Problem 1
Do each of the unit conversions in this slide from the lecture notes.
Problem 2
On this slide from the lecture notes, the number of land-based wind turbines equivalent to 1 CMO per year of energy use was computed.
Part A
Do a similar calculation for nuclear power plants. How many plants would be needed based on the largest plant in the world? How many based on some reasonable average size plant? (When I did this, I used an average of plants above 1000 MW.) Use an appropriate average capacity factor. Cite your sources. Compare the number of plants for 1 CMO to the total number of current plants.
Part B
Do this again for hydrodynamic power plants.
Problem 3
What is the rate of increase of world energy consumption in the last 50 years in units of CMO/year, and as %/year based on current use?
Problem 4
The public is divided on whether global warming is man-made or not. What is one argument against global climate change made by skeptics. Of course, where there is an argument, there is a rebuttal. Find and describe a corresponding rebuttal to the argument. As usual, cite your sources. There are many sites online. Here are a couple:
- Global Warming Petition Project
- Skeptical Science, getting skeptical about global warming skepticism
Problem 5
The coal-fired Hunter Power Plant in central Utah has a capacity of 1577 MW and burns a bituminous coal from the Sufco mine . Assume a 35% thermal efficiency. How many train cars of coal per day is this? Realize that for every lbm of carbon in the coal, there is 3.7 lbm of CO2 emitted. A proposal for carbon capture from fossil plants is to inject CO2 into underground reservoirs. Find an article on this, read it, and write a one paragraph summary. Include a link to the source in your homework submission.