SP22: ENVS-119 Sec 80 - Energy and Environ

Instructor: Benoit Delaveau, M.S, CEM, BEAP (Prof. Ben)

Email: benoit.delaveau@sjsu.edu (always use Canvas messaging)

Office Hours: Tu-Th 10:30am to 11:30am ALWAYS book me on calendly.com/benoit-delaveau (link)

Zoom lectures: Tu and Th 9:00am - 10:15am from 1/27/2022 to 5/12/2022 (31 class meetings)

https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/85872515453 (MySJSU authentification needed)

 

Class syllabus (code of conduct and Online rules) available for download, click here 

Energy & the Environment ENVS/ENGR 119, Fall 2021 Course Schedule
This schedule is subject to change with fair notice. If necessary, the electronic schedule available on Canvas will be updated along the semester on a week to week basis.

1/27 Part 1. Energy Science Fundamentals - Syllabus + Reading + Quiz 1 - Lecture 01

Read: ENVS/ENGR 119 Syllabus
Read: Vaclav Smil. 2006. Energy. Encyclopedia of World History. Berkshire Publishing.

Q. What are the skills checked on an area R General Education class like this one?
Q. What is the final research paper assessment in this class?
Q. What will happen if you miss a lecture with a quiz?
Q. Understand the concept of "energy ladder" as described in class and by Smil.
Q. What are the key shifts in the evolution of energy use? What changed with the shift from biomass to fossil fuels? When?
Q. What is the larger conclusion of the Smil piece regarding energy, prosperity and sustainability?

Zoom lecture recording:

(none)

2/1 Energy, Society, Environment and Climate Change + Quiz 2
+ Assignment #1 worksheet released  + MIT Conversion sheet  + Lecture 02
Introduction to the challenges and dilemmas related to energy and its impacts on the environment. 
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 1 and 2 (p. 3-70).
Read: Bill McKibben, B. 2012. “Global Warming's Terrifying New Math.” Rolling Stone. July 24, 2012.
Q. McKibben mentions the +2 ̊Celcius global temperature threshold. Why is this particular value important related to climate change?
Q. In "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math" Bill McKibben mentions three numbers regarding carbon (565, 2,795 Gigatons...). Understand the significance of these data.
Q. In your textbook from Randolph and Master, what is the definition of the word "sustainability"?
Q. In your textbook from Randolph and Master, what is the definition of the word "life cycle analysis" how is this approach related to energy and climate change?

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/9zW2OtF9Ho-snRhM5zNR372WVOcbbZ7lZ1fCY2NOJ6StbNxmsVewUy4dCU4R6FGo.kahxWgDQNl71C3VO
(Passcode: 5ZBna%G^)

2/3 Energy Unit & Conversion + Workshop on assignment #1 type of problems + MIT Conversion sheet + lecture #03
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 4, Section 4.1 to 4.3.2 (p., 117–125), section 4.4 to 4.5.2 (p. 127–134) and section 4.8 to end of chapter (p. 157-164).
Q. What are the differences between forces and energy?
Q. What are the key forms of energy (list)?
Q. How is electricity made in a thermal/fossil fuel powered power plant?
Q. What units do we use to measure power (list) and energy (list)?
Q. How are basic unit conversions calculated?
Q. What are the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics?
Q. Understand the definition of "efficiency" and how to apply multiple efficiency factors (from the power plant to light bulb example).

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/b8sOJq_iHA00hd4iqrnLzMbFFIvvqv2cR-8cdmo5tF_qMg7mYWO3XHPPdxlvlkxb.e4I4uIByVoOQUNKt (Passcode: =GF16cpK)

2/8 Part II: Energy systems and power plants - Live DEMO with prof. Ben miniature PowerPlant -  Coal Energy - Lecture #04
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 9, Section 9.1 to 9.8 (p., 359–392)
Q. How coal is related to the US electricity supply?
Q. How a coal powerplant works?
Q. Which region in the U.S is heavily dependent on coal-based electricity?
Q. What about California - Is CA using Coal to produce electricity?
Watch: PBS - Coal Miners from Two Generations Betting on Trump

Zoom lecture recording. Class discussion around assignment #1 and PBS Coal miners documentary (see link above). Short lectures on slides:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/lUkmzig7LnfB9kOvI8vwrSldSpTDVJ6PSLJBuCpY1AXODCUopqsviF9EU6ETjV_h.2jSk-lhqo3L1kyBB (Passcode: 27Zcc.$9)

