The Keystone XL Pipeline proposal has sparked controversy, especially in recent weeks.  This proposal, should it get approved by the Senate, would expand the Keystone Pipeline system that is already in place.  The current Keystone Pipeline system is part of a network of pipelines that carries crude oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products across the United States and Canada. The Keystone Pipeline is a the portion that transports crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Regina, Saskatchewan, to Steele City, Nebraska, and on to Wood River and Patoka, Illinois, and Cushings, Oklahoma.  It is 2,639 miles long and has the ability to transport approximately 730,000 barrels of crude oil per day.  The proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would be built by TransCanada, would allow more oil to be transported from Canada to refineries in the Gulf Coast to be produced into fuels, such as gasoline.  This would run from Hardisty, Canada to Steele, City Nebraska and then to  Port Arthur and Houston, Texas.

Approving this pipeline would create approximately 42,000 jobs during the period of construction and bring in about $3.4 billion to the American economy, while boosting Canada’s oil exports and economy.  It is also safer than mining and other ways of transporting oil.  However, it is a controversial issue for a reason.  Most of the jobs created will be temporary (only an estimated 35 permanent jobs).  It will also contribute to the already high greenhouse gas emission, adding about 18.7 metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere annually.  There was also controversy in Nebraska about the location of the pipeline.  Initially, the pipeline’s proposed location was in the Sandy Hills region, which is a sensitive area.  TransCanada then changed the location and was approved by the governor.  People then argued that the governor did not have the power to approve the location, only the Public Service Commission could. Also, part of the proposed pipeline would pass a major source of drinking and irrigation water from South Dakota to Texas: the Ogallala Aquifer.  This creates the risk of water contamination.  It is also controversial in Canada because of land disturbances, air pollution, water usage and contamination, interference with migratory animals, and the altering of ecosystems.

As of November 18, 2014, the United States Senate voted against the building Keystone XL Pipeline.  It was a close vote with 59 votes in favor of it and 41 against it.  For it to have been approved, it needed 60 votes in favor.

Websites used:

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/17/364727163/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-keystone-xl-oil-pipeline

http://www.c2es.org/energy/source/oil/keystone#GHG

http://www.vox.com/2014/11/14/7216751/keystone-pipeline-facts-controversy

http://www.transcanada.com/oil-pipelines.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/us/politics/what-does-the-proposed-keystone-xl-pipeline-entail.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/us/politics/keystone-xl-pipeline.html

For our end of the year project, we are going to one of the schools in Boston to conduct an experiment with high school students.  On my team are Brianna, Amanda, Colin, Irisa, and myself as the team captain.  Since this project is for our Sustainability, Energy, and Technology class, we knew we would have to choose an experiment that we could relate to the course.  After looking through the list of experiments on the website provided by Dr. Shatz, we decided we wanted to do the experiment called “A Good Sock”. This experiment uses glass bottles to test insulation.  In this experiment, which we will conduct next week, we will be filling these bottles with warm water, then covering them with cotton and wool socks.  Once the bottles have the socks on them, we will monitor the changes in temperature for each using a temperature probe.  The experiment is fairly quick, only 25 minutes!  After the 25 minutes are up, we will record our results and make a graph displaying them.

Last week we created our outline and our lab handout.  The outline consists of the reason why we are conducting this experiment, background on insulation, the procedure, what data needs to be collected and how it is to be collected, and questions that go along with the experiment.  It also includes a diagram depicting how insulation works. The lab handout is a less detailed outline of our experiment.  This week we started our PowerPoint presentation and will complete it on Tuesday, November 18th, once we have completed the experiment.  We also decided this week we will add another glass into the experiment and leave it uncovered.  This will be to see how much heat escapes without any insolation.

Good insulation in a building or home will make the place energy efficient.  Insulation works by creating a barrier between areas of different temperature.  This means in the winter, a well insulated house or building will use less energy to heat because the cold air is not allowed to enter and the warm air is not allowed to escape.  In the summer, it is the same except hot air is being kept outside and cool air is not escaping to the outside.

The less energy need to control the temperature in an enclosed space, the better because becoming energy efficient is critical in the quest to create a more sustainable environment.

Last week in class we conducted an experiment measuring the voltage output of a generator.  To do this we shook the generator, a small tube containing a magnet that traveled across coiled wires, in 30 second intervals at various speeds.  This experiment tested Faraday’s Law, which states changing magnetic flux through coiled wired will generate electricity and the greater the change in magnetic fluxes, the more electricity is generated.  We then had to record the number of shakes and the voltage output of the generator and graph the sum of the square of voltage in relation to the number of shakes in an Excel file. The most difficult part of this was counting how many times we shook the generator.  Our results proved Faraday’s Law because the voltage output of the generator increased with the number of shakes.  I would have liked to have included our exact data results and the graph showing them in this blog post, however, the Excel file containing our results would not open on my computer.

Last week, our class visited Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a lecture and a tour of their nuclear reactor.  When we first arrived, we needed to present a government issued ID and were given a pen-like object that measured radiation exposure.  This was to make sure we weren’t being exposed to too much radiation while on the tour.  Before the tour of the reactor began, we had a lecture that lasted about half an hour.  The lecture was all about the reactor and its history.

MIT’s reactor was built in 1958 and was later upgraded in 1975.  The reactor is a 6 megawatt (MW) reactor, meaning it can produce up to 6MW of thermopower.  This is small in comparison to other nuclear reactors that produce far more. It could fit inside a trashcan!  The reactor is used for research and educational purposes only, although it produces enough energy to heat the buildings at MIT.  It operates constantly, except when maintenance is being carried out.  The reactor also has a two-loop cooling system and automatic relieve valves.  Should the cooling system fail, the water inside will begin to boil and evaporate.  Air will then forcefully shoot out of the “chimney” and outside.  The automatic relieve valve serves as a way for the reactor to release built up hydrogen that can become dangerous.  There is also no risk of a meltdown because not enough energy is produce and there are many safety features in place.  The reactor uses Uranium 235 (92 Protons and 143 Neutrons).  When an extra neutron is absorbed, the process of fission takes place.  This neutron splits into two and releases two or three neutrons.  This keeps the chain reaction going.  Once the neutron splits, the “glue” that was holding it together get turned into energy.  To absorb these extras, boron is used.

After the lecture we went on the tour of the reactor.  Before we went on the tour we were told cell phones, bags, and gum were prohibited and anyone who had recently undergone radiation therapy was not advised to participate in the tour.  To get inside, we first had to go through a chamber that slightly changed the pressure.  The place where the reactor is located is large, even though the reactor itself is small.  We saw the many different things that occur inside of the facility, which was very interesting.  Before leaving the facility we had to be checked for radiation.  First we had to step onto a machine and place our arms through slots on either side of a screen.  The machine would then tell you if you were “clean” and you could exit.  Then, there was another machine where our hands and shoes were scanned.  After that we retuned the pens that record how much radiation we were exposed to.  Overall, the lecture and the tour of the MIT research reactor were very informative.