The Keystone Pipeline is a controversial oil pipeline system that transports tar sand oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas and vice versa. What makes it so controversial is that tar sand oil is the dirtiest of all oils and produces about four times more CO2 then regular oil. TransCanada is the company behind the pipeline and they seem to not be focused on the environment nearly as much as their money. According to Wikipedia the Keystone Pipeline system currently has the capacity to deliver up to 590,000 barrels per day. Of course, just like with most thing there are pros and cons.

PROS

Some of the pros that come along with the pipeline include creating jobs approximately, 40,000 jobs according to their website. This will bring billions of dollars into the U.S economy. The DEIS report below was taken right from the Keystone Pipeline Official Website.

The DEIS report states:

• Construction of the proposed project would contribute approximately $3.4 billion to U.S. GDP if implemented.
• A total of 42,100 jobs throughout the United States would be supported by construction of the proposed project.
• Total employment earnings supported by the proposed project would be approximately $2.053 billion.

Now lets move on to the negative aspects of the project.

There is always a possibility that this project could compromise our public water supplies, croplands, and recreational opportunities and put them at a  risk of dangerous tar sands oil spills. If this were to occur the effects would be devastating. The National Wildlife Federation also reports that expanding gas and oil production is contributing to the decline of caribou herds in Alberta Canada. This pipeline would make matters even worse. Lastly the US Dept of state printed a report on Jan 31st that did declare “The final environmental impact review finds that the pipeline will have an impact on the climate, but a limited one, because tar sands oil will be extracted  whether or not the pipeline is built.

.http://keystone-xl.com/facts/myths-facts/#sthash.ppeWJCUE.dpufhttp://keystone-xl.com/facts/myths-

facts/http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=9330295 

http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/finalseis/index.htm

Over the past week I have read the article on the Presidents climate action plan. This action plan goes into detail about how climate change and greenhouse gas emissions are no longer a distant threat and need to be dealt with now. The presidents main focus to help resolve this issue is by cutting the carbon pollution in America while also preparing the United States and rest of the world to combat the effects of global climate change.  The three initiatives I will blog about include:

1. Deploying Clean Energy                                                                                               2. Building a 21st Century Transportation Sector                                                             3. Cutting Energy Waste in Homes and Businesses

Deploying Clean Energy

Aerial view of the disaster

Several years ago on March 11, 2011, a catastrophe happened that changed life in Japan as they know it. The nuclear power plant at Fukishima went into a meltdown releasing radiation into the air. The Fukishima disaster is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl incident of 1986. The nuclear disaster was rated a level 7 on the INES scale. There were thousands of damaged and destroyed buildings along with many casualties.

But how did this disaster happen in the first place?

The Great East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 at 2.46 pm on Friday 11 March 2011 did heavy damage in the region, and the large tsunami it created was an even bigger problem. The earthquake was centred 130 km offshore the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture on the eastern cost of Honshu Island, and was a rare double quake giving a severe duration of about 3 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLId9kso2oE

Relief Efforts

The United States along with other countries are continuing to help Japan today. Studies of the Fukushima disaster have identified changes and improvements that could have reduced or eliminated the amount of radioactivity released from the plant. This disaster was a tragedy that ruined many lives, however it was not caused directly from the nuclear power plant. It was an outside source (tsunami and earthquake) that actually caused the disaster. Natural events cannot be controlled.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18718486

Pandora’s Promise is a documentary that I was recently assigned to watch. It was filmed over three years on four different continents. This film is mostly about the Nuclear Power debate. It starts out by talking about the dangers and disasters caused by nuclear energy, then goes in depth about the opposition of those claims.  The argument is that nuclear power, which has been considered not a safe source by environmentalist, is actually a relatively safe and clean energy source. I found the movie very interesting because I had no idea about the benefits that nuclear energy can actually bring to our society. Before seeing the documentary I always believed that is was the most dangerous source of energy because of radiation and the disasters you hear about in the media or learn about in school, however, this film says that this is not the case and it is safe and produces large amounts of energy. The epitome of Pandoras Promise is that everything you though you knew about nuclear energy is probably wrong.

