Teaching about Energy with
Google Earth
Glenn A. Richard
Google Earth image
Mineral Physics Institute
Stony Brook University
Dixie Valley is a dual-flash geothermal plant located in Dixie Valley, Nevada. It has a nameplate capacity of 60.5
megawatts and an average output of 60 megawatts. The plant has been in operation since 1988.
Energy produced by the plant is under contact to Sierra Pacific Power Company. It is connected to the electric
grid via a 228 mile transmission line to a utility substation.
Photo and descriptive information from from Nevada State Office of Energy http://energy.state.nv.us/html_info/dixie.html
GEO 311: Geoscience and Global Concerns
Stony Brook University
Tuesday Computer Laboratory Sessions – Students work in small
groups to investigate energy and other topics.
Enrollment includes geoscience majors and non-majors
GEO 311: Geoscience and Global Concerns
Topics Covered During Tuesday Computer Laboratory Sessions — Fall, 2008
September 9, 2008 - Northwest Passage
September 16, 2008 - Energy Consumption Rates across the USA and the World
September 23, 2008 - Overview of Oil Reserves, Production and Consumption
October 7, 2008 - Trends in Oil Consumption
October 14, 2008 - Predictions of World Oil Reserves
October 21 and 28, 2008 - Selecting Sites for Renewable Energy Projects
Google Earth image
November 4, 2008 - The Boxing Day Tsunami
November 11 and 18, 2008 - Carbon in the Atmosphere
Novemner 25, 2008 - Nuclear Half-Lives
Where’s
December 2, 2008 - Potential Tidal Energy Sites
this?
December 9, 2008 - Solar Photovoltaic Energy
Buffalo
Mountain,
WV (Coal)
Why teach with Google Earth?
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GE presents data in a geographic context.
GE Includes imagery and layers; Lots of third-party data available.
GE is appropriate for educational use in a wide range of subject areas.
GE is an effective tool for integrating the study of multiple disciplines.
GE has a large active user community with a public discussion forum.
GE enables users to easily create and display their own data.
GE can be launched easily to explore an issue that arises during an
informal discussion.
 Students need exercise in spatial thinking.
List adapted from SERC: Why Teach With Google Earth?
http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/google_earth/why.html
(Part of the Teaching with Google Earth module)
Where’s this?
Frontier Refining,
Cheyenne, WY
Google Earth image
Why use Google Earth to Teach about Energy?
• Many energy-related phenomena are geographic in nature.
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Where’s the oil? Who’s using it up?
What is the average wind speed here?
Where are the sunny places?
What is the tidal range here?
Where’s the geothermal potential?
Where are the brownfields? Google Earth image
• Energy is an interdisciplinary topic. Where’s this? Altamont Pass, CA
• GE can relate energy to features visible on the Earth’s
surface, or to other geological features that can be mapped.
• GE can juxtapose KML or other data from multiple sources
to investigate phenomenological relationships.
The 10,000-Foot View
can be used to initiate discussions about energy.
Northport
Power
Station,
Long
Island
Winooski
One,
Vermont
Niagara
Falls,
New York
Coal Mine,
Garzweiler,
Germany
Wind Farm,
Arlington,
Wyoming
Site of Wave
Farm,
Aguçadoura,
Portugal
Yucca
Mountain,
Nevada
Three
Gorges
Dam,
China
Suncor
Refinery,
Denver,
Colorado
C.A.C.T.U.S.
Telescope,
Barstow,
California
La Rance
Tidal
Barrage,
France
Freight
Train Cars,
Chicago
Google Earth images
Indian Point
Nuclear
Power Plant,
New York
Chernobyl
Grand
Coulee Dam,
Washington
Athabasca,
Alberta
Reference Tool during Lectures and Seminar Discussions
Google Earth: effective
for “quick studies”.
Easy to assemble existing
data from multiple sources
to explore a topic.
Google Earth images
Overlay: Nevada Transmission System
Can find maps to create overlays
quickly during a lab activity or
informal class discussion in a
computer lab.
Where’s this?
Overlay image from: Nevada Transmission System Details
http://gov.state.nv.us/RETAAC-I/FinalReport/RETAAC%20Phase%20I%20Appendix%20II.pdf
Dixie Valley placemark from Google Earth Community: Geothermal Power Facilities
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=1033797
Larderello
Geothermal
Plant, Italy
Google Earth image
Energy Consumption Rates across
the USA and the World
Students use data from the Google Earth Community and BP to compare
state and international rates of energy consumption.
Height of each prism proportional to per capita
rate of oil consumption for each state or country.
Selected States Energy Table
Google Earth images
•What country consumes oil at the highest rate per capita?
•What states consume oil at the highest rates per capita,
according to the map?
•What do you believe may be the explanation for the order of
these rankings?
Selecting Sites for Renewable
Energy Projects
Students create overlays and use other data from the
Energy Information Administration and the
Environmental Protection Agency for site selection.
Student groups choose and mark locations
for facilities that utilize each of the
following types of energy sources and
provide explanations for their selections.
•Solar Energy
•Bioenergy
•Hydroelectricity
•Tidal Power
•Wind Energy
From Wikipedia: Wind power
•Wave Energy
P = ρ AV3
•Geothermal Energy
Google Earth image
Google Earth with overlays of maps from
the Energy Information Administration and
polluted site data from the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Potential Tidal Energy Sites
Boundary and tidal range data for estuaries used in ArcGIS and
Excel to quantify tidal energy for power generation through a
barrage and to assess possible adverse environmental effects.
Although this activity uses
ArcGIS, it is being adapted for
Google Earth.
Need to determine areas of estuaries.
• Cannot be done directly with free
version of Google Earth, but could be
estimated.
• Easier to measure with GE Pro.
• Can be calculated using ArcGIS.
Gravitational potential energy
Ep = ½ A ρ g h2 (Proportional to the square of the tidal range)
Environmental Consequences of
Using Tidal Energy
Usine marémotrice de la Rance,
France
Google Earth images
Flax Pond Tidal Marsh,
Long Island Sound
Existence of salt marshes on Long Island Sound depends upon tides. These
marshes can be seen on Google Earth. Tidal barrages alter the tidal cycle.
Northwest Passage
Students use data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in
Google Earth to …
• Observe and explain seasonal and long term changes in ice extent.
• Measure impacts of the melting of polar ice on lengths of shipping routes.
Google Earth image
Data from National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Northwest Passage, sans some of the ice.
Needs
“This workshop … … will bring together geoscience educators, research scientists,
economists and policy experts to share their understanding about energy in the context
of teaching and learning geoscience. The workshop will also showcase approaches for
teaching about energy and provide a forum to develop new educational materials”.
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More geographic data for energy sources, infrastructure, etc.
Good documentation with metadata
Data access and visualizations tools (e.g., Google Earth API applications)
Better search capabilities for finding datasets
New interdisciplinary educational materials
Energized network of people interested in energy education
Where’s this?
Solar One, Solar Two Power Tower
Projects, then C.A.C.T.U.S.
Telescope, Barstow, CA
34° 52′ 18.73″ N, 116° 50′ 3.08″ W
Google Earth image