Tag: Sustainable Engineering

Solar night lighting

Solar night lighting

02/01/17

“How can we light up the night using solar power?”

Turning on lights at night is one of the key requirements for safety in a populated area. However, such lights can be very taxing on the electrical grid. Could there be a way to circumvent this issue? Well, let’s think about it. We know that solar panels can be used to generate energy independent of the grid. And we also know that all of the excess energy can be stored in the batteries at night. So what if we were to take solar panels, generate some energy during the day, and then store it in batteries, so when the night comes, our lights can have a power source independent of the grid? This most fascinating setup is known as solar lighting, and is very useful for the fact that not only does it beneficial for the environment but also beneficial for a user’s wallet through net metering!

Renewable energy penetration

Renewable energy penetration

01/31/17

“What do scientists mean when they talk of renewable energy penetration?”

Often times, scientists will mention a term called “renewable energy penetration” when discussing sustainable systems. Now, the name itself probably comes off as a tad bit confusing, so what exactly do they mean? Well, renewable energy penetration simply means the amount of power in the electric grid that is supplied by renewable sources. This term is not just a simple measure of energy generation but is a phenomenon that energy engineers, planners, and policymakers must focus their active attention on since a grid with a high renewable percentage will have to deal with novel effects such as the duck curve and microgrid integration.

The duck curve

The duck curve

01/20/17

“What happens when demand and generation from renewable energy is out of sync?”

There is one nagging bump on the road to achieving a truly sustainable society. The energy generated from renewable sources is not constant but varies throughout the day. Specifically, the peak power generation happens during noon, when the sun is shining the brightest, and the minimum occurs after sunset. However, Human energy consumption has a tendency to be the opposite, since individuals are away from their homes during noon and return in the evening. This means that grids with a high sustainable penetration rate often struggle to cope with this imbalance of supply and demand, which manifests itself as a duck curve. One way to fix this issue would be to invest into a large amount of energy storage such as batteries or vehicle to grid technology.

Vehicle to grid technology

Vehicle to grid technology

01/29/17

“Could we use the batteries of electric vehicles to power our homes?”

Renewable energy has a problem. The peak times for generating such power (mid-day) is often not in sync with the peak stress on the grid (sunset, when solar energy is no longer available), and local battery storage can be quite expensive. So how can we circumvent this issue? Well, let’s use our engineering mindsets to solves this problem. One of the main problems stems from the lack of affordable energy storage. However, many sustainability conscious individuals also own electric vehicles. And in these electric vehicles are electric batteries which often times have excess energy. So what if when these cars were parked at night, they would feed energy back into the local smart grid to power homes? Well, this is the main idea behind a system which researchers refer to as vehicle to grid technology, which is not only environmentally friendly but economically with the use of net-metering.

How sustainable energy is better for job creation than fossil fuels

How sustainable energy is better for job creation than fossil fuels

01/28/17

“When the data adds up, does sustainable energy result for more and better jobs than fossil fuels?”

One of the most common diatribes launched against investment in renewable energy is that such ventures are wastes of money which should go into more economically fossil fuels. However, instead of accepting such claims blindly, how about we act as scientists and analyze such claims empirically?

Well, it turns out that a group of individuals at the World Bank decided to conduct such a study for the United States. To measure the economic potential each form of energy (solar, wind, coal, etc.), data was strewn from the jobs created per million dollars of investment. From this data, it was found that not only are clean energy industries over twice as effective on average than fossil fuels but also result in a higher percentage of direct jobs. Needless to say, renewable energy is anything but the overpriced caricature that oil companies make it out to be, and is a most logical option for the United States. So please, if you are a citizen or resident of the country (or the world for that matter), please stand together to combat the nefarious attempts by the current administration to hamstring all efforts by joining in the upcoming March for Science.

Vertical axis wind turbines

Vertical axis wind turbines

01/25/17

“Can we make wind turbines to be placed on another axis?”

Wind turbines are famous for their horizontal axis rotor design, looking like giant fans in the distance. However, do things have to be this way, and could it be possible to shift the turbine onto another axis? Well, let’s think about it. We know that the wind is always blowing perpendicular to a post in the ground. We also know that this wind can exert a pushing force on objects in its direction and that if such an object was freely attached a solid post a torque would be induced that would cause it to move around said post. Now, what if we were to take this torque and have it spin a generator to make electricity? Well, this turns out to be the operating principle behind a vertical wind axis turbine. The symmetric design of vertical wind axis turbines (also known as VAWTs) allows them to not need to “track” the direction of the wind (as the machine would be affected equally in all directions), place less fatigue on the gearbox, and can possibly be more efficient than traditional wind turbines. However, VAWTs are also more failure prone, which could prove to be burdensome on a company’ economics.

