Month: October 2015

People all around the world are becoming more aware of the importance of reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. As people are becoming more cautious, investments for solar energy are are quickly increasing.

Japan: 

Japan has been investing millions of dollars for clean energy since 2011, when they started a new program aimed at helping them shift away from relying on nuclear energy. This past summer about 10% of peak power supply that was consumed in Japan was derived from solar energy. Japan has been trying to implement new creative ideas to help them in achieving their goal of doubling their renewable energy output by 2030.

Kyocera, a solar power company has launched a solar power plant that will float on a reservoir. This installation is made up of 9,100 waterproof solar panels that are put on top of a float made by high density polyethylene. The company says that this plant will produce about 2,680 megawatt hours per year which is estimated to be enough for 820 typical households. These solar installations on top of water are the best option for Japan due to the fact that they have no extra land to spare. The cities are very dense and rooftops are already solar equipped. Another benefit of putting the panels on top of water is that the water helps in keeping them cool, which results in a more efficient system.

China: 

China is trying to shift their dependency from coal to solar energy, as well as clean up their name of being the worlds largest carbon emitter.  The Chinese government continues to reveal ambitious steps set for the country in order to help achieve their ultimate goal. For example they announced that their share of renewables would rise from 9.8% in 2013 to 15% in 2020.

China is the home of the world’s largest solar power office building that is 800,000 square feet. It consists of offices, exhibition centers, research facilities, and more. Dezhou the city in which this solar power office is located is considered a solar city due to the fact that solar power is used to power everything from tourists cars to the lights on the street. China has already started to build their largest solar energy power plant, which will spread over 10 miles in the Gobi desert. It is estimated that this power plant will be able to provide one million households with energy once completed.

Germany: 

In June 2014, Germany was successfully able to derive around 50% of the energy that the country used from solar and 78% of their total energy from renewable resources. Germany is not a country that is known for having massive amounts of sun light throughout the year, however they were still able to achieve this. The main reasons for being the largest producing solar energy country is because of the support from the people and their political influence. In 1991 German politicians passed the Renewable Energy Sources Act , which was the first step taken that today has made Germany this successful in the production of solar.

The first building in the world to capture more energy than it uses is a rotating home that is located in Freiburg, Germany. This home is owned and designed by German architect Rolf Disch. The home is designed to rotate according with season so the more energy efficient side faces where the sun is. There is also a large solar panel on the roof that is multi-directional and gets the suns best charge. There is also a collector on the rooftop that traps rainwater and filters it for use within the house. Although, this is the only house that exists like this in Germany; it is a good start to help in inspiring others to build similar houses.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-japan-power-solar-idUSKCN0R306L20150903#wyPLasJe7WQDtoR8.97

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/japan-building-huge-floating-solar-power-plants.html

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Solar-Energy/China-Getting-Serious-About-Solar-Energy.html

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/china-largest-solar-office-building/

http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/08/germany-became-solar-superpower/

http://www.greencity-cluster.de/nc/members/clustercompanies/firma/Rolf%20Disch%20SolarArchitektur/d/showevent0/c/Company/?L=1

What is Nuclear Energy? 

Nuclear energy is released during fission or fusion. Energy during the process of fission is released when the nucleus splits into two. Fusion is the process in which two parent nuclei merge and become one, releasing energy during this process.

Nuclear Power Plant- 

The chain reaction that occurs during fission (neutrons cause other atoms to split) creates the heat that is used to generate electricity in a power plant. The most common fuel that is used in a power plant is uranium, which is a heavy metal that can be found underground.

 

Advantages of nuclear energy?

– 1 pound of Uranium has as much energy as one million gallons of gasoline, so it is a lot cheaper to use Uranium.

– Annually nuclear energy prevents 164 tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere.

 

Effects of Radiation – 

– There can be genetic damages that occur to a person because of mutations that alter genes. These damages will most likely become apparent in the next generation.

– Cancer can occur due to radiation.

On March 11, 2011 one of the largest earthquakes occurred on the East coast of Northern Japan which generated a massive tsunami and killed around 20,000 people. Due to this there were disruptions in electricity, water supply, and railway service. The Fukushima DAiichi nuclear power plant was severely affected because of these disruptions.

