ENERGY: Nuclear Decisions – Part I

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Building The World

**The only building left standing in Hiroshima, Japan, after 6 August 1945 is now a peace memorial.** “Genbaku Dome” photographed by Oilstreet, Creative Commons 2.5.

This week marks the 79th year since the tragedy of nuclear warfare. Japan, only country to have experienced the effects of nuclear warfare, has always pledged non-participation in nuclear arms development. While the US has traditionally included Japan and South Korea in its protection, recent geopolitics in the area (and elsewhere) may encourage self-protection. With fear rising in Seoul due to its nuclear northern neighbor, 71 per cent of South Koreans surveyed expressed belief that self-protection may be necessary.

Tragic bombing of Japan in August 1945. Left image: Hiroshima (6 August 1945) by George P. Caron. Right image: Nagasaki (9 August 1945) by Charles Levy. Image from U.S. Department of Energy. Public Domain.

Japan may be less inclined. There are still 106,823 survivors who are a testament to the tragedy of August 1945. And the present generation who experienced the 2011 Fukushima disaster have grown wary of nuclear danger: not just in war but in energy production. In the Fukushima tragedy, 47,000 people fled their homes, ocean water near the plant became contaminated, and 80 square miles (207 square kilometers) were declared uninhabitable. Loss and damage remediation cost: estimated at $660 billion (71 trillion Yen). Those who visit Fukushima, or the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, may reflect upon past – and future- nuclear decisions.

Einstein stated the letter to FDR was his life’s biggest regret. Image: “Albert Einstein, 1947” by photographer Jack Oren Turner, 1947. Public Domain.

Einstein, whose letter to then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt led to the development of the Manhattan Project that resulted in the bombs, said it was his life’s biggest regret. Is it finally time for the world to join and support Hiroshima’s declaration, this week, that we must move from “ideal” to real action in nuclear disarmament. Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki of Hiroshima Prefecture noted that once a weapon is invented, likelihood of use becomes a problem that may never resolve. If you want to support nuclear disarmament, lift your voice here or here.

Wyoming is the location of TerraPower’s civil nuclear energy and electricity plant with a new, safer design: will it change nuclear decisions? Image: “John Moulton Barn at base of Grand Tetons, Wyoming” by photographer John Sullivan, 2004. Dedicated to the public domain.

But what about nuclear power as a non-carbon source of energy in a world seeking to stop carbon-caused climate change? Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates invested in TerraPower in 2008: in 2024, the company developed a new design for a power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, USA. Gates noted that former nuclear designs use water to cool the system (a problem in the Fukushima disaster), but the Wyoming project will use liquid sodium. The medium can withstand eight times more heat than water, and does not require pumping back into the system. It still uses uranium, however.

“Uranium electron shell diagram” by graphic designer Pumbaa80. Creative commons 2.0.

Uranium is radioactive in all its isotopes; U-235 is fissile, and is the basis for most of the world’s nuclear power stations. As a mineral, uranium decays into other, lighter, elements: but it takes time. The half-life of U-235: 704 million years. Storage of spent fuel continues to be an issue. The world’s biggest deposits of uranium are in Australia, Canada, and Kazakhstan: these countries therefore may influence world nuclear policies.

**Not all countries have signed, and ratified, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). How can you help to advance support?** Image: “CTBT Participation as of 2022” by graphic designer Allstar86. Creative Commons 3.0.

Even more influence comes from those who have not signed, or have resigned from, the global Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Russia pulled out; the US has signed but never ratified. India, North Korea, and Pakistan have not yet signed. While 187 nations have agreed, only 36 have ratified. In addition to the US, China, Egypt, Iran, and Israel have not yet ratified. If you live in a country that has not signed or ratified, your action and encouragement can make a difference.

**France has the largest share of civil nuclear power for electricity generation. It is also home to ITER, site of development of fusion energy**. Image: “Nuclear plants map of France,” by graphic designer Sting, 2006. Public Domain.

But as the Atomic Energy Act reminds us, nuclear power is an energy form with environmental (and medical) benefits. Advocates of nuclear power, including Gates, speak of its potential to help the world achieve a carbon-free, net-zero goal as we transition away from coal, gas, and oil. Many join Gates in supporting nuclear energy for a carbon-free world. Today, there are nuclear power plants supplying energy and electricity in over 50 countries. The US, France, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Canada, and Ukraine (in that order) are the top producers; France has the largest share of energy generation from nuclear. Germany, however, decided to phase out and decommission its nuclear energy infrastructure.