2/10 US Social/political Issues with Coal Energy + Quiz #3 + Lecture #05
Read: Jeff Goodell, 2007. Chapter. The Saudi Arabia of Coal. Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future. NY: Mariner Books, p. 3-20.
Q. Understand what are (1) mechanical energy, (2) chemical energy, (3) thermal energy, (4) electricity, (5) nuclear energy... the differences, and what technologies are used to transform on to another with examples.
Q. According to Goodell in "The Saudi Arabia of Coal" where is located the "self-proclaimed Energy Capital of the World"?
Q. As energy is not created, what is the primary source of energy that led to the making of Coal?
Q. What was the trajectory of Coal use in the US for the last 10 years?
Q. What is the long term future of Coal energy?
Q. Why is Coal has been phase-out so aggressively over the last 10 years?

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/P5a_XYROQYFRgVXxefacnIq4UMJYnNptiG576xDviDLtzMXU8DF0flESV7vafWXc.88Ybd_Ut6bKu-lif (Passcode: ^a9uxyP3)

2/15 Group Workshop on assignment #1 - Assignment 1 due + Gas Land (movie aired in class)
Zoom lecture recording: NONE (Break-out rooms)

2/17 Natural gas Energy (Lecture #06) + Final Research Paper (book presented) - Assignment 2 released
Read: Vaclav Smil. 2012. Placing American gas boom in perspective. The American. May 3, 2012.
Watch: GasLand, the movie (link)2010 American documentary written and directed by Josh Fox (Wikipedia)
Q. What are the claims and counter-claims about the American gas boom and the hydraulic fracking technology that allowed it? (list possible environmental and societal impacts, and the natural gas/US energy security link)
Q. In what states is located Marcellus Shale deposit?
Q. What is the opinion of Smil about fracking natural gas in the US?

Zoom lecture recording (natural gas intro.): 
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/QrjTbyhkpHBfIcIvZCFJuhd2lQgB7U5JyFGiJou-8uAMEP3GJTgDb2Udef0CqhVt.E3UYJGE18yYK5eVk (Passcode: h#!T5e%1)

Zoom lecture recording (choice of books for final research paper)
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/wAFZev0rUT6O-th_hkqxLXjng8svmxfNZJe6Ji4oiFioJQ0NM4KFzlx60v4-oJg.sIQbiuJAhxWNa5Tv (Passcode: to@6yRj^)

2/22 Natural gas Energy + Quiz #4
Read: Chris Mooney. 2011. The Truth About Fracking. Scientific American. November: 80–5
Q. What are the key scientific debates around fracking? What do we know and not know? Are all fracking sites having issue with pollution of the local water sources? 
Q. In "The Truth About Fracking" Chris Mooney write about solutions to the fracking controversy... which one is proposed in the article?
Q. Why was Josh Fox threatened to be sued by VP. Dick Cheney following the release of the documentary "Gas Land"?
Q. Why is natural gas often described as the "bridge fuel"?

Zoom lecture recording (Q/A on the questions listed above, before Quiz #4):
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/QO6S0ZPvK4f98vqYsXXIq1AZzvjvaMRtlnLcpDC4BkhALhuoI9qUGrJxCfecEgIx.gNeMlOXnPDQylr-u (Passcode: JY2Hzb@1)

2/24 Petroleum Energy (Lecture #07) 
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 13, Transportation Energy and efficient vehicles. p. 491-519
Read: Vaclav Smil. 2011. America’s oil imports: A self-inflicted burden. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101:1-4.

Q. From Randolph and Masters Chap. 13 (published in 2008), the graph titled "Growth of Transportation Petroleum Use by Mode, 1970-2004 with U.S Projections to 2030" shows a very clear prediction. What is it? 
Q. From Randolph and Masters Chap. 13, the graph titled "WTW (Well-to-wheel) Annual Fuel Cost" shows an automobile technology with a clear "cheaper" fuel cost. What is it?
Q. What are the factors that drive America's excessive consumption (addiction) of/to petroleum according to Smil?

