Month: March 2016

Despite not being able to spend very long at the Museum due to travel issues, I was still able to get some good information on the exhibits. I found two the most interesting, the taxidermy exhibits in the green wing and the Tesla coil performance. Also, there was a seminar going on about SpaceX which mentioned the falcon rocket series, which I had blogged about in a previous post.

Other notable exhibits include the dinosaur exhibit, which had several dinosaur skeleton models, which are always interesting to look at. They had a triceratops and a T rex, which are pictured below. These are always interesting, as they give a perspective as to what animals looked like 50 million years ago. Any time that I see an animal skeleton that is the size of a sedan, I can’t help but admire the differences between these and animals today. This is back in an era where reptiles were the dominant animal, as opposed to mammals, so the animals back in the age of the dinosaurs look quite different from the ones in the Cenozoic and Pleistocene ages.

Taxidermy Exhibit/The Colby Room:

The taxidermy exhibit featured over a hundred species of birds from all over the continental US and some offshore feeding birds including the Gannet. Some of these birds have been brought back by conservation efforts such as the Bald Eagle, whose eggs were destroyed back in the 1960’s by DDT, a pesticide which would soften the eggshells. The Colby room featured several taxidermized rare animals including rhinoceros and pelts of animals like the Bengal Tiger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tesla Coil/Electricity Exhibit:

The next exhibit was the Tesla coil exhibit and the electricity exhibit. It contains two large Tesla coils which they would demonstrate a few times per day. Unfortunately, when I arrived to see one of the scheduled shows, the auditorium was full; however, I could still see the coils operate as well as seeing the coils demonstrate the Faraday cage effect.  The security guard who was outside the auditorium was explaining the skin effect to the people watching from outside, and how the woman inside the cage could touch it without being electrocuted. This was due to her not being her grounded. I previously blogged about Tesla coils, and I had always wanted to see them in action. I was surprised at how loud they were and how long the bolt appeared to last after it was discharged from the spark gap. The electricity exhibit highlighted several inventions such as the previously mentioned Tesla coil and steam powered engines. It also showed a basic model of a generator which could help simplify how a generator works to someone who has no previous knowledge of them.

 

 

Nuclear power is a double edged sword in the eyes of most people, it is often percieved as dangerous, when in reality it is the second safest power source, behind wind power. This is something that Pandora’s Promise explains to the viewer. Several environmental activists whose views stem from the environmentalist movement in the 1960’s including Helen Caldicott, an Australian anti-nuclear advocate, continue to spread false information about nuclear power. Using Helen as an example, Pandora’s Promise explains the culture that America has produced around nuclear power, its association with nuclear weaponry and continued negative perceptions of the power source in popular culture such as The Simpsons. Pandora’s Promise offers several real world examples to counter these false cultural attitudes towards nuclear power:

-Nuclear disasters e.g. Chernobyl and Fukushima barely increase cancer rates for people living in nearby areas (according to the UN and the WHO)

-Coal power produces 3 times the radiation than nuclear power to the surrounding popluace

-Nuclear power is nearly unlimited and produces little pollution and little waste (if the reactor is a breeder reactor, not a light heat reactor which produces more waste and is inefficient)

The movie ends on a note which left me genuinely inspired, the United States is buying warheads from Russian nuclear weapons and turning them into electricity. Fifty percent of all of our nation’s nuclear power comes from these decommissioned warheads.

Overall, this movie was a refreshing break from the alarmist ecologist and environmentalist doomsday prophesiers that we have been seeing recently. The movie goes out of its way to criticize them and say that, “…to be anti-nuclear is to basically be in favor of burning fossil fuels.” It explains why thrid generation reactors are safer than the ones that have been built in the past such as Fukushima, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The overall message is one of hope for the future than more nations will become like France, who generates 80% of its electricity from nuclear power and provide cleaner air for future generations. If I were to rate this movie based on its message, I would give it a 4/5, it can be muddled by the explanation of older theories by 1960’s based environmentalists in the beginning, such as the Vermont and New Hampshire protesters. These are quickly argued against by the movie; however, it confused me as to what stance Pandora’s Promise was going to take on nuclear power. As a final thought, I would recommend showing this movie to anyone who is skeptical of nuclear power, as it will be hard to look at this movie and deny its benefits for large scale energy production on a long term basis.

 

Thermoelectric devices convert heat into electricity. They were invented in 1821 by Thomas Johann Seebeck and see consistent use to this day. To convert heat into electricity, the device takes advantage of the Seebeck Effect (V/°C), named after the devices creator.

