PDS AP Environmental Science 5th Period 2010-11

After watching Who Killed the Electric Car (2006), we took a look at some of the new plug-in electric cars from Chevy, Ford, Nissan, and Tesla now on the market. Are electric cars really the answer for ending our dependence on foreign crude oil? Could it be that simple? This Daily Show clip (8 minutes) [...]

Though biodiesel is still an infant industry, it serves as a reasonable alternative energy source to petroleum. Most cars in the United States have gasoline engines, but Mr. Thompson suggested that a diesel engine transition would benefit the environment in the long run. Of course this would be the case only if biodiesel were used [...]

Hydrogen Energy is created by passing Hydrogen through a membrane which separates the protons and electrons. In this process, the electrons are diverted to create electricity and H2O is given off as a byproduct. As a fuel source, Hydrogen is clean, with practically no pollutants released, it is efficient, can be up to 90% efficient [...]

Four Types Of Problems E = Energy- basic unit is joules (J)- P x T P = Power- basic unit is watts (w) = J/sec- E/T T = Time- E/P Example: How much energy (in J) does a 30 w bulb if on for 30 min? E = P x T = 30 J/sec x [...]

If you thought the photo by Richard Box of the “leaky” high voltage transmission lines was neat, you can check out more of his photography here.  I thought that was an interesting intro to a subject your book seems to ignore-how the electricity gets from all those different types of power plants to your home: [...]

Why use solar energy? Lots of reasons. Unlike burning fossil fuels, solar energy is waste-free and results in zero emissions into the atmosphere. It is also a renewable resource, and can be relied on to last as long as the sun does. Despite the initial costs of solar technologies, the use of solar power saves [...]

Wind Energy, put simply, is using the wind to move turbines, which then in turn provide power. The turbines are mounted atop very tall towers in order to capture the most wind. This is by far one of the most sustainable and cleanest types of energy available. The wind turbines produce no toxic or heat [...]

*Note: SargeK moved to the other class, but since we have no one to do geothermal, here is a guess post by him. Geothermal Energy is essentially using the earth’s natural heat for power. One way the process works is the heat from the earth warms water, which evaporates to steam. The steam is then [...]

Currently, about one-fourth of the world’s electricity comes from hydroelectric energy. Humans have created dams and hydroelectric power plants all over the world in order to harness the energy in rivers to produce electricity. The method in which the dam produces electricity is pretty simple: The dam blocks the flow of the river, flooding the [...]

When you hear the words “Nuclear Superpower” the first thing you’d probably think about would be an image from the Cold War with stockpiles of nuclear warheads to kill off the planet earth several times over. But that was then – come to the 21′s century, bud. Sure we still have big bombs in commission, [...]