Top Ten Blog Entries of Fall Semseter

1. Week of October 13th- In this blog entry I looked into the connection between global warming/climate change and the supposed increase in the number and strength of hurricanes. I enjoy this blog entry because I did a lot of outside research and brought an interesting conclusion to class discussion.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/10/week-of-october-13th.html

2. Week of November 3rd- In this blog entry I took notes on an article about Clean Coal in China. I then did further research on the Future Gen project and the process of turning coal into liquid fuel. I like this entry because I learned about new technology that is in the works to reduce CO2 emissions that I did not know about previously, such as Future Gen and Green Gen (the Chinese version of Future Gen) as well as why Future Gen failed, the reason for which is political and economic, which is my forte.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/11/week-of-november-3rd.html

3. Notes on Class Projects- This blog entry is a series of notes on a group in-class presentation on solar power. I liked this blog entry because of some of the startling data, for example, "only 1% of US land would have to be allocated to provide energy for the entire US" and "right now we only use alternative energy to meet 1% of our energy needs."
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/10/notes-on-class-projects.html

4. Chapter 3: Energy: A Closer Look- This blog entry contains two textbook questions by group did in class about the about of oil used in the United States by cars, the amount of CO2 this results in and what would be the effects of switching to the use of hybrid cars or energy produced by fission from domestic uranium (nuclear energy.) I like this blog entry for two reasons. First, actually doing the math related to the science and coming up with conclusions on my own made me feel like I was discovering ways to reduce CO2 emissions. Second, this blog entry inspired my groups final project in that my conclusion after these questions was that the United States must start integrating the Hybrid Car into society in order to take advantage of the possibility of reducing the United State's daily oil imports by 1/3 (the conclusions of my math.)
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/09/chapter-3-energy-closer-look.html

5. Week of November 10th- In this blog entry I posted the questions my group worked on in class that week regarding albedo, emissivity, evapotranspiration, energy balance, climate models and the process of radiation that heats the earth. I like this entry because the terms that I learned about (via having to look them up and explain them in my own words) were entirely foreign to me prior to this class, and I feel they are staples in understanding the way the system of heating and cooling the earth works. I like this blog entry for the value of its knowledge, I feel like I might look back to it at a later date, in fact I did while writing up one of my labs.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/12/week-of-november-10.html

6. Week of Nov 17th- This blog entry contains the notes I took when the speaker on the economy came as well as a paragraph on the useage of ethanol in Brazil. I like this blog entry because I thought the economic speaker was very interesting and his topic, the current crisis, was very timely. I also like the paragraph on Brazil because the usage of ethanol in Brazil is something I learned about in another class and a topic I am potentially interested in pursueing/ further researching in the future, maybe as a developmental project. My knowledge of the trade situation in Brazil allows me to see one way I may study the topic of alternative energy and use what I learned in Scientific Reasoning later on in my major.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/12/week-of-november-17.html

7. Insulation- My blog from this week is about different types of insulation, the way they are used and their effectiveness in relation to their R-value. For example I learned: "The effectiveness of insulation is rated by an R-value. The higher the R-value, the greater the material's ability to insulate. Each inch of fiberglass blanket insulation, for example, provides an R-value of about 3.27." I like these notes because I did more extensive research, which truley resulted in me gaining a better understanding of the topic of insulation. There reason this post is so low on my list is because we never came back to the topic in class and I consider insulation a boring, althought important, topic.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/10/insulation.html

8. My carbon footprint- In this blog entry I used two different sites to calculate my carbon foot print and took notes of the specific questions each calculator asked me and how the questions asked may have affected the results provided by the site. I have never calculated my carbon footprint before, so it was interesting to apply something that we often talk about in class "the carbon footprint" to myself and actually calculate it. I also found it interesting that the sites ask pretty vague questions and came up with different answers, possibly hinting at the point that the actual amount of carbon dioxide that one emits is not the main focus of the calculator, but instead the calculator is supposed to get people to think about what causes carbon dioxide emissions, and therefore how people can individually reduce their impacts.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-carbon-footprint.html

9.Research- This was my first blog entry. This entry summarizes information from www.epa.gov about the basics of sustainability, going green, climate change, alternative forms of energy and the energy theory. While this blog is not as in depth as later blogs (it was the first one and I didn't really know what to do) it did help me understand the basics of the "going green" cause. I didn't know what sustainability was before this blog and therefore feel it is both significant and something I may look back on as a reference later.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/09/research.html

10. Semester Project- This blog entry includes the earliest outline of my group's semeter project and all of the questions we could possibly have focused on within the 4 persepective we chose to view the hybrid car from (economic, scientific, political and social.) I like this entry because the topic of our semester project we originally my inovation and I'm proud of the idea and how my group made it come to life later on in the semester.
http://honor033.blogspot.com/2008/10/semester-project.html

Week of November 24th

Class didn't meet this week. My top ten blog assignment will be up by friday :)

Week of November 17

Notes on Speaker

Triple Shock for US and World-

• energy, food and comodity prices
• housing prices, foreclosures

Energy and Commodities-

• oil at $145/ barrel, gas $4 + at pump
• food prices triple
• raw materials spike in price
• less production, conserves reserves
• less pollution, waste and CO2
• reward and profit for new technology

Boom and Bust in Energy Prices

• Now oil at $55 bbl, gas at $2 a gallon
• relief for consumers
• loq commodity prices make recession milder
• price floors, trade, carbon tax, use controls= other solutions (may conflict with economic recovery)

Housing Bust

• Homebuilding down by 2/3
• Housing prices drop 20%
• mortgages harder to get
• foreclosures double to 3 million annual rate
• mortgage "paper" the lean that is turned into security, is clogging world banking and portfolios with $11 trillion in bad paper
• why bad? paper usually not worth 100%, prepay mortgages, defaults, fraud, credit checks

Banking Crisis

• Will always be credit cycles. Busts preceded by Booms
• now banks won't lend to customers or each other
• sectors credit starved (non-freddie/fannie mortgages,) mergers and acquisitions, local government projects, auto and consumer lending
• New vs Old- old parts of cycle (optimism feeding itself, bad collateral, lax credit and hidden debts,) new problems (extreme leverage, deregulation, bad accounting or new complex credits no one understands AKA derivatives)

Big Investment Cycles Normal

• guess wrong on technology, not knowing competitors investments, misjudging pricing power, costs and profits, misjudging future market size, taking up easy credit and then the credit turns scarce= all mistakes investors can make

What are you worth?