Solar batteries

Solar batteries

01/23/17

“How can we make a convenient way to store energy harvested from the sun?”

Solar power is a most fascinating and practical way to capture energy. Just by taking in natural energy from the sun, it can power homes, buildings, and even entire towns! However, all of this comes with one drawback; Solar energy can only operate when the sun is out. This means that if machines want to operate during the dark, there will need to be some way to store this energy. Well, instead of giving up, let’s use our engineering mindset to solve this problem. We know that one method to store energy is one that is found every day, batteries. Batteries can have a high energy and also discharge with ease. So what if we were to hook up a solar panel system to a battery to create a solar battery? This setup is the exact working principle behind a multitude of innovative projects such as Tesla Motor’s powerwall system and grid islanding infrastructure.

U.S investment into sustainable energy

U.S investment into sustainable energy

Isaac A. Gendler

21 January 2017

“Why should the new U.S president change his current sustainable energy policies?”

The un-maintainable use of nonrenewable energy resources for the operation of our civilization is putting too much stress on Earth’s resources. As a result of this trajectory, the economics and environmental consequences of non-renewable energy sources will become more prohibitive, forcing many countries to become more foresightful about their current actions and invest more into the burgeoning renewable energy sector in tandem with fabricating more environmentally friendly policies. However, by electing a vehemently anti-sustainability president, the response of the United States to this shifting paradigm is flat out ineffective. If the country does not switch paths to renewable energy it is highly probable that it will miss out on future potential and suffer economically as a nation.

Presently, humanity derives over ninety-four percent of its energy from nonrenewable sources such as petroleum , natural gas, and coal. (Key World Energy Statistics 2016). What makes an energy source non-renewable is that there is only a limited amount of the source on the planet, and once used up they are gone for good.

As a result of the irreplaceable nature of non-renewable forms of energy, the economics associated with using the resources is becoming more volatile as time goes on. When the supply of these materials that humanity holds shifts, economic perturbations will take effect that can devastate entire industries. To illustrate, in 2014, as a result of the revolution in fracking technology generated an economic boom of activity in the U.S state of North Dakota. However, this gas fueled economic engine already has seemed to have been exhausted, with the resultant oversupply causing a precipitous plunge in prices, leading to near unprofitability in operations and scores of ghost towns strewn throughout the state. (Scheyder, Ernest.) The coal industry in the United States, once the primary economic driver of the Appalachia region, is in the midst of a complete collapse, with frequent bankruptcies and production levels dropping down to a thirty-five year low (Goldberg, Suzanne.). The oil industry, a resurging power a few years back, has seemed to have again dipped down in unprofitability, with the corporate mega-conglomerate British Petroleum announcing hundreds of thousands of layoffs worldwide (Reed, Stanley.). And this unceasingly pendulum-like fortune of the non-renewable energy industry is in no way a recent phenomena, with the oil and natural gas industry being infamous for its high frequencies of booms and bust (Alsaadi, Nawar) (Mastrangelo, Erin). This extreme volatility is not sustainable for the basis of an economy, and by continuing to rely on it, we will suffer as a nation.

But economic ruptures are not the only form of destruction that non-renewable sources bring. The most used forms of non-renewable sources (Petroleum, coal, natural gas) are major contributors to a most ruinous phenomenon known as global warming (Laikha, Rinkesh). To put it simply, the pollutants emitted by the production of these resources cause an increase in average global temperature, which in turn throws the operation of our planet out of balance by melting polar ice caps, increasing ocean levels, and disrupting weather patterns. This in turn not only causes further economic but also health and environmental devastation. To elucidate on this point, a very recent natural disaster named Hurricane Sandy was tremendously amplified by global warming due to a combination of higher sea levels temperature (Freedman, Andrew. ). Nearly sixty-five billion dollars were lost and countless homes destroyed in the aftermath (Rice, Doyle). Much of this could have been avoided if humanity was more foresightful about the usage of dangerous fuel sources. Events like Hurricane Sandy are only bound to get worse, as anthropogenic temperature change is increasing at an exponential rate, possibly being raised up by over seven degrees by the end of the century! (Friedrich, Tobias et. all) It doesn’t take a rocket scientists to know that negligence to act against such a coming threat would prove disastrous

So how can humanity get off this eternal nauseating boom and bust cycle of non-renewable sources? The answer is to invest in sustainable energy, systems, and policy. Sustainable energy is energy from natural processes such as wind and solar that differs from traditional sources primarily in that such natural supplies are constantly being replenished, allowing for a “never ending” usage of said resources. If humanity truly wants to ensure an infinite future, it would only be logical to base its infrastructure off sources that could exist for such a time period.

