Energy is the lifeblood of our modern economy, and yet we seldom stop to think of what it is, where it comes from, how we use it, or what the impacts of its use on the environment might be. In recent years, however, concerns over energy prices and the adequacy of energy supplies have once again propelled this commodity back into the spotlight. Rising gasoline prices, tightened oil supplies from natural disasters and conflict in the Middle East, and increased global competition for limited oil supplies due to rising demand in developing countries like China and India, have all combined to make energy supply and energy security a national priority. In addition, overwhelming evidence implicating the use of oil, coal and other fossil fuels as a primary driver of global climate change and other environmental problems has resulted in increased attention being paid to alternative sources of energy and energy efficiency.
In this portion of the class we will first review the basic structure of our energy economy in terms of energy supply and demand patterns. We will then examine how our perceptions of the cost of energy use are widely inaccurate; as expensive as we might think it is to fill up our car with $2.80/gallon gasoline, the real costs of our energy use are much, much higher after considering the environmental, social and security costs of our current energy use patterns. Next, we will review the major sources of energy in use today, primarily oil, coal and natural gas, and learn more about where they come from, how we make use of them, and what some of the impacts of their use might be. Lastly, we will examine the impact of energy use on local and regional air pollution problems. Next week we will shift to a discussion of energy use and global climate change, as well as examine the potential for new and renewable sources of energy to reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuel use.
Introduction to Energy Issues – Class 1 (9/17/07)
Begin by reading the short primer on The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Then read the Executive Summary of a report on The Real Price of Gasoline by the International Center for Technology Assessment, as well as updates to this report dealing with the costs associated with National Security and Climate Change. Ask yourself if you really understand the central argument in these reports: that the “price” we pay for gasoline and other forms of energy is significantly less than the actual “costs” associated with that energy use. Ask yourself how that could be, and who in fact pays those additional costs that represent the difference between price and cost. Lastly, read a basic Energy Overview that I recently wrote as part of a book project. This overview will help you get a better grasp of where our energy comes from and how we use it.
Conventional Energy Challenges – Class 2 (9/19/07)
The readings for this class consist of three fairly short overviews of Oil, Coal and Natural Gas that I recently wrote as part of a book project. These overviews provide you with basic information on the geological origin of these fuels, their distribution, their extraction and use.
Local and Regional Air Pollution – Class 3 (9/21/07)
First visit and read over the Environmental Protection Agency web page on Six Common Air Pollutants. Then click on the links to Ozone and Particulate Matter and read some of the basic information on each of these pollutants. Next, visit the web page of AIRNow, an interagency website sponsored by state, federal, tribal, and Canadian agencies concerned with air quality. The main strength of the website is its real-time air quality forecasts. These forecasts look like the weather maps you are accustomed to seeing, only the different colors refer to toxicity, rather than temperature.
Click on Pennsylvania or your home state and have a look at air quality conditions in a city near you. Once you click on a city you can click this month’s archives to see how air quality changed from day to day. For example, in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, Thursday September 6 was a relatively poor day for ozone levels. If you display an 8-hour AQI loop map you’ll see how ozone levels get much worse in the late afternoon, why is that?
Lastly, have a look at the EPA document on Ozone: Good Up High Bad Nearby to review the difference between ozone in the troposphere versus ozone in the stratosphere.