Apr 18 2012
Before Mr. Thompson, the CEO of a Biodiesel fuel company, came to speak to us on Friday, what did our class know about Biodiesel fuel or even just diesel fuel? We knew that diesel fuel was more expensive at gas stations than gasoline, that trucks and other large vehicles often run on diesel fuel, and [...]
Apr 17 2012
For the first part of Monday’s class, we discussed various ways to conserve energy in our homes, in transportation, and in energy generation. At home: Energy Star Appliances Check insulation/Fix leaks Turn the thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter Use power strips to reduce vampire load aka phantom load BULB CHOICE-Even [...]
Apr 11 2012
Have you ever thought about how much electricity is needed to supply the lively city of New York? Just think about all of that electricity, and how it is made. Have you ever seen wind turbines in the Big Apple? Well, in the next few years you might. Check out this New York Times blog [...]
Apr 10 2012
Apple Data Center puts Charlotte in national spotlight as the debates over hydrogen fuel continues! Trying to become the nation’s “greenest” and “most technologically advanced” company, Apple recently has declared that they are fueling their new data center in suburban Charlotte solely from hydrogen power. While no one is faulting Apple for trying to [...]
Apr 10 2012
Pikachu, quick use thunderbolt! Critical Hit! Foe’s Blastoise fainted. For the millions of you that have played Pokemon, it seems obvious that electricity is water’s kryptonite; they don’t mix! But in the world of modern science, nearly twenty percent of all electricity comes from hydroelectric plants (imagine that Ash!). Source: Friedland and Relyea Environmental Science [...]
Apr 10 2012
STOP! Before you read the rest of this blog post, sprint down a flight of stairs and run back up again as fast as you can. GO! Okay, so how do you feel now? A little hot? Congratulations, you just got a little bit of exercise and experienced the same heating concept that is used [...]
Apr 10 2012
This article shows the future of solar energy in Africa by providing cleaner and more accessible energy to the impoverished communities. The article mentions that the only current source of energy and heat is burning wood and coal which can cause tuberculosis and asthma. The transition utilizes solar powered hot water heaters and clean-burning cooking [...]
Apr 09 2012
*Note: This is a guest post by JYang (’11) to illustrate what a good pre-lesson blog post looks like for our student-teaching project. 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 [...]
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
Recent NPR Headline: Rejected Pipeline Becomes Hot Button Election Issue. What pipeline? Where? Check out this brief story: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/19/145433937/keystone-pipeline-becomes-hot-button-election-issue Yes, there are some “other” sources of fossil fuels besides coal/oil/natural gas, namely oil (tar) sands and oil shale. Your book briefly mentions oil sands, but not oil shale (which you can read about here). Our [...]
