Chapter 3.1-updated

1. On Page 47 of the text, please review figure 1, and be able to fill in each block.

e2 video: Growing energy

1. Google Steve Chu

where does he work?

Steven Chu is the current United States Secretary of Energy.

Steven Chu is the 12th United States Secretary of Energy.

where did he work before?

He was previously the professor for physics at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Prior to working for the government, Chu was a professor of cellular biology at the University of California at Berkeley, and he is also an emeritus professor at Stanford.

on what?

Chu's research mostly concerned the study of biological systems at the single molecule level.

Chu was conducting research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on cellulosic ethanol.

what did he get an award for?

He won the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Philips in 1997 for the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light".

Chu was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997.

why is this important to the end of this story?

His work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory included research into the development of cellulosic ethanol energy sources, which is predicted to revolutionize the way ethanol is produced on a scale even greater than that of sugar ethanol in Brazil.

Chu's research gained a lot of recognition for various types of renewable energy. In addition, Chu is now one of the key leaders in the movement for renewable energy.

2. Google Dan Kammen

where does he work?

Dan Kammen is the director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

Kammen is a professor at UC Berkeley and also serves as a climate advisor to the Obama administration.

on what?

He works on "designing, testing, and disseminating renewable and appropriate energy systems".

Kammen is researching various renewable and sustainable energy practices at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) at UC Berkeley.

why does he cite Brazilian sugar ethanol as sustainable?

Kammen cites Brazilian sugar ethanol as being sustainable for sugar cane is easy and fast to grow and is simple to process into ethanol, but the most significant reason for why it is sustainable is because of how Brazil's energy economy has become centered around ethanol to the point where it is not possible to buy gasoline in Brazil without some measure of ethanol content added.

Brazilian sugar ethanol is not a labor intensive or environmentally harmful crop to grow, in addition the burning of sugar ethanol is completely carbon neutral.

compare this with corn ethanol grown in the US (e.g. Nebraska)

American corn ethanol is five to six times less efficient than sugar cane ethanol, and it competes with the production of a major food crop, hence why ethanol has not been embraced in the United States to the same degree as it has been in Brazil.

Corn ethanol produced in the USA has a much larger carbon footprint left behind and has a much lower efficiency than the sugar ethanol produced in Brazil.

3. Compare sugar ethanol from Brazil with US corn ethanol

which competes for food?

Corn.

Corn competes for food, while sugar produced ethanol is grown specifically for the ethanol marked and does not compete as much for food.

which needs petrochemical to fertilize?

Corn.

Corn requires petrochemicals for fertilizer.

what is the energy balance like for each?

The energy balance for sugar cane ethanol is seven times greater than that of corn ethanol.

Corn requires a very high energy input to be turned into ethanol, and is not very efficient in producing high quality energy. Sugar, however, grows very easily and Brazil and is much more efficient into being converted into usable, high quality, ethanol.

what is/was bagasse used for?

Bagasse is the leftover plant matter that remains after sugar cane or sorghum stalks are crushed in the extraction of juice, which is usually burned by sugar cane mills to supply energy to the mill with power to spare.

Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane stalks have been crushed and their juice has been extracted. It is used for biofuel.

what is bagasse made of?

Bagasse consists of about 50% cellulose, 25% hemicellulose, 24% lignin, and 1% ash and wax.

Bagasse is made out of a sugarcane biproduct.

how did sugar cane mills here in Hawaii fuel their boilers?

Sugar cane mills in Hawaii fueled their boilers by burning bagasse leftover from the production of sugar.

They burned bagasse.

was sugar indigenous, and could it grow here again? explain.

While sugar cane was not indigenous to the islands, Hawaiians have been growing them since the pre-European contact era. The decline of sugar growing in Hawaii had nothing to do with natural or environmental factors, but rather because of changing geopolitical factors that made it no longer a feasible business on the islands. If the political climate changes, and sugar cultivation becomes profitable again in Hawaii, it could certainly be grown again here.

Sugarcane is not an indigenous plant to the Hawaiian Islands, and it is not very practical to try and grow it again here because not only is the land too expensive, but the water and irrigation systems are also not very cost-efficient.

4. Google Vijay

what is he involved in now?

Vijay Vaitheeswaran is the senior editor for The Economist covering politics, economics, business, and technology as they relate to energy. He recently published a book called Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the Planet, aiming to the raise awareness of alternate energy sources for the future.

He was the senior editor for the Economist, he is currently trying to promote sustainable practices.

5. Oil Embargo

when did this happen?

