Month: December 2015

Keystone pipeline

The Keystone pipeline is a 1,179 mile (1,897km) suggested pipeline that would run from oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would join an existing pipe. It would have the capacity to carry 830,000 barrels of oil every day. This pipeline would come after an original pipeline with the same name was permitted by President George W Bush. The difference is that this pipeline will have a more direct course. The financial resource for the pipeline will come from TransCanada, a Canadian energy company and other oil shippers.

This pipeline has been the subject of a political debate. On one hand, environmental advocates oppose the construction of the project of the nature of oil extraction mechanism that will be used. In their natural state, oil sands are combined with sand, clay and water. There are two ways to get the sands out of the ground to reach the oil. Extractors will have to use lots of water and natural gas to pump into the sand to get the oil out. This pollutes the environment around the field. However, these ways will be damaging to the environment. In the other way, the extractors will have to heat the sands to release the oil and this is bad for the environment because it has already burned acres of the forests around the construction site. Also, there is the concern that the pipeline itself could have leaks along the way which would immediately damage the its surrounding environment.

On the other hand, the proponents of the pipeline argue that the pipeline will be good for the economy because it would create new jobs. It is important to mention that many of those jobs will be temporary. It is projected that it would generate 35 permanent jobs. The State Department environmental review estimated that the project could support 42,000 temporary jobs over its 2 year construction period, about 3,900 of them in construction, and rest in other types of supporting jobs. On a bigger scale, the trade relations between United States and Canada will improve by this oil exchange project.

Finally, the Obama administration made a decision regarding the pipeline on November 5, 2015 and rejected the project. This decision came after 7 years of constant negotiations regarding the project. The President rejected the project because he believes that it would not lower oil prices, create long term jobs, or affect energy dependence. While he mentioned that the project would not have a significant impact on U.S. economy, he also stated that the project would have not had the catastrophic environmental consequences some feared.

Nuclear self-study

Nuclear energy is the energy in the nucleus of an atom. This type of energy holds the nucleus together. This type of energy can be used to generate electricity after it has been released from the atom. This process called nuclear fission where the atoms are split to release the energy. This is a done at a nuclear plant or reactor where machines work to produce electricity through a fission process. These reactors needs fuel to work the system, the fuel that is used is uranium. Uranium atoms split and start a chain reaction. The energy that is released from this chain reaction creates heat will eventually goes into cooling machines. The combination of cooling and hearing produces steam that will eventually turn the generators that produce electricity. About 15 percent of the world’s electricity is generated through nuclear plants.

There many pros and cons to this type of energy. Ones in favor of nuclear energy argue that it is one of the cleaner forms of energy generation because it does not produce any greenhouse emissions the way fossil fuel energy does. On the other hand, this type of energy generation has significant radioactive waste that is extremely dangerous and expensive to dispose of. Proponents also discuss the fact that nuclear energy is more reliable than the fossil fuel energy that is going to run out in the next decades. Many of these different reactors can produce massive amounts of energy from uranium consumption for electricity generation.

The opponents of nuclear energy state that the radioactive and plant accidents that take place are too high of a cost to pay for energy generation. Since the radioactive waste that is left over is so harmless to humans and the environment, it is very costly to clean up accidents properly. In addition, these experts argue that uranium is not a renewable source of mineral and it has finite resources. Overall, the cost of reactors maintenance and keep up is higher than other alternative sources of energy.

Sources:

http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/nuclear-energy/

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today/

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-cons-of-nuclear-energy.php

Geothermal activity

Geothermal energy is the heat that is present and radiates from the center of the earth. One of the biggest advantages of geothermal energy is the fact that it is a renewable source of energy and it is consistently available. This type of energy can be taken from the shallow ground to the hot water and hot rock miles beneath the earth’s surface. A geothermal system consists of a heath pump, air delivery, and heat exchanger pipes that are buried in the shallow ground near the building. During the winter season, the heat pump removes heat from the heat exchanger and pumps it into the indoor air delivery system. In the summer, this process is reversed, and the heat pump moves heat from the indoor air into the heat exchanger. This can be used toward hot water.

Island is one of the leading nations in geothermal energy. In fact, they have been using this type of energy for decades. The Icelandic government has financed thermal and electric power plants through at the country in addition to the small infrastructural changes that deliver hot water to homes. This way, the country has eliminated the dependence on fossil fuels for heating and electricity. These changes have also made Iceland into one of the pioneer experts in geothermal energy production. 99% of Iceland’s electricity is produced from renewable sources of energy, 30% of that number is from geothermal energy.

Experts and scientists say that the Iceland has only used a small fraction of the potential energy that is available in the country. Therefore, the government has started a research project to drill deeper and access greater power than before. Moreover, the government has been diligent about balancing the economic needs against any environmental impact of such expansive projects.

Sources:

http://geo-energy.org/Basics.aspx

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/geothermal-energy/tech.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/iceland-geothermal-power/

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/apr/22/renewableenergy.alternativeenergy

Lego robot experiment

We experimented with the Lego Windstorm and learned how to operate it. We had to measure the distance that the wheels moved. In order to do that, first, we measured the circumference of the wheel itself. Then, we used a ruler by the robot to measure the distance the wheel traveled. The program had a predetermined projection. This project was conducted in three different levels and each level had a different power capacity. After all the levels were completed, we compared our findings throughout the experiment with the projected results. The results were interesting and somewhat different in specific numbers. We also calculated the margin and percentage of error each time.

Newton pulley experiment

This experiment was about exploring Newton’s 2^nd law, which states the acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

We used the Lego robot to see how each of these elements changes when one of the other ones also changed. The Lego robot had a string through a puller that carried it. Every time it would come to a stop, we would measure the different factors. This was a very interesting and eye-opening experiment because it put Newton’s theories into action and enabled us to physically grasp and witness the results. It is essential to have a physical lab experiment to go along with the scientific theories to not only understand the science, but also examine different variables.

 

Shake generator experiment

This experiment involved using a shake generator. The shake generator has a tube with coils and we were shaking a mobile magnet inside it to generate a current. We shook the generator for several seconds in different trials. What changed in each trial was the actual number of shakes within the given time set of shaking. Then, we examined the voltage in each different trial to see how it changed with different shakes. The result was consistent with Faraday’s law, the voltage increased when the magnetic influx increased. Therefore, more shakes created more voltage.