PSC320 W18 Wk1

 

Global Energy Consumption Back to PSC 320 Main Website


Monday’s Class : Introductions, and discussion.
Before Class

  • Read syllabus on main class website
  • Please take this short survey before Monday’s class
  • Please go to the project page (link on main class website). Take a look at the projects and consider which ones interest you… or maybe you have your own project you’re interested in?
  • Help me determine office hours by filling out the doodle poll of when you think you will want to come to my office.
  • Read this (in my opinion) disturbing article of what we’re facing – your future: Bill McKibben in the New Yorker.
  • Watch this video: Intro_Energy_Conversion

During Class
Introductions
Talk about Projects


Wednesday’s Class :

Explain how wellbeing is coupled to wealth only for the very poor.

Identify different kinds of energy stocks and flows. Recognize 3 different primary energy sources

Make energy transition diagram from primary energy to radiant cooling.

Before Class

  • Dropping_Rock_Conversion
  • Happiness_and_Energy_I
  • Rossling_Ignorance
  • Please read this NPR article about global carbon (dioxide) emissions. Again underscoring the situation from yesterday’s New Yorker article.
  • Captioning Videos – If you hit the “CC” at lower right, your video will be captioned. Youtube has done a reasonable job captioning the videos, but there are a significant number of mistakes. I’m looking for a student to correct these mistakes. If you’re interested in doing this and think you’ll do a great job, please let me know.
  • PS#1 is posted on the main class website. Please read it and start it if you have time.

During Class
Talk about Projects

After Class


Friday Activity: Activity for Heat Engines

Before Activity

During Activity

  • We will make a calorimeter, heating water (in calories) by burning something of known energy content (like candle wax)

After Activity

  • Review problem set #1 questions
  • Prepare for class tomorrow (see below)

 


Friday Class:

How can we decouple wellbeing from CO2 emissions

Will the poor countries develop the same way we did? Is it important to us that they don’t?… the answer should be YES! Why?

Before Class

  • Happiness Emissions Decoupling
  • Read about recent news in Global Happiness.
  • US Human Energy Flows or US Energy Flows. Which one do you like better?
  • Rising Consumption in Developing World
  • Are you Pro-nuclear?… how about anti-nuclear? Maybe “nuclear curious”… Maybe you want free pizza? In any case, you can eat and talk about it at the second Cal Poly Nuclear Club Meeting. It’s next Wednesday, Jan 17… at 6 PM, immediately after class! Please see this announcement and RSVP. Then you can tell us Friday what it was all about.
  • Are you interested in a government internship? Maybe you want to push renewable energy… or improved efficiency? You can take part in “learn by doing” government internship. Applications are due by the end of the quarter. Check out details here.
  • Are you interested in SLO environmental activism? Then consider this meeting next week immediately after class… free pizza.
  • NY City files lawsuit against Fossil Fuel industry to pay for Climate Change damage.

During Class

  • Big Exam #1
  • Discuss first intervention

After Class

  • Don’t throw anything away for a week. Report your experience on the self intervention website (link on main website)