• new complex products not traded -accountants don't know how to price them-neither do CEOs, regulators and rating agencies
• prepayments, bad collateral, fraud...unknown credit means fixed income isn't fixed

Accounting

• CSOS- collateralized debt
• if insolvent by more than 10-20% (if net worth is - by 10-20% liabilities) go bankrupcy

What to do

• spend like crazy (help poor, environment, tax cuts)
• invite foreign lenders in
• get comfortable with bankrupcy- its not liquidation its protection from creditors
• rethink cooperate leadership and governance
• get started on permanent fair value accounting

I thought the economics specialist was really interesting, although he was a little too advanced for me and it was difficult for me to understand all of the material he was trying to cover in such a short period of time (liabilities, insolvency?) I thought he was interesting though, and very intelligent, he knows his stuff. After retypeing and rereading my notes from his lecture for a second time I think I understand what he was trying to say better.

I also recently completed a project in my international affairs class on Brazil. I was Brazil's trade minister and I found their environmental situation very interesting. For example, Brazil is very into ethanol produced from sugar cane (no corn with would starve the worlds poor.) 92% of the new cars being made in Brazil are flex fuel and Brazil's citizens much prefer flex fuel and ethanol to gasoline because it is so much cheaper. These facts plus the fact that Brazil does have some oil in its territories have allowd Brazil to become independent of foreign oil. On top of that, Brazil has a comparative advantage in all agricultural products and is currently using only half of its available pasture land, meaning there is much room for the expansion of ethanol production. The only drawback is that Brazilian farmers are destroying the world's 'lungs' AKA the rainforest, although I am not sure if the two issues are related. Just thought you would like to know about a little cross curriculum learning :) I'm really interested in exploring the issue furthur, and possibly going into developmental studies where I can work to better the environment while also helping developing nations become independent of foreign energy sources, it seems in this instance international affairs and environmental studies are complementary.

Week of November 10

this week we worked on the questions given to us in class, my group was unable to finish them in class and I took them home to finish over the weekend. This is what I did (there were picture but I cant figure out how to post them):

Discuss the following concepts: albedo, emissivity, evapotranspiration and energy balance.
Albedo- surface reflectivity of sun's radiation. Represented by a number between 0 and 1 or a percentage. An ideal white body has an albedo of 100% and an ideal black body of 0%. On average the earth has an albedo of about 4% and the atmosphere has about 26%.Interestingly, fresh snow has an albedo of about 95%. What that means for earth is that about 30% of the radiation of the sun is reflected by the atmosphere. As well, it explains why any change in albedo will change the overall energy flow, which will therefore change the way the earth's climate acts. So if either the earth's or the atmosphere's albedo is reduced by about one percent, say from the melting of the ice caps, which are a large source of reflection, the whole energy balance is thrown off, and the earth will have to deal with more radiation coming in, which means more absorption and emission from the surface, which means more spray from the atmosphere back down, which means an increase in temperature.
Emissivity- the efficiency with which an object emits electromagnetic waves. This efficiency equals the ability of that same planet to absorb the given wavelength. Efficiency is inverse to reflectivity. Represented by a number between 0 and 1, 1 being the most emmisive. Emissivity is important, as it shows that the actual surface of the earth holds very little of the infrared radiation that passes through the atmosphere. That then plays into the above situation, where the atmosphere isn't quite as emissive, and a sort of convection occurs further heating the lower atmosphere. Now, if the emissivity of the earth surface is decreased, it would create a situation where more of the infrared radiation is just outright reflected instead of absorbed and remitted and then convected, which means that lower atmospheric temperatures would generally lower.
Evapotranspiration- describes the transport of water into the atmosphere from surfaces, including the soil and from vegetation. What canopy surfaces and vegetation covered water surface wetlands also contribute to evapotranspiration. The major role of evapotranspiration is the movement of excess heat energy in the lower atmosphere into the higher atmosphere where it is lost, and the moisture condenses to create cloud cover, which has its own effects on global warming.
Energy Balance- when the energy entering a system equals the energy leaving it. As is right now, Earth is not in a state of perfect energy balance, as more of the radiation stays then leaves, which creates a state of convection, heating the lower atmosphere and cooling the upper atmosphere, thereby heightening the greenhouse effect. Now if the earth was in a complete energy equilibrium or balance, the climates as were would be much more stable, although it would all still vary with the seasons.

Explain the nature of and difference between two box, two-dimensional and three-dimensional climate models
Two box- shows two boxes, one representing the atmosphere and one representing the surface of the earth. The model has arrows, each numbered and representing a specific equation, to show the energy exchanges between the earth, the atmosphere, the sun and space. Equations for the temperature of the surface of the earth and the atmosphere can then be derived by solving the equations represented by the arrows. The two box model is a type of equilibrium model in that values are assigned to the various energy flows and the model is used to calculate temperature values. This model only tells what the temperature would be if the climate system was in equilibrium, and cannot account for green house gases that have varying concentrations over time.
Two Dimensional- accounts for different latitudes and altitudes. These models can be used to simulate seasonal changes, and atmospheric circulations that transfer energy. In order to account for atmospheric circulations that transfer energy the model needs to take into account the flow of air and its moisture. This moisture caries latent energy and results in cloud formation and precipitation. Other factors that, if taken into account, would make this model more accurate include the movement of green house gases. In order to create this model momentum and the affect one designated block of air has on its neighbors through momentum must be taken into account as well as the frictional forces the ground exerts on the air. A two-dimensional model is know a type of time-dependent model in that it considers the flow of energy and matter and can predict and project how the system would be affected by changing model conditions and over time. These models are used by scientists to experiment with specific scenarios and predict how they would affect the Earth's climate.
Three- Dimensional- “have it all.” Can account for land and water surfaces, for elements that cover surfaces and affect albedo such as ice and vegetation coverage, for the configuration of continents, the transfer of moisture and atmospheric circulation in every direction. GCMs, aka global climate models, previously known as general circulation models are models that include atmosphere circulation. The three-dimensional climate model is also a type of more sophisticated time-dependent model.

