Month: April 2016

Last week our class watched several demonstrations performed by fellow professor Tom Vale. The demonstration we viewed during class gave us an opportunity to see many of the forms of energy we have learned about and their real life applications. It gave us an insight about how electricity works and how certain objects may be powered using everyday things from around the house.

One of the first demonstrations resembled the picture below. This device is a solar panel attached to a motor and is held up by magnets. When the sun (or a flashlight) hits the solar panels it powers the motor and allows it to continuously spin as long as there is light.

 

Mr. Vale also showed us something called the stirling engine (pictured below). He placed two valves of the engine in one hot cup of water and one cup that was room temperature. The temperature differential causes a change in pressure and powers the engine. The technology can be used to power submarines because of how quietly it operates.

 

The most impressive part of the demonstration however was Mr. Vale’s homemade Tesla coil. The tesla coil (as explained in a previous blog post) produces an electric current using a spark gap and a change in the electromagnetic field. Mr. Vale used a variety of glass tubes to demonstrate the power of the coil. One tube was filled with a variety of colored glass and lit up when put near the top of the coil. The second tube that he used was filled with xenon gas (the same thing used in a camera flash) and resembled a blue lightening bolt when touched near the coil and made a crackling noise to match. The last tube was filled evenly with gas but had two different diameters on each end of the tube. He demonstrated that although the gas was the same throughout, the different diameters of the tube turned different colors when brought into the electric field produced by the coil. One end of the tube glowed blue while the other glowed neon pink.

 

The final demonstration was a series of quack medical devices. These violet ray machines were simply variously shaped class devices that channeled electricity. Decades ago these devices were used to treat basically every ailment known to man. However it was later proven that these devices were actually completely ineffective, and most patients that were “cured” by these devices actually experienced the placebo effect. Depending on the shape of the glass, they were used to treat every section the body for everything ranging from a sore throat to psoriasis.

Pandora’s promise is a pro-nuclear film created in response to the growing power debate and the pressure to find alternative energy sources. The film points to nuclear energy as a safe alternative due to the fact it contributes little to none pollution and greenhouse gasses.  The movie features many previously anti-nuclear experts who changed their mind and now support this movement. They movie uses key environmentalists and anti-nuclear democrats to show that hey! if these people can be pro-nuclear energy, so can you.

The truth is that nuclear energy is highly efficient, and most definitely can handle the energy capacity needs that wind and solar have failed to do. Nuclear energy is much cheaper overall as well (if you subtract the initial expensive cost to build the plant).

The problem that I have with this film is that although it does address nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima it barely scratches the surface of how truly detrimental these meltdowns were. It describes the overwhelming amount of radiation as “normal” and “natural” using a handheld radiation thermometer. It also downplays what happens to the disposal of all nuclear waste and possible nuclear leaks (Hint: it hurts the environment too).

The movie also tries to cover the other side of the nuclear debate and that is its use for weaponry. Producers tried to cover this debate by pointing out that half of our nuclear energy has come from repurposed Russian war heads but fails to mention the fact that the majority of other threatening countries haven’t given up the technology with the potential to annihilate an entire city.

Overall, this movie works hard to convince any skeptics that nuclear energy is not the infamous harbinger of destruction that its made out to be. Although a lot of evidence clearly points to nuclear energy as a possible alternative, there are also plenty of deterrents that the movie fails to acknowledge. Perhaps when our technology evolves enough to avoid these possibly catastrophic meltdowns and design errors, nuclear energy will have its time. Until then, many will remain unconvinced.

As our planet grows warmer every day, our modern civilization must take responsibility for the growing destruction of earth in an effort to preserve what is left for future generations. In 2013, the executive branch released a “President’s Climate Action Plan” with specific new steps that would be taken by one of the largest polluters in the entire world in order to combat climate change and the growing global crisis. The plan lists many different courses of action that will be taken in order to reduce emissions and promote energy efficiency: below are some of the biggest solutions.

 

The first solution is cutting carbon pollution from power plants.  Power plants are the largest concentrated source of emissions in the United States, together accounting for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions. More than 35 states have renewable energy targets in place, and more than 25 have set energy efficiency targets. Limits have already been set on arsenic, mercury and lead pollution but there is no law preventing power plants from releasing carbon into the air.

In April 2012, The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a carbon pollution standard for new power plants under the Obama Administration. The proposal reflects and reinforces the ongoing trend towards cleaner technologies, with natural gas increasing its share of electricity generation in recent years. With abundant clean energy solutions available, and building on the leadership of states and local governments, the Obama administration aims to continue to drive American leadership in clean energy technologies, such as efficient natural gas, nuclear, renewables, and clean coal technology.

Another huge change is increasing fuel economy standards. Heavy-duty vehicles are currently the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector. In 2011, the Obama Administration finalized the first-ever fuel economy standards for Model Year 2014-2018 for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and vans. These standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil. The Obama Administration has already established the toughest fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles in U.S. history and will continue to do so throughout his term. A lot of work has already been done in his second term to tackle fuel emissions for all new diesel trucks and high performance vehicles. These standards require an average performance equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, which will save the average driver more than $8,000 in fuel costs over the lifetime of the vehicle and eliminate six billion metric tons of carbon pollution which is more than the US produces in a year.

 

The last huge and important initiative is reducing methane emissions. Curbing emissions of methane is critical to our overall effort to address global climate change. Methane currently accounts for roughly 9 percent of domestic greenhouse gas emissions and has a global warming potential that is more than 20 times greater than carbon dioxide. Across the economy, there are multiple sectors in which methane emissions can be reduced, from coal mines and landfills to agriculture and oil and gas development. For example, in the agricultural sector, over the last three years, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture have worked with the dairy industry to increase the adoption of methane digesters through loans, incentives, and other assistance. In addition, when it comes to the oil and gas sector, investments to build and upgrade gas pipelines will not only put more Americans to work, but also reduce emissions and enhance economic productivity.