Fueling the planet : the past, present, and future of energy

89 Pages·2009·1.862 MB·English

by  Michael B McElroy

F
UELING
P :
THE LANET
THE PAST, PRESENT, AND
FUTURE OF ENERGY
COURSE GUIDE
Professor Michael B. McElroy
HARVARDUNIVERSITY
Fueling the Planet:
The Past, Present, and Future of Energy
Professor Michael B. McElroy
Harvard University
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FuelingthePlanet:
ThePast,Present,andFutureofEnergy
ProfessorMichaelB.McElroy
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2009byRecordedBooks,LLC
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CourseSyllabus
FuelingthePlanet:
ThePast,Present,andFutureofEnergy
AboutYourProfessor ....................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................5
Lecture1 AShortHistoryoftheEarth......................................................................6
Lecture2 WhatIsEnergy?......................................................................................10
Lecture3 TheSun ..................................................................................................14
Lecture4 FossilFuels:CoalandOil(PartI) ..........................................................19
Lecture5 Oil(PartII)andNaturalGas....................................................................25
Lecture6 WaterandWindPower............................................................................30
Lecture7 TheNatureandHistoryofNuclearPower..............................................35
Lecture8 SteamandtheIndustrialRevolution........................................................41
Lecture9 Electricity..................................................................................................47
Lecture10 TheInternalCombustionEngine ............................................................53
Lecture11 HowWeUseEnergyToday....................................................................61
Lecture12 TheClimateChallenge............................................................................67
Lecture13 OptionsforaLow-CarbonEnergyEconomy:
Corn,SugarCane,andOtherBiofuels ..................................................73
Lecture14 VisionsforaSustainableEnergyFuture ................................................78
Glossary........................................................................................................................84
CourseMaterials............................................................................................................86
EnergyRecyclingFacts ................................................................................................87
Notes..............................................................................................................................88
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McElroy
B.
Michael
of
courtesy About Your Professor
Photograph Michael B. McElroy
MichaelMcElroyreceivedhisPh.D.fromQueen’sUniversityinBelfast,
NorthernIreland.In1970,hewasnamedAbbottLawrenceRotchProfessor
ofAtmosphericSciencesatHarvardUniversity,andin1975hewasappoint-
eddirectoroftheCenterforEarthandPlanetaryPhysics.McElroyservedas
chairmanoftheDepartmentofEarthandPlanetarySciencesfrom1986to
2000.HewasappointeddirectorofthenewlyconstitutedHarvardUniversity
CenterfortheEnvironmentin2001andnowleadsaninterdisciplinarystudy
ontheimplicationsofChina’srapidindustrialdevelopmentforthelocal,
regional,andglobalenvironment.In1997,hewasnamedtheGilbertButler
ProfessorofEnvironmentalStudies.HeisaFellowoftheAmericanAcademy
ofArtsandSciences.
McElroy’sresearchinterestsrangefromstudiesontheoriginandevolution
oftheplanetstoamorerecentemphasisontheeffectsofhumanactivityon
theglobalenvironmentoftheEarth.Heistheauthorofmorethantwohun-
dredtechnicalpaperscontributingtoourunderstandingofhuman-induced
changesinstratosphericozoneandtothepotentialforseriousdisruptionsto
globalandregionalairqualityandclimateduetoanthropogenicallyrelated
emissionsofgreenhousegases.ProfessorMcElroyisalsotheauthorofsev-
eralbooks,includingEnergizingChina:ReconcilingEnvironmentalProtection
andEconomicGrowth(HarvardUniversityCenterfortheEnvironment,1998)
andTheAtmosphericEnvironment:EffectsofHumanActivity(Princeton
UniversityPress,2002).ProfessorMcElroyalsorecordedoneofthefirst
ModernScholaraudiolecturecourses,GlobalWarming,GlobalThreat
(RecordedBooks,2003).
YouwillgetthemostfromthiscourseifyouhaveProfessorMcElroy’s
Energy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects(OxfordUniversityPress,
USA,2009),whichisusedashisprimaryresource.
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Sawyer
Charlie
©
PinesatSunrise
PhotographybyCharlieSawyer,Tallahassee,Florida.
Introduction
TheselecturesrelyonabookI’vebeenworkingonforanumberofyears,a
booktitledEnergy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects(December2009,
OxfordUniversityPress).Thethemeofthebookandmyparticularodyssey
hereistotrytogetarealsenseofthehistoryoftheworldandhowitgotto
whereitis,andwiththattoexaminetheproblemsthathavearisenalongthe
way.It’sathemeoftheinterplaybetweenhumanactivity,energyconsump-
tion,environmentalchange,andthecompromisesthathavehadtobemade
alongtheway.
Oneofmymainobjectivesinwritingthebookwastoprovideatreatment
thatwouldnotbetootechnicalbutwouldstillprovidearealsenseofhowwe
cangetourhandsaroundthisverycomplicatedproblem—atatimewhen
veryseriousdecisionsaboutenergyhavetobemadebytheUnitedStates
andothercountriesaroundtheworld.