The more advanced models become the better scientists are able to predict changes in climate over time. The original climate models, one dimensional and two dimensional models could only account for the flows of matter and energy north and south and seasonal changes in climate. The most advanced climate models, such as three dimensional time-dependent models cut the earth and its atmosphere up into many individual boxes. This model can then simulate the flow of energy and matter within the boxes and between various boxes. Furthermore, this model can predict and solve the way boxes and their matter and energy will interact over and over again to project into the future and allow for changes in model conditions. These most advanced models allow scientists to tell what will happen if greenhouse gasses continue to be emitted into the atmosphere, and enable the projections of what will happen to the planet (such as the melting of ice at the pole and the rising of sea levels) and at what time, relative to one another.

In what sense is radiation the only heat-transfer process affection the planet’s energy balance, in what sense do other processes play a role?
Radiation is the only heat-transfer process because all energy that is absorbed by or projected towards the earth does so in the form of energy. Solar radiation and infrared radiation from greenhouse gasses are pretty much the only energy that has the potential to be absorbed by the earth’s surface and affect the energy balance. Therefore without energy in the form of radiation there would be no energy. However radiation is not the way energy is lost from the system. Convection (when heated surface air takes energy with it) and evapotranspiration (described above) are other ways energy is lost. Therefore, radiation is necessary for an energy balance, but not the whole picture. It is important to understand what affects the energy balance of the earth because the extra energy that has recently been accumulating and throwing off the energy balance is causing the earths ocean temperatures and levels to rise. Global warming is seen in the lack of energy balance of the earth and therefore it is necessary to understand what affects this energy balance, and it isn’t all about radiation as some sources would make it seem, there are other natural processes at work.


I think these questions were interesting and straight foward, however, the grading system was a little unfair. If the group did not include diagrams they could not recieve a high grade, even if they did an excellent job of explaining their answers. I don't think it graded the assignement as you intended or put the emphasis on what you consider most important, however I could be wrong. I do think that if the students are given a grading rubric before doing an assignment, and the rubric is simple and clear, and then the students don't follow the rubric (don't include pictures for example) then they did not follow directions. Following directions is a simple life skill we all must learn, and if a teacher gives directions and the students do not follow them, it is the student's fault. Yet, if rubrics are going to become a part of the class, and you are going to take them very seriously (aka no picture means a 3/5) make sure the students know how seriously you intend to take the grading system, so when they recieve their first poor grade they understand why. Honors students tend to think they can just ignore rubrics because their quality of work always recieved a high grade, but if the rubrics are specific this is a recipe of disaster...make sure the students know what they are getting into. Other wise I like the rubrics, I feel like I have a better understanding of what quality of work you expect of me and what you mean when you say "answer these questions." I suggest using them in the future.

Week of November 3rd

Notes on "Can Coal and Clean Air Coexist in China?"

• coal produces 75% china's electricity
• brown cloud of smog visible from space- which travels to the US and accounts for 15% of the air polution
• China biggest greenhouse gas producers, but US more greenhouse gass emissions by person
• air would fail US an EU saftey standards in many chinese cities
• air pollution ends up costing $100 billion in health costs and stunts growth
• burn through 20 million tons of coal a year in mountains alone- 2.5 billion ton, double the amount of the US is burned in China annually, not including imports
• most of coal goes to 541 coal-fired power plants and produces energy for people
• China opens 1 large coal power plant a week because of their "engineering optimism"
• Why? China has 1.3 billion pop and produces for US and Europe
• Plan to decrease sulfur dioxide by 10% by next 5 yeras
• plan to shut down small inefficient coal plants and replacing them with larger ones
• pilot program to capture and store CO2 by using coal as a fuel for electricity generagion at a power plant called "Green Gen." 3 phases of project. 1)power and coal plant will contribute $ to contruct IGCC power plant (integrated gasification combined cycle.)
• would cut acaid rain, smog and capure 80% of Co2 that woudl otherwaise be entering the atmosphere through combustion...however, no economically profitable...have to use more coal to fuel the process that turns coal to gas and captures CO2..have to burn more coal to get same electricity.But with the rising price of oil...who knows? It could be profitable and it has to be...the plant is intended to be "for profit."
• "Green Gen" is most ground breaking product currently in the works with cancellation of "Future Gen" a similar US project that tanked when costs skyrocketed.
• Olympics have increased the attention paid to China's air quality. Bejing air quality has gotton better as smaller plants have been closed and factories have been moved to industrial parks on the outskirts of the city.
• Green Gen seems like a good answer, but at the same time China is developing a process to turn coal into liquid fuel which would emit twice as much CO2 and consumes more energy
• However it is interesting to consider how much of China's air pollution is a result of producing products for the US or EU.

Furthur Research on Future Gen

• 5 years and $50 million spent on preliminary studies for Future Gen...a site was picked in Mattoon, Ill... 14 of world's largest coal producers and burners behind it...and then the US Dept of Energy decided to postpone/cancel the plans to build it
• Instead the Dept of Energy wants to work with coal plants already running to develop carbon-capture-and-storage capabillity.
• Costs: $407 million to research how to burn coal most efficiently and $241 million to demonstrate carbon capture and storage tech.....vs....$900 million for FutureGen
• Problem: few plants have capability of developing carbon-capture and storage because they dont have the technology to turn coal into gas and remove pollutants ... and few new plants can be built because of the high cost of cement, steel and tech
• 2 possible future IGCC plants= Duke Energy Plant in Indiana and Souther Company's demo plant
• There have been a few demos of storing CO2 in small amounts...usually then used to push oil and natural gas to surface...but there is no comercial scale plant that captures AND stores CO2
• Post-combustion capture-captures CO2 after coal has been burned- cheapter because it skips coal to gas step but more technically difficult
• Death of FutureGen= death of plans for hydrogen economy. Plant was supposed to produce electricity and clean hydrogen from coal..since the CO2 would be captured and stored. Now plans for this in any other IGCC plants