Thermoelectric Generator:

A basic thermoelectric generator uses semiconductors, much like a solar cell to generate electricity. The differences between the Negative and Positive pellets create a heat transfer, and cause the generation of electricity. This is known as thermoconductivity. Thermoelectric generators can be installed at home or in a place of business, usually coming in at around 1kw of production. These power sources are off the grid and can be used in even the most remote locations.

Automotive Thermoelectric Generator:

These thermoelectric units turn heat energy generated by a car’s engine into electricity. They work by using a heat exchanger which harvests the exhaust from the engine. The hot side and cold side plates of the generator then create a difference in heat, which causes the generation of electricity through the heat transfer of the negative and positive semiconductors. The electricity generated is then used to supplement the load of the electric motor used to power devices in the car.

Radioscope Thermoelectric Generator

Thermoelectric devices are all very similar in that they take advantage of unused heat energy. They all use semiconductors. They are often used in a system, where unused heat energy is present. In a sense, they are more of an add-on to an existing power source rather than a power source on its own, although they can be used as such. An example of this would be the Mars rover Curiosity, which uses a radioscope thermoelectric generator (RTG). It converts heat energy from decaying plutonium into electricity. The Plutonium 238 used in most RTEs has a half life of 87.7 years. The Curiosity has a special RTG known as the Multi-Mission Radioscope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG). According to NASA, the MMRTG has 4.8kg of Plutonium (238) dioxide which provides 2,000 watts of thermal power and 110 watts of electricity. The unit itself weights 45kg.

Other power sources are more efficient for on-site locations (such as geothermal energy) but they lack the reliability that thermoelectric devices can provide. Thermoelectric devices are solid state, meaning they have no moving parts. This means that they can be installed pretty much anywhere there is heat energy, and require little to no maintenance. The only downside to using a thermoelectric generator is their price and their potential weight, depending on the size of the generator. These two factors can be weighed out because of the potential savings and environmental benefits.

Sources used:
http://www.jetir.org/view?paper=JETIR1503089

http://www.digikey.com/en/articles/techzone/2011/oct/thermoelectric-energy-harvesting

http://phys.org/news/2014-08-thermoelectric-devices-electricity-vehicles-machines.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/rps/rtg.cfm

http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/files/mep/MMRTG_FactSheet_update_10-2-13.pdf

Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic ocean to the southeast of Greenland. It lies near the Atlantic Ridge, leading to high amounts of Geothermal activity. This leads to a perfect setup for geothermal energy use.

Geothermal energy uses heated water underneath the earth to create steam, and spin a turbine. Once the heated water becomes cool, it is sent back underground to heat up again. Because of this, it is considered a renewable energy source. There is very little pollution involved with geothermal energy, and it has very few downsides.

Geothermal energy makes up around 66% of all renewable energy use in Iceland. In areas such as Iceland with high volcanic activity such as the western US,  geothermal power can be used for more than heating homes, it can be used to power entire cities and towns. One such example is the Hellisheiði Po

wer Station, which produces 303MW of electricity. This power station is the third largest geothermal plant in the world. Iceland has 5 other major geothermal power plants located across the country, which provide power for thousands of homes. In-home and on site geothermal generators also see use, which make little noise as well as needing little to no maintenance.

 

These heating units can save home owners thousands of dollars a year, especially in a tundra region such as Iceland. Even homeowners in low-volcanic activity areas such as New England or the Southern US can use geothermal power to heat their homes and businesses.

Overall, I think the use of geothermal energy in Iceland is its best option. It has breathtaking landscapes, and its use of geothermal and other sustainable energy will help keep it pristine. It is one of the only countries in the world where their electricty output is nearly 100% renewable (75% from hydroelectricity and 25% from geothermal energy). This should serve as an example of the correct way to generate sustainable energy on a large scale, rather than small scattered solar and wind farms. Of course, this will not be possible in areas such as the eastern United States or sourthern Africa, where there is little volcanic activity. These regions should use their natural landscape to their advantage, wind for the eastern US and solar for southern Africa using Iceland as a blueprint. As I had discussed in my previous blog about solar technology around the world, Tampa Bay airport and George airport in South Africa have added solar technology. These little scattered projects along with large scale power plants will help nations generate clean, sustainable power, just like Iceland.

 

 

 

 

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

http://www.mannvit.com/projects/hellisheidi-geothermal-power-plant/

http://www.icelandontheweb.com/articles-on-iceland/nature/geology/geothermal-heat

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/iceland-a-100-renewables-example-in-the-modern-era-56428