energy -frog book notes
Evolution of fuels:
See also LNG (liquified nat gas)
question: look up the price of crude oil. notice the names and the trends. what is “sweet” crude oil?
electricity generation: coal (steam), diesel (only in Hawaii, direct or steam), nat gas (steam or direct turbine), nuclear (steam)
Think of ships, this is where most of our electrical generation technology was developed
Hubbert Peak: King Saud (see opening credits to “The Kingdom”), Saudi Arabia, geopolitical implications
Fracking: Nat gas game changer: water impact, price of oil, change in electrical grid (smarter, faster, more nimble)
others: oil shale, oil sands (Alberta), methane hydrates deep sea deposits
ERoEI: Energy Return on Energy Invested
http://physics.hpa.edu/physics/apenvsci/videos/ERoEI.mov
summary: there will always be some oil, but how expensive is it to get out of the ground?
Salt Audio clip: James Woolsey
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128127191
17.3-Fossil fuel hazards
Energy Conservation
e2 car segment
http://physics.hpa.edu/physics/apenvsci/videos/e2_videos/e2%20energy/3%20paving%20the%20way.mp4
17.4 Nuclear power
Chemical energy: electrons
Nuclear energy: protons and neutrons
Fission: heavy stuff (Uranium, Plutonium) to smaller stuff (like Kr, Ba)
Fusion: light stuff (Hydrogen, Helium) to heavier stuff (Lithium, etc.)
discovered by enrico Fermi (Chicago) around 1940, first used for heat, then bombs (WWII)
Next, used in nuclear subs (why?)
Electrical power on land copied from subs (why is this crazy?)
Fission: U235 + 1 neutron -> 3 neutrons, Ba 141 and Kr 92
Note: 1 neutron in, 3 neutrons out
Moderators capture extra neutrons and slow them into “thermal neutrons” (control rods also) to heat water for steam powered turbines
Bomb: make it all happen really, really fast
Power plant: make it slow down, capture the neutrons into thermal neutrons, make steam, then electricity
***make sure you can draw ALL of the parts of a nuclear power plant***
Good stuff: few greenhouse gases
Bad stuff: waste, pollution, fallout, limited supply of Uranium (Thorium possible)
Bad ones: 99 so far since 1945:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents
What common theme, how dangerous, how could we avoid these in the future?
***be prepared to cite at least three of these, and explain what happened and why****
Fusion: LLL Shiva (look this up)
***Make sure you understand and can replicate the Coal energy graphic at the end of ch. 17***
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