Fukushima Daiichi Disaster

The damages that were caused by this tsunami resulted in equipment problems in the Fukushima DAiichi nuclear plant. Since there was no power and water was not being cooled the cores of three of the units overheated and melted. This caused high temperatures and the creation of hydrogen which lead to explosions. Because of these explosions high radioactive debris was released into the air during the first few days. There was also a leak of contaminated water to sea for months.

A lot of steam was produced in the reactor pressure vessels because no heat removal was occurring by an outside heat exchanger. AS pressure started to rise, the steam was moving into the suppression chamber, and the internal temperature continued to raise very quickly. Cooling of this system is provided by outside sources and since this connection to outside sources was disturbed the nuclear machine failed.

Effects

Even though there was significant amounts of radioactive releases there was no effect on the people around. This is because people were very quickly evacuated out of the area and moved to safer places. Certain areas remained off limit to people for a while, and some still do remain off limit.

Radioactive material continues to run off from land into the sea even though fences were present even before the accident. This material can be found in certain species of fish. The Japanese government has been strictly monitoring all of the food from the affected areas so that people refrain from consuming any food that is contaminated with radioactive material.

New Energy Strategies in Japan

Japan expects to rely on nuclear power even more now than before even though this incident occurred. Japan plans on increasing the use of renewable sources, but it is hard for them to change the old habits of nuclear power and fossil fuels. The country has few natural resources so it is hard for them to completely change around their sources of energy from nuclear.

 

http://fukushima.ans.org

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident/

http://www.world-nuclear.org/Features/Fukushima/Situation-at-Fukushima/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-struggles-to-find-balanced-energy-strategy-1431545581

 

Catching the Wind: 

The two main factors that are considered when deciding whether to install a wind turbine in a specific area is what the locations wind speed is and how much wind that location gets during the year. Other factors that are taken in consideration is how much electricity it will create, efficiency, and whether the community will accept the building of one. The ideal energy source would not pollute the environment, would be cheap to produce, and would be available in abundance. There is not one source that has all of these factors, each source has its own tradeoffs. Solar energy for example can be in abundance if the panels are installed in places where there is always sun. However, they are not very reliable if for some reason that area does not have sun for a week, and they are also very expensive to install. Coal is an efficient non renewable source that is horrible for the environment and is not available in abundance.

Conserve at Home: 

At this exhibit one was able to experiment with ways that energy can be conserved at home. When experimenting with “What’s a Watt?” I was able to compare typical house hold appliances and to see which ones use more energy. I noticed that you can consume the same amount of watts really quickly over a very short period of time or slowly depending on what appliance was in use. The next part of the exhibited that I observed showed ways that heat can get away from your house and what you can do prevent that heat from leaking out. one way mentioned was to insulate your home in order to limit the amount of heat that will leave your house because of thin spaces where parts of the house meet or near walls.

Energized: 

This exhibit was about the use of energy in ones day to day life, focusing on getting energy from self-replenishing sources. One self- replenishing source that I had never heard about before was getting energy from cow manure. A dairy farm in Vermont generates the electricity that it uses by collecting the cow waste in sealed tanks where bacteria would break down the waste and create a methane based gas. Bring this gas can power an electric generator at this green dairy farm and also save them money. As the human population continues to grow so does the demand for electricity. We need to find a clean, innovative, and creative way to supply the population with the energy that is demanded.

In 2009 Obama made a promise that by 2020 the United States will reduce green house gas emissions by 17%, in order to take steps towards reversing climate change. In the President’s Climate Action plan he spoke about three major goals and also specific initiatives  to help successfully reach each goal.

1. Cut Carbon Pollution in America:

In order to protect the health of the American people the amount of carbon emission into the air needs to be controlled by the government. In 2012, the levels of carbon emissions in the United States fell to the lowest level that had been seen in the United States for over twenty years. If the United States moves to making our own clean energy, the economy will also boost as jobs will be created and energy bills will be reduced.

A. Increasing Fuel Economy Standards- 

The Obama administration for the first time every set fuel standards for heavy duty vehicles, which are currently the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector. The administration approximated that these set standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil.