As we progress as a civilization our demand for energy will increase. If this source of energy is not clean we will have to face the reality of a climate catastrophe. The film emphasizes that we need to take action. After watching this film it makes sense to me that nuclear energy does not harm the environment nearly as much as other energy sources, and we should utilize it to make a better environment. The only three nuclear disasters that have happened are Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. The climate catastrophe could be devastating and change life as we know it if we do not take action. Many people think of “radiation” when they hear the term nuclear (as i did before watching this film). But statistically no one has ever died in the United states from a nuclear disaster, however about 15000 people die from the pollution caused by coal. The film promoted nuclear energy as the most efficient power source that can meet the publics energy demand.Overall I enjoyed the film and am interested to see how our future unfolds.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Safety-of-Nuclear-Power-Reactors/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/world/cnn-films-pandoras-promise

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pandoras_promise_2013/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-stone/pandoras-promise-documentary_b_2507213.html

MIT Nuclear Reactor

Last friday our class went on a tour to the MIT Nuclear Reactor. This was probably one of the best and most interesting “field trips” I have ever gone on. When we first arrived it looked like any old building that you would see in the city. It was just a plain door off the side walk that let us in. After we arrived we had to go through several processes before we began our tour. We started by going to a presentation about the lab that was presented an employee named Tom. Tom gave us the basic history and facts about the reactor as well as the purpose of it today. He also gave us a little lesson on fission and fusion.

Inside a reactor

After the presentation things began to get very interesting and caught me by surprise. To enter the actual reactor we had to enter through  a computer controlled steel door that required retina analysis. Then we waited in the airlock for a few seconds until the next steel door opened up. Once we got inside there were several scientist walking around monitoring the computers and what not. I was fascinated by how the reactor looked. I couldn’t believe something like this was just sitting in the middle of a major city being run my college students. The reactor was not as big as i expected it to be. We couldn’t actually look down inside the reactor by had an idea of what it looked like because of the presentation. After touring the main room of the reactor we headed down to the control room. The control room is the most important part of the reactor.

Control Room

The room was being operated by an MIT student who the tour guide claimed was “the most important person in the reactor” since she could control everything by the push of a button. The closer the buttons were to the operator the more important they were. After that we headed out which also required another process that we had to go through. Before we left we had to scan ourselves for radiation incase we became contaminated on the tour. We inserted our hands into a device that checked us. Then right before the exit we had to scan ourselves for a second time to be positive there was no contamination. Overall visiting the MIT Reactor was quite an experience and I’m glad I took part in it. I learned some very interesting things and would be more than happy to go back.

Iceland: Geothermal Phenomenon

“Because of its singular geological position, Iceland has the special conditions needed to generate geothermal energy. The high degree of volcanism, along with the world renowned expertise of Icelandic specialists in the field of geothermal energy utilization, enables Iceland to be the world leader the production of this eco-friendly, sustainable and renewable power.” 

As you probably figured out from the quote above, Iceland is one of the world leaders in geothermal energy. It currently uses Geothermal to provide about 65% of its energy. Geothermal energy in Iceland is used in several ways such as being harnessed for heat and also producing electricity. Icelanders use geothermal energy for just about any purpose. The following video goes in depth about how Iceland uses geothermal energy.

They do not need to burn coal to produce energy, they just use the steam directly from the earth.

Their location is a geothermal hotspot. You have probably seen pictures of hot springs, geysers or steam coming out of the ground. That was most likely Iceland. Due to potential and many possibilities, geothermal power will continue to be the main source of growth of the energy industry in Iceland. Because Iceland has a large supply of geothermal energy, it has a low cost, which is why Iceland has” the lowest cost of electricity than most other OECD countries. (“http://askjaenergy.org/iceland-introduction/iceland-energy-sector/.) Besides geothermal energy being a very low cost in Iceland, it is also much cleaner. There is no smoke or gases being burned during this process. No pollutants get discharged into the air which can reduce harmful emissions.