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Lecture1:
AShortHistoryoftheEarth
TheSuggestedReadingforthislectureisMichaelB.McElroy’sEnergy:
Perspectives,Problems,andProspects,chapters1and2.
IntheBeginning
TheEarthisapproximately4.6billionyearsold.Itformed,
togetherwiththeplanetsandthesun,fromaspinningmassof
gasanddustthatcomposedtheoriginalsolarnebula.This
matteraccumulatedtoformtheproto-Earth,andtheplanet
startedtoheatup.Asthisheatingproceeded,thedistinctzones
oftheEarthformed:thecore,thedensecentralpart;themantle,thehot
regionontheoutside;thecrust;andtheoceanandatmosphere.
AsheatcameoutoftheEarthitcausedthecrustalplatestomovearound.
ThisdriftofthecontinentsrearrangedtheEarthovertime,andwithit
rearrangedtheclimateaswell.
LifebeganearlyinthehistoryoftheEarth.Theoldestrocksfoundonthe
surfacetodayhaveclearsignsofthepresenceoflife.Solifeisanancient
phenomenon,perhaps3.8billionyearsold,orevenolder.Theearlyformsof
life,prokaryotes,wererelativelysimpleorganismssuchasbacteriaandblue-
greenalgae.Theseprokaryotesarestillheretoday,andmostlikelythislife
beganintheoceanratherthanonthecontinents.
Perhaps1.5billionyearsago,lifebecamealittlemorecomplex.Prokaryotes
joinedtogether;theyessentiallyfusedtoprovidetheopportunityformore
complexgeneticmaterialandorganisms(eukaryotes).Theeukaryoteswere
stillverysimple,buttheycoulddomorecomplicatedthings.
Someoftheseorganismsdevelopedthecapabilityofsurvivinginthepres-
enceofpureoxygen.Theearlyorganismswouldhavebeenpoisonedby
oxygen,soafterdevelopingthecapabilitytosurviveinitspresence,theyhad
abigadvantage.Theycouldusesunlightforenergybyphotosynthesisand
disposeoftheoxygenwasteintheatmosphere.
Therefore,approximately1.5billionyearsago,theatmospherebeganto
moveclosertoitspresentcondition.
Theprofusionoflifecontinued,thoughnotinasteadyfashion.Ittendedto
moveinbursts.Therewasanexplosionofnewlife-formsthatoccurredinthe
periodknownastheCambrian,about340to510millionyearsago.
Sixty-fivemillionyearsago,amassivemeteorhittheEarth,anditchanged
theclimate.Itwipedoutthedinosaursandessentiallychangedthecharacter-
E
N isticsofsomeofthelargeformsoflifespreadaroundtheEarth.
O
E Thedemiseofthedinosaursprovedbeneficialfortheworldofmammals.
R
U Humansareaverylatearrivalonthescene.Infact,Homosapienssapiens
CT havebeenontheplanetforonly50,000yearsorso,havingdescendedfrom
LE earlierformsofhumans.
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OntheMove
Duringthelastmajoriceage,humansbegantomovearoundtheworld.
HumanancestorsprobablybeganlifeincentralAfrica,andastheymovedinto
theMiddleEastandfarthernorthintoEuropeandEurasia,someofthese
hardyindividualswereabletowalkacrosstheBeringStrait,thebodyofwater
nowseparatingAmericafromAsia.Inashortperiodoftimethosehumans
movedallthewaythroughtheAmericasdowntothetipofSouthAmerica.
Thestoryofcivilizationcontinued,andacoupleofhundredyearsago
humansexperiencedwhatisusuallyreferredtoastheIndustrialRevolution,
whichessentiallypointedthewayfortheentiremodernindustrialenergy-
intensiveeconomy.
UnderstandingtheHistory
IfthespanoftheEarth’s4.5billionyearswasputinthecontextofasingle
year,thehistorywouldlooksomethinglikethis:
January 1: FormationofEarth.
September 1: AppearanceoflifeonEarth.
November 20: Profusionoforganisms.
November 24: 9p.m. Appearanceofvascularplants.
November 25: Expansionoflifefromoceantoland.
December 6: Appearanceofamphibians.
December 12: Massiveextinction.
December 18: Appearanceofmammals.
December 25: 5p.m. Extinctionofdinosaurs.
December 31: 8p.m. AppearanceofHomoerectus.
December 31: 11:42p.m. AppearanceofHomosapiens.
December 31: 11:56:30p.m. Humanmigrationaroundglobe.
December 31: 11:58:30p.m. Developmentofagricultureand
domesticationofanimals.*
December 31: 11:59:58p.m. IndustrialRevolution.
*AgriculturebeganasbestascanbetoldintheMiddleEastintheregiongenerallyreferred
toastheFertileCrescent(theareacurrentlyoccupiedbySyria,Lebanon,Israel,andpart
ofIraq).Therearegoodreasonstobelievethatthedevelopmentofagricultureoccurredin
responsetoachangeinclimate.Beforetheclimatemovedtoalesshospitablecondition,
thiswasundoubtedlyaGardenofEden—aregionwithabundantgenotypesofawidevari-
etyofplantsandanimalssuchassheepandgoats.Peopledidn’thavetoworkveryhard
forsustenance,butastheclimatechanged,itwasadvantageoustocultivateplantsand
domesticateanimalsthatotherwisemightmoveofftobetterpastures.
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WhentheEarth’shistoryisputintheprecedingcontext,it’sapparentthat
humansarelatearrivalsonthescene,butarenowimportantplayersinthe
globalsystem.Inmanyrespects,humanscontroltheEarth.Humanshave
choppeddowntrees,builtlargecities,learnedhowtofly,learnedhowto
movematerialandinformationglobally,effectively,instantaneously,andhave
alsolearnedhowtochangetheatmosphereonaglobalscale—andconse-
quentlyhavedevelopedthecapacitytochangetheclimate.
LECTUREONE AportionoftheHongKongskyline. ©JasonMurray/shutterstock.com
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FORGREATERUNDERSTANDING
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Questions
1.Whatareprokaryotes?
2.WhateventsinthehistoryoftheEarthcontributedthemosttotheplanet’s
currentenergy-intensiveeconomy?
Suggested Reading
McElroy,MichaelB.Energy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects.New
York:OxfordUniversityPress,USA,2009.
Other Books of Interest
Diamond,Jared.Guns,Germs,andSteel:TheFatesofHumanSocieties.
NewYork:W.W.Norton&Co.,1997.
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