Keynote: On Transportation and Energy

On Energy and Transportation

The Energy Crisis

• New York City, 1969: Electrical Energy Shortage -- Consolidated Edison Company cut power by 20%.
  
• Since 1900, electrical energy consumption in the U.S. has been increasing at an average annual rate of 7%. At this rate, consumption of energy doubles in ten years.
  
• Energy crisis not only associated with electrical energy. Approximately one-quarter of this energy is used for the generation of electricity. The rest is used for transportation, industrial processes, and heating.
  
• There is a sufficient amount of coal for at least the next millennium at the present rate of consumption, but not for petroleum and natural gas, although there is enough to last many decades.
  
• Associated with the combustion of fossil fuels is the release of pollutants.
  
• The reduction of energy consumption does not imply the reduction of life quality. An increase in the efficiency of use can equal to an increase in supply.
  
• The automobile, while offering convenience and privacy, is an excessively large consumer compared to mass transportation systems.
  
• Crisis is a conflict between supply and demand.
  

In Relation to Transportation

• Indirect uses of energy notably the energy required to produce and service vehicles, construct and maintain road and rail systems, and provide the amenities required for transportation services (ex. airports, terminals, garages) causes one-third of all energy consumption.
  
• Statistic: There are approx. 100million passenger cars, and each car on average is driven 10,000 miles, consuming approx. 800 gallons of gasoline per year.
  
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the most important factor affecting vehicle milage is weight. For example, a 2000-lb vehicle is twice as efficient as a 4000-lb vehicle. A reduction in the weight of automobiles could result in the reduction in fuel consumption. Energy consumption for transportation could be reduced by more than 25%.
  
• Prior to 1973, there was a shift to less energy efficient modes of transportation. Truck, automobile, and airplane usage steadily increased. Deterioration of rail transportation (passenger/freight) was caused by the use of less energy efficient modes of transportation.
  
• High speed rail passenger service could replace short distance air travel. Trains are not only approximately three times as energy as efficient as airplane, but they provide direct service to urban areas, eliminating the need for transportation to and from airports (indirect energy consumption).
  
• Buses and subways are twice as energy efficient as the private automobile. Public transportation reduces urban congestion as well as alleviates the need for space consuming parking facilities.

Source
Krenz, Jerrold H. Energy: Conversion and Utilization (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1976), 2, 8, 310-314, 317-318.

Haylie Chan

November 8, 2010

Water: Hydropower

      Presently, hydropower is used almost exclusively for the generation of electricity.Unlike fossil fuels, water power is a renewable source of energy which does not deplete through usage.

       In 1850, wind and water power accounted for two-thirds of mechanical power used in the U.S.

       Small scale hydropower installations utilized only a small fraction of a stream’s or river’s potential

       Large-scale hydroelectric power plants are built in conjunction with a reservoir. From the reservoir, water may be withdrawn.

      Source
Krenz, Jerrold H. Energy: Conversion and Utilization (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1976), 259-260.

      Haylie Chan

      November 9, 2010

More on energy production

Coverting Water Wheel Mills to Electrical production

A Waterwheel is a system for extracting usable power from the water flowing in a river or stream. Along with windmills, waterwheels have been powering the milling of flour and other industry for hundreds of years.

Although waterwheels have now died out of use across most of the world thanks to national grid electricity, they are still common use off-grid in places such as Nepal and India where hundreds of thousands of waterwheels are still used to this day. For many in the Himalayan regions a water wheels is the only source of power, together with dangerous kerosene lamps.

Now people are looking at ways in which waterwheels can be used to generate electricity , not just for these remote regions, but also in Europ eand North America where enormous energy resources are untapped at the present.

In developing countries where water wheel power is common, electricity can be generated fro those peropl ewho lieve where the electricity grid cannot reach, and combined with modern energy efficient LED and CFT lighting, can improve their standard of living enormously. It is not complicated or expensive to modify an existing waterwheel driven mill to operate as an electricity generator.

One example of how simply a wsater power can be used to generate electricity. If a small watermill turns at around 60rpm a belt to an alternator is made to turn at hundres of rpm, and so the voltage generated is perfect for recharging 12V batteries.

