[net-gold] Concentration of Energy by PhotoVoltaic Solar Panels
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Other Net-Gold Lists -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Lists -- Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports Tourism <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, HEALTH-RECREATION-SPORTS-TOURISM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:09:55 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:59:03 -0800
From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Net-Gold] Concentration of Energy by PhotoVoltaic Solar Panels
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If you reply to this long (12 kB) post please don't hit the reply
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reply down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the entire already
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version [Hake (2012)] of this post was transmitted to Physoc and
Phys-L on 5 Feb 2012.]
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ABSTRACT: Physoc's Bud Nye wrote (paraphrasing): "Systems ecologist
Howard T. Odum's energy-focused books <http://amzn.to/xkp9cP> suggest
to me that the probable 'purpose of life' involves CONCENTRATING
ENERGY by moving it from the lowest quality, most disbursed carriers,
such as sunlight, into the most dense, highest quality, highest
transferity carriers possible, such as electricity and information,
thus minimizing the entropy of systems over time. . . . . . . . but
those of us in the West and the U.S. have worked extremely hard to
DISPERSE energy and increase entropy. This does not bode well for our
long-term future. . . . . ."
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An apparent way to concentrate energy is by installing PhotoVoltaic
Solar Panels (PVSP) on roof tops. Consider the following "Fermi
Problem: WHAT FRACTION OF THE YEARLY TOTAL U.S. FOSSIL-FUELED
ELECTRICAL ENERGY (AND THUS FRACTION OF YEARLY TONS OF CO2 EMISSION
FROM U.S. FOSSIL-FUELED ELECTRICAL ENERGY PRODUCTION) COULD BE
ELIMINATED IF ALL ROOFTOPS IN THE U.S. WERE COVERED BY PHOTOVOLTAIC
SOLAR PANELS?
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Bud Nye (2012), in his Physoc post "Purpose of Life" wrote [bracketed
by lines "NNNNN. . . .; my inserts at ". [[insert]]. . . .]] :
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NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
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After reading five of systems ecologist Howard T. Odum's
energy-focused books. . . .[[see e.g., "Environmental Accounting:
Emergy and Environmental Decision Making" (Odum, 1995); "Environment,
Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of
Energy" (Odum, 2007); and Amazon's "Howard T. Odum book page" at
<http://amzn.to/xkp9cP>.]]. . . , it strikes me that the probable
"purpose of life" involves doing what ALL life, from the most
primitive to the most complex, does: CONCENTRATE ENERGY; move energy
along the energy hierarchy from the lowest quality, most disbursed
carriers, such as sunlight, into the most dense, highest quality,
highest transferity carriers possible, such as electricity and
information, thus minimizing the entropy of systems over time . . . .
. . . especially since the industrial revolution, we, especially
those of us in the West and in the U.S., have functioned in ways that
work directly opposite this (probable) purpose of life (assuming that
life has any such teleological "purpose", as many people wish to
believe that it does). We have worked extremely hard to DISPERSE
energy, not concentrate it. We have worked not to minimize the
entropy of systems, but instead to maximize various life systems'
entropy. This does not bode well for our long-term future. . . . . .
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NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
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One apparent method of "concentrating energy" or "decreasing entropy"
. . . . . . . [[see, e.g., "Removing the Mystery of Entropy and
Thermodynamics" (Leff, 2012)]]. . . . is available to individual
citizens: installation of PhotoVoltaic Solar Panels (PVSP) on
citizens' roof tops.
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Some discussion-list subscribers might wish to consider the following
"Fermi Problem":
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WHAT FRACTION OF THE YEARLY TOTAL U.S. FOSSIL-FUELED ELECTRICAL
ENERGY (AND THUS FRACTION OF YEARLY TONS OF CO2 EMISSION FROM U.S.
FOSSIL-FUELED ELECTRICAL ENERGY PRODUCTION) COULD BE ELIMINATED IF
ALL ROOFTOPS IN THE U.S. WERE COVERED BY PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR PANELS?
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Hints:
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(1) According to CARMA (2007) the total electrical energy production
for 2007 in the U.S was 4.19 x 10^9 MWh/y [MWh/y =
MegaWattHours/year] of which 69% was fossil fueled.
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(2) According to the population clock at <http://1.usa.gov/zaQynk>,
the population of the U.S. on 6 Feb 2012 = 313 x 10^6.
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(3) According to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_system>
"A typical '150 watt' solar panel is about a square meter in size.
Such a panel may be expected to produce 1 kWh every day, on average,
after taking into account the weather and the latitude."
