Writings and videos about science activities with an emphasis on environmental science and energy measurement

I just posted a new video based on one of the activities in my lab manual. Specifically "The Fossil Fuel Costs of Electric Cars". It involves navigating the U.S. Energy Information Administration website in order to acquire data to calculate how much of each fossil fuel is needed to generate a given amount of electricity. This in turn is used to estimate the efficiency of electric cars in terms of how much fossil fuels they consume at the power plant.
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I just put out a new video showing students how to download and graph data from the CIA World Factbook. In the past, I had posted an entry about incorporating developmental-related issues in environmental science. I hope that by posting the video,the activity in my book titled Development and Quality of Life is more likely to get used.
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According to this article by the director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, strategically placed ditches can play a major role in capturing and removing nutrient runoff by providing a place were these nutrients can be held until plants use them up. One of my biggest disagreements with Bjorn Lomborg in his book "The Skeptical Environmentalist" is the very high cost he puts on the remediation of nutrient pollution is bodies of water. I have not done the math myself, but given the economic benef...
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According to this study from the University of Michigan taking a plane is more efficient that "driving".The comments below the article reflect my misgivings about the lack of comparison to other forms of ground transportation (like long distance buses), but in all fairness I only read the abstract of the study. Maybe these comparisons are in the original research article. However, the fact that plane travel has gotten cheaper and more crowded is probably indicative of improvements in energy e...
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I have not been posting lately because I was very busy putting together this 8-minute video about the lab manual I wrote for environmental science. I was so obsessed with getting it right that I missed a credit card payment (it slipped my mind) and my kids started to think I was ignoring them. It's over now, I will pay the late penalty and make it up to my kids. Let's hope it was worth it!
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While I have a great deal of respect for Bjorn Lomborg, I would like to see an itemized chart showing how he came to the conclusion that electric vehicles are more polluting than those that rely on internal combustion engines. Beyond the obvious fact that electric cars are only as clean as the means whereby the electricity is generated, Lomborg does bring up the overlooked issue of battery life and the resources needed for their manufacture and disposal. The fact that recharg...

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In the past, I gave some tips on teaching about fuel cells. The main advantage of fuels cells over rechargeable batteries is energy density: Rechargeable batteries must carry with them all components of the oxidation-reduction reaction that generates current. In contrast, fuel cells vehicles are lighter because (like combustion engines) they only need to transport the reducing agent (what is referred to in plain English as “fuel”). Unfortunately, most fuel cells only run ...

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In downtown Houston there is a 6-mile network of underground tunnels and second story catwalks that allow pedestrians to walk to many popular buildings without experiencing the summer heat. I often made use of these between the classes I taught at the University of Houston, not because I could not tolerate the heat, but because it allowed me to walk indefinitely without having to cross any streets. Many of these tunnels had shops, restaurants, and spaces for art, so there was...

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Here an an update on a post I made in the past about a highly affordable 84 mpg car that will soon be produced in the U.S. An interesting and commonsensical point made by Mr. Elio in the video is how mass is the main factor determining fuel economy in the city, just as aerodynamics determines mpg on the highway. Interestingly, this car is legally classified as a type of "motorcycle" and the manufacturers are trying to persuade some states not to require the drivers to wear helmets. When I liv...
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