Last wednesday we went to the MOS for our class project. we can gain more science knowledge through this visiting. The most importantly we can get more idea about sustainability and energy into an experiment which we are going to do.

we went to the second floor which is science section, we went to check the solar panel, there was a screen to show about how much energy you can get when you add more panel in the same location. you can also do the combination of wind, nuclear and solar panel to find out what is the best way to improve energy efficient.

we have learned a lot of knowledge about renewable energy and we all thought this science trip was fun and educational.

When the professor told us we had to do some creative experiment based on sustainability, then we had a group discussion. First we tired to do the solar panel, but one of my group member said it is hard to get the material. after so many discussion, we came up with an amazing idea that was wind turbine. we can use the LabView to analysis the data and also we can apply some theories to get results we want. And we found out that it would be very interesting project because we could build our own wind turbine and better understand how do they work. this project is very fit for our topics: sustainability. When our professor hear what we are going to do, she suggested that we can use the LabView and she can order the kit for us. so we are really excited about the experiment.

The demand response is using for the customers to reducing their cost of electricity when they are using the power. it can give an opportunity for the consumers to make plans about how to balance their power need or avoid their cost during the busy time.

The Whole purpose of demand response is to balance supply and demand. it can help the people to know about how to lower the retail rates. The demand response can provide those benefits for them.

Demand response has been using for the United State for couple years and it is good because there are tons of people who are rely on the power supple and if there are some natural disaster happen, it will be affect the supply and demand for the electricity.  so it is good to know how to prevent the issues happen.

http://energy.gov/oe/technology-development/smart-grid/demand-response

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response

Professor Lisa had invited Tom Vales into our class and Tom had showed us very interesting presentation. I have to say that i really open my eyes after his presentation because I learned a lot from him.

He showed us some of his things were: Stirling engine, Tesla Coil ,Mendocino motor.

The sterling engine is “a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work” (Wiki) It was invented by Rober Sterling. they way it works is there are two cup of water, one is hot and other one is cold, then you build a connect pipe between them, because of the hot cylinder creates heated gas to build pressure to the cold cylinder. this engine works very quiet.

Mendocino motor, which has four sided rotor block in the middle of a shaft. there are two sets of windings and a solar cell attached to each side. when you use flash light or sun light to shining on it, it will run automatically. 

Tesla Coil, Tom brought a Tesla Coil into the class, he explained that this gadgets can produce high voltages. it also can achieve wireless power transportation. Tom demonstrated that he took a light bulb towards to the Tesla coil and it light up without any wire. he said that the Tesla coil can send the electrical through air waves. i was so excited to see in the science class.

According to the report, President Obama had promised to the public that “America would reduce its greenhouse gas emission in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels if all other major economies agreed to limit their emissions as well.” (Climate Action Plan) In this report, there are many initiatives executive actions to achieve this goal, such as Increasing Fuel Economy Standards, Developing and Deploying Advanced Transportation Technologies and so on. so i have chosen three initiative actions from the report to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Developing and Deploying Advanced Transportation Technologies

In the Transportation sector,Heavy-duty vehicles are the second largest source of green house gas emissions. (Climate Action Plan) In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the US government have to developing and deploying advanced transportation technologies. they are mainly focus on biofuels, because it have been playing very important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the United States Navy and Departments of Energy and Agriculture would like to improve the technology of biofuels and extend this technology into military and commercial sectors.

Expanding Clean Energy Use and Cut Energy Waste

“Roughly 84 percent of current carbon dioxide emissions are energy-relate and about 65 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to energy supply and energy use.” (Climate Action plan)

Directly to this issue, the Obama Administration has published several policy:

• Financing and regulatory support for renewable and clean energy projects
• Actions to promote fuel switching from oil and coal to natural gas or renewables
• Support for the safe and secure use of nuclear power
• Cooperation on clean coal technologies
• Programs to improve and disseminate energy efficient technologies. (Climate Action plan)

The US government want to make agreement with more than 20 countries to help them to find the best strategies to reduce green house gas emissions and make their economies better.

Promoting American Leadership in Renewable Energy

President Obama said that he already has a goal to double renewable electricity generation in 2020. there are 2 steps that can make it happen.First, accelerating Clean Energy permitting, this will help to provide electricity to over 4.4 million homes and bring more than 17000 jobs into the state. Second, Expanding and Modernizing the Electric Grid, it can save people money and let more people know about clean energy. (Climate Action plan)

In the experiment, we keep the power level constant over 3 trials, and potential energy changed. but we changed the power level the potential energy remained the same. because potential energy is not affected by energy done but the change in mass.

In the beginning of class,  We used 0.23Kg of the mass and we were using the different power level, they were 78%m 65%, 100% and 50%. then we got the data chat below, as you can see,  as the power went up, the bigger acceleration.

at the rest of the experiments, we measured the same power level as 50% to lift different Mass: 023.kg, 0.14kg, and 0.11 kg. there is the data below, as the mass was decreasing, the acceleration went up.

Below is the excel worksheet done for the experiment.

Today, I went to the MIT Nuclear reactor laboratory at 2 pm. when i got into the building, the employee asked me for the government official ID and I signed my name on the sheet, then they gave us a radiation detector for measuring radiation. First, the tour guide explained how the reactor works and safety measure. he told us the reactor was 52 years old. they used for research about generating neutrons for different purposes.

the tour guide leaded us to look at the reactor, and shows us the different materials used to produce radiated elements. and he showed us the control room, there was an operator who oversees the entire process. he told us that there should always be an operator present inside at all times. because they have to make sure everything is fine.

he also shows us the little room for the brain therapy where a patient get radiation to his head to kill the tumor. he said that it was an experimental process.

The reactor uses a light water cooler uses a flat plate-type finned, aluminum fuel elements. The core reactor consists of rods arranged in hexagonal pattern with one rod constantly moving to create energy. The reactor’s core is surrounded by a heavy-water tank, and there is a light water tank at the center. It is also there is 3 feet wide concrete to keep the radiation inside the reactor. The MIT reactor runs at a low atmospheric pressure to make sure it runs normally.

According to the US government, the automobile makers have to meet the strict standards for 54.5 gallons per mile. in this case, they have to innovate a new technology for saving fuel.

so they found a new technology called the clean diesel. “Ultra low sulphur diesel fuel has been refined so that its sulphur content is 15 parts per million (ppm) or less. This is 97 percent cleaner than the standard highway-use diesel fuel sold in the US, which contains an average of 500 ppm of sulphur.”

there is another technology named direct injection. it can also improves fuel efficiency and gain more power within the same displacement.

Sources:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/how-clean-diesel-fuel-works1.htm

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/hrdp_0909_direct_injection_guide/

Pandora’s Promise is a movie about the nuclear activists and people oppose the nuclear power. In the movie, the opposers explain why do they change their mind because the newly discovered information. they are thinking about how to use the new nuclear power efficiently and effectively.

every news about nuclear power are no 100% correct, some people say it is not good to the society and other says it can be the new power source for the human society. after watching the movie, it really open my eyes to the positive sides of nuclear power.  During the movie, there was an man who was anti-nuclear, he went to the nuclear power plant and he felt so ridiculous he had to wear a hazmat suit which was no need.