**Global Zero** is an international organization dedicated to a world without nuclear weapons. Image: “Global Zero” by Global Zero. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

But even if new civil nuclear designs like that of TerraPower are safer operationally, are nuclear power plants still a danger as potential targets? Ukraine would say this is sadly true, as evidenced by recent threats to Zaporizhzhia. Bombing or otherwise exploding a civil nuclear facility built to generate electricity would result in two disasters: disabling energy infrastructure and triggering a radioactive explosion that would cause immediate casualties and lingering contamination. A database of nuclear terrorism is maintained by the Monterey Institute of International Studies, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Organizations like Global Zero offer ways to get involved. The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 7 July 2017, offers a vision.

In the next part, we’ll look at possibly safer forms of civil nuclear energy. Using uranium may be dangerous, but could small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) be less of a threat? And will the work of Jean-Louis Bobin and other physicists developing nuclear fusion independent of uranium change the field – and the world?

When learning that this week marks the 79th anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons in war, a student remarked: “By next year, the 80th, how can we reach complete nuclear disarmament?”

Take action here or here. This week, especially, honor peace.

Bobin, Jean-Louis. Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion. World Scientific: 2014. 978-9814590686

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Oppenheimer,” 22 July 2023. Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2023/07/22/energy-oppenheimer/

Davidson, Frank P. and K. Lusk Brooke. “The Manhattan Project,” Chapter 26. pages 477-514. Volume II. Building the World. Greenwood 2006. ISBN: 0-313-33374-2.

Gates, Bill. “Nuclear Power.” VIDEO. 16 June 2024. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/16/business/video/bill-gates-nuclear-power-gps-sot-digvid

Global Zero. https://www.globalzero.org/take-action/chaosnewstart/index.html

Holdren, John P. “Threats to Civil Nuclear-energy Facilities,” chapter, Science and Technology to Counter Terrorism: Proceedings of an Indo-U.S. Workshop. 2007. National Academies Press. https://nap.nationalacademicies.org/read/11848/chapter/8

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Nobel Peace Prize 2017. “How to stop nuclear weapons.” https://www.icanw.org/take_action_now

Jiangtao, Shi. “Could Japan and South Korea join the nuclear club? Cold war fears put the prospect in play.” 6 August 2024. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3273440/could-japan-and-south-korea-join-nuclear-club-cold-war-fears-put-prospect-play

Kingsbury, Kathleen, Editor, with W.J. Hennigan, and Spencer Cohen. 2024. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/22/opinion/nuclear-weapons-nytimes.html

Langley, Winston E. Abolishing War. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-962551-25-0

Nicholls-Lee, Deborah. ” ‘It was the one great mistake in my life’: The letter from Einstein that ushered in the age of the atomic bomb.” 6 August 2024. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240801-it-was-the-one-great-mistake-in-my-life-the-letter-from-einstein-that-ushered-in-the-age-of-the-atomic-bomb

Nolan, Christopher. “Oppenheimer.” IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title-tt15398776

United Nations. “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” 7 July 2017. https://disarmament.unoda.org/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20on%20the%20Prohibition,threaten%20to%20use%20nuclear%20weapons

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “TerraPower, LLC, Submittal of the Construction Permit Application for the Natrium Reactor Plant, Kemmerer Power Station, Unit 1,” Accession number ML24088A059, 10 April 2024. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2408/ML24088A059.html

World Nuclear Association. “Uranium mining overview.” 16 May 2024. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/uranium-mining-overview

Yamaguchi, Mari. “Hiroshima governor says nuclear disarmament must be tackled as a pressing issue, not an ideal.” 6 August 2014. Associated Press. https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/ap-hiroshima-governor-says-nuclear-disarmament-must-be-tackled-as-a-pressing-issue-not-an-idea/

Great appreciation to colleagues who suggested nuclear disarmament paths.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY: Does Life Blush?

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Building The World

Does life blush? Pink may be the color of nascent energy.

Stanley Miller, in 1951, came to the University of Chicago to study with nuclear physicist Edward Teller who had worked on the Manhattan Project, and later established Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (where recent success in fusion energy was achieved). While Teller’s student, Miller attended a lecture by Harold Urey, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, on the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis, on the possible origin of organic life from inorganic compounds. After the lecture, Miller approached Urey with an idea for an experiment to test the hypothesis. Urey was skeptical – no one had ever proven the mystery of how life began – but intrigued. The professor granted Miller one year of funding.

