EGEE 101 H (Section 001) - - Energy and the Environment Spring 2013, TR 1:00-2:15P; 107 Rackley Building Course

Objectives

Learn fundamentals of energy conversion and associated environmental impact of power generation from different energy resources. Learn and exercise essential skills, including: concept mapping to think critically and understand relationships between different concepts writing clearly and effectively researching an assigned topic preparing oral presentations and iMovies publishing a group, or individual web page to document learning in energy and the environment

Course Description/Student Involvement in Learning References to "energy" in many phrases such as energy crisis, energy policy, and energy generation really connote "power" in a rigorous sense. This course will introduce fundamental concepts in energy literacy and energy numeracy in an active and collaborative learning environment. Understanding the conceptual difference between energy and power will bring home the constraints on energy choices and the trade-offs between generating power and protecting the environment. Students will write short essays, a semester paper, work in teams to give oral presentations and create an e-portfolio for learning/teaching, and produce a concept map on an assigned power source. Course requirements include conducting literature search and review, oral, written, and on-line communication as follows:

Research on Semester Project o literature search and critical review on an assigned topic presented in a paper Oral communication o class presentation o class participation and discussion Written communication o short essays o semester paper on research project On-line and visual communication o web page (e-portfolio) publication o concept mapping o iMovie production

Instructor Dr. Semih Eser Professor of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering Office: 114A Hosler Building; Phone: 863-1392; Fax: 865-3248 E-mail: seser@psu.edu; Office Hours: TR, 4 - 5 p.m. or by appointment. Homepage: http://www.eme.psu.edu//faculty/eser Required Reading Energy, A Beginner's Guide, Vaclav Smil, Oneworld Publications, 2006 & 2009 (E). What You Need to Know about Energy, The National Academies, 2010. Viewing America's Energy Future in Three Dimensions, Edited by L. Louis Hegedus and Dorota S. Temple, RTI International, 2011 (EF), Chapters 1, 3, 5. Papers and other material posted on ANGEL page. Course Assignments and Activities

Initial Essay (one-page long) to describe what you know about energy and power and what you expect to learn in this course. Submit to the drop box by January 10. Homework Assignments to review unit conversions and basic energy/power calculations. There will be three HW assignments. January 29, February 12, March 14 Short Essays with reflection on what you have learned. Submitted to the Essays drop box in ANGEL. There will be two short essay assignments. February 26, and March 26. Semester Paper on your project, due by April 4. Pop Readiness Assessment Tests (Pop RATs) on assigned reading material for the day. There will be three 10-minute tests. Unannounced to ensure that you keep up with the reading assignments. A team, or individual Concept Map of a selected topic related to power. Due by April 18.

Class Presentation on Semester Project on the assigned topic and date. April 16 - April 23.

A final essay (one-, or two-page long) to briefly reflect on what you have learned in this course with reference to your initial essay. Due by April 25.

Individual or Group Web Page (e-Portfolio) will integrate, initial essay, short reflective essays, semester project paper, team presentation, and final essay into a coherent on-line document to showcase what you have learned on the assigned energy topic and in this course, due by May 2.

Course Grade Initial one-page essay: 5% Oral presentation (individual, or team): 15% Essays (two assignments): 10% Pop RATs (three unannounced tests on reading assignments): 15% Semester Paper:10% Concept Map (individual, or team): 5% Group or Individual Web Page (e-portfolio): 15% Homework (three assignments): 15% Class Participation: 5% Final one-page essay: 5% Grade Scale A: 94-100 A-: 90-93 B+: 85-89 B: 80-84 B-: 75-79 C+: 70-74 C: 60-69 D: 50-59 F: less than 50 Course Schedule and Assignments Reading assignments are listed in the schedule. Please read the assigned material before coming to class to do well on Pop RATs. For reading assignments E represents the textbook Energy by Smil. Page numbers in the assignments for E refer to the new edition. See the ANGEL page for page numbers in the old edition. January 8: Welcome and introduction of course participants; introduction to the course; different views on energy January 10: Energy: Definitions; General Concepts; Units (Ch. 1 in E pp. 1-25 ) January 15: Energy in the Biosphere 1 (Ch. 2 in E pp. 26-46 -> Photosynthesis) January 17: Energy in the Biosphere 2 (Ch. 2 in E pp. 46-63) January 22: Energy in Human History ( Ch. 3 in E pp. 64-100) January 24: Class discussion on energy concepts and current issues January 29: Energy in the Modern World 1 (Ch. 4 in E pp. 101-125 -> oil and natural gas) January 31: Energy in the Modern World 2 (Ch. 4 in E pp. 125-149) February 5: Energy in Everyday Life (Ch. 5 in E pp. 150-185) Assign semester projects

