Technologies with Potential Environmental Impact

The use of disposable, also called single-use, equipment deserves a separate discussion in the next section, partly because the industry seems to be moving in that direction and partly because it clearly has significant environmental implications. 

---

Table 15.13 Some bioprocessing and production technologies with potential environmental impact.

It must be realized that there are potential environmental risks associated with all hazardous waste treatment/disposal alternatives. Some of these are listed in Table 3.16, which compares various technologies with potential impacts on health, surface water pollution, subsurface pollution, air emissions, and production of residual concentrates. 

When investigating the processes and policies that could raise the potential acceptance of carbon capture and storage, Shackley et al. (2004) found that more certainty about risks would be helpful. The main concerns about risks connected with carbon capture and storage were possible leakage, ecosystems and environmental impacts, the untested nature of the technology and human health impacts. 

In developing the analyses, the committee made quantitative estimates of some of the impacts believed to be most important, but it was not able to examine all of the possible impacts. The environmental impacts examined are associated with potential global climate change caused by carbon dioxide (C02) emissions from light-duty vehicles under the various technology pathways (see Table 5-2 in Chapter 5). The committee does not attempt to estimate any impacts on... 

---