By Gabriel LeBlanc, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
The Energy Landscape is a topic that I personally have a lot of passion for based on my own research that involves trying to develop inexpensive strategies for generating solar cell materials. We started this seminar by focusing on the fundamentals of “energy”, like how does the energy unit on our electric bill (kWhr) relate to the values of energy from a science textbook (joules) or to an energy value on a food item (Calories). We even burned a few calories climbing up and down the stairs in Keplinger Hall. We then got into the basics of how energy can be converted into different forms, and ultimately into electricity using magnets.
Once we had the basics down, we shifted into different energy sources. We started old-school and learned about fossil fuels, making a simple steam engine using a Bunsen burner and a soda can. We then transitioned into talking about alternative energy sources, like hydroelectric, wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal. We made wind turbines, played with solar panels, and maybe saw a high energy particle with a cloud chamber (maybe). We did all this to get a better sense of how these energy sources can be practically used to generate electricity, highlighting the unique aspects of each and the challenges that are preventing them from becoming our dominate energy source.
We then talked about how we store energy, using batteries and fuels, and the variety of ways that energy efficiency and conservation play a role in the overall energy landscape. We finished up the seminar talking about how the incorporation of new energy technologies has impacted policies, both past and present.
Each seminar focused on introducing the key considerations, and our fellows each selected a topic to take a deep dive into for their curriculum units. These curriculum units provided a lot of really interesting takes on these energy topics, and I’m excited to see how these units will impact students in the coming years.
Starting with Michael, who was interested in geothermal energy: Did you know that the heat from the center of the earth comes from residual heat from earth’s formation and the radioactive decay of isotopes in the Earth’s mantle?
Sarah, who was interested in batteries for solar energy storage: Did you know that lithium-ion batteries, although difficult to recycle, are popular due to their relatively high charge cycle while lead-acid batteries are easier to recycle, but have much shorter useful lifetimes.
Robert, who was interested in hydrogen fuel cells: Did you know that hydrogen fuel can be generated by splitting water using electricity and that the product of using hydrogen fuel to generate electricity is water! This is truly a “green” energy cycle if the electricity used is renewable.
Fred, who was interested in nuclear fusion: Did you know that scientists are using magnetics to deal with the challenges of controlling the plasma that is generated in a fusion reactor! It even has a super cool name: “tokamak”.
Janna, who was interested in Oklahoma wind energy: Did you know that Oklahoma is one of the leading states in the US when it comes to wind energy production, ranking 3rd in the nation! Over 40% of our electricity in Oklahoma comes from wind!
And finally Sheila, who was also interested in geothermal energy: Did you know that Iceland meets over 60% of its energy needs using geothermal energy! I guess living by a volcano has its advantages.
So, in summary we had a really wonderful seminar series. I hope the fellows had as much fun with the experiments as I did, and I hope that you all get the chance to check out their curriculum units to learn even more fun facts and ways to share them with your own students.