As you can see if the graph below geothermal energy ir the primary energy source and provides almost 25% of the nations electricity.

Overall Iceland continues to dominate the geothermal industry. Their prime location makes it possible to grow unconditionally. Question is, will they use all the geothermal for themselves? or will they export it to other nations in need of environmental changes?

http://www.nea.is/media/utgafa/energy_statistics_2009_vefur.pdf

http://www.nea.is/geothermal/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power_in_Iceland

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/geothermal-profile/

Stirling Heat Engine.

The Stirling Heat Engine was invented by Robert Stirling in 1816. Today the Stirling Engine has a lot of potential but is only used in special applications. What makes the Stirling engines unique is that they do not use internal combustion like many other engines. They use what is called the Stirling Cycle. Stirling engines do not produce exhaust because all of their gases never leave the engine. Because of this Stirling engines are very quiet and environmentally friendly. Stirling engines use external heat sources and no combustion takes place within the engine. Because they can use almost anything as fuel they are “one of the cleanest engines in the world’. http://www.kockums.se/en/products-services/submarines/stirling-aip-system/the-stirling-engine/.

Take a look at this video to see exactly how a Stirling Engine works.:

Stirling Engines Today: 

Stirling Engines are still used today in certain areas, however many people are not aware of these applications. Stirling engines are particularly used in the military for sources of electricity for submarines and other surface vessels. Sweden and Australia are currently taking advantage of this. Besides military, Stirling Engines are also used domestically. Some examples included cordless hairdryers, providing basic power, and also as cat magnets. Due to the clean source of energy that it produces, Stirling engines will continue to be used for a variety of things in our future.

Peltier Device: ( Peltier Effect ) ( Thermoelectric Energy )

The Peltier Effect is named after the French physicist Jean Charles Athanase Peltier who founded it in 1834. Peltier devices are usually very small, however they are a solid state and considered extremely durable. Peltier devices are usually made by semiconductors. They are used to convert thermal energy into electrical energy. They can be used for heating and cooling, not only air but liquid as well, but are primarily used for cooling. When DC current passes through the device it brings heat from one side to the other so in turn one side gets cooler and the other gets hotter.

Thermoelectric Energy Today

Thermoelectric energy is very useful in the transportation sector which is currently the largest consumer of fossil fuels and the largest polluter of the environment which we have learned about the past several weeks. Heat energy from exhaust pipes of motor vehicles can be transformed to electric use by Peltier devices. These kinds of opportunities will be taken advantage of and progress rapidly.

Overall as the future nears, devices like Stirling engines and Peltier devices will become more common. They are more efficient and will become cheaper as time goes on.

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/peltier

http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/energy/research/transportation/thermoelectric.php

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine.htm

Last week during class we did an interesting generator experiment. Our assignment was to measure the voltage produced shaking an old flashlight. We hooked up the equipment to lab view and became working. Fortunately this week there were no complications with the program. When the generator was shaken weakly it produced very little voltage. When shaken vigorously the voltage produced was much higher.  Our data shows that the voltage increases the higher the number of shakes. This experiment was an example of Faradays Law  which states that “any change in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire will cause a voltage to be induced in a coil”. Whether the movement was small or large there was always something produced. The magnet that was in the generator was what produced the voltage. When I was shaking it I could easily feel it clicking back and forth throughout the flashlight. This force of producing energy is just a minor example of how we can use energy such as wind or water on much larger levels.

Our Data.