However, technology alone will not be able to solve the global problems faced by humanity caused by its past negligence of the Earth’s resources, sustainable policies must be put in place. Current examples can be drawn from Portugal’s remuneration system for individuals generating their own renewable energy (Jimeno, Moïra) , California’s “action plan” to obtain 33 percent of its power be based on renewables by 2020 (Elliott, E. Donald) and setting pollution threshold limits for areas of nature (Fenn, M. E). However, we must not settle for what already has been done, and as the climate rises so must our endeavors.

Nations around the world have already taken heed to this call. China, one of the most powerful countries on earth and heaviest polluters on the planet, is pouring money into environmental protection(Janing, Wang) and sustainable energy (Dupuy, Max, and Wang Xuan). The United Arab Emirates, one of the premiere powers of the OPEC group, has admitted that relying exclusively on the petroleum market is unmaintainable for a country in the long term (Saadi, Daania), and is planning to have thirty percent of the nation’s energy come from renewable sources by 2030 (McAuly, Anthony). India, one of the fastest growing economies on the planet, targets to increase the nation’s solar capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2022 (Ross, Katherine.) ( For reference, the world’s solar capacity was 181 gigawatts in 2014 (Renné, David)) For the United States to make a true paradigm shift, the federal government should act similarly and conduct a strategic maneuver by setting up a national sustainable energy target date, and ensure it through tactical action by constructing new large-scale renewable energy projects and subsidizing existing businesses to use green technology. Such a move with a sturdy monetary backing would cajole individuals, corporations, and governments to take action to shift the infrastructure of the United States to be sustainable for the long term

But to its own detriment, the United States has decided to select the most anti-sustainability candidate for its future lear, Donald Trump. Trump not only doubts the veracity of climate change (openly calling it “a hoax created by the Chinese” (Trump,Donald)), but also wants his administration to implement a “100 day plan” which include rescinding all Obama-era restrictions on non-renewable resources, going forward with the Keystone pipeline, and canceling billions in payments to the U.N climate change protocols (Pandey, Avaneesh) (Kelly, Amita, and Barbara Sprunt).

In Trump’s viewpoint, investment into sustainable energy and policies (which he directly calls “an expensive feel-good for tree-huggers” (Trump, Donald 65)) should take a backseat to what he claims are more “proven” forms of energy such as petroleum and coal (Plumer, Brad), Trump’s policies goes even further with this mindset by proclaiming that any environmental restrictions created by preceding administrations (specifically ones concerned with coal production) should be abolished, as they supposedly restrict the potential of the United States economy (Trump, Donald J.). In his own words, Trump states that “Obama’s war on coal [implying regulations] is killing American jobs,.. and is creating a great business disadvantage”(Trump, Donald) and that “[He is] going to get rid of the EPA, of it in almost every form” (Fix, team)

However, Trump is not the only individual with this viewpoint. Many proponents of non-renewable energy like to point out that investment in such industries through projects likes the Keystone pipeline brings jobs, that comparable renewable energy projects are indeed quite expensive (Musial, Walter), and that such systems have to be constructed not only at a large scale to provide a practical amount for civilization but are also limited by geography and times of day (Laikhal, Rinkesh). According to their reasoning, it would be wise for the United States should go down Trump’s path and invest more into non-renewable sources.

But to the contrary, investment in sustainable energy and infrastructure has shown to have a great impact on the economy. Such technology has shown the possibility of creating up to one million more jobs by 2030 while increasing the U.S GDP by 145 billion dollars (Muradov, Nazim). Jobs in the renewable energy sector if the United States already have exceeded the number employed in petroleum/natural gas extraction and coal(Hirtenstein, Anna) and new technologies such as offshore wind turbines will allow for much more flexibility in geographic locations as well as higher efficiency extractions (Iyalla, Atelisika). Not only that, the price for solar panels and wind turbines have been dropping at astounding rates, making investment far less prohibitive (Randall, Tom). One could easily say that green energy implies both types of green, environmental and monetary.