Car alternators can supply hundreds of watts of electrical power which can then be used to power lighting, radios, computers and so on. The typical cost of such a sytems is about $50, and has the advantage that the waterwheels used to generate power as been and continue to be maintained by the mill owner as it has been for centuries.

http://www.bluemoonstew.com/

Conservation of Energy Methods

Here are a few bits of technology easily adaptable to meet many different narratives.

Solar Water Heating

Solar water heating is perhaps one of the most prolific uses of solar energy in Australian homes - particularly in cities such as Brisbane which recieves fairly consisten amounts o fsunlight throughout the year. Youcan benefit from a good slupply of hot water without having to pay alarming energy bills. IN average homes, hot water is the main contributor to enrgy bills

Basically, cool tap water is sent through a system o fpipes which are heated naturally by the sun. The heated pipes transfer their energy to the water as it runs through the pieps and the water is sent back into the house's boiler. Sometimes, in passive solutions, the solar hot water is sent directly to the taps. Here is an examples of solar hot water systems typically found in Brisbane.

http://www.energyrant.com/brisbane-solar-resources/brisbane-solar-hot-water/


Solar hot water systesms require solar panels and solar collectors to be installed on the roof with the preferred orientation being due North. Some solar hot water systems known as close coupled solar systems have both the hot water tank and collectos on the roof which keeps everything together and can be cheaper than a split solar system which separates the hot water tank and the collectors with the hot water tank situated on the ground. Our most common brands are Dux solar and Rheem solar however we often deal with hot water manufcatureres such as Rinnai, Edwards and Solahart.

http://www.plumbing-brisbane.com.au/hot_water_systems.html

Wind Energy Systems

Wind turbines have continued to grow dramatically in size and efficiency, from 50kW in the late 1980s to up to 5 MW today. Wind power is instrinsically CO2 free. Therefore, wind turbines are rapidly becoming an integrated part of modern power production in many countries. The industry now produces wind turbines tha play an active part in th control and regulatory functions of power systems, in contrast to older turbines that did little to support the stability of the grid. The future R&D challenges for the industry, will focus on optimizing wind turbine performance by designing the most efficient and robust wind turbines while reducing the weight and, if possible, physical size of the turbines.

Offshore wind

Offshore wind turbine technology is a Danish specialty. More thant 90% of all offshore wind turbines worldwide com from Danish companies. This is underlined by the Danish wind industry's continuous work to make offshore power plants even more efficient, with a special focus on the fufrther technological and commercial innovation of:

- Installation methods

- Foundations

- Cabling installation

- Grid connections

- Maintenance

Design optimization, the assessment of environmental impact, and the management of these large scale marine construction projects require specialized expertise. Danish companies have vast experience in meeting the challenges of constructing offshore wind power plants.

http://www.energymap.dk/Technology-Areas/Renewable-Energy/Wind-Power?gclid=CNOzgtaclKUCFcPsKgodtTMs5Q

On Energy and Transportation

The Energy Crisis

• New York City, 1969: Electrical Energy Shortage -- Consolidated Edison Company cut power by 20%.
  
  
• Since 1900, electrical energy consumption in the U.S. has been increasing at an average annual rate of 7%. At this rate, consumption of energy doubles in ten years.
  
  
• Energy crisis not only associated with electrical energy. Approximately one-quarter of this energy is used for the generation of electricity. The rest is used for transportation, industrial processes, and heating.
  
  
• There is a sufficient amount of coal for at least the next millennium at the present rate of consumption, but not for petroleum and natural gas, although there is enough to last many decades.
  
  
• Associated with the combustion of fossil fuels is the release of pollutants.
  
  
• The reduction of energy consumption does not imply the reduction of life quality. An increase in the efficiency of use can equal to an increase in supply.
  
  
• The automobile, while offering convenience and privacy, is an excessively large consumer compared to mass transportation systems.
  
  
• Crisis is a conflict between supply and demand.
  
  

In Relation to Transportation

• Indirect uses of energy notably the energy required to produce and service vehicles, construct and maintain road and rail systems, and provide the amenities required for transportation services (ex. airports, terminals, garages) causes one-third of all energy consumption.
  
  
• Statistic: There are approx. 100million passenger cars, and each car on average is driven 10,000 miles, consuming approx. 800 gallons of gasoline per year.
  