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(4) For Fermi Problem strategies see, e.g.:
a. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem>,
b. "Consider a Spherical Cow" [Harte (1988)],
c. "Consider a Cylindrical Cow" [Harte ( 2001)],
d. "Street-Fighting Mathematics [Mahajan (2010)].
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Before recommending, on the basis of one's answer to the above Fermi
problem, that all U.S. rooftops be covered with PVSP, one should
consider the EMERGY associated with such a plan - see "Environmental
Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making" [Odum (1995)].
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Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
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"There is a kind of power over the theoretical and experimental
studies in which [the prospective physics graduate student] is
engaged which is difficult to define, but whose presence is perhaps
more important than the knowledge which is more formal and complete.
There is one test of such power which is at the same time a
remarkably apt method for its development. The method was the common
and frequently amusing practice of Enrico Fermi, perhaps the most
widely creative physicist of our times. Fermi delighted to think up
and at once to discuss and answer questions which drew upon everyday
experience, and upon the ability to make rough approximations,
inspired guesses, and statistical estimates from very little data. A
few samples are indispensable: How much does a watch gain or lose
when carried up a mountain? How many piano tuners are there in the
city of Chicago?"
Philip Morrison (1963)
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REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 06 February 2012, most shortened by
<http://bit.ly/>.]
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CARMA. 2007 CARbon Monitoring for Action, "Center for Global
Development"; online as a <http://carma.org/region/detail/202>.
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Hake, R.R. 2012. "Concentration of Energy by PhotoVoltaic Solar
Panels (was Purpose of Life)", online on the OPEN! Phys-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/ypGEsx>. Post of 5 Feb 2012 19:49:58-0800 to Physoc
and PhysLrnR.
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Harte, J. 1988. "Consider a Spherical Cow: A Course in Environmental
Problem Solving." University Science Books. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/zRek6q>. Note the "Look Inside" feature.
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Harte, J. 2001. "Consider a Cylindrical Cow: More Adventures in
Environmental Problem Solving." University Science Books. Amazon.com
information at <http://amzn.to/xecQhv>. Note the "Look Inside"
feature.
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Leff, H. 2012a. "Removing the Mystery of Entropy and Thermodynamics -
Part I," Phys. Teach. 50(1): 28-31; online to subscribers at
<http://bit.ly/wLy3En>.
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Leff, H. 2012b. "Removing the Mystery of Entropy and Thermodynamics -
Part II," Phys. Teach. 50(2): 87-90; online to subscribers at
<http://bit.ly/wFpbeJ >. Parts III-V will be published in Phys.Teach
50 (2012).
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Mahajan, S. 2010. "Street-Fighting Mathematics: The Art of Educated
Guessing and Opportunistic Problem Solving." Forward by Carver Mead
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carver_Mead>. MIT Press, publisher's
information at <http://bit.ly/ghF5XY> where the book may be
downloaded for FREE as a 770 kB pdf by clicking on "Download This
Book" in the left-hand column. Author's information at
<http://streetfightingmath.com/>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/xqOt3Q>.
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Morrison, P. 1963. "Fermi Questions," Am. J. Phys. 31(8): 626- 627;
online to subscribers at
<http://bit.ly/yPOgd3>.
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Nye, B. 2012. "Purpose of Life," online on the CLOSED! :-( Physoc
archives at <http://bit.ly/ywmWC1>. Post of 3 Feb 2012 10:43:11-0800
to Physoc. To access the archives of PHYSOC one needs to subscribe,
but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on
<http://bit.ly/dVm2AM> and then clicking on "Subscribe or
Unsubscribe" in the right-hand column. If you're busy, then
subscribe using the "NOMAIL" option under "Miscellaneous." Then, as a
subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post messages at any
time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!
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Odum, H.G.1995. "Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental
Decision Making." Wiley, publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/wSeH9b>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/ycGgJ2>, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature."
See esp. pp. 156-157 "Solar Voltaic Power." On page 1, Odum writes:
"EMERGY, spelled with an 'm,' measures both the work of nature and
that of humans in generating products and services. By selecting
choices that maximize EMERGY production and use, policies and
judgements can favor those environmental that maximize real wealth,
the whole economy, and the public benefit." On page 156-157 he
writes" "EMERGY evaluations of solar voltaic arrays have yet to show
any net EMERGY yield. The power grid at Austin, Tex., . . . is taking
more EMERGY out of society than it is generating. . ."
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Odum, H.G. 2007. "Environment, Power, and Society for the
Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of Energy." Columbia University
Press, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/t1f76c>. Amazon.com
information at <http://amzn.to/yFi9wQ>, note the searchable "Look
Inside" feature.
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