When Tom Vales visited class the other day he brought a small Tesla coil he used to demonstrate an old idea of Tesla’s, wireless electricity. While running a current through the coil of wire, he demonstrated how the coil produces an electric field that he used to light a fluorescent light bulb. He continued to explain how such a phenomenon as wireless electricity would have worked back in Tesla’s time to provide light in everyone’s home. In that time, if everyone were to run a small Tesla coil in their house somewhere, say the basement for convenience, it could power their lights and give power to older appliances that didn’t use the complex and intricate circuits used by modern appliances that us circuit boards.

If we were to try to use Tesla coils for wireless electricity today there would be a huge drawback that makes this method not viable. The fragile and complex circuits used in most electronics, cell phones and computers for example, would be cooked by the high energy. Anyone who keeps a Tesla coil in their house to power the lights and maybe a refrigerator would not be able to own a computer of any kind or use phones, iPods, etc.

Another use of the Tesla coils that Vales eluded to was the popular trend of using Tesla coils to produce music. By changing the frequency the current oscillates or alternates, the pitch of the buzzing that the Tesla coils give off changes, and can be precisely controlled to make or replicate musical rhythms. A popular tactic when doing this is to use multiple coils since a single one cannot replicate harmony that may exist in a given song.

Tesla Coil Music, Secrets by One Republic

The movie Pandora’s Promise gave an interesting argument for nuclear energy, bringing the viewer on a journey from the Japanese Fukushima power plant, and the areas of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, even through the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and finally ends up analyzing the role of nuclear energy in the United States and the rest of the world.

I really like the path the movie took, first  starting out with the counter argument, looking at mos of the public concerns with nuclear energy and their association with nuclear weapons. Then the movie did a great job of arguing why these opinions are wrong and exposing the science that shows how good nuclear energy can be, and how inflated the negative effects are.

Towards the middle of the movie, the focus shifted to the importance of moving beyond coal and oil. It expressed the importance of clean energy for growing economies and countries. The movie looked to nuclear energy as the answer, where one pound of uranium creates as much energy as 5000 barrels of oil, with minimal waste and zero emissions from the process itself. The total waste of all nuclear energy could be contained in a nine foot high by 300 foot area. These convincing points were introduced as not only evidence for the movies argument but to counter the opposition’s argument, which made the movie that much more effective at arguing its point.

One aspect of their argument that continued throughout the whole movie wa the little yellow radiation measurer, that showed how natural radiation can even surpass the radiation left behind by the Chernobyl accident.

The most interesting part of the movie, and the one which i am most skeptical about, was where it claimed that the U.S. has bought Russian nuclear warheads and converted into fuel. If this is true, it is an amazing step and precedent to follow in terms of getting rid of nuclear weapons, and adopting nuclear power. I am skeptical however simply because it isn’t an idea i have heard of and is something that seems like I would know about if it was true. A healthy skepticism is good, but there is no reason to doubt it is true more than any other piece of the movies argument.

An unfortunate fact of Physics is that 100 percent efficiency cannot be achieved. It is simply the way thermodynamics work. The second law of thermodynamics explains that energy always wants to move to the point of entropic equilibrium, or that heat wants to move toward cooler areas versus hotter areas of space.

100 percent efficiency would certainly be wondrous to have for Demand Response.This procedure makes sure that the power companies accurately and precisely provide the public with an appropriate amount of electricity while not producing so much that it becomes too inefficient.

This is certainly not an easy task. Not only do we have to calculate the amount using multiple variables, but most of the variables are estimated based on past trends. One clear trend is that the warmer the temperature in the summer, the more electricity is used by people blasting the AC at home or work, and the same goes for heat in the bitter months of winter.  The goal should always be to estimate more accurately as to save waste electricity from being produced, especially in a time where cutting down on carbon emissions is becoming so important.

Some interesting ways companies have been trying to get people to use less energy is to actually pay them to be limited to a set amount of energy. This is a win, win situation as less energy is being used by the consumer who participates, and engineers have an easier time predicting the amount of energy used, at least for that specific household of business.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/enernocs-demand-response-network-provides-relief-to-strained-electricity-grids-during-extreme-cold-weather-2014-01-08

http://www.allaboutscience.org/second-law-of-thermodynamics.htm

http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/demand_response.asp

The Sawyer Library has some incredible resources available to help out with research. The Librarians themselves can help find any book you could want to use for a research paper. Probably the most useful resource the library can offer me comes with their online databases. Accessed from the school website, they can give informational articles about anything from science to political issues. The Librarian recommended to use the “Access Science” link  for various science research, and is a good place to start looking for information about demand response. The last thing the guide recommended was to check out the 9th floor of 73 Tremont. Up there is the Sawyer Library Commons, a quiet place to work that is a comfortable atmosphere, and not too crowded. These pieces of knowledge never would have come to me without the tour, so I am glad I got to partake in it, and look forward to using the resources available.