The Keystone XL pipeline will allow the US to access safe, reliable, and affordable energy supplies from Canada, and reduce the need to import crude oil from other regions and countries in the world that are less stable. The Keystone XL pipeline has many benefits but is also controversial in some ways.

The Keystone XL pipeline project is a proposed 1,179 mile, 36-inch diameter crude oil pipeline that begins in Hardisty, Atla. Canada, and ending in Steele City, Nebraska. This pipeline is curtail for energy security in the US and the US economy. Not only will this pipeline allow us to import crude oil from Canada, but it will support the growth of crude oil production here in the US from producers in the Bakken region of Montana and North Dakota. This XL pipeline will be an extension to the existing Keystone pipeline that runs to Crushing, Oklahoma. Below is a map outline of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline will have the capacity to transport up to 830,000 battles of crude oil per day to the Gulf Coast and Midwest. This XL pipeline will reduce the US from depending on Venezuelan and Middle Eastern oil by about 40%. The pipeline is expected to contribute an estimated $3.4 billion in benefits to the US economy. The Keystone pipeline is the largest infrastructure project currently proposed in the US, costing $5.3 billion.

One of the benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline is the increase of jobs and economic benefits. The pipeline has the potential need for 9,000 workers for this shovel-ready infrastructure project. The US State Department’s Final Supplemental Environment Impact Statement found that the project would support more than 42,000 direct and indirect jobs nationwide as well. The project is expected to create over seven million hours of labor, offering over 13,000 hours of labor. This new job is well-paid and has the opportunity to help thousands of American families who have been out of work or who need more sufficient funds. The project will provide jobs for welders, mechanics, electricians, pipe fitters, laborers, safety coordinators, heavy equipment operators and other construction related positions. Besides construction jobs, an estimated 7,000 US jobs are being supported just in manufacturing the steel pipe alone. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, the Keystone pipeline will add $172 billion American gross domestic product by 2015 and will create an additional 1.8 million person-years of employment in the US for the next 22 years.

The Keystone XL pipeline raises concern because of its environmental impact. TransCanada is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of the pipeline along the proposed route. The pipelines are the most safest and efficient way of transporting fossil fuels, and TransCanada has one of the best safety records in the industry. Already in the US, there are more than 3.6 million miles of oil and natural gas pipelines that deliver 99.9998 % of their products safely and reliably every day. The Keystone XL is predicted to operate more safely  than the existing pipeline in the US. The XL pipeline technology will be the newest and most advanced pipeline built in the US, and TransCanada has agreed to incorporate 57 special safety conditions into the design and construction. This includes a higher number of remote-controlled shutoff valves, increased pipeline inspections, burying the pipe deeper in to the ground, and using thicker steel pipe at river crossings. Below is a before and after picture showing that the minimal impact of pipeline construction and the successful reconstruction of the land to its original condition.

Here is a link as well of a commercial used in promoting the safety of the XL pipeline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=SPotbBIjalgI2_MPYy84W3sVb6mPqJcDgo&v=z_qn8cc2_KA

The Keystone pipeline raises concern because of the environmental damage that may happen along the way. During the tar sands oil extraction process, large amounts of heat, water and chemicals are needed to separate the tarry substance (bitumen)  from sand, silt, and clay and flow up the pipeline. The water used in this process is so polluted after the process that the water must be stored in large pools, know as tailing pods. AS the heavy bitumen sinks to the bottom of these ponds, the toxic sludge, full of harmful substances like cyanide and ammonia, can work their way into neighboring clean water supplies. Deforestation is another result of the process because in order to dig up tar sands oil, thousands of trees are cut down and forests are destroyed.

Northern Alberta is the region where tar sands oil is extracted, but it is also home to many indigenous populations. Important parts of their cultural traditions and livelihood are coming under attack because of these operations. They have been forced off of their land, and living downstream from tailing ponds which increases their rate of rare cancers, which 1,200 residents have already died from. This will only get worse unless tar sands production is stopped.

Another disadvantage of the XL pipeline is the probability of spills. The XL pipeline will travel through six US states, and cross major rivers such as the Missouri River, Yellowstone river, and Red river. It will also cross through key sources of drinking and agricultural water such as the Ogallala Aquifer which supplies water to more than 1/4th of US irrigated land and drinking water to 2 million American’s. The likelihood of a pipeline spill is high and more threatening than conventional spills because tar sands oil sinks rather than floats, which makes cleanups more difficult and expensive.

Although these risks are severe, research has been going on for a long time regarding the Keystone XL pipeline. We have advanced technology and are able to catch errors fairly quickly and efficiently. I support the Keystone XL pipeline because it allowed the United States to access reliable and affordable energy supply and be able to produce it ourselves. The project will create millions of jobs and help our economy greatly.