Additional research on turning Coal into liquid Fuel

• US has 1/4 world's coal reserves and 50% of electricity is produced from coal...why not use it to decrease oil dependency
• 2006-first US coal-diesel production facility in Gilberton PA
• produce 1.4 million tons of waste of coal to produce 5,000 barrles of oil a day of deisel fuel
• To create fuel coal is mixed with 02 and steam at high temperature and pressure to produce CO2 and H2. Then Fischer-Tropsch synthesis uses a catalyst to transform gas into liguid synthetic crude which is then furthur refined. At times mercury, sulfur, ammonia and others are extracted for sale on commodities market
• use waste coal (coal discarded because of low energy content)
• WMPI relys on approaches innovated by South African energy giant Sasol- method uses energy-poor coal with lignite and bitumen
• end product is cleaner than conventional diesel- new car about to come out with new V-6 engine that cuts nitrogen oxids and other emissions further
• discarded CO2 can be used to pump up oil or sold to soda companies
• natural gas can also be a source of synthetic diesel, and its cheaper... but the US doesnt have as much natural gas as coal

all from scientific american website

In my opinion, while expensive scientific break throughs are the only way to make real technological advancements, the focus should be on more economical solutions to both the oil and greenhouse gas emission issues. The idea has to sell, if it doesnt all the money and time spent crafting the idea by valuable scientists is meaningless and a huge waste. The problem is so pressing a real solution needs to be discovered. While I think coal has to be considered as an alternative fuel source for the US, considering the abundance of coal within the US, a feel that going for the most radical and expensive change is very unlikely to work. You cant change industry over night. Instead we should strive for gradual change, create technology that can be implimented in current factories to make them cleaner and use new clearner technology and standards on new factories when they would naturally have been built anyway. I realize this answer seems to belittle to pressing nature of the climate change issue, but doing something that works is better than throwing out a million brilliant ideas that would never work.

Midterm Report

Refer back to October 5th for notes on my carbon footprint. I'm not sure if this is what you want, but in refering back to your email about what you wanted in our midterm report I feel like I have already covered everything. But if I haven't please let me know.



Also refer back to October 3rd for information about the midterm project. I will be covering political aspects of the hybrid car. You can also refer to my groups wiki under your section in blackboard to see all of the work we have already done :)

Week of October 22

Beyond Oil

I thought the book was pretty interesting, the math was a little over my head (and I took AP Calculus!) and the conclusion was obvious (duh we are out of oil) However, I liked the different chapters on different types of fuel and I feel that it has given me a good background on fossil fuels, and I liked all the pictures and graphs. I dont have anything specific to say about it except that because I was a little confused I dont know if the data was manipulated...

Plenary

The woman was very boring and I think she was trying to cover a lot in a short period of time. Nothing too interesting about it, its no surprise that most of the world's energy resources aren't located in the areas with the most need, or the areas that would be most beneficial for american interests.



On another note:

Today I was walking around campus and someone was handing out pamphlets entitled "eating sustainably: fight global warming with your fork.." so of course I picked one up. The information is very biased because it was produced by "compassion over killing" an animal rights/pro vegetarian group. The group argues that raising animals for food is one of the leading causes of pollution and resource depletion today and that what we eat has more of an impact on the environment than what we drive. This is interesting cosidering that in the past we discussed the energy usage difference between plant eaters and meat eaters and one of my carbon footprint calculators asked me how often I ate meat. Therefore, there is obviously some truth behind the argument of this group, however I'm not sure I believe that what we eat has a greater effect than what we drive. I'll bring the pamphlet in on Wednesday.

Week of October 13th

Hurricanes and Climate Change- notes on one disputed point in an inconvenient truth

• new study in Nature Science journal says that hurricanes and typhoons are stronger and longer over the past 30 years- The duration and strength have increased by a factor of 50%
• Usually a 1 degree C increase in water temperature results in a 5% increased intensity of storms. We have had a .5 degree C increase and much greater effects than would be expected
• How hurricanes work- heat results in warmer water which results in more evaportation. More storms are picked up by low pressure systems and the spin of the earth causes storms to whirl around center of low pressure. All driven by warm air.
• Hurricanes form over water with a temperature above 26 degrees C as a rule
• Some argue hurricane intensity fluctuates on a decade to decade basis, based on factors like El Nino, other argue that worldwide these strong interdecadal swings cancel out and we see an upward trend of increasing hurricane intensity
• Others argue that currently the number of hurricanes is holding steady
• According to Nature article- a 1 degree C increase in sea temperature is currnelty resulting in a 31%increase in global frequency of category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Add to that fact that ocean temperatures could increase by 2 degrees C by 2100
• Some argue that climate models work well on the global level but can't be applied accurately to areas smaller than 200 square miles- which is larger than many storms
• Mr Knutson and friends at NASA's geophysical fluid dynamics lab in Princeton produced a year by year "hindcast" of hurricane numbers over the past 30 years. They predict an 18% decrease in annual hurricane count by late this century. They argue that what matters in hurricane formation is the difference in temperature between the sea and the top of the troposphere (the weather zone of the atmosphere) and global warming will warm the troposphere faster than it will warm the Atlantic. Others argue that there are flaws in the model used by Mr. Knutson in that it cant produce big storms and with an increase in large storms in the future, and the number of overall storms staying the same, of couse the number of small storms would decrease.
• Kerry Emanuel (from MIT) wrote an article in the March 2008 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society claiming that the results of climate moels suggerst other factors are likely to contribute to the increase in the number of storms, refuting his previous claim that global warming is the main contributor to the increase in the number of storms. His team inserted seeds of tropical storms throughout climate models and observed which develop into tropical storms and hurricanes. They found that the over all number of hurricanes will decrease over the next 2 centuries but hurricanes in general will increase in intensity. There is some uncertainty in the study in that the climate models show that in some areas intensity will increase and it others it will actually decrease.
• Others claim that research in general about this issue is difficult because the hurricane record pre-1970 is entirely unreliable and climate models cannot detect individual tropical storms.
• Some records- based off the number of people dieing and money being lost due to hurricanes- are unreliable because the information is skewed due to more people living in hurricane zones
• Some argue the path of hurricanes will change due to global warming (think of jet streams and conveyer belt)
• Johan Nyberg of Geological Survey of Sweden used coral samples from the North East Carribean to build a record to wind sheer and sea surface temperature dating back to 1730. Wind sheer is the difference in speed and dirrection between low winds and higher winds and causes a decrease in rainfall which causes denser coral. An increase in wind sheer decreases the number of hurricanes because it breaks up the systems as they form and a decrease in hurricanes results in less rainfall which results in denser coral. Nyberg foiund that the frequency of major hurricanes decreased gradually since the 1760s and had an all time low between the 1970s and 1980s. He argues that we are just returning to the norm. Elsner counter argues that the north east Carribean might not have always been in the dirrect path of hurricanes
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (a group of 125 experts) said that "given the consistancy between high resolution global models, regional hurricane models and maximum potential intensity theories it is likely that some increase in tropical cyclone intensity will occur if the climate continues to warm"
• Others focus on the why the North Atlantic (the focus of many of the studies are done because it is where US hurricanes gather strength) is an exception. They argue that most tropical climates have an average sea temperature of 26 degrees C all year round, while the temperature of the North Atlantic fluctuates below and above this temperature, making this temperature a switch for hurricanes. The North Atlantic is therefore more sensitive to sea surface temperatures
• A survey by Mr. Holland found that starting in 1905 for about 25 years there were about 6 tropical storms a year. Starting in 1931 there were about 9.4 storms a year and between 1995 and 2005 there have been about 14.8 storms a year. Between 1931 and 1994 there was no long term variation in the number of storms and then the number increased signficiantly in 1995. This corresponds with and increase in sea temperatures Holland argues. Others contend that there are cycles of 30 to 40 years of quiet followed by 30 to 40 years of business.
• Chris Landsea at NOAA's National Hurrican Center claims that the reason the number of hurricanes seems to be increasing is due to fact that storms previously not picked up by meteorologists are now better detected due to new technology. He claims there are many "missing storms" in old data.
• Brian Soden (from the University of Miami in Florida) used 18 climate models to study this issue. He claims that an increase in vertical wind sheer caused by climate change will counter balance the warming effect. He says that in the upper atmosphere westerly winds will increase "sheering" against easterly winds in the lower atmosphere, which is what he calls a change in the Walker circulation. He says this will occur in some areas more than others. He compares this change to the similar shifts in Walker circulation during El Nino years. Emanuel counter-argues that sensitivity to windsheer is probably overestimated stating that a 10% increase in water temperature results in a 65% increase in the intensity of storms while a 10% increase in wind sheer resuls in only a 12 % decrease in the intensity of storms.
• The media also influences the issue. For example the media always publicizes big hurricanes and big hurricane years but ignored that fact that 2007 was one of the calmed hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic in 30 years. Some argue that this is because a slow warming does not make for memorable images on tv and when judging risks, due to the avalability heuristic, we gauge a danger according to how many examples of ti are available in out minds. Therefore, some believe, that the manipulation by the media helps the fight to end global warming

