Unit 10 Blog


Vocabulary

Nuclear Fuels: Production of electricity from uranium in nuclear power reactors.

Efficiency: Delivering same services with less energy input.

Cogeneration: Use of fuel to generate electricity and produce heat 

Oil Sands: Slow flwoing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water, and clay.

Bitumen: (tar) Degraded type of petroleum that forms when a petroleum deposit is not capped with nonporous rack.

CTL: Coal- to liquid. Solid Coal to liquid fuel

Modern Carbon: Carbon in the biomass

Fossil Carbon: Carbon in fossil fuels.

Carbon Neutral: an activity that does not change atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

-CO2 concentrations return to air
-Vegetation grow back where biomass recently harvested
-New vegetation will take up amount of CO2 equal to the amount that was released.

Fuel Cell- Operates like a common battery, but in battery, electricity is generated by a reaction between two chemical reactants, nickel and cadmium and no additional materials can be added. But in a fuel cell, reactants are added continuously to the cell, so the cell produces electricity for as long as it is supplied with fuel. 
- Basic process forces protons from hydrogen gas through a membrane, while the electrons take a different pathway. Movement of protons in one direction and electrons in another direction generates an electric current. 
-Usually hydrogen from nature is explosive so commonly used hydrogen is produced by an energy intensive process of burning natural gas in order to extract its hydrogen and carbon dioxide is a waste product of this combustion. 

Electrolysis- Electric current in applied to water to split it into hydrogen and oxygen. 
-Hydrogen can act as an energy carrier.


Important Units

1 BTUs = 1055. 05585 Joules

kW = 1000W = 1000J /s = 1000000 mW

1W =  1000mW

1mW = 0.001W 

1kWh = 3.6 x 10^6

ppm = Parts Per Million

1 ppm = 1000 ppb 

GJ =  Giga Joule =  1 billion (1 x 10^9 J) = 30 L (8 gallons) of gasoline

EJ = Exa Joule = 1 billion (1 x 10^9) giga joules 


Primary Source Ranking

List #1

Solar
Wind
Hydroelectricity - rotting trees= emission of greenhouse gas
Geothermal - Natural hot springs, mud pools, and other areas can be damaged
Biomass -  burning biomass can impact the air quality
Natural Gas - human health impacts as well as surrounding environment impact
Coal- burning coal is a major source of ozone layer
Oil- may lead to oil spill which completely destroys the marine environment
Nuclear- if exposed to humans and natural environment, can lead to serious consequences that may be hard to get rid of for several decades.

List #2

Oil
Coal
Natural gas
Nuclear 
Biomass
Hydroelectric
Wind
Geothermal
Solar

List #3

Oil
Coal
Natural gas
Hydroelectric
Solar
Wind
Geothermal

List #4

Coal
Oil
Natural gas
Nuclear
Biomass
Geothermal
Wind
Solar


Biofules vs Fossil fuels

Biofuel - liquid version of biomass ex: diesel and ethanol 
Burning this fuel causes air pollutant, releasing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gasses. There are 4 generations of biofuels
1st generation is made out of sugar,starches, and oil
2nd generation is made out of non food crops or waste
3rd generation is made out of algae
4th generation is made out of specially engineered plants
Biofuels' availability is far greater than fossil fuels because these materials that are mentioned will be produced continuously unlike fossils which have only so much to provide until it is depleted.

Fossil fuels -  fuels made out of fossilized animals and plants that were dead millions of years ago. 
Burning of fossil fuels is the leading cause of excessive carbon dioxide emissions to the air, releasing other greenhouse gasses to our environment. 


Nuclear Disasters

Human impact the incident at Chernobyl had were Leukemia, and various cancers and severe illness from radiation. And this disaster took everyone's home away within 36 hours and desolated that area ever since. Not only did it have human health and economic impact but it also had and still has a huge impact on environment near Chernobyl as well. Like seen on the video, a mice living in Chernobyl is x 10,000 more exposed to radiation that a mice living in a clean area. That means that other animals that live there are the same as well. And the soil and plants are also probably highly exposed to radiation which makes that entire area a "hell" or a ghost town that no one can live probably forever. 


ANWR is a artic coastal tundra that is untouched by humans. Large amount of species live there and are flourishing under the absence of human impact. When the graduate student took photos at the exact same spot as other explorers and professor did hundred years and fifty years ago, the photograph looked pretty much same, meaning that the environment was well kept away from large human impact. But humans are considering of fracking in ANWR in order to decrease the rate of U.S. dependence on foreign oil. If that happens, then those wild animals that were under strict protection will be extinct within few decades and the environment that has been kept the same for centuries will be changed and disturbed in few years. Like the biologist said in the video, some part of the world should be kept away from human greed and consumption for the future generation. 

Reducing Consumption

In the beginning of Chapter 13, tidal, or moon power was mentioned. With windmill type of underwater turbine, people are able to get energy and electricity for the majority of the island. When the tide comes in and out, the strong wave and movements underwater causes the turbines to move which can generate in to an efficient energy. Although we lack technology and practices on this fairly new source of energy, if scientist develop farther on the tidal power, it will be able to reduce the consumption of oil for transportation and everyday use. With electricity made out of the tidal power, people can run on electrical car which will definitely decrease the amount of oil used. 
Another source of energy that can reduce the oil consumption is the solar energy. Just like the tidal power, solar energy is a source of energy that we do not know every thing about yet. The technology and methods are not fully explored and developed yet. However, if we can come up with the solution to all the questions we currently have over solar energy, we will definitely be able to use it as one of our main source of energy that will replace oil or reduce oil consumption. 

Big Picture Discussion

Humans discovered and developed all these different kinds of energy sources for their own benefit. But it is us humans that gets backfired by our own greed. Most of the energies we are using today causes greenhouse gasses to be released to the air, causing various respiratory diseases and severe diseases like cancer and Leukemia.  
But the economic benefits that some people get from these energy sources are immense. Some of the most successful and rich people in the world were able to earn their money through oil and other popular energy sources with peak demand. Because none of us can stop using coal, oil, and natural gas, those who are involved in the business continues to earn a lot of money. 
Like mentioned before, these economic benefits are all just human greed and not only humans but the environment which provides us these materials are being harmed as well. From the Chernobyl video, the catastrophic effect the nuclear radioactive energy had on the area was very well explained. That soil, trees, plants, and animals that live there will never be cleaned again and people will never be able to live there forever. 
Clean Air Act obviously plays a roll in this one because all most all of the energy sources go through burning or heating which releases methane and carbon dioxides, also known as the greenhouse gasses. Also ANWR and what President Obama is trying to do can be a government effort to preserve what little nature we have left in this Earth.