  
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the most important factor affecting vehicle milage is weight. For example, a 2000-lb vehicle is twice as efficient as a 4000-lb vehicle. A reduction in the weight of automobiles could result in the reduction in fuel consumption. Energy consumption for transportation could be reduced by more than 25%.
  
  
• Prior to 1973, there was a shift to less energy efficient modes of transportation. Truck, automobile, and airplane usage steadily increased. Deterioration of rail transportation (passenger/freight) was caused by the use of less energy efficient modes of transportation.
  
  
• High speed rail passenger service could replace short distance air travel. Trains are not only approximately three times as energy as efficient as airplane, but they provide direct service to urban areas, eliminating the need for transportation to and from airports (indirect energy consumption).
  
  
• Buses and subways are twice as energy efficient as the private automobile. Public transportation reduces urban congestion as well as alleviates the need for space consuming parking facilities.
  

Source
Krenz, Jerrold H. Energy: Conversion and Utilization (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1976), 2, 8, 310-314, 317-318.

Haylie Chan

November 8, 2010

Patrick Verkley - Research - November 9th 2010

Hey,

Here are Scans of my Information found. The focus is on alternative energy and building methoeds which can be incorperated into the Building envelope.

•Geothermal - Harnessing the radiant heat energy of the earth. Primarily it is used for Heating and Cooling within the House. By building very efficient houses, with good insulation, the amount of energy required to maintain a reasonable temperature year round is minimal.

•Wind - Can be harnessed and transferred into electricity. It could also power the pumps in the Geothermal system, making heating and cooling of the house self sufficient.

•Solar - Another way to make free energy. Besides making electricity via Solar panel, simple black plastic pipes can be used to heat water, much like a backyard pool system.

•Anaerobic Digester - Make energy from Shit. Basically, the gasses produced from the breakdown of manure (typically from Farm animals) can be used to power a Generator. Green Meadow Farms in Elsie Michigan has been doing this (with varying degrees of success) since the early 1980's. My dad visited the farm back then, and last summer, we took a Motercycle ride back to see it. They are now running a V16 Cat engine from the methane collected from their 3000 Dairy Cows. Stanton Dairy farms, just north of London Ontario has recently brought online their own digester, generating power from their 800 milking cows and replacements, meaning they have about 1600 cows all producing Shit every single day of the year.

My notes are included in the scans. My Books are as follows:

Works Cited

Jones, David Lloyd. Architecture and the Environment: Bioclimatic Building Design. Woodstock, NY: Overlook, 1998. Print.

Melet, Ed. Sustainable Architecture: towards a Diverse Built Environment. Rotterdam: NAI, 1999. Print.

Smith, Peter F. Sustainability at the Cutting Edge: Emerging Technologies for Low Energy Buildings. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2003. Print.

Electricity/Energy

Overview
Energy is essentially the ability or capacity to perform work. It can not be created, but can only be transformed from one form to another. Many types of energy exist such as, in physics, kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, and elastic energy. In the urban society, energy is needed for one to function through a day. Over the years, humans have developed their use of electricity, oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy.


Focus: Electricity
In physics, electricity results from the flow of electric charge. It was not until the 1600s that electricity has been closely examined. William Gilbert, English scientist, researched about magnetism and electricity and distinguished between the lodestone effect from static electricity. He did this by rubbing amber. Later on, Benjamin Franklin, Alessandro Volta, and George Ohm further developed the concepts of electricity through experimental analysis.


Supply
In the urban and developed society, electricity is well-depended on. The electrical power industry produces and delivers electrical power to households, businesses and more. Supplies of electrical power varies amongst the nations; the demand of electrical power in some nations override their ability to produce. Developing countries do not have an efficient amount of electrical power supply.


Production
There are many ways to produce electricity. Such ways include:

• Hydro-electricity: Using the natural force/flow of water (ex. waterfall), the energy is produced.
  
  
• Solar power: It is very common to have a roof covered with solar panels. Solar panels convert the light produced by the sun into electricity.

Conservation


In physics, it is determined that energy is neither created or dismissed, but is only gained or loss. In the urban society, energy is wasted and not used to its full potential, resulting in the unnecessary fees that one has to cover. With the acknowledgment that energy is being wasted and will not be restored at the same rate as it will be used, people have determined ways to conserve energy. In other words, people have become eco-friendly by respecting nature and the right amount of use of energy.


Haylie
November 7, 2010.