Long story short, no one knows for sure whether the increase in hurricanes and tropical storms is caused by climate change. Both the inaccuracy of climate models and the lack of sufficient hurricane records result in the inability to know what is really going on, however, the general concensus among scientists is that whether or not the number of storms is increasing, their intensity definately is. Therefore, we can't wait for more data, we have to act now! As for the inconvenient truth, a very disputed issue is presented as fact by Al Gore, which in my eyes is an issue especially when so many people will believe what he says. He isn't talking to a scientifically knowledgable audience and should be careful not to manipulate their views. All in all, however, his view is supported by many scientists, even if it is just a theory. Right now theory is all we have and people wont act off just theory, but we have to act. So maybe, as far as the movement to end climate change is concerned, presenting theory as fact is a necessity. We can decide later whether the manipulation of the general public was worth it or neccessary, after we get global warming under control.

Articles used (not a real bibliography, just some imporant information in case we want to use the articals in the future):

"Wind Sheer may Cancel Climate's Effect on Hurricanes" from NewScientist.com by Phil McKenna published in April 2007.

"In 2008, a 100% Chance of Alarm" from the New York Times by John Tierney published in January 2008

"Tropical Storms Stepping up with Climate Change" from NewScientist.com by Jeff Hecht pubished in September 2007

"Global Warming link to Hurricanes Likely but Unproven" from NewScientist.com by Catherine Brahic published in December 2006

"Coral Reveals Increased Hurricanes May be Norm" from NewScientist.com by Catherine Brahic published in June 2007

"Climate Myths: Hurricane Katrina was Caused by Global Warming" from NewScientist.com by Emma Young published in May 2007

"Hurricane Expert Reconsiders Global Warming's Impact" from Chron.com by Eric Berger published in 2008

"Analysis: Will Warming Really Lead to Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes" from New Scientist Journal by Fred Pearce published in May 2008

"Is Global Warming Worsening Hurricanes?" from Time.com by Bryan Walsh published in September 2008

"Is Global Warming Making Hurricanes Worse" from NationalGeographic.com by John Roach published in August 2005

Insulation

Notes on Insulation in case we come back to the topic in class:

Quotes are directly from websites not my own work, they are just research notes I copied and pasted to use in class. I used: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html

• The effectiveness of insulation is rated by an R-value. The higher the R-value, the greater the material's ability to insulate. Each inch of fiberglass blanket insulation, for example, provides an R-value of about 3.27.
• *Start with the attic. Heat rises; make every effort to keep it from leaving when it does. By bringing a minimally insulated attic up to proper insulation levels, you may be able to save up to 30 percent on your heating bill.
• Insulating crawl spaces can trim from 5% to 15% off heating costs
• If you go to the trouble of insulating, it's also smart to make sure that doors and windows are properly weather strippedto cut down on air infiltration and heat loss.
• Heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average American home. Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading causes of energy waste in most homes. Insulation:saves money and our nation's limited energy resourcesmakes your house more comfortable by helping to maintain a uniform temperature throughout the house, andmakes walls, ceilings, and floors warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
• Batts, blankets, loose fill, and low-density foams all work by limiting air movement. (These products may be more familiarly called fiberglass, cellulose, polyicynene, and expanded polystyrene.)
• The still air is an effective insulator because it eliminates convection and has low conduction. Some foams, such as polyisocyanurate, polyurethane, and extruded polystyrene, are filled with special gases that provide additional resistance to heat flow.Reflective insulation works by reducing the amount of energy that travels in the form of radiation.
• The different forms of insulation can be used together.
• Rigid insulation is made from fibrous materials or plastic foams and is produced in board-like forms and molded pipe coverings. These provide full coverage with few heat loss paths and are often able to provide a greater R-value where space is limited.
• Reflective insulation is most effective in reducing downward heat flow.
• Fiberglass. Among its benefits, it doesn't burn or shrink, bugs don't like it, and it's made from silica sand, a terrifically abundant resource. However, with potential health risks such as lung damage and cancer warnings, some forms and brands of fiberglass are safer than others, so do your research and ask questions to find the best solution for your home.
• Cellulose. Economical, readily available and better for the environment than fiberglass, cellulose is composed of recycled newspaper and, occasionally, small quantities of shredded cardboard. It carries less health risk than fiberglass, but can condense as it settles and take on moisture, potentially molding if it stays wet.
• Rigid Foam (Foam Board). Mostly made from polymers, water-resistant rigid foam has almost double the R-value (heat flow resistance) of cellulose or fiberglass insulation. Rigid foam is divided into three types: polyisocyanurate (polyiso), expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS), each varying in cost, R-value and environmental friendliness.
  