 

2. Prepare the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change: 

Even though steps to prevent climate change are being enforced, Obama plans on preparing the United States for impacts that climate change will have on us. His administration has promised to create stronger roads,  shorelines, and bridges so peoples homes can be better protected in case of severe weather which occurs because of climate change.

A. Building Stronger and Safer Communities and Infrastructure- 

Many places around the United States have already started preparing for changes that have occurred due to climate change. Hospitals for example need to have a capacity to serve patients during heat waves which will become more frequent. The President will direct specific federal agencies to help in determining what investments are the better choice for the community in regards to climate change. These investments can be made through private and federal programs. Obama wants to direct the agencies to set stands for new infrastructure considering possible future impacts.

 

3. Lead International Efforts to Combat Global Climate Change and Prepare for its Impacts: 

The United States will help to create a global plan against climate change. There is no way one country alone will be able to solve this problem, so Obama plans on joining with other countries to create a strong action plan to fix what has occurred and stop it from continuing to occur.

A. Unlocking Long Term Investments In clean Energy Innovation- 

One specific initiative of Obama’s first goal is for the government to continue investing in innovation to help the United States use clean energy. Obama wants the government to continue funding: research, development, and deployment, of clean energy. He wants to achieve this by increasing funding to $7.9 billion which is about a 30% increase across all of the agencies.

 

Stirling Heat Engine: 

The Stirling engine was invented in 1816 by Robert Stirling who wanted to create a safer alternative to the steam engine. The boilers off of steam engines constantly exploded due to the high pressure and low quality materials used to create them. The Stirling engine is a heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gasses. The gasses used inside the engine never leave the engine, and therefore there are no exhaust valves. The Stirling heat engine has had many uses in history, for example: to run refrigerators, fans, cars, and sewing machines.

Modern Day Uses: 

The Stirling engine is not used as widely in modern day technology, but it is still used.

– Solar Power Generation: Because it can convert solar energy to electricity more efficiently.

-Marine Engines: Swedish shipbuilders have built around eight successful submarines using the stirling engine.

Peltier Device: 

A Peltier device is a heat pump that uses the Peltier effect to move heat. The Peltier effect states that heat is emitted or absorbed when a voltage is applied to two connected materials. The Peltier device creates a different temperature on each part, one part warm and one cool. The air conditioners that we use everyday work in the same general way as a Peltier device.

 

 

http://www.mpoweruk.com/stirling_engine.htm

http://stirlingshop.com/html/applications_.html

http://www.activecool.com/technotes/thermoelectric.html

Geothermal energy is using the heat from earth, which is clean and sustainable. Geothermal energy can be derived from the shallow ground, hot water, and hot rock found behind earth’s surfaces.

During the 20th century, Iceland has went from being one of Europe’s poorest countries  to one, where almost all the energy used is derived from renewable resources. In 2014, 66% of Iceland’s primary energy came from geothermal sources. Iceland has the perfect geological position, because it is one of the most dynamic volcano regions in the world, the moving plates bring heat to the surface. The geographical volcanic position and the research done by scientists and specialists to use this geological advantage, has made Iceland the leader in geothermal energy use.

Iceland has no national grid, because they get their energy simply from drilling into the ground. To generate electricity through geothermal energy the power plants need to drill only a few kilometers under ground. In Iceland this heat exists naturally because of their location and the hot steam present due to volcanic activity. Almost 90% of the people in Iceland rely on geothermal heating. The abundanant sources of hot underground water allow for this country to highly rely on geothermal techniques for energy and heat.

There are many advantages to geothermal energy. Geothermal energy has very low costs, typically saving one about 80% compared to fossil fuels. One of the main advantages, is that there is no pollution being created, which leads to a cleaner environment and reduced global warming.

 

 

http://www.nea.is/geothermal/

http://www.icelandontheweb.com/articles-on-iceland/nature/geology/geothermal-heat

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_GeothermalEnergy.php

As people are becoming more concerned with the environment, companies are also becoming more concerned with creating objects that are environmentally friendly because they want to keep their consumers happy and stay in business. One invention that is becoming more popular is electric cars. Electric cars are powered by electric engines and they emit less carbon emissions. One example of an electric car is Tesla.

