University of California at Santa Cruz
Baskin School of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
EE80J: Renewable Energy Sources
Spring 2007

NEWS

 

Instructor:

Ali Shakouri

Office:

253A Baskin Engineering Building

Phone:

(831) 459-3821

email:

ali@soe.ucsc.edu

Lecture:

Baskin Engineering  Auditorium 101; T,Th 12-1:45pm

Office Hours:

Tuesday 2-3pm, Wednesday 4-5pm

Discussion Sessions:

Monday 4:30-6:00 / Wednesday 2:00-3:30 pm. Baskin Engineering 314

Teaching Assistant:

Seo, Hae Jong rokaf@soe.ucsc.edu

Reader/Grader:

Joyce Aclan jaclan@ucsc.edu , Ross Albert ralbert@ucsc.edu , Lauren Mills lmills@ucsc.edu

Texts:

(reserve at Science Library, 3 hours)

·           Out of Gas, David Goodstein, 2004

·           Renewable Energy, Godfrey Boyle, 2004

Additional References:

(reserve at Science Library, 1 day)

·           Energy : Physical, Environmental, and Social Impact (3rd Edition)  by Gordon J. Aubrecht (2005)

·           Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties by Vaclav Smil, (2005)

·           Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability  by Randall Baker, Lloyd Orr, and Robert Bent (2002) http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ucsc/Doc?id=10064667

Grading Policy:

Based on reports, in-class activities and final (see below)

 

 

Tentative Schedule (v.2, update 4/17/07)

Lect.

Date

Topic

Reading:

Goodstein (G), Boyle (B)

Handouts, events

Additional Recommended Reading

1

4/3

Introduction/ Overview

G(p.15-48)

B(p.6-13)

Energy/Environment/Science/Technology (12 pages)

 

2

4/5

Energy basics, World Energy Usage

G(p.48-56)

 

Energy Basics (17 pages)

Scientific notation (5pages)

B (p.2-6)

3

4/10

Class project, Entrepreneurial problems

of new initiatives

 

Guest Lecture (Dr. Gerald Barnett)

Proposals (Getting ready for report # 4) updated 4/9/07

Presentation Slides updated 4/11/07

 

4

4/12

Relation between society and environment

 

Electricity, Radiation

G(p.59-98)

Guest Lecture (Prof. Ben Crow, Sociology) Benton Article 4/11/07

Viewgraphs 4/16/2007

 

Electric power history (5 pages)

Basic electricity (9 pages)

Electricity and Magnetism, Sun (5 pages)

Performing calculations (5 pages)

5

4/17

Heat and Thermodynamics

G(p.102-123)

Heat, Temperature and Thermodynamics (12 pages)

 

Projections (4pages)

Order/Disorder

6

4/19

Home Energy Audit, Conventional Energy Sources (power plants, engines, nuclear power)

 

*** Home energy audit (38 pages)***

*** Hot water energy (1 page)***

Fossil fuels history (2 pages)

Nuclear energy history (4 pages)

Heat/work demonstration

Greenhouse effect (2pages)

Nuclear energy (advanced reading, 7 pages)

7

4/24

Solar Thermal, Building Design

B(18-29,36,40,49-55,58-62)

Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat (4pages)

Historic passive solar techniques (1 page)

 

Large scale solar

(5 pages)

8

4/26

Photovoltaics

B(66-83,92-100)

 

Photovoltaic (32 pages)

Solar cell demonstration

 

9

5/1

Photovoltaics (cont.)

 

 

Photoelectricity (4pages)

10

5/3

Renewable Energies in Denmark

 

Bioenergy, biomass

B(106-112,127,133-145)

Anders Muller (Senior Advisor Environmental Affairs of Baltic Sea Solutions) Presentation Material 5/3/2007

 

Introduction to Biomass (27pages)

 

11

5/8

Bioenergy (cont.),

Energy predictions

 

Handout on energy predictions 5/2/2007

Biomass (17pages)

12 

5/10

Energy, Comfort and Standardization

 

Hydroelectricity, Tidal Power, Wind Energy

B(148-154,177-192)

B(196-203,244-248,270-285)

