Deck 4: Energy Storage and Transmission, Climate and Energy & Data Analytics and Risk Assessment: An Overview

Question 1

How much chemical potential energy is stored in a full tank of gasoline? Assume your tank holds 20 gallons of gasoline.

Answer 1

2 x 10⁹ J

Question 2

What would the weight of a battery be if it possessed the equivalent energy of a tank of gasoline? Assume a 20 gallon tank of gasoline for comparison; and, assume a battery energy density of 6 x 10⁵ J/kg.

Answer 2

3000 kg

Question 3

Calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by an automobile in a year. Assume the car gets 20 miles per gallon and travels 10,000 miles in a year. Now estimate the total amount of carbon emitted by all automobiles using the figure just completed and assuming 150 million automobiles in the USA.

Answer 3

8 x 103 kg of CO₂ per year per car; 1 x 1012 kg per year for all cars in USA

Question 4

Imagine if all of the coal reserves in the world were burned; and 50% of the generated CO₂ is deposited in the atmosphere. Calculate the increase in the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere in the world using this scenario. For simplicity, assume that the coal deposits are 100% carbon.

Question 5

In what year would you estimate the CO₂ concentration to have doubled when compared to the 1860 level of CO₂; if the rate of increase were a steady 0.4% per year?

Question 6

Consider the study of an island human population with no immigration or emigration. The first year we count 500 people; and, the second year we count 800 people. What is the population growth rate?

Question 7

Consider the study of an island human population with no immigration or emigration. What is the doubling time if the instantaneous rate of increase is 0.365 people per year? Assuming our first census of the island was 50 people, how many years before you would you have 310 people on the island?

Question 8

Consider an island nation with a population of 3000. In one month this population has 40 births and 15 deaths. What is the instantaneous rate of increase (r)? Use the calculated instantaneous rate of increase to estimate the population size in 6 months, assuming no migration or emigration and assuming r remains constant.

Question 9

An isolated island population increases in size by 12% every year. Determine the doubling time for the population assuming a constant r and no migration nor emigration.

Question 10

Consider an island whose population is limited by law to no more than 1000 people. Assume that the initial population is 500 people with r = 0.005 per day. Then there is immigration at one time of precisely 600 people. Calculate the instantaneous growth rate (obviously it must be negative to get the population below its limit) for the population after immigration. Hint: utilize Equation B.14.

Question 11

An isolated island population increases in size by 6% every year. Determine the doubling time for the population assuming a constant r and no migration nor emigration. Compare the doubling time for this example to that of problem #7.

Question 12

Consider the total electrical power consumption of the people of the United States. Now calculate the electrical power per capita. Using Census Bureau historical data and energy usage data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, plot the change in electrical power per capita over the years 1950 to 2010.

Question 13

Consider the total electrical power consumption of the entire world. Now calculate the electrical power per capita for the world. Using United Nations population data and World Bank historical data, plot the change in electrical power per capita in the world over the years 1960 to 2010.

Question 14

Choose a state you would like to examine. What percentage of the state you have chosen lives in its largest city?

Question 15

Examine the latest U.S. Census Bureau population data. Determine the average of all state populations and develop the average sized state population. Now determine how much of the population lives within a state more than and less than the average population state.

Question 16

Consider the energy developed by a person exercising on a treadmill. Estimate the total power generated if every person used a treadmill for one hour a day and linked it to the power grid.