February 7: Energy in the Future (Ch. 6 in E pp. 186-210) February 12: Discussion and Overview of Smil's Energy Read: The Tragedy of the Commons (Garrett Hardin's paper on ANGEL) February 14: Start reading "What You Need to Know about Energy," How We Use Energy and Home & Work February 19: How We Use Energy: Transportation and Industry February 21: Our Energy Sources and Electricity February 26: Fossil Fuels and Our Energy System February 28: Nuclear Energy and Renewable Energy Sources March 5, 7: Spring Break March 12: The Cost of Energy: Environmental Impact, Energy Security, and Sustainability March 14: Energy Efficiency: Getting More for Less and CAFE Standards March 19: Energy Efficiency: Industrial Efficiency and Refrigeration March 21: Energy Efficiency: Lighting and Heating and Cooling March 26: Workshop on Making iMovies will be held in the lab in W140 Pattee. March 28: Guest Lecture on Writing Papers, Kimberly Del Bright, Giles Writer-inResidence, College of Earth and Mineral Science April 2: Viewing America's Energy Future in Three Dimensions (pdf) - Chapter 1: Introduction, pp. 1-3; Chapter 3: Energy Economics (pp. 25-34) April 4: Viewing America's Energy Future in Three Dimensions (pdf) - Chapter 3: Energy Economics (pp. 34-40) April 9: Work on iMovie and your project presentation (no class) April 11: Work on iMovie your project presentation (no class) April 16: Semester Project Presentations April 18: Semester Project Presentations April 23: Semester Project Presentations April 25: Wrap-up Semester Project Your semester project will entail literature search, review, and presentation (oral, written, on-line in e-portfolio including an iMovie) on a current energy/environment topic. A team of two, or three students, or individuals will carry out these projects. I encourage working in teams, but you don't have to, if you are willing to do all the work by yourself. Suggested Topics 1. biomass energy (ethanol, biodiesel, net energy, efficiency, etc.) 2. petroleum (reserves, peak oil, production, refining, transportation, etc.) 3. coal (mining, cleaning, electricity generation, power plant emissions, etc.) 4. natural gas (reserves, production, transportation, electricity generation, use in transportation, LNG, etc.) 5. nuclear energy (power plants, nuclear fuel cycle, disposal of highly radioactive

waste, power plant accidents, etc.) 6. hydropower (water cycle, hydroelectric dams, environmental impact, etc) 7. geothermal power (electricity generation, heat pumps, environmental impact, etc.) 8. solar power (direct [pv] and indirect [thermal] generation of electricity, efficiency, potential contribution, storage, etc.) 9. wind power (turbines, efficiency, capacity, environmental impact, storage options, etc.) 10. hydrogen economy and fuel cells (energy carrier, potential contribution, net energy, efficiency, limitations, etc.) 11. ocean energy (wave, tidal power, efficiency, limitations, etc.) 12. transportation (internal combustion engines [gasoline, diesel, jet fuel], efficiency, hybrid electric cars, SUVs, emissions, etc.) 13. residential commercial energy use (space heating, appliance, conservation, green buildings, etc.) 14. global climate change (greenhouse gas emissions and Kyoto Protocol, global warming, climate models, effects and threats, etc). 15. the tragedy of the commons (an expansion of Garrett Hardin's classic paper to energy and environment issues) Related Assignments Oral presentation (individual): 15% of course grade Semester Paper: 10% (could be on a different topic) Concept Map (individual, or team): 5% Group or Individual Web Page (e-portfolio to document learning): 15% Class Presentation You will present your semester project in class. Presentations should take approximately 20 minutes with 5 minutes allocated for questions and discussion. Every group member must deliver a part of the presentation. Your presentation should consist of at least five sections as follows: 1) Introduction / A Brief Historical Account 2) Technological Aspects (availability, efficiency, significance) 3) Social Aspects 4) Environmental Aspects 5) Conclusions Grading of Presentations Grading of the presentations will be based on: 1) Relevance and depth of the presented material 2) Accuracy and currency of the information 3) Clarity of the presentation and visual aids, including the iMovie

4) Responses to questions and comments after the presentation 5) Confidential participation grades you will receive from each partner in the group to make sure that everybody in the group contributes to the work. Semester Paper Your semester paper should provide a critical overview of an energy related topic your semester project- in a science/technology/society context. You should conduct a good library search to locate and read relevant references before writing your paper. Try to reflect on your personal experiences and prior knowledge as much as possible in your paper. Carefully proofread your paper to make sure that you don't have any grammatical or spelling errors. Below is more information on the semester paper. Length and Format of the Paper Typically, I expect 6-8 pages of double-spaced text to contain the following sections: - Abstract (1/2 page) A concise summary of your paper. - Introduction (1 page) Statement of the problem, your hypothesis, and the objective(s) of your paper. - Literature Review (2 pages) A brief historical review of your topic with clear references to your sources. - Discussion (3 - 5 pages) Discussion of current issues relevant to your topic and the main concerns about current and future energy use, including resource limits, environmental impact, social consequences, economics, sustainability, etc. - Conclusions (1 page) A review of your major findings and ideas. - References (1 page) Cite your references properly using a consistent style throughout. I would like to see at least 10 references other than the textbooks and other resources assigned for this course. Grading of the Paper I will grade your paper based on the relevance, clarity, and integrity of the information, and the discussion offered in a social context. Introduction: 10% Literature Review: 30%

Discussion: 40% Conclusions: 10% References: 10% Short Essays Writing essays based on class notes and reading assignments and your subsequent research on the covered topics will help you organize your ideas and new knowledge. In your essays, you can comment on and what you have "taken away" from a chapter, from a book, and what you have learned from your research. Essays should include connections between what you learn in this course and in other courses, and personal experiences. The essays need not be longer than two pages with references. You will submit two essays as assigned to the appropriate ANGEL drop box. Essays will be graded on accuracy of the information (70%), organization of the ideas, or topics (20%), and grammar (10%).

Homework Assignments Some numerical problems will be assigned as homework to go over technical concepts and simple calculations. There will be a total of three homework assignments throughout the semester. Academic Conduct Penn States policy on academic integrity applies to all aspects of course deliverables. Students are encouraged to work together, in groups, but to submit independent contributions where appropriate, and collaborative contributions where noted. Further details are available at: www.ems.psu.edu/students/integrity/index.html Accessibility Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Office for Disability Services (ODS) Web site provides contact information for every Penn State campus: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further information, please visit the Office for Disability Services Web site: http://equity.psu.edu/ods In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campuss disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations. Internet Resources Energy Information Administration Environmental Protection Agency