• The following are suggestions of what insulation is best for the specific areas in your home:
• For loft or roof insulation use: Mineral wool quilt, Blown mineral wool, or Blown cellulose fiber.
• For duct or pipe insulation use: Mineral wool mat, Pre-formed split foam insulation, Foil-faced fiberglass insulation, Vinyl-faced insulation, or Ridged foam insulation
• For wall insulation use: Blown-in cellulose, or Fiberglass (batt and roll) insulation
• There are several good alternatives to fiberglass insulation if you want a "green" product to insulate the addition.
• Insulation made from recycled denim is treated with a fire retardant. It's not made of used fabric but scraps from the manufacturing process. In general, growing cotton is tough on the environment because of the heavy use of pesticides, so this may not be the best option, although it's a good use of otherwise wasted material.
• Wool insulation provides an option that is natural and renewable. Although wool is flame resistant naturally, it is subject to insect damage. So the insulation is usually treated with boron to deter insects. But boron is a naturally occurring element and not known to be carcinogenic.
• Cellulose insulation is probably your best bet. It's made from 80% recycled newspaper, and the chemicals that hold it together do not use formaldehyde. Fire-retardant chemicals are also necessary to make the product safe. R-values of fiberglass, wool cellulose are similar, but can vary significantly based on a number of factors. Cellulose insulation is more affordable than wool insulation, too.
• Don't overlook Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) as an option for building the new addition. SIPs are basically slabs of polystyrene sandwiched between two sheets of oriented strand board (OSB). Because the polystyrene allows very little air to pass through the walls, they produce a super-insulated structure.

Week of October 6

On the plenary speaker:
I had a serious issue with her public speaking skills and she did neither inspired my attention nor my passion. She obviously did not have the knowledge necessary to answer all of the questions asked and she definately should have had other members of the project with her (specialists in the economy and politics etc...). On the other hand, while it is obvious her plan would never work due to the constraints of society she admits she ignores, I think it is interesting to see what we would have to do if we could do everything necessary to stop global warming right now. Its a good perspective to start with, and then come in and judge the system more practically, in that way, her topic was interesting.
On friday's class:
The discussion was awsome. I think that once we are allowed to take science where we want as a class (the political and economic sides of the issue) we think critically and broadly about the main issues presented in the class. We seem to have passion and a desired direction when we are allowed to discuss as we please, and although the direction is obviously not focused on science it is science based and augmented by what we learn in class.
Some notes:

Thermodynamics

I Heat and Temperature

• Heat- transfer of energy across the boundary of a system due to a temperature difference between the system and its surroundings
• Temperature- average thermal energy of particle
• Scales- Kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit
• Heat Capacity- C=Q/change in T
• Specific Heat- c=Q/(m x change in T)
  Q- cm(change in T)
• The amount of energy required to raise the temperature, c, indicates how much resistance to raising the temperature
• Exothermic- releasing heat energy
• Chemical action
• Mechanical-thermal= friction
• Different kinds of energy
• Acoustic
  Mechanical
  Nuclear
  Electromagnetic
  Electrostatic
  All lead to thermal energy
  
  II First law of Thermodynamics
  
• Energy is conserved in a closed system
• Heat is energy
• Heat is not conserved; work energy is not conserved, only total internal energy is conserved
• E=heat + work= summation of Q+ summation of W
• Internal energy= kinetic energy of molecules, potential energy within and between molecules
• Friction causes heat
• Change in E= Q-W
• For constant E: Q=W
• Heat added or withdrawn balances work done on and by the system

I also looked up some cool Bill Nie videos on thermodynamics in case you want to use them in class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=466uJSRuyrU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4jDlvniz4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcxVIi0nErk

My Carbon Footprint

I have currently used the following sites to calculate my carbon footprint:

1. http://www.carboncounter.org/offset-your-emissions/personal-calculator.aspx

• according to this website I emit 5.3 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere
• my emissions were far below the national average
• I was told that I should donate $12 per ton of CO2 to offest my carbon emissions - for me this would be $5.30 a month or $63.60 a year
• in order to estimate my emissions I was asked what type of home I live in, in what state and what size the home is. I answered; apartment, Washington DC and small. I was asked how many cars I drive, which is right now zero, and how many miles I fly a year: about 5.

2. http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

• according to this website I emit 14 tons of carbon a year
• I am below the national average- which this website says for a person in the United States is 27 tons a year and for a person in the world is 5.5 tons a year
• I was asked: how many people in my house- I said 4 because thats the number of people in my suite but then I proceded to calculate the carbon emssions for just myself.
• I was asked what kind of home I live in (small apartment) with how many bedrooms (1) and in what state (DC.) I was also asked if I effiently heat and cool my house, use lighting, and use energy star product to which I answered sometimes and if I used hot water efficiently to which I answered no.
• Next I was asked what kind of car I drove (none) and how many long (2) and short (2)flights I have flown in the last year.
• I was asked how often I eat meat (most days but not every meal) and if I eat organic food (no) and if I recycle (yes... all materials locally recycable) and if I composte waste (no)
• According to this calculator I emit most of my emssions driving or flying or in my home, which is similar to the national trends, however my food and diet is a much larger portion of my energy emission than the emissions of the average American

Some interesting points

• I flew much more this last year than usual, which may have skewed the results of the second survey
• The first survey didn't include diet and I am a huge meat eater which may have an an effect on the results
• Neither survey had a "dorm room" option for home, so my makeshift "small apartment" answer my skew the results
• The second survey was probably more accurate because it asked more questions, and I liked to see how the positive actions such as recycling and using energy star products factored in to my total emissions.

