Primer for the new president

In my previous columns, possible changes to our way of life with diminished petroleum supplies have been considered.

But with the recent drop in gasoline prices, some feel that our reliance on petroleum may continue for years ahead.

But for a long time, there have been no discoveries of large conventional fields that would meet the global demand for even one year (3 billion barrels consumed). There are serious environmental issues with tar sands (which Canada converts to petroleum and sells, providing 1/20 of our petroleum) and even more with oil shales (in both U.S. and Canada), which have not been tapped for any petroleum.

To find more information, I suggest that you visit U.S. Representative Roscoe Barlett’s Web site at www.bartlett.house.gov , which offers links to many key government reports on future energy.

A new book of interest is “Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines” by Dr. Richard Muller of the University of California at Berkeley (Norton, 2008).

This book is based on Muller’s popular course for non-science students. Despite the title, the book is conceptually written, with no equations but with key numbers on topics such as terrorist attacks, fossil fuels, solar energy, nuclear issues, the greenhouse effect and electric cars.

Regarding 9/11, the two planes that collided with the Twin Towers were each loaded with 60 tons of jet fuel.

Upon burning, this jet fuel from each plane released as much energy as 900 tons of TNT; the intense temperatures from this burning weakened each building’s steel girders to where they buckled and collapsed, bringing down each of the Towers.

The actual energy of the collisions of the planes with the towers was much less and scarcely shook the buildings.

Surprisingly, gasoline has 15 times as much energy as an equal weight of TNT. This explosives’ energy is released quickly and violently, while gasoline has more energy that it releases much more slowly.

Hydrogen, the “energy fuel of the future,” has less than 20 percent as much energy per gallon as a gallon of gasoline,

For the same weight, gasoline delivers twice as much energy as coal, and one and half times as much energy as ethanol.

In regards to solar energy, Muller states that a square yard of vertical sunlight has a kilowatt of power. (A kilowatt (1,000 watts) is the average power consumed by a typical small house).

A kilowatt is a little more than 1 horsepower. A car covered with solar cells (about 15 percent efficient), would not even generate a kilowatt, a little more than 1 horsepower.

But a typical car engine is rated at over a hundred horsepower. So that’s why a car powered by roof top solar cells would have little pick up and be an obstacle on the road.

A square mile of sunlight striking the ground horizontally amounts to a power of 1 gigawatt. Giga means a billion. A gigawatt is the power of a large coal burning plants or a large nuclear power plant.

The average U.S. consumption of power for the U.S. is 450 gigawatts. So enough solar panels in Arizona could provide this amount of power. But there’s one small problem, solar power only works during the day.

Full moon and stardeath

The moon will be full this Wednesday, appearing in the star group Taurus.

Just as other full moons near the start of winter, this full moon has a high path across the night sky. Bright Jupiter and brilliant Venus are slowly approaching low in the southwestern dusk.

Late in the evening, you can see the brightest star group Orion with his three star belt low in the East.

Continuing at the Frostburg State Planetarium is “StarDeath and Elements” with two public presentations at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. today.

The Planetarium is in the front lobby of Tawes Hall, which is close to the Performing Arts Center and Compton Science Center. The program lasts a little less than an hour.

Following a brief intermission, you can also visit Frostburg State’s Science Discovery Center, where there is a fine collection of preserved game animals from five continents.

Best of all, both the Planetarium and the Science Discovery Center are free to all; at both places, your questions and comments are welcome.

Bob Doyle is available for presentations to clubs and school classes, call him at (301) 687-7799. Contact Bob Doyle at rdoyle@frostburg.edu.