May 03 2012
So, while your text does introduce the concept of carbon neutral it did not mention carbon offsets, which have become a hot ticket in “climate change mitigation.” There are many companies out there now marketing carbon offsets to reduce your “carbon footprint.” Terrapass is a popular one. You can offset one year’s worth of air [...]
Apr 30 2012
Since it is so close to the AP exam and all of you have fulfilled your scribe post obligations, I won’t start the list over. So, here is a collection of links from past classes on major air pollution issues and global climate change for those that missed class. While written a year or two [...]
Apr 29 2012
After testing a handful of vehicles in each class, we tried to analyze the class data for trends. It has become harder and harder to do as vehicle emissions have become so much “cleaner” over the last decade (yes, I said it). If we had the time, this is the data I would love to [...]
Apr 25 2012
Monday we began talking about what exactly comes out of our cars, why they can be dangerous, and what the government is doing to curb these emissions. We talked first about the Clean Air Act of 1970. This act allowed the E.P.A. through the NAAQS or the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These standards were set on 6 “criteria” pollutants: [...]
Apr 08 2012
Here is a recent article from BBC regarding the use of biofuel (in this case, cooking oil) as a portion of the fuel for a commercial airplane in England: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-15191275 This type of biofuel is known as biodiesel. As the article mentions, the use of cooking oil as fuel for the plane does reduce the dependence on [...]
Apr 06 2012
Today we compared the “conventional” fossil fuels-coal, petroleum (crude oil), and natural gas. You need to be familiar with what they are, how they are extracted, how they are refined, what they are used for, and the environmental impacts. There was a handout that you can find in our Unit 11 Google Docs Collection. This [...]
Apr 06 2012
For those who missed the first day of our energy unit, here is the kick off: Mining Practices 2012 View more PowerPoint 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 Daniel [...]
Oct 04 2011
Today we reviewed the Carbon Cycle. The first thing we discussed were the major “pools” or reservoirs that carbon can be found in. The largest quantities of carbon can be found in Rocks (sedimentary), but the carbon located in the rocks can’t be accessed. The second largest “pool” of carbon can be found in the oceans, [...]