Resources:

http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-keystone-xl-oil-pipeline-project/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=SPotbBIjalgI2_MPYy84W3sVb6mPqJcDgo&v=z_qn8cc2_KA

http://www.foe.org/projects/climate-and-energy/tar-sands/keystone-xl-pipeline

http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/keystone-xl-pipeline/

My partners Jessica, Bryan and I had several ideas during our class discussion on Friday for our final experiment project. It was difficult for us to begin the brainstorm because we are not science majors, but we did brainstorm biased on the experiments we performed in our class and topics we learned during lectures. We decided that I will be the team leader of the group, but I know that we will all contribute to the project equally. We get along well, which led us to a few ideas.

During brainstorming we had to make sure that our ideas were simple enough so that other students could follow the instructions, but not too simple enough that the objective is obvious or at a high school level. Also we had to make sure that the materials required for our experiment were accessible and easy to bring to the classroom.

After brainstorming for awhile we came to a mutual decision of a favored experiment – heat/temperature change. We came up with the idea of testing insulting materials on heated water (and other substances) to see how temperature is effected and sustained based on the type of insulation. The tools we would need for this experiment are easy to get at the store, and borrow from the lab. The objectives of this experiment besides learning insulation of heat are, comparing different heat capacities of various liquids, and to analyze the results of this experiment for research of house hold items that require sustainability of a liquid’s temperature.

Incase we are unable to perform this experiment idea, we came up with various other experiments for back up plans. We explored topics regarding climate change and energy generation as well. We looked up ideas to come up with an experiment related to the greenhouse effect and energy levels from food and the effects on humans. I have experience from previous class experiments with food energy. I brought up an idea to test our reaction time through online tools/games before and after consuming an energy drink. It might also be interesting to do the test before eating breakfast and then a few hours after eating; but I’m not sure we would be able to have an experiment like this during the class time presentation.

I think that this final project will be very successful because my group members and I have good chemistry and we are looking forward to testing out our ideas!

The President’s climate action plan is a document that brings up vital ideas and actions for the future of climate protection. The plan discusses how to cut carbon pollution in America, how to prepare the US for the impacts of climate change, and how to lead international efforts to address global climate change. Within these three plans, there are three initiatives that I found the most interesting and most important. These include cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories , leading at a federal level, and protecting our economy and natural resources.

Cutting Waste in Homes, Businesses, and Factories

This initiative is important to me because it applies to American’s on a personal level. The things we do in our daily lives both in and out of our homes are contributing to global warming. The only way we can take action in slowing down global warming is if we commit to cutting waste in our homes, businesses and factories. Not only will cutting waste reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will help to save families money and make our businesses more competitive. During President Obama’s first term in office, the Department of Housing and Urban Development made upgrades in more than one million homes, which saved many families more than $400 on their heating/cooling bills in the first year alone. President Obama is determined to achieve his goal of doubling energy productivity by 2030. During Obama’s first term, the Department of Energy established new minimum efficiency standards for dishwashers,refrigerators, and many other products. The plan leading up to 2030 is to cut  consumers’ electricity bills by hundreds of billions of dollars and safe enough electricity to power more than 85 million homes for 2 years. Saving energy in our homes with the most commonly used household products and help us to save money and cut down CO2 emissions. The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service has already made updates to its Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program  to provide up to $250 million for dual utilities to finance efficiency investments. The President has a goal to have American commercial and industrial buildings be 20% more energy efficient in the next five years. Results are already showing improvements. If we can cut waste in our homes, will can help move towards cleaner air.

Leading at a Federal Level 

This initiative explains that the President and federal government must be the leaders in clean energy and energy efficiency. This is extremely important because someone must be the leader in this action in order for results to show. If the federal government does’t take energy efficiency and clean energy seriously, then no one will. The federal government needs to set an example and present these initiatives in order for businesses and homes to partake in change. The federal government must not only present these new ideas, but make action happen. Already under the Obama Administration, federal agencies have reduced greenhouse gas emission by more than 15% which is the equivalent of permanently taking 1.5 million cars off the road. The new goal presented in this initiative is that the Federal government will consume 20% of its electricity from renewable sources in the next 5 years. In 2011, President Obama signed a memorandum called “Implementation of Energy Savings Project and Performance-Based Contracting for Energy Savings.” This challenged federal agencies to enter into $2 billion worth of performance-based contracts within 2 years. The federal government is the only leader that can provide money for clean energy research and action. They are a vital leader in energy efficiency and clean energy.

Protecting our Economy and Natural Resources

It is obvious that global warming is happening now and its effects could drastically change the way we live in the future. Global warming is already affecting nearly every aspect of our society, and will only get worse unless we make some changes. The only thing we can do now to help slow down the effects of global warming is  by being more energy efficient, cutting down waste and protecting our economy and natural resources for the future. In 2013 the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior released several studies outlining the challenges a changing climate poses for America’s agricultural enterprise, forests, waters supply, wildlife, and public lands. Federal agencies are coming up with strategies to address these changes as well as efforts focusing on health, transportation, food supply, oceans, and coastal communities. The Department of Health and Human Services is working to launch an effort to create sustainable and resilient hospitals in the face of climate change.  It is important that our hospitals and medical systems are resilient to climate impacts. There will also be lessons to prepare communities for the health consequences of climate change including health risks and resilience measures. The importance of conservation of land and water resources is also mentioned in this initiative. Our ecosystems are critical to our nation’s economy and the lives and health of our citizens. It is important to preserve this resources because they will not only help ameliorate the impacts of climate change, but they are essential in our lives. It is also important that the federal government makes plans on managing drought, reducing wildfire risks, and preparing for future floods. I believe this initiative is very important because the effects of global warming are only going to get worse if we keep at the rate we are at now. Although most people don’t want to accept it, we must prepare for the future. Either we make changes now or suffer the consequences in the future. Although we may not be alive when these changes happen, we must have the best interest of our children (someday) in mind. The Federal government must take action on what their efforts will be for the future that way we can be prepared for what the effects of climate change may bring.