Guest Lecture (Prof. Ben Crow, Sociology) Lecture Notes 5/23/2007

 

Paper by Shove Revealing the invisible (sociology, energy and the environment) 4/17/2007

 

Wind power (7pages)

Wind energy demonstration

5/23/2007 EReserves:  Chapter 4  of Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability  (2002) Culture and Energy Consumption by Richard Wilk (need password, see class)

 

Wind development (4pages)

13

5/15

Wave Energy, Geothermal

B(298-302,334,337) B(342-349)

 

 

14

5/17

Energy scavenging, electric bike, hybrid car

 

Guest Lecture (Prof. Ken Pedrotti, Electrical Engineering)

Lecture Notes: Energy Scavenging and Hybrid Transport

 

15

5/22

Economics and the Environment

 

Guest Lecture (Prof. Nirvikar Singh, Economics)

 

5/23/2007 EReserves:  Chapter 6  of Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability  (2002) Energy and Sustainable Economic Growth by Lloyed Orr (need password, see class)

16

5/24

Could the next industrial revolution be green?

 

Guest Lecture (Prof. Ben Crow, Sociology)

Lecture Notes

 

17

5/29

Renewables policy, Supply curves of conserved energy

 

Energy saving (illumination/appliances)

Recycling, Energy Storage

 

Guest Lecture (Prof. Brent Haddad, Environmental Studies)

 

Illumination saving (4pages)

Recycling (5 pages)

Energy Storage (23 pages)

Lecture notes on Storage, Recycling

 

5/23/2007 EReserves:  Chapter 5  of Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability  (2002) Energy Policy : The Problem of Public Perception by Randall Baker (need password, see class)

 

18 

5/31

Waste heat recovery, Direct thermal to electric energy conversion, Energy in transportation

 

Lecture notes on thermoelectrics

Thermoelectric demonstration

Car fuel consumption (2 pages)

 

19

6/5

Nanotechnology and its applications to energy conversion and storage

 

Lecture notes on nanotechnology

 

20

6/7

Clean Fuels, Hydrogen Economy, Fuel cells

B(406-409)

Guest Lecture (Prof. Jin Zhang, Chemistry)

 

Hydrogen/Fuel cell (5 pages)

Fuel Cell demonstration

 

 

 

Final

 

Monday, June 11,  8:00–11:00 A.M.

 

 

Course Description

This is an introduction to energy conversion and storage with special emphasis on renewable sources. Fundamental energy conversion limits based on physics and existing material properties will be discussed. Various sources such as solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and fuel cells will be described. An analysis of different alternative sources will be performed and key scientific, economical and social roadblocks for large scale implementation will be examined. Finally, the latest research on solar cells and applications of nanotechnology on energy conversion and storage will be introduced.

 

Prerequisites:

This class does not have any math, physics or engineering prerequisites. All the necessary concepts will be introduced during the course.

 

Related Course:

Prof. Ben Crow, who is giving several guest lectures in this course, covers the social aspects of the development and its environmental impacts in the course Sociology 179 (Nature, poverty and progress –dilemmas of environment and development). We are coordinating the syllabus of these two courses so that students who want to learn more about the societal impacts of development and the role of renewable energies sources can take Sociology 179. Sociology 179 will be offered in Fall 2007.

 

Reports/Projects (tentative) 

Report 1: (Individual) In-class quiz based on the text “Out of gas” by Goodstein:

NEW TIME: Thursday 4/19, 1:10pm-1:45pm.

The quiz will cover the scientific facts, historical information and future predictions that are given in the text by Goodstein.

 

Report 2: (Individual) Personal Energy Use Audit

Due Tuesday 5/1 at 12 noon.

The goal of this activity is to calculate the total energy that you consume in one week. You will need to quantify energy consumption at home and for transportation (appliances, illumination, hot water consumption, car mileage, …). Could you suggest means to reduce your energy consumption? How much your total energy usage can be reduced?

