PSC320 W18 Wk3

 

Monday’s Class: Combustion and Efficiency Back to Back to PSC 320 Main WebsiteBefore Class

  • Hans Rosling: Poverty Statistics video
  • Combustion with Slides (from Heat Engines Video)
  • Read China Axes 100 Coal Power Plant

  • LA Lead Crime connection.png
    LA Lead Crime connection.png

    Also, please check out the graph at right from this article in the BBC connecting lead in fuel (and subsequently in air) with violent crime rates. Note that the x-axis is split with the violent crimes (red) coming 23 years later than the lead concentrations (blue).

  • Note that it is “command and control” regulations from the government that ended leaded gasoline use. These are the kinds of regulations that Trump talks of ending because it encumbers business. Please read how NPR reports on the EPA is a victim of its own success.
  • California is considering outlawing gasoline garden equipment. Please read the article on NPR. Note the last two sentences: They bring up environmental justice, and finances.
  • I posted solutions to PS#1. Please see them and verify that you can do these problems.
  • PS#3 posted on main class website. Please read through it at your earliest convenience.

During Class

  • Big Exam! #2

After Class


Wednesday’s Class :

Before Class

  • Wealth of USA?.pngSolutions to PS#1 posted on main class website. Please make a USA wealth graph where the x-axis is each person in the USA ordered from poorest to richest, and the y-axis is how much money they have. That is if everyone had $200,000, it would look like the one on the left, and if each person had $10 more than the person before, it would look like the one on the right with the poorest person having nothing and the richest person having $3.2 billion. Please make two graphs: graph what you think the USA really looks like, and make a graph of how you think the USA would ideally look.
  • Only after you’ve done the above, please see Moyers: USA wealth gap
  • Please watch Conversion Efficiency with Slides (from Heat Engines Video)
  • Look up and read about cogeneration. What does it mean?
  • Please watch Carbon Intensity, and Carbon Intensity Slides.
  • Please have a look at this article about China’s decreasing carbon intensity to get a feel about how we use these terms… and see what China is doing.
  • Please read this article about the costs of treating coal miners with black lung. Consider the question: Is coal power cheap? What are some of the “external costs” or “externalities” (expect test questions on this)? How does society pay these external costs? How do you think society should pay these costs? Trump has promised to repeal regulations on corporations. How does this story highlight this repealing of regulations?
  • PS#3, due next Monday has been posted. This is the opportunity to address these questions before MT#1.
  • Do you what to hold the fossil fuel companies liable for climate change? Please attend tomorrow’s webinar and report back to class about what you learn. This could be part of your project.
  • Please log your self intervention
  • I have posted your feedback on the main class website. If you are concerned about the midterms, please see last year’s class and read through the midterms and solutions.

During Class

After Class


Friday: Activity: Please prepare: electricity generation, get power meters (future)

Before Activity

During class

  • We will look at electricity generation hardware and transformers

 


Friday: Please think about projects