contamination from heat transfer fluids
- Increased local precipitation patterns
Correct answer: High freshwater consumption in water-scarce areas
Wet-cooled CSP plants consume large volumes of water for cooling, which is a critical concern in desert environments where water resources are scarce.
Question 2: Under the EPA's Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions framework, a company's electricity purchases from the grid are categorized as:
- Scope 1 — direct emissions
- Scope 2 — indirect emissions from purchased energy (Correct answer)
- Scope 3 — value chain emissions
- Scope 0 — pre-combustion emissions
Correct answer: Scope 2 — indirect emissions from purchased energy
Scope 2 emissions cover indirect GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or steam consumed by a company.
Question 3: What is the 'energy payback period' for a solar PV system?
- Time until the system's revenue exceeds its capital cost
- Time for cumulative energy output to equal the energy used in manufacturing and installation (Correct answer)
- Duration of the manufacturer's performance warranty
- Period before the first major component replacement is needed
Correct answer: Time for cumulative energy output to equal the energy used in manufacturing and installation
The energy payback period is the time required for a PV system to generate an amount of energy equal to what was consumed during its production and installation.
Question 4: Avian mortality from wind turbines is most effectively reduced through which mitigation strategy?
- Painting turbine blades bright colors
- Curtailment during high-risk migration periods detected by radar (Correct answer)
- Installing bird-of-prey decoys on nacelles
- Using slower-rotating turbines exclusively
Correct answer: Curtailment during high-risk migration periods detected by radar
Radar-triggered curtailment, which temporarily halts turbines when large bird flocks are detected, has demonstrated significant reductions in avian mortality.
Question 5: Which international certification verifies that biomass feedstocks are sourced sustainably and meet environmental and social criteria?
- ISO 14001
- Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) (Correct answer)
- LEED Certification
- B Corp Certification
Correct answer: Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP)
The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) provides a certification framework ensuring woody biomass for energy meets sustainability, legality, and carbon criteria.
Question 6: The 'mitigation hierarchy' in environmental management follows which priority order?
- Restore → Offset → Reduce → Avoid
- Avoid → Minimize → Restore → Offset (Correct answer)
- Offset → Restore → Minimize → Avoid
- Minimize → Avoid → Offset → Restore
Correct answer: Avoid → Minimize → Restore → Offset
Best practice requires first avoiding impacts, then minimizing unavoidable ones, restoring affected areas, and only then offsetting residual impacts.
Question 7: A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) in the US represents:
- A permit to construct a renewable energy facility
- One megawatt-hour of electricity generated from a renewable source (Correct answer)
- A tax credit equal to 30% of project installation costs
- Proof that a utility met its renewable portfolio standard obligation
Correct answer: One megawatt-hour of electricity generated from a renewable source
One REC is issued for each megawatt-hour of electricity generated and delivered to the grid from an eligible renewable energy source.
REP Sustainability Practices & Environmental Impact 4
Which water-related environmental concern is most significant for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants using wet cooling in arid regions?