PDS APES 8th Period 2009-10

Today we talked about hydrogen and how it can be used to power vehicles. Of the forty-four free response questions on previous A.P. exams, none have addressed hydrogen power, so Mr. Willard said this would be “good knowledge to have in our pockets.” First we reviewed what we already knew about hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most abundant element [...]

Last year, a student send me a 12-minute bit from 60 minutes on coal power. The piece is centered on an interview with Jim Rogers of Charlotte’s own Duke Energy. Watch this, then read on: *IF the embedded video will not play, try this link: Powered by Coal (60 minutes) So…what do we do in [...]

Here is today’s presentation.  While biomass is valued for being essentially carbon-neutral, you cannot ignore all the potential drawbacks to agriculture (erosion, fertilizer, pesticides, feedlots, etc…). Biomass energy View more presentations from Derrick Willard.

Hello again– Between all of the supplements, the math, and the study guide, I’m having trouble figuring out the differences between net energy and efficiency. Because net energy is the amount of usable energy, that is, total energy minus energy needed to create that energy, while efficiency is input equals output divided by percent efficient, [...]

_______________________________________________________ Today in class we discussed wind power– what it is, how it works, the future of windpower, and the environmental and economical trade offs of generating energy from the earth’s natural wind production as a result of unequal heating of the globe. Wind power in the past:  Wind power has been around for ages.  It [...]

There are four basic math problems that we have to know for the exam.  These problems deal with basic algebra so there is NO need for a calculator. Energy/Power: When dealing with these problems, you must remember that energy is the ability to work and power is a rate.  For power, P=E/T and the units [...]

Today we took a brief look at solar power.  Solar makes up a tiny fraction (<1%) of the commercial energy market, but it is doubling every two years.  I tried to distinguish between solar electricity technologies and solar thermal (heat) technologies. When considering solar electricity, it can be done on a small scale (homes/buildings) and [...]

What’s that you say? You want to learn about Nuclear Power? I can help you with that. Let’s get started then! Basics What, exactly, is nuclear power? Well, it works like coal power in a lot of ways. It involves harnessing the energy (as heat) produced in a reaction to boil water and create steam that to [...]

Who wants to be destroyed by vicious renewable energy? Not me! So here’s what we discussed in class about the other side…NONrenewable energy. There are four types of nonrenewable energy: Coal, Oil, Natural Gas, and Nuclear Energy. We only want to focus on the fossil fuels, which excludes Nuclear Energy. First, lets define fossil fuels: [...]

For those who missed the first day of our energy unit, here is the kick off: Mining Practices & Impacts View more presentations from Derrick Willard. I tried to give you a sense of just how destructive surface mining can be to habitats and biodiversity. I’ve also found a great slideshow by a photographer named [...]