Semester Project

The Hybrid Car- how it can be made more affordable, why it should be made affordable and why the government isn't doing more to promote its use right now.

Science-
What is the effect of cars on the road- how much do car emissions contribute to global warming?
How do hybrid cars work? What parts of Hybrid cars are expensive, are there cheaper versions of these parts?
How effective would a full switch to Hybrid cars be on reducing global warming? Is it worth it? Are there other options to fix the car problem?

Economics-
What could be done to convince suppliers to create more hybrid cars?
How can we increase the demand for hybrid cars?
What resources do economists need to create these cars?
How does the European/Asian car market compare to the American car market relative to the sustainability of the cars produced?
What would the effect be of increasing hybrid car production on the national and world market?
Would jobs increase or decrease?
Would people travel more or less? What would be the effect on infrustructure?

Politics-
How is the relationship between the government and oil companies effect hybrid car production? How can the government make hybrid car production more effective and profitable?
How could one convince the government to make an investment in the hybrid car market? Which party would support this investment more? Who would vote for it? How could the idea be sold to the voting public?
How do oil and hybrid lobbyists effect the governments decisions and agenda?
Who should we vote for in 2008 in regard to this issue?

Notes on Class Projects

Solar Power

• need 10 billion square meters of solar panals to capture enough energy for all of US energy needs at any given moment
• 1/6 area majave desert
• this is assuming 100% efficiency- which is impossible- so multiply area by ten to make it more accurate
• furthurmore, we would need infrastructure to transfer energy
• 31.7% of New Mexico would have to be covered with solar panals to supply energy for entire US
• Only 1% of US land area would have to be allocated
• to put it into perspective the area of all paved land in US is 157,989 km^2 which is about 1.5% of US land area
• we need to only fill 2/3 of paved roads to with solar panals to provide energy for ENTIRE US- and this is with current technology
• right now we only use alternate energy to meet 1% of our energy needs

Obviously the implication of this problem is that the United States is not taking advantage of the current alternative energy technology available and should be doing more to make this technology more efficient. If the government could find a way to make pavement into solar technology/ panals think of how efficient that would be! We should try to make something that already covers a vast amount of land in the United States, like road ways, into solar panals or have then in some way absorb energy from the sun. Either way, we really need to use alternative energy to a greater extent, especially if we really want to stop being dependent on foreign energy sources and oil in general, once again it is clear that we already have the means to be energy independent, we just aren't doing it for some reason...I am constantly more and more disappointed in the government the more I learn about the capabilties of new technology and how effective it could be (only 1% of US land would need to be allocated to provide energy for the entire US!!!)

Week of September 22nd

A few notes on this week:
Movies
I think the science movies are a really fun idea. I am a fan of anything inbetween a documentary and an disney movie and I am really interested in seeing an inconvenient truth and the 30 days episode. I like how they wouldn't always be mandatory also, between 6 and 8 on thursdays is really prime school activities time and its a hard block of time to get available every week. Most clubs meet between 6 and 8 on tuesdays and thursdays and the honors night classes make it harder to get involved. Its nice to have some weeks when time is easier to balance.
Lab
The CO2 lab was interesting, the equipment didnt really work for my group though. We got weird readings that didnt really make sense, like the least amount of CO2 being in starbucks, that can't be right. I like the application questions though, about finding out how long people could survive in an enclosed space before it becomes too difficult to breathe, its something I have always wondered about strangely enough. The lab was much simpler and better organized than last week, it makes me wonder why we started with such a complex lab with so many difficult applciation questions, this one, I think, would have been a better choice for the first class.

*sorry for the shorter entry, my group presented on Friday so there isn't much to respond to there, although the questions by the class were very interesting, I gues thats the perks of an honors class. I really liked the brief review of chemistry in preparation for the next lab. Everything came right back to me once it went on the board and I feel really prepared to do the lab now.

Chapter 3: Energy: A closer look

6. The United States imports about 12 million barrels of oil per day



a) consult the tables in this chapter to convert this quantity to an equilivant power, measured in watts.

barrels of oil= 12,000,000
conversion number= 6.12 GJ per barrel of oil
12,000,000(6.12)= 7.344x 10^7 GJ= 7.344x 10^16 J
W=J/s
1 day=86,400 s
(7.344 x 10^16J)/(86,400s)=8.5 x 10^11 W



b)Suppose we wanted to replace all that imported oil with energy produced by fission from domestic uranium. How many 1,000-MW nuclear power plants would we have to build?

1,000MW= 10^9 W

(8.5 x 10^11W)/(10^9W)= 850 nuclear power plants



7. Assuming that 1 gallon of crude oil yields roughly 1 gallon of gasoline, estimate the decrease in daily oil imports that we could achieve if the average fuel efficiengy of US cars and light truck, now around 21 mpg were raised to 50 mpg typical of a modern hybrid car. Assume that average vehicle is driven 10,000 miles a year and that there are about 200 million cars adn light trucks opperating in the United States.



(12,000,000 barrels of oil)(42 gallons per barrel)= 504,000,000 gallons of oil now
10,000mpy/365days=27.397 mpd
(200,000,000 cars)(27.397mpd)=54.794x10^9 miles driven in US a day
54.794x 10^8m/50mpg=1.09588 x 10^8 gallons a day
54.794x10^8m/21mpg=2.7397x10^8 gallons a day
2.7397x10^8-1.09588x10^8= 1.64382x10^8gallons a day
1.64382x10^8/42 gallons per barrel=3.9 million barrels saved a day or about 1/3 the daily US import of oil


This problem goes to prove that if every American bought a hybrid car, as has already happened in Europe, we could decrease our daily oil imports by 1/3! I am surprised that the government, which is so intent on becoming independent of foreign oil has not pushed the price reduction of hybrid cars. I don't feel that the average American really believes that hybrid cars could be as economical as this problem suggests, it seems that we already have the solution to many of our energy problems but we don’t utilize it. I wonder if the government is keeping the hybrid car solution from becoming affordable for the average American because of its ties to the oil industry, it makes me wonder, when we have the solution staring us in the face, why we cant fund hybrid car production.

