Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy
20.1 Conservation
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There are many ways to save energy
Green buildings can cut energy costs by half
Transportation could be far more efficient
Cogeneration produces both electricity and
heat
Urban Sprawl
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Steamboat suburbs, 1830’s
Railroad suburbs by 1850’s
“Commuter, “ 1865
Planned suburbs, late 1800’s
Streetcars and Interurban railroads
Wisconsin
Interurban
Railroads
Midwest Interurban Railroads
Interurban Rail, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Streetcar Lines
Los Angeles doesn’t sprawl
because it has freeways
-Los Angeles built freeways
because it sprawls
The Downside of Light Rail
• Lines were very unprofitable
• Owners invested in real estate
– Ironically, light rail created urban sprawl
• Sometimes built amusement parks at the end
of the line
• Lines frequently serviced owners’
developments and bypassed others
End of the Urban Rail Era
• A Cartel of Oil, Rubber and Auto Companies
Bought up and dismantled urban rail lines in
the 1930’s and 1940’s
• Not To Sell Cars, But Buses
• Cartel Was Fined But By That Time The
Systems Were Dismantled
1883
Stationary
Gas Engine
Early Motorcycle, 1885
1889 Daimler Auto
1902 Daimler Roadster
Mercedes Jellinek
World War I
• Railroads insufficient for Army’s needs
• Army turned to truck convoys
• Civilians found convoy routes featured such
revolutionary innovations as:
– Route Markings
– Regular Maintenance
– Snow Removal
Pershing’s Map, 1922
The Interstate Highway System
If You Think Cars Pollute, Consider
Horses
• New York City generated thousands of tons
of horse manure a day
• Horses often cruelly overworked
• 15,000 horses a year died on the streets of
New York each year
• Many were just abandoned
20.2 Tapping Solar Energy
• Solar collectors can be passive or active
• Storing solar energy is problematic
20.3 High Temperature Solar Energy
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Simple solar cookers can save energy
Utilities are promoting renewable energy
Photovoltaic cells capture solar energy
Electrical energy is difficult and expensive to
store
20.4 Fuel Cells
• All fuel cells have similar components
• Several different electrolytes can be used in
fuel cells
20.5 Energy From Biomass
• We can burn biomass
• Methane from biomass is clean and efficient
• Ethanol and biodiesel can contribute to fuel
supplies
• Cellulosic ethanol seems to offer hope for the
future
• Can Biofuels Be Sustainable?
• Could algae be a hope for the future?
The Math of Ethanol
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U.S. Uses 7 billion barrels of oil a year
Equals 293 billion gallons
Ethanol Equivalent = 439 billion gallons
2.8 gallons/bushel of corn = 157 billion
bushels
• U.S. Corn Production 2010 = 13 billion bushels
20.6 Energy From The Earth’s Forces
• Falling water has been used as an energy
source since ancient times
• Wind energy is our fastest growing renewable
source
• Wind could meet all our energy needs
• Geothermal heat, tides, and waves could be
valuable resources
• Ocean thermal electric conversion might be
useful