I really enjoyed this opportunity to visit the Museum of Science as a hands-on learning experience for our class. For me it is a great learning experience to step outside the classroom and apply what we learned with visuals and hands-on exhibits. Bryan and I had a great time not only viewing the exhibits required for the class, but exploring the museum on our own as well.

The first exhibit we visited was called “Catching the Wind” – this exhibit was all about wind energy. The first thing that caught my eye when we got there was the hand blower. If you placed your hand over the blower you could feel how strong wind needs to blow in order to turn most wind turbines. It was shocking to me to read feel that wind speed only breeds to be between 5 mph and 12 mph to function. I always thought wind speed had to be much faster because of the size of the wind turbines. Below is a picture of this interactive tool.

Another thing I learned from this exhibit was that wind is actually a form of solar energy. From reading the information at the exhibit, I learned that sunlight hitting the Earth heats the air evenly. This temperature difference starts moving the air, as warmer air rises and cooler air moves in to take its place. I never really knew that was how wind worked. This exhibit had many interactive components which made this one of my favorites. There were gears that you could spin using a dial attached to magnets to generate electricity. It made it obvious how easy it is to generate electricity with gears. The slow rotation of the large gears spin the small gears faster. The model they had at the museum showed how gears fit together to form part of the gearbox inside the nacelle of a wind turbine. I learned that the nacelle is the part that holds the turbine’s machinery on top of the tower. It sits on yaw motors that turn the turbine to face into the wind.

This exhibit also showed how much wind and renewable energy used in Massachusetts alone which I found very interesting and shocking because there was so much used!

The next exhibit we visited was “Energize!” This exhibit focused on solar energy. Like the pervious one, this exhibit was very hands-on and had a variety of interactive tools to understand solar energy. One of these tools that I found interesting was called make choices about energy sources.” Here, you could power the city using different amounts of energy sources. You had to do so to balance the amount of environmental destruction and the amount of energy produced. The blocks would fall down if the model was not balanced. It took us a few tries to figure out but we soon balanced the model and powered the city! Below is a picture of Bryan with this tool.

There was also a wall that displayed different types of solar collector shapes. I found this interesting because most of the models I found during my research for previous blogs were flat panels. It was interesting to see that there are other model types. Below is a picture of this different models.

The next exhibit we visited was Nanotechnology. Here, it showed the progress we had in using atoms as a resource to produce goods. I learned that nanotechnology could be used to various things such as cancer treatments, foo production, processing and packaging, Super-fine water filters, and new solar cells. Before visiting this exhibit I never knew what nanotechnology meant or was. The exhibit emphasized that nanotechnology will affect our economy, environment, and personal lives.  I also learned that nano is all around us, in nature and in technology. Nanotechnology is in products we used all the time such as computer chips and sunblock. Nature on the other hand provides many examples of nano phenomena. The iridescent color of some butterflies and the feet of geckos are both caused by tiny nano structures. The exhibit had a butterfly in a case where you could turn a light on to see the iridescent color. It was very interesting to see the glow of the butterfly’s winds under the light.

Lastly, we visited the “Conserve at home” exhibit. This exhibit showed how much energy is wasted on a daily basis in our homes, and how to help conserve energy. One of the tools in the exhibit showed how much power a hair dryer uses which was a very shocking 1,000 watts. I use a hairdryer everyday which I now feel bad about! Also, a hair dryer uses more power than a kitchen mixer (250 watts)!

There were recommendations in the exhibit of how to conserve energy. One suggestion was using rechargeable batteries. One rechargeable batter can save about 800 disposable batteries. Another suggestion was to use reusable bags – the average American uses about 500 plastic bags every year! I felt a little better about the hairdryer because I do use reusable bags! Another thing I found interesting in this exhibit was what can be made out of recycled daily items.  Milk bottles and other high0density polyethylene plastics can be recycled into plastic decking and furniture! Aluminum cans can be recoiled into window frames and rain gutters! Glass bottles can be recoiled into counter tops, and steel cans can be recoiled into steel bicycles! I never knew items were recycled for those purposes, I always thought they were just reused for the same purpose.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip to the science museum. It allowed us to step away from the classroom and learn more about what we talked about in class, but through a hands-on experience. I hadn’t been to the science museum in a long time so it was a great experience to go back as an adult and learn valuable information!