Plenary Session: GW Sustainability

I thought the plenary session on the steps that are being taken at GW to work towards sustainability was very interesting although at some points basic. I was not aware of the intense support President Napp has for the progress of environmental research and it certainly makes me proud as a GW student to be a part of an school that supports such a innovation. I also liked hearing about some of the things GW has already done to become more environmentally friendly. For example I did not know that the new dorms being built would be certified by LEED or that we were working to be carbon neutral, which is a process I really support although it is somewhat intangible. I live in Potomac House and I never thought about how much money the light sensors in my hall save before last night. I also like that the sustainability task force is not only working on renovating buildings but also the curriculum so that students can get funding to do research on environmental issues through the center of sustainability. I believe that a very good point was made when the male speaker said that the future economy will be dependent on experts in environmental issues and sustainabiliy. If we could find a way to make saving the environment profitable we could do so much good in the world and enact so much change!

Finally, I really enjoyed the "costs of driving a car" brainstorm. I am studying economics and we have discussed the opportunity cost of driving a car (the money you spend on driving you cant spend on other things,) but I have never thought of all of the other costs of driving such as time and health risks.

I am definitely thinking about attending the symposium on October 6th about urban sustainability...maybe we can go as a class.

Week of September 8th

Week of September 8th

1. Define force, energy and power; units of measure

• Force- whatever can cause an object with mass to accelerate. Measured in Newtons.
• Energy- a scalar physical quantity that is a property of objects and systems which is conserved by nature. The ability to do work. Measured in Joules.
• Power- the rate at which energy is transformed from one form to another or transferred from one object to another. Measured in watts or joules.
  

2. Why is Co2 a greenhouse gas and nitrogen not?

CO2 absorbs and traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere and nitrogen does not.

3. My question (number 3)

Solar Energy is incident at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere at the rate of about 1368 watts per square meter. This energy effectively falls on the cross sectional area of the planet. Calculate the total rate at which solar energy arrives at Earth.

Find cross sectional area of the planet. A=(3.14)r^2
R= 6.37 x 10^6 m
A= 1.274760 x 10^14 m
Multiply cross sectional area times rate
(1368 W/m2)(1.274760 x 10^14)= 1.743 x 10^17

How does this compare with energy flux at the earth’s surface?
31% of sunlight gets reflected back into the atmosphere.
69% of sunlight actually reaches the earth’s surface.
45% is converted right into solar energy
23% is evaporated
1% goes into the energy of winds and currents
0.o8% is used for photosynthesis.
Therefore if you multiply the number above by .69 you get the actual amount of solar energy that hits the earth’s surface. (1.202 x 10^17) This number is considerably smaller than the actual amount of solar energy that hits the top of the atmosphere.

What factors affect this quantity?
Most of the solar energy is reflected back into the atmosphere via clouds and reflective particles in the atmosphere, but ice, snow, deserts and other surface features can have the same effect.

I really enjoyed what we did this week in class. Because everyone is an honors student the issues are given life by the presenters and their opinions. I think the lesson could only have been made better if we had been given a little background information before hand; I haven’t take physics since the 11th grade and I don’t really remember how all the formulas work as simple as they may be. Maybe a review sheet would help.

Research

I found most of my information from www.epa.gov, or the website for the environmental protection agency of the federal government. I found the site both comprehensive and credible and I think it will be a good resource in the future.

Sustainability
"meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" This is the definition adopted by the UN.

"This concept of sustainability encompasses ideas, aspirations and values that continue to inspire public and private organizations to become better stewards of the environment and that promote positive economic growth and social objectives. The principles of sustainability can stimulate technological innovation, advance competitiveness, and improve our quality of life."


So basically sustainability is reducing our affect on the planet and trying to meet our daily needs in ways that do not leave a lasting negative impact on the environment.

The term "green"

From my research I found that the term "going green" and sustainability are basically inter-changeable.

Things we can do to "go green:"
promote scientific research
use more advanced technology
reduce-reuse-recycle
be efficient with water
increase energy efficiency in your household
preform an enery audit
purchase energy star products
purchase green electricity, carbpn offsets and/or generate your own energy
include more vegetable protein in your diet (makes best use of limited land resources)
enjoy local food (reduce tranportation of food)
teach the youth about energy issues
make it profitable to provide clean energy
use proper insulation
make cars more energy efficient
elect passionate leaders ready to make change

Climate Change

climate change is “any significant change in measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time.”

Global warming is the increase in temperature in the earths atmosphere

the climate has always been changing- prior ice ages

3 main changes in last 2,000 years= medieval climate anomaly (between 900-1300 AD Europe, Greenland and Asia have slight temperature increase,) little ice age (1500-1850,) and the industrial era (1900-now= relative warmth.)

the climate has also been changing at different rates: the climate usually has periods of stability and then rapid change (rapid change is when we change from an ice age to a period like now) "Interglacial climates tend to be more stable than cooler glacial climates

many different things cause climate change namely natural factors, natural processes and human activities.

causes of climate change prior to 1780 include: changes in the Earths orbit (affects amount of sunlight that hits earths surface,) change in the suns intensity,changes in ocean currents and volcanic eruptions (cause aerosol and co2 emissions.)

causes today include the use of fossil fuels. Using fossil fuels result in the green house effect in that they trap heat in the atmosphere.

Also “a change in land use and cover can affect temperature by changing how much solar radiation the land reflects and absorbs.” Land use has change recently due to deforestation, reforestation and urbanization.

The big issue: the global average temperature in the last few years has most likely been higher than the global average temperature in the past 400 years. In fact, “the Earth’s everage surface temperature has increased by about 1.2 to 1.4 degrees F in the last 100 years. This increase in temperature can also result in a change in precipitation, storms and sea level. This climate change results in “rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, changes in the range and distribution of plants and animals” and many other issues

What is the U.S. doing about it? “A) slowing the growth of emissions B) Strengthening science, technology and institutions C) enhancing international cooperation.

Alternate Forms of Energy
Wind power- could provide 1/3 our or electricity needs
Solar thermal power- a small region of this power could fulfill all of the U.S.’s electricity needs
Solar photovoltaics- could provide ¼ of our electricity needs
Geothermal power- electricity from underground hot rocks

The Energy Theory
Momentum is always conserved
Sum of kinetic, potential and heat energy always conserved
Measured in Joules (1 watt per second)
Kinetic energy- energy of motion
Potential energy- stored energy
Heat- energy that is flowing as a result of temperature difference