Tesla: 

Tesla is an American car company that was founded in 2003 and that has created an electric car. Tesla launched the Roadster, their first car in 2008 and sold over 2,400 of them. This car could run for 245 miles with a fully charged battery. Tesla has released three other vehicles since then and now has more than 50,000 vehicles on the road worldwide. Tesla vehicles are produced in California, and is expanding in other areas as well.

How it works? 

Battery electric vehicles run by using the electricity that is stored in a battery pack. The batteries need to be recharged constantly because these cars are powered entirely by electricity. Because of this they do not produce pollution through the tailpipe but some pollution is produced when the electricity (that runs the cars) is generated. The batteries are recharged using grid electricity either from a charging unit or a wall socket. Tesla cars can be charged at home so owners do not have to spend any money on gasoline. Tesla also has Supercharger networks throughout North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific so people can charge as they are on the road.

Electric Charging Stations:

Tesla has created its own charging system for their cars. The plugs for Tesla cars have a very slim design and that plug can be supported by any outlet. Tesla provides each car with an adaptor for a household plug and also one for the J1772 plug for public Level 2 stations. Tesla has its own version of a Level 3 charging station which they call a supercharger. This supercharger station can fill up a whole battery in less than an hour.

Charging an electric car with an outlet like one found at home that has only 120 volts of electricity would take about 15 hours to charge the battery from empty to enough for 75 miles. Because this would result in a huge inconvenience for people who are driving far, electric charging stations exist. The majority of public stations are level 2, which have 240 volt outlets. it would take about 8 hours to charge a car in full at one of these stations. Level 3 charging stations have 480 volts and will charge the battery from 0% to 80% in around thirty minutes. These charging stations are high-tech and they include pins for data to allow the charger to communicate with the car. The car is able to communicate with the charger, so that the charger knows how much more power the battery needs at any time during the charging process.

 

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/how-do-battery-electric-cars-work#.ViUVCtY-DR0

http://www.teslamotors.com/about

http://www.cnet.com/news/slow-fast-and-faster-where-to-charge-electric-cars/

 

 

 

 

In Class Activity:

Our task for this lab was to shake the hand powered generator (a tube with a magnet in it) in order to correlate the number of shakes, with the time interval, and the voltage. We shook the generator for thirty seconds at a specific rate five times. Each time we had to count the number of shakes and the computer program calculated the voltage after each second. We then calculated the sum of the squares of the voltages and plotted them in a graph to see the correlation which resulted in a linear curve.

 

The higher the number of shakes in the thirty second interval the higher the sum of the square of the voltages. The two are correlated in a linear way, in which as one increases so does the other. This experiment supports Faraday’s law that the greater the change in the magnetic flux the greater the voltages created.

 

Electricity is vital to our daily life, without electricity we would not be able to function as a society. There are many different ways electricity can be produced. Three major ways electricity is generated is with coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants.

Coal Fired Plants- The first part is to break up the pieces of coal so it become likes a powder. After, this powdered coal is put into a combustion unit where it heats and eventually burns. The heat released from this burning coal generates the steam that is used to spin the turbines which produce the electricity. Coal is one of the largest air polluters in the United States, however it is the largest producer of electricity.

Natural Gas- This process includes the burning of natural gases in order to create electricity. Natural gas is first pumped into the turbine where it is mixed with air and burned. All of the heat in the enclosed gas turbine results in the spinning of the turbine which converts some of the heat energy into electrical energy. Natural gas is the cleanest and most efficient of all fossil fuels. When burning natural gas a lot of carbon dioxide is emitted.

Nuclear Power Plants- Just like natural gas and coal fired plants nuclear power plants also use steam to generate power. Nuclear energy is created when uranium atoms are split in a process called fission. The fission process releases energy that is used to make steam and that steam is used to power the turbine. Nuclear energy is a very low pollutant way of creating energy, however it is very expensive.

All three of these major electricity generating techniques are very similar in the process that is taken to create the electricity. The only differences are what is burned in order to create that electricity. Each of the three ways has its own benefits and risks of using it as the main source.

 

http://www.rst2.edu/ties/acidrain/IEcoal/how.html

https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/about-us/programs-services/energy-generation/natural-gas.html

http://www.triplepundit.com/special/energy-options-pros-and-cons/natural-gas-pros-cons/