HC 441: Topics in Energy Policy
The Impending World Wide Energy Crisis

Prof: Greg Bothun 417 Willamette Hall Office hours: MTWR 10-12 nuts@bigmoo.uoregon.edu Undergrad Assistant/Presentation Coach: Tiiu Magi Office Hours: TR 12 -2; 417 Willamette Hall tmagi@uoregon.edu

Course Structure and Information The window of the world's energy economy being driven by the rampant use of fossil fuels is beginning to close. Awareness of is this window closing, however, is slow in coming to both the general public and to elected officials, whom generally assume the world is infinite thus allowing the oil to flow forever. Moreover, in the last century it was primarily the US and Western Europe that impacted the world's resources - now that impact has dramatically shifted and the emerging energy footprints of India and especially China, are of global concern. In particular, the growth rate of China since 2002 is so staggering that China is now on pace to surpass US Greenhouse gas emissions in the Summer of 2008! (3 years ago the projection was 2016). Reasonable estimates suggest that fossil fuel production will dwindle to 10% of its current values in the next 40 years. Accelerated fossil fuel dependence in India and China will only serve to shorten, perhaps dramatically, this depletion timescale. Currently, 89% of the world's energy generating capacity is fossil fuel dependent. Thus, optimistically, we have about 40 years left to move from a fossil fuel based energy economy to a sustainable energy economy. Forty years is not a long time - you will still be alive in 40 years! . Emerging technologies such as solar photovoltaic cells, concentrated solar power, improved wind turbines, advanced gas turbines, hydrogen fuel cells, efficient biomass co-generation facilities, improved energy storage capacity in batteries, ocean thermal electric conversion heat engines, and various alternative fuel pathways for vehicles offer us a wide array of choices for alternative means to derive energy. That is, we can exercise options now - so why the hell aren't we? In addition, individual transportation of human beings by fossil fuel powered vehicles is increasing at an alarmingly rapid pace. In turn, this provides an accelerated input to climate change (a companion or follow up to this course - The Physics and Politics of Climate Change will be offered as an HC 441 course this spring ). Emerging technologies such as plug-in hybrid vehicles, zinc-air batteries, cellulose based biofuels, hydrogen cars, etc offer promising alternatives to the traditional fill 'er up at the pump status quo. However, each of these new forms of energy generation has a different environmental and ecological impact and thus this array of choices needs to be evaluated objectively and fairly. In addition, each needs new kinds of infrastructure and distribution systems, so the choice matrix is large. However, the main point is that CHOICES EXIST. The focus of this course, therefore, will be to examine competing alternative energy technologies from the physical, social, economic and humanistic point of view. This course will also focus on the societal/cultural barriers to energy conservation, since clearly, our energy future also depends on our ability to act more conscientiously and cooperatively. In other words, we will pay some attention to the non-rhetorical question Why do Humans treat nature as a consumable? Currently each form of alternative energy has a passionate set of advocates that insist their form is the "solution". The reality is that regional combinations of different technologies are the only real solution - there is no one answer. The problem is complex at all levels. There are engineering challenges, infrastructure challenges, political challenges, economic consequence, and cultural impediments. This course will deal with the issues of alternative energy sources and sustainable energy sources both for the purposes of electricity generation and for transportation. The intent is to perform an objective cost-benefit analysis on each form of alternative energy in order to determine what is feasible on a large scale. Full consideration will be given of the ecological footprint of various forms of energy generation since that is what the NIMBY public will react most viscerally to. The course website will be located on the Blackboard server. The main themes of this class are: To critically analyze various aspects of our national energy policy and to construct reasonable future trajectories. To gain an understanding of the cost-benefit ratio of various alternative energy sources to see what is feasible on the large scale and what is not. This involves an understanding of both the land and material use of a given technology, To understand some of the various obstacles associated with actual implementation of production line alternative energy facilities. To do simple calculations regarding the cost of energy usage and the required infrastructure to deliver a certain amount of power. To gain an understanding of how difficult it is to overcome culture barriers, knee-jerk reactions and the prevalent NIMBY attitude to actually come up with a working solution. To critically examine alternative modes of transportation and their scalablity and/or required infrastructure for fuel production and delivery. To further examine the energy problem in a more global context.

Course Mechanics:

This course is being held in a wireless laptop classroom. From time to time, students will be doing various exercises on the laptops that are related to the course themes and content. Collaborative software exists in this space so that students can run experiments and publish their results. We will not be doing this every class period but there will be times throughout the term where this facility is extensively used. There is no required textbook for this course but there will be several "white" papers that you will be assigned to read prior to class to prepare for the discussion. In addition, a main "feature" of this class lies in group presentations - usually in the form of Pros and Cons around some topic. There will be at least 3 and possibly 4 such presentations in term and one of Tiiu's main duties will be to serve as your presentation coach. These presentations are an essential part of the learning process in this class and students generally get a lot out of them.

Grading Policy Your grade will be based on this approximate criteria: Individual and group assignments: 60% The Final Exam: 40% Of course, if you show up to class, prepared and ready to critically question the instructor, that will help as well!

Course Information