In contrast, jobs created by non-renewable resource industries projects are of lesser quantity compared to ones created by renewable equivalents (Jobs, Bill) (with works such as the Keystone pipeline will only amount to 35 permanent positions (Sanders, Keith)), coal is on a path to death being dictated by market forces (Worland, Justin), and as stated before, the sinusoidal market of non-renewables is too volatile to supplement an economy. As for the question of the beneficiality of imposing environmental regulations over it, economics research has shown that not only do stringent regulations not cause major harm to economies (Dechezleprêtre, Antoine et. all), but that failure to act in unison in preventing further climate has the potential to ravage thirty-six percent of the United States GDP by the end of the century (Burke, Marshall et. all). By no means can old forms of energy provide a new future for our civilization.

To put this theory into practice, a clean energy path is necessary, and only through individual action can this happen. Such change can happen at the grassroots level. Not only can citizens act with their wallet by adopting and installing green technology to support companies and shift the market further into green energy’s favor, but can get out into the streets, join green organizations and lobby government officials to take heed. With such a proactive mindset, people can convince other individuals to change their minds and shift the coming tide into a new, sustainable future, both economically and environmentally.

References

Alsaadi, Nawar. “Why Oil Booms And Busts Happen.” OilPrice.com. OilPrice.com, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Burke, Marshall, Solomon M. Hsiang, and Edward Miguel. “Global Non-linear Effect of Temperature on Economic Production.” Nature 527.7577 (2015): 235-39. Web.

Dechezleprêtre, Antoine, and Misato Sato. The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Competitiveness. Issue brief. London: London School of Economics, 2014. Print.

Dupuy, Max, and Wang Xuan. “China’s String of New Policies Addressing Renewable Energy Curtailment: An Update.” Pardon Our Interruption. Renewable Energy World, 18 Apr. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Elliott, E. Donald. “Why the U.S. Does Not Have a Renewable Energy Policy.” SSRN Electronic Journal (2013): n. pag. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.

Erin, Erin. An Analysis of Price Volatility in Natural Gas Markets. Rep. Washington DC: US Energy Information Administration, 2007. Print.

Fenn, M. E. “Setting Limits: Using Air Pollution Thresholds to Protect and Restore U.S. Ecosystems.” Issues in Ecology 14 (2011): n. pag. Print.

Fix, Team. “The Fox News GOP Debate Transcript, Annotated.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 3 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Freedman, Andrew. “How Global Warming Made Hurricane Sandy Worse.” Climate Central: A Science & News Organization. Climate Central, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Friedrich, Tobias, Axel Timmermann, Michelle Tigchelaar, Oliver Elison Timm, and Andrey Ganopolski. “Nonlinear Climate Sensitivity and Its Implications for Future Greenhouse Warming.” Science Advances 2.11 (2016): n. pag. Print.

Goldberg, Suzanne. “The Death of US Coal: Industry on a Steep Decline as Cheap Natural Gas Rises.” The Guardian [London] 8 Apr. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Hirtenstein, Anna. “Clean-Energy Jobs Surpass Oil Drilling for First Time in U.S.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 25 May 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

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Donald, trump (realDonaldTrump) “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” 11:15 AM – 6 Nov 2012

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Hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen fuel cells

01/20/17

“Is it possible to extract the energy from fuels without an internal combustion engine?”

Fuels are tremendously useful substances for portable energy storage. However, extracting said energy from them is typically a highly pollutive process. But instead of disposing of this technology altogether, could it be possible that we could use our engineering mindsets to create a pollutive free fuel extractive technology? Well, let’s think about it. We know that fuels are typically rich in hydrogen [H2] gas, and we know that the surrounding atmosphere (at least on earth) is filled with a copious amount of oxygen [O2] gas. Furthermore, hydrogen in its ionized state has a positive charge and oxygen has a negative one, and that a current can be created if positive and negative charged states were connected together in a circuit. So what if we were to create a contraption that would separate the hydrogen gas into hydrogen ions and the oxygen gas into oxygen ions, funnel the extra electrons from the hydrogen side into the negative oxygen side, and finally combine then dispose of the surplus hydrogen and oxygen by combining them into water and flushing them out? This is the exact operating principle behind hydrogen fuel cell technology. Hydrogen fuel cells are typically implemented in automobiles and their demand growing at an exponential rate, with a 65% increases in sales from 2014-2015!

However, one must be cautious when using this technology. Because all fuels will be composed of more than hydrogen gas, those chemicals will be released as well, inducing pollution. In addition, these impurities can cause short circuiting. Since we all aspire to be scientific thinkers, we must be remember to be cautious of any new breakthroughs.