ABSTRACT
Risk evaluation, the methodology used in this chapter, is similar in many ways to energy accounting. In risk evaluation, all the risks of accidents, disease, and death incurred in producing a unit of energy are added together. Public health risk is due to air pollution. Many air pollutants can damage human health. However, public health risk from gathering and handling coal is probably from burning culm banks. Risk of waste disposition has been calculated for nuclear power. These wastes are defined as excluding those of air pollution from coal, oil, and gas burning. In principle, any energy system can be used as a back-up. While nuclear energy would be wasted if it were used as back-up for non-conventional systems, it could in theory be employed. For transportation, estimates were available for risk incurred for conventional energy systems, such as coal. This risk could be transformed into risk per unit weight of material transported.