Watch: “The Crude Poker Game” (documentary up loaded on Canvas - link)

 

3/1 Petroleum Energy 
Read: Jeremy Miller. 2011. The Colonization of Kern County: A story of oil and water. Orion Magazine. January/February.
Q. Where are the largest oil fields located in California?
Q. What is the main struggle for the oil industry in this region that is preventing a massive drilling campaign from occurring?
Q. The documentary "The Crude Poker Game" explains the competition between three major oil/petroleum global suppliers to control the oil market and the prices. Who are these three competitors?  (Hint: These competitors are mentioned in lecture slide, page 5)
Q. What are the strategies deployed by Russia, OPEC and the US in the documentary "The Crude Poker Game"?

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/Bgkn2s6944uY9K4XSH7tuenQxO8YzV6-to38BKKdDMBr3FkMfrBE_caXwuXfqY4M.6HSoGexBgUyS7dWU Passcode: RHd^YM+1

 

3/3 Sustainable transportation Lecture #08 + Quiz #5
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 13, Transportation Energy and efficient vehicles. p.519-538
Read: David Ferris. 2020. Five years after Dieselgate, has VW changed? renews.net/energywire

Q. What is the name of the air pollutant that VW "Clean Diesel" engines emitted x10 to x40 times over the federal standard limit?
Q. What are the primary obstacles to widespread EV adoption?
Q. Depending on the feedstock for making hydrogen fuel, it could have substantial benefits or very limited benefits if at all. What are the primary challenges to making hydrogen fuel sustainable?

Podcast: KQED Public radio Market Place March 2, 2022 
https://www.marketplace.org/2022/03/02/theres-an-oil-market-crisis-even-without-sanctions-on-russian-exports/

Zoom lecture recording (end of Petroleum slides):
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/yG958rfk45cl_tPACFwPAcKWG79tgmf_0ic7Rt8ybtbnei771Vyc6WLybgMbV5o.qhCnIBVul57KSBXLPasscode: gTY6SmL%

 

3/8 Work session on assignment #2 + Final Research Paper book list and student presentation on their choice 
Read: Kyle Field. 2020. Electric Ford F-150 Will Offer Fleets Game-Changing 40% Lower Cost Of Operation. Cleantechnica.com

Q. According to Randolph and Masters Chap 13, what are PHEV, BEV, ICE,  vehicles? 
Q. According to Field in the article related to the 2022 Ford F-150 electric truck, what is the most important commercial aspect that is more likely to convince future buyers of electric trucks?

No Zoom lecture recording:



3/10 Clean Vehicles: EVs & Hydrogen + Quiz #6 + Assignment #2 due - Assignment #3 released
Read: Jessica Grady-Bensona and Brinda Sarathyb. 2015. Fossil fuel divestment in US higher education: student-led organising for climate justice. Local Environment.
Q. What factor have helped and hindered divestment movements at US institutions of higher education? Keywords & concepts: Carbon Emissions Factor, divestment movement.

Zoom lecture recording (Sustainable transportation slides): https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/_fu9TysPzUK4VWMG3wI6jGwZJsUuCzGipTmUkuPGD4tdmUx0JorUuJK10U_Fl4aw.UzdFkBwt9Wz4t2QDPasscode: Z&7z@%^.

 

3/15 Carbon Footprint Lecture #09  slides
Read: Bill Mc Kibben 2020. The New Yorker. What Have We Learned in Thirty Years of Covering Climate Change? 
Q. According to McKibben, what was the Obama administration's climate change response?
Q. In his piece, Bill Mc Kibben advocates for his own state Wyoming that has been highly impacted by the country's move away from Coal. What is he proposing as a replacement for the jobs lost?

Zoom lecture recording (Carbon footprint slides):
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/ZyYDdbmFfCNAIWXFDEZtyae59RS1WFuvbqdIY5WIwrHFQeuX6LBnFN5_AEqZSTga.8Q3DBakCbr3wBzEdPasscode: FVT2p#3B

 

3/17 Carbon Footprint + Quiz 7 + Workshop on Assignment #3

Q. What was the most challenging (and longest) at first, when it was discovered that CO2 emissions will have an impact on Earth ability to "trap" sun heat (ei: climate change).
Q. What is the unit internationally used as a standard to track and count carbon emissions everywhere in the World?
Q. What is the standardized unit used to measure the concentration of CO2 in the Earth atmosphere?