Stanley Miller in 1999. Image courtesy of NASA. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Using water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH2), and hydrogen (H2) in a mixture – and stimulating them with an electric arc that acted like lightning to produce fast intense heat and then applying a condenser to cool – Miller repeated alternation of heat and cold to see what might happen. The mix of components has the acronym WHAM (water, hydrogen, ammonia, methane).

“Miller-Urey Experiment” by NASA. ImageP public domain. Included with appreciation.

Soon, water droplets began to form and then a watery solution dripped into what started to look like a tiny pond. Miller left the lab for the night. The next day, he awakened with curiosity and dashed to the lab. The pond was now turning color – a pale pink. Encouraged, he ran to tell Urey. The two watched and waited. In a week, the pink pond turned a reddish brownish black. What was happening?

**Miller’s experiment turned pink. Examination revealed the presence of amino acids, building blocks of organic life.** Image: TBurnArts, 2016. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Miller identified five amino acids that had formed: aspartic acid, glycine, a-aminobutyric acid and two forms of analine (Australian Earth Science Foundation, 2024). This was significant because previous to that moment, all of science avowed that amino acids, molecules of life, could only be built inside living bodies. That belief was traditionally expressed in the phrase “Omne vivum ex vivo“ (All life comes from living things). But now living energy had appeared from inorganic compounds in Miller’s lab. “Primordial soup” – the parlance given to Oparin/Haldane’s hypothesis and picked up by Miller/Urey – was now served. And it was pink.

**Nobel Prize Laureate Harold Urey in 1934. Later, a crater on the Moon was named for him: Urey Crater.** Image: Nobel Foundation, public domain. Included with appreciation.

Professor Harold Urey urged Miler to publish the findings but refused to put his name on the paper for two reasons. First, the idea and experiment was totally Miller’s and the professor was just the verifier. And, Urey worried – with reason – that the journal editors would give him all the credit because of his Nobel status. As predicted, the journal turned down the paper. But Urey wrote them a very clear note about Miller, attached his name as verifier, and they immediately published the findings. Eventually, the experiment became known as Miller-Urey. Harold Urey is also known from discovering deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, and the process of enriching uranium. Later in life, Urey became interested in space, participating in examination of lunar rocks brought back by Apollo NASA astronauts. A crater on the moon is now named Urey Crater.

**Last Chance Lake in British Columbia, Canada, has been noted as a candidate for conditions similar to those described by Miller-Urey.** Image: ‘British Columbian Lundbom Lake Rogaine” by photographer Murray Foubister, 2011. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Miller-Urey’s demonstration that organic life can spring from inorganic, under certain conditions, recently made news when scientists noted that Last Chance Lake – a shallow body of water in British Columbia – has the highest concentration of phosphate ever found in any natural pond or body of water on Earth. Why is this interesting? Phosphate contains phosphorus, a life-related molecule found in DNA, RNA, and, well, life. Last Chance Lake also has dolomite that triggers reactions among calcium, magnesium, and carbonate. In the geology of the volcanic soil around the lake, phosphate may have been part of how life originated. In geological circles, it’s called a “soda lake;” some say it is just the kind that Darwin envisioned when he wrote to his colleague in February 1871 about a hypothetical “warm little pond.” But as Miller-Urey proved, it is the stimulus and alternation of heat energy that sparked those components to organic life in that pond and in the lab.

Alternation of intense heat energy proved to be the spark of organic life, in the Miller-Urey experiment. Image: “Animated lightning” by Kunal Sen and TIsha Pillai, Wikimedia Foundation, 2021. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Tesla also placed importance on alternating current. But the idea is not new. Tantra, a philosophy arising around 500 ce in India, proposed that “Spanda” (from Sankrit Spadi “to move back and forth, to vibrate”) was the original energetic force that gave forth life.

Image: “Yantra with Om symbol” said to be the vibratory sound of the universe in Tantric philoophy. From photographer Tomoaki Inaba, 2011. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

The world’s future depends upon energy in clean, renewable, sustainable forms. Solar, wave and wind (caused by thermal alternation), and advances in fusion energy, may lead the way. Interestingly, plasma fusion energy from hydrogen radiates a series of colors from red to aqua, but when they combine, they often produce pink. (Eurofusion 2024). What is it about pink