Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy

1. Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy

2. 20.1 Conservation • There are many ways to save energy • Green buildings can cut energy costs by half • Transportation could be far more efficient • Cogeneration produces both electricity and heat

3. Urban Sprawl • Steamboat suburbs, 1830’s • Railroad suburbs by 1850’s • “Commuter, “ 1865 • Planned suburbs, late 1800’s • Streetcars and Interurban railroads

4. Wisconsin Interurban Railroads

5. Midwest Interurban Railroads

6. Interurban Rail, Los Angeles

7. Los Angeles Streetcar Lines

8. Los Angeles doesn’t sprawl because it has freeways --Los Angeles built freeways because it sprawls

9. The Downside of Light Rail • Lines were very unprofitable • Owners invested in real estate • Ironically, light rail created urban sprawl • Sometimes built amusement parks at the end of the line • Lines frequently serviced owners’ developments and bypassed others

10. End of the Urban Rail Era • A Cartel of Oil, Rubber and Auto Companies Bought up and dismantled urban rail lines in the 1930’s and 1940’s • Not To Sell Cars, But Buses • Cartel Was Fined But By That Time The Systems Were Dismantled

11. 1883 Stationary Gas Engine

12. Early Motorcycle, 1885

13. 1889 Daimler Auto

14. 1902 Daimler Roadster

15. Mercedes Jellinek

16. World War I • Railroads insufficient for Army’s needs • Army turned to truck convoys • Civilians found convoy routes featured such revolutionary innovations as: • Route Markings • Regular Maintenance • Snow Removal

17. Pershing’s Map, 1922

18. The Interstate Highway System

20. If You Think Cars Pollute, Consider Horses • New York City generated thousands of tons of horse manure a day • Horses often cruelly overworked • 15,000 horses a year died on the streets of New York each year • Many were just abandoned

27. 20.2 Tapping Solar Energy • Solar collectors can be passive or active • Storing solar energy is problematic

28. 20.3 High Temperature Solar Energy • Simple solar cookers can save energy • Utilities are promoting renewable energy • Photovoltaic cells capture solar energy • Electrical energy is difficult and expensive to store

29. 20.4 Fuel Cells • All fuel cells have similar components • Several different electrolytes can be used in fuel cells

30. 20.5 Energy From Biomass • We can burn biomass • Methane from biomass is clean and efficient • Ethanol and biodiesel can contribute to fuel supplies • Cellulosic ethanol seems to offer hope for the future • Can Biofuels Be Sustainable? • Could algae be a hope for the future?

31. The Math of Ethanol • U.S. Uses 7 billion barrels of oil a year • Equals 293 billion gallons • Ethanol Equivalent = 439 billion gallons • 2.8 gallons/bushel of corn = 157 billion bushels • U.S. Corn Production 2010 = 13 billion bushels

32. 20.6 Energy From The Earth’s Forces • Falling water has been used as an energy source since ancient times • Wind energy is our fastest growing renewable source • Wind could meet all our energy needs • Geothermal heat, tides, and waves could be valuable resources • Ocean thermal electric conversion might be useful