-See handouts for details-

 

Report 3: (Individual) Literature search/ predictions about future: 2-3 pages

***Due Tuesday 5/15 at 12 noon.*** -Specific Format updated on 5/7-

This year, report 3 (literature search and predictions about future) will be focused on your proposal topic chosen for report 4. You need to investigate what other people have done on topics similar to what you have chosen for your proposal and how their efforts have been successful or they failed. References could be in newspaper articles, company announcements, journals, etc. where a specific implementation of renewable energies is discussed. You can also find information on the web. Make sure that you indicate all of the references appropriately and if you use specific quotes, they should be marked. You also need to write a paragraph about possible outcomes of your proposal ideas in the long term (5-10 years from now and couple of hundred years from now).

 

Report 4: (Group Project) Write a Proposal Related to Renewable Energies, 8-10 pages

***Pre-proposal due Tuesday 5/8, 12 noon.***

Due Thursday 6/7 at 12 noon.

Write a proposal to a Private Foundation, the National Science Foundation, etc. about an idea to help with the energy crisis in the future. The proposal should include (abstract, introduction, statement of the problem, proposed solution, implementation, budget, personnel, and timeline). The ideas could be scientific (e.g. how to make a better solar cell), or non-scientific for a company, store, school, hospital or for a city, state or country on how to improve energy efficiency, increase recycling, reduce pollution, increase the use of renewable energies.

-See handouts, Example of proposals will be given-

 

Grading (tentative)

 

Report 1 (10%), Report 2 (20%), Report 3 (10%), Report 4 (30%), In-class activities or Final Exam –whichever higher (30%)

 

 

* A limited number of Environmental Studies students can take this class as upper division elective for their major. These students need to get a petition form from ENVS undergraduate advisor, Charlene McCord (ISB 405, cmccord@ucsc.edu).  Prof. Karen Holl (kholl@ucsc.edu) will have to approve this petition. These students have to do additional work: They have to do both the in-class activities and the final exam. The final report 4 should also be more comprehensive with a detailed survey and analysis of the related work. Total length of the report should be ~20 pages.

 

This is a large class; late reports will be penalized (-20%/day) unless there is a serious problem (e.g. Doctor’s note). You need to turn in your report before the deadline (typically at 12 noon).

In class activities

Links below can help you to take better notes during the lectures:

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/notetake.html

http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetaking.systems.html

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/notes.html

 

Course Outline

 

  •  

Introduction 

Energy storage and conversion, brief  introduction to thermodynamics, world energy usage
  •  

Existing Systems

Power plants, engines, nuclear power, batteries

  •  

Solar energy

Semiconductors, solar cells, photovoltaic systems
  •  

Direct thermal to electric energy conversion

(waste heat recovery, hybrid vehicles)

  •  

Wind energy, hydropower, geothermal

  •  

Hydrogen, fuel cells

  •  

Photosynthesis and biomass
  •  

Nanotechnology

Applications to energy conversion and storage

  •  

Economics of Energy
  •  

Environmental and Societal Impacts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Reference Materials

 

Dr. Steven Chu, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Nobel Prize in Physics

Nano*High Talk - 10/29/05 "Global Warming, the Energy Crisis and What We Can Do About It"

 

Renewables 2005 Global Status Report

 

Papers on renewable energies policy issues:

http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/EMS/emp-pubs.html

http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/EMS/re-pubs.html

 

PBS: NOVA: Saved by Sun, Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 8pm.

 

http://www.solartech.org/ SolarTech is a collaborative effort to create a Solar Center of Excellence in Silicon Valley. This alliance will help train installers and facilitate permitting.

 

http://www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-02-12.pdf Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax? Ian W.H. Parry and Kenneth A. Small, March 2002 (rev. Sept. 2004)

 

Academic Dishonesty and Cheating:

Any confirmed academic dishonesty including but not limited to copying reports or cheating on exams, will result in a no-pass or failing grade. You are encouraged to read the campus policies regarding academic integrity. Examples of cheating include (but are not limited to):

  • Copying results or other information during in-class activities or final.
  • Submitting a report that is not your own work.
  • Using material from internet, books, journals, other people’s reports without proper referencing

If there is any question as to whether a given action might be construed as cheating, see me before you engage in any such action.

Ali Shakouri
Last updated: June 5, 2007 11:00 AM