Zoom lecture recording: none

3/22 Nuclear Power (Lecture #10)  - Assignment #3 due
Watch: “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” Netflix(series) YouTube short preview: https://youtu.be/XGJMIkwF4Lk

Watch (in class): A is for Atom (1952)
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 4.7, Nuclear Energy. p.150-156
Read: Charles Perrow. 2013. Nuclear Denial: From Hiroshima to Fukushima. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 65(5).
Q. What is being denied with nuclear denial?
Q. How do we currently use Uranium 235 (U235) and Uranium 236 (U236)?
Q. What is the argument pro nuclear that M. Bill Gates is making?
Q. According to Charles Perrow in "Nuclear Denial from Hiroshima to Fukushima" what has been down played by governments and officials all over the World, for the last 75 years (including by the Japanese government following Fukushima)?

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/dLpPImfZTb-h6djnPd90j35EvWeKCOgmB0pLjuXqsTecoKgC48hZiH0ZAy24iM-g.rm_XlvrdHwvnfrC3 Passcode: 93z*PYUh

3/24 Nuclear Power Lecture #10 + Quiz 8 
Read: Alexander Cockburn. 2011. In Fukushima's Wake: How the Greens Learned to Love Nuclear Power. New Left Review 68: 75–79.
Q. Why do some of the climate change activists love nuclear power while other environmentalists (like Greenpeace) are totally opposed to it?
Q. Name the three California Nuclear Power Plants and their locations.
Q. What caused the last major global Nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan?

Zoom lecture recording:

3/29 and 3/31 No class - Spring recess

4/5 Hydro-Power Lecture #11
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 4, Section 4.3.3.
p., 125–127.
Read: Paul Robbins 2012. “Hydro-Electric Power.” In Mulvaney 2012. Green Energy: An A-to-Z Guide. SAGE Publications.
Q. How do you estimate the power output of a hydro-electric system (formula)?
Q. What are the different kinds of hydro-electric power systems?
Q. Why according to Mulvaney, Hydropower is still "an attractive renewable resource..." in the context of all the other renewable sources of energy ?

Zoom lecture recording (Hydro lecture): https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/YH6QPVOduqY6HtnkgjT5Ma_PIoMgN0fH7nYUeofjFkFYBhZG20ZcCex6VNdKxftf.devv24XG3Za5SoW5 Passcode: 45+X8C=x

4/7 Hydro-Power + Quiz 9 
Read: Marc Reisner. 1993. Chapter 4. An American Nile. Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water. Penguin, New York.
Q. What were some of the challenges encountered at Boulder Canyon?
Q. In which states is the Hoover Dam located?
Q. How is looking the future of hydro-electricity in California in the context of the climate change crisis (lecture).

Zoom lecture recording:

 

4/12 Midterm Review Session Workshop - Prepare your questions using the midterm Study Guide
Class workshop recording:
Study guide (start to lecture #4): https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/Jmnv545UioV7ATM1dzRteCp8z-zD7DVblbNK2CmuulXg_GH2LW98AV30iZ8wwACm.w_nTgCVIwLEz1TaD Passcode: 0TDJ%CTq

Study guide (lecture #5 to #8 with section 02): https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/dRPm2wzBlZAPECZcS4yQsmnbie8-kxGkZF9ko68imC2VPkzZPGVNdRESTadtvYsf.Xe7SRPwxEZ-FlkEX Passcode: ubTF6@D4

4/14 Midterm Exam (proctored on Canvas, live) NO ZOOM SESSION

 

4/19 Part III. Renewable energy, Wind Energy Lecture #12
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 12. Pp. 461-482
Q. How is the potential wind power output calculated for a specific site and turbine? 
Q. What was the purpose of these first generation wind turbines use by American settlers?
Q. Masters and Randolph cite Elliott, 1991 which suggests "the wind resource is threoretically sufficient to meet the entire U.S. demand" but conclude "the fraction of the U.S. demand that could actually be met with wind power in the future is highly uncertain". What is the authors' logic behind this conclusion? 

Zoom lecture recording (lecture: The Renewable Energy Revolution): https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/IzqbQO-4afoAiNb2NGlMe4x1DQBFyUcWCUMi_mzCdbAFBivFqaQgymv2zFY7wAlm.7lH1oQmk_HbQ7nQ6
Passcode: QaFMj*0g

 

 

4/21 Wind + Quiz 10 
Read: Roopali Phadke. 2013. Public Deliberation and the Geographies of Wind Justice. Science as Culture 22(2): 247–255.
Q. How can the social gap in renewable energy be overcome? Define.
Q. What is the main benefit of current wind power technology (v. other renewable)?
Q. What challenges come with a grid massively powered by wind turbine? 