The Arab Oil Embargo started in October 1973 and ended in March 1974.

1973.

why?

Members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an oil embargo on the United States in response to its decision to aid Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

Because the US was providing arms and assistance for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, Arab member states of OPEC stopped selling oil to the United States and all states friendly to Israel. Oil was basically used as a political weapon.

what happened?

Oil exports to the United States significantly dropped, and a shortage led to massive price increases as well as the introduction of rationing across the country.

The price of oil increased dramatically and rations were put in place.

how did this change the lifestyle of people in the US?

National campaigns to cut consumption were imposed, as was a nationwide speed limit and year-round daylight savings time. Ironically, the exploration and development of renewable energy sources was discouraged, as government price controls were meant to stimulate oil exploration.

For the first time fuel efficient cars were appreciated.

is this similar to today?

While the 1973 oil crisis was instrumental in starting consumer trends such as the move to smaller and more fuel-efficent vehicles, today's reality is not that much different from before the energy crisis, with dependency on foreign oil as entrenched as ever.

No, because as soon as the oil crisis subsided we went back to using oil as liberally as we had before. This time around we will not be able to do this.

6. Corn Ethanol

why is this so prevalent in the US?

Corn ethanol is so prevalent in the United States as corn was already a major crop cultivated in the Midwest. His vice president, Dick Cheney, served as the CEO and chairman of Halliburton, the world's second largest oilfield services corporation, from 1995 until 2000.

Lobbyists and policy makers from the midwest are very vocal about using corn ethanol as an alternative energy source in the US. In addition, the US already had a huge supply of corn.

who backs it and why?

The major push for it happened under the presidency of George W. Bush, who was president during 2002.

The entire midwest supports it, as it will boost their economy. The Bush administration also supported the research of corn ethanol.

who was president in 2002, when many of the corn ethanol policies began?

George W. Bush.

George W. Bush.

what was his line of work before?

Before he embarked to Washington D.C. to help his father run for the presidency in 1988, Bush was active in the oil industry owning and working for several oil exploration companies.

Bush created Arbusto Energy, an oil company based in Midland, Texas.

what about the vice president?

His vice president, Dick Cheney, served as the CEO and chairman of Halliburton, the world's second largest oilfield services corporation, from 1995 until 2000.

Chainey was the former CEO and chairman of Halliburton, the second largest oil field support company in the world.

7. Cars

why do you think VW has put more research into biofuel cars than hybrids?

Volkswagen developed flex-fuel cars for Brazil because that was the nature of the market there. The infrastructure for ethanol was already mature and in place; developing a hybrid car would have not made sense as Brazil did not invest any money into the infrastructure necessary to sustain hybrid cars (charging stations, battery replacement/recycling programs...).

Biofuel cars, in the long run, will be more effective than hybrid cars.

when were CAFE standards started?

1975.

CAFE standards started in 1975.

what is a CAFE standard?

The Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards were first imposed in 1975 to raise the fuel economy of vehicles in the United States in the wake of the 1973 oil embargo.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, it basically set a standard for the average miles per gallons you could get for fuel.

what was made exempt from CAFE standards around 1995?

However, exemptions for SUVs were allowed around 1995.

SUVs

what impact did this have on the country?

The average fuel economy for vehicles in the United States now have dropped back to their normal levels.

The fuel economy sunk to a 20-year low.

8. Cellulosic Ethanol

what is this?

Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from other parts of plants that are inedible.

Ethanol made from cellulose instead of starch.

how is it different from corn ethanol or sugar ethanol?

Unlike corn ethanol and sugar ethanol which is made from starch, cellulosic ethanol is made from polymers of alpha-glucose monomers.

Because of the way the glucose chains are connected. Rather than being made out of starch, cellulosic ethanol is made from cellulose.

now rethink your bagasse question from above

why is Steve Chu key to this?

Steve Chu, during his time at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, pioneered research in the development of cellulosic ethanol as a viable fuel source. If perfected, any sort of plant waste, including bagasse, can be converted into ethanol instead of just being crudely burnt for heat.

Steve Chu has already been conducting research in this field for years. In addition, he is the Secretary of Energy and has the ability to have a large influence on policy and policy-makers.

imagine Brazil with sugar ethanol AND cellulosic ethanol-your thoughts?

A Brazil utilizing both sugar ethanol and cellulosic ethanol will be completely energy independent and hopefully serve as a model for how sustainable energy can be viable as well as economical for the future.

This seems to be a very effective and efficient, both for cars and for the environment way of producing energy.