Week 5 320 W2020

Climate Change and Projects

Monday’s Class : Climate Change: 

Before Class

Wednesday’s Class: Solar Energy

Before Class

Hey, so thanks for the lively discussion Monday in class about choices we have. I had a few thoughts to share… with regard to making drastic changes, creating strong regulations, and the option to kill or impoverish the gross majority of humanity. We can see that our present federal administration is choosing the last of these three as evidenced by the repealing of regulations, denial of the looming climate crisis (let’s call it what it is), and the pressure to keep jobs in the USA and poor immigrants out. Then, I want to recognize that Kevin’s proposal for regulations is really not the same as making very hard changes… or at best is a subcategory of them. It is not realistic (in my opinion) to expect each individual to choose environment over their immediate benefit – because we share the environmental damage (as we share the atmosphere), but we carry an INDIVIDUAL burden if we sacrifice to save the environment. However, we can better convince people to all act together – this is what would be regulations. So, there probably should have been another choice – vote for shared action through strong market mechanisms and command and control regulations… and we should all know what these terms mean, right?

  • See solutions to PS#4, posted on main class website.
  • Please read this report about how the largest shipping company is betting big on a zero carbon future. Please come to class ready to explain their motivation and what it has to do with Blaise Pascal’s wager about the existence of God.
  • Please read this rand report.  Please come ready to talk about it in class:
    • In particular, I find this paragraph compelling. “Much progress has been made in improving disclosure of corporate exposure to greenhouse gas reduction policies through mechanisms such as the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures, a private sector initiative working to help businesses identify and disclose risks to their operations from climate policy. But less attention has been given to disclosing risks to businesses from climate impacts, such as the disruption of supply chains, or those faced by public organizations, such as city governments.”
    •  In the 5 stages of grief, where would you put this article?
  • Please see video: Solar PV , and slides
  • Please see video: Concentrated Solar and slides
  • Please see Pete’s Solar Research page. What makes our research special? What makes Solar electricity particularly timely right now? What questions do you have for special guest Pete Schwartz?
  • In particular,  August, 2019, we built and tested a cooking devices as we plan a small company to build and disseminate cookers in local communities. Please see this short video: Solar Cooking in Ghana.
  • Please read: What’s going to happen when solar is free and batteries are really cheap? Collapse of the Grid? What you need to know: distinguish “load defection” from “grid defection”.
  • During Class
  • After Class
  • Friday we meet at the Water Tower on Inner Perimeter. Wear long pants and close toed shoes!
  • Friday:  Meet at Water Tower on Inner Perimeter. Wear long pants and close toed shoes!
  • Before Class
  • Please see the video about Nuclear Power
  • Please see video Nuclear Safety
  • Please see the slides for today and Wednesday’s videos if you like.
  • Please see slides for videos on nuclear safety and waste (Monday’s video).
  • MUST READ! See this graph (and read the narrative if you like) from Our World In Data… also this  short article from Forbes about deaths per unit of electricity generated. Which technology is the least, the most dangerous? Where do deaths from rooftop solar come from?
  • Please see video about Nuclear Waste, Cost

During Class

After Class

For Monday: