Reading to be done before Class: AE Article 8, 15, 20.  Review articles from earlier in the week (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,

Additional Assignment: Sustainable Energy Homework

Today we read about some of the costs and potential dangers of conventional energy sources and consider sustainable alternatives (article 12).  Among the alternatives are hydrogen fuel (article 9), wind power (article 10), solar (article 11), nuclear (article 13 and 20), and biomas (article 14).  In class we will consider each the benefits and drawbacks of all of these alternatives.  Perhaps the message that comes out of reading all of these articles is that no single alternative will be sufficient to provide enough energy and be fully sustainable.  Perhaps one of the most important ways that we can achieve energy sustainability is simply to become more efficient at using it (article 15). More energy efficient appliances and better building techniques has resulted in a decrease in natural gas use.  At the same time, new home technologies demand more power and thus our electricity use has increased.  We will do some calculations of our own concerning home energy use. Achieving a sustainable energy future is not simply a matter of developing better technologies.  It is also a matter of economic trade offs.  We may think that we are saving money buy purchasing cheap appliances that lack efficiency features, but over the long run we often pay more than we need to. We'll discuss each of these technologies and see if we can't find a path to achieving sustainable energy use. 

Discussion Questions

Article 13 "What Nuclear Renaissance?" and Article 20 "Nature's Revenge" suggest that recent calls for the return of nuclear energy may be premature.  Is nuclear power a good energy option for the future? Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?

Article 8 talks about developments in technologies for carbon sequestration.  If successful this might enable continued use of coal as a sustainable alternative?  Is this a practical alternative?

What are the barriers to hyrdrogen powered cars?

What are the obstacles and opportunities for wind power (article 10)?

Why is location an important consideration for wind power?

How is wind power stimulating rural economies?

Is the solar grand plan presented in article 11 feasible?

What are the benefits and tradeoffs of biomas power? (article 14)

How important is improving energy efficiency for creating a sustainable energy system?

What do you think about the