1st run            2nd run           3rd run

85 shakes      145 shakes   245 shakes
0.0238               0.06229        0.06229
-5.51876         -0.16865               0.0238
0.21625           6.46446                 0.04946
0.03663          -0.02752               -0.04035
0.38304          -0.06601                -0.02752
-0.00186          0.12644               0.03663
-5.53159          -0.00186              -0.04035
-5.53159         0.03663                0.01097
0.11361            0.08795                -0.89996
0.03663            0.07512                -0.16865
6.51578            1.14001                 -0.01469
0.17776           -3.72256                0.03663
-0.00186          6.37465                0.07512
0.57549             1.0502                   1.67887
-0.01469            6.52861              -0.04035
0.06229            0.30606                6.47729
-5.54442           -0.02752              -5.57008
-0.2328             0.17776                 -0.02752
-0.01469            6.38748                0.19059
0.04946            -0.04035               -0.1045
0.03663           0.52417                -0.01469
-0.02752           6.54144               0.06229
0.07512           6.57993                 0.10078
-0.02752          0.67813               -0.00186
-0.01469           0.04946                0.22908
0.0238             0.06229                  -0.04035
0.04946            0.03663                 0.01097
0.06229            -0.02752                0.49851

What is Solar Energy?

Over the past decade or so you have probably noticed those black panels that are increasingly popping up,  such as on top of houses, or mounted on a the post of a street light. These are called solar panels, and are used to convert the suns rays into useable energy. The scientific term for solar panel is photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells are made from semiconductor material ( computer chips ). When the sunlight hits the solar panels it knocks the electrons loose from its atoms and as these electrons move through the cell it produces electricity. Solar energy is debateably the cleanest and most abundant energy source In the world. Solar energy is available free of cost in every part of world, however it requires large investments and massive land areas to establish the conditions to convert the solar energy into useable energy forms. Solar energy is continuing to grow throughout the world.

Innovative Solar Projects.

Recently, due to new innovative Solar Products.  Harvesting solar energy doesn’t have to mean using giant panels and requiring large land masses. Because of innovations in solar film technology. These solar films can be ‘printed’ in rolls, which greatly reduces both the cost and the installation, as well as opening up new opportunities for countries and companies to utilize this new technology.

Solar Around the Globe:

http://www.statisticbrain.com/solar-energy-statistics/

Germany is currently the worlds leader in solar energy and is continuing to progress.

How did a once coal dependent nation become the worlds most efficient solar energy producer?

In 1991 the EEG or ” renewable energy law” was passesd .”The EEG required utility companies to plug all renewable power producers, down to the smallest rooftop solar panel, into the national grid and buy their power at a fixed, slightly above-market rate that guaranteed a modest return over the long term”. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/germany-solar-power-energy. Once investors heard about this opportunity they viewed it as a long term investment. Not long after, billions were invested and solar energy began to thrive in the nation. This is not only common in Germany, but in many other countries around the world as well. If there is money to be made, then it will be invested in. Which is why many countries are promoting solar energy growth.

Below is a table of Germanys solar progression.

Every year Germany seems to be improving rapidly in solar energy. Recently “A new German energy storage system has received a 2013  German Renewables Award at a ceremony which was held earlier this month in. The innovative system is called the ASD Sonnenspeicher. It was created by  Automatic Storage Device (ASD).”

If you would like to learn more about this device you can read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/26/solar-energy-storage-system-wins-2013-german-renewables-award/#BH8furyrvR2G4M5l.99

or watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j691xmqSe38

India:

As you can see in the first table above, India is not performing as well as it would like to when it comes to solar energy. However, this will change over time due to the increase of solar energy in rural areas. Renewable Energy  is now making an impact in rural areas like this. The Indian RE program was amongst the first few  programmes to shape up globally. Since then, it has assumed  market leadership position in areas such as solar energy. Products like solar panels are now widely being used in India and other parts of the world.  “India’s national solar program was launched in January 2010 and aims to bring 20,000 megawatts of solar power to India by 2022. The program has driven dramatic growth-India has grown its solar capacity from nearly nothing to more than 2,000 megawatts. ”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilana-solomon/us-challenges-indias-sola_b_4789919.html

Overall solar energy will continue to increase as we evolve as a planet. Its benefits greatly outweigh the burdens. If we want to change the way we are affecting our planet than this is a great opportunity.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/solar-power-profile/