Earth Day movie: "A Fierce Green Fire" Online access through this link: https://docuseek2-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/cart/product/337

 

4/26 Solar Energy Passive design Lecture #13 + Solar Energy lecture #14
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 7. Q. Explain passive design for buildings.
Q. Define insolation, insulation, solar path, HDD.
Q. On what side of a building will you get the morning Sun?
Q. On a passive design house south window, what is the name of the device that will completely shades the window at noon in June and completely expose the same window to the warm rays from the sun in December?
Q. What are the differences between a solar thermal collector and a solar photovoltaic panel (PV)?

Zoom lecture recording:

|https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/4BphaFV0NmDA1INoz4NT1_xo1w1cIDCxVNWK4uid128XyVHQoIZnlmTANWEWOOLP.xE83N-xoHMl5_pYR
Passcode: 5AYEdQ%P

 

4/28 Solar Energy lecture #14 Photovoltaic systems demo (class canceled)
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 11.
Read (maybe): Wright_Solar_HCP_final.pdf
Q. How do photovoltaics generate electricity?
Q. According to Randolph and Masters chap.11 (and today's lecture) what is the potential for rooftop PV in the US? (ie: percentage of total electricity used produced by solar panels installed on all US building rooftops)
Q. Why battery storage is almost mandatory on any modern solar PV system?

 

 

5/3 Life Cycle Assessment lecture #15 + Quiz 11 (on solar)
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 5. Energy Analysis and Lifecycle Assessment.
Q. What is EROI and how do you calculate it?
Q. Define Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)and LCC. What are the differences between the two type of approaches?

Zoom lecture recording:

 

5/5 Biofuels, low carbon and carbon negative fuels lecture #16
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Energy for Sustainability. Chapter 14. Biofuels Biomass and other alternative fuels.
Read: M. Fatih Demirbas. 2011. Biofuels from algae for sustainable development. Applied Energy 88: 3473–3480.
Q. What are the first, second, third Generation biofuels made from?
Q. What are the advantages and disadvantages of biofuel production using algae?
Q. From you textbook (Randolph and Master p540), what is the largest current use of Ethanol biofuel?
Q. What is the the national Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) of 2005?
Q. From Randolph and Master p562, if South Dakota were to dedicate its 44 million farm acres to produce ethanol, what would its annual yield of biofuels be?

Zoom lecture recording (including lecture #15):
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/mg_H7A0Yn2UnRd-6VD6a5Lx9hU7dkTeu7kXtZiclFd6os8hxy8Gk1Xs9PGc6yy8b.gQEEOP_xEHN9Py4l
Passcode: *3.qc1a4

 

5/10 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Lecture slides - Quiz #12
Read: John Randolph and Gilbert Masters. 2011. Market transformation to sustainable energy. Ch.16
Read: Tom Dietz. 2015. Altruism, self-interest, and energy consumption. Proceeding of the National Academies of Sciences. 112(6): 1654–1655.
Q. What motivates people to conserve energy according to Dietz? 

Zoom lecture recording:
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/w70E_NTC4HOkIwPohiYROhrsuoynoZJ605h8yKwwwhaWhINn9W51PLQeLVTUNIXP.pcrexWAMv2uzA8xe
Passcode: D%663Lw.



5/12 Review session for final exam - Final exam study guide -  Final Paper due. Last class.

Zoom lecture recording (part 1 - Wind and start of Solar energy):
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/zI0rlqT_FJwKkMjunsJdMZj99ayozaTGwNmqv-Yeiho_KKMSIzPbJVdTjPf0_64.8eS7iCYWzsWpWQsu
Passcode: 3e+9IYz+

Zoom lecture recording (part 2 - Solar energy to end)
https://sjsu.zoom.us/rec/share/vLX2LXCzM51KoCCVjE6fPFR4L9AVnhEaIBek4GaxPSevoyL0-s1tTqUmNq2gbs6f.gucI3z_dD_Dt3f7J
Passcode: x%NH50*r

 

 

 

Final exam: https://www.sjsu.edu/classes/final-exam-schedule/spring-2022.php

Monday, May 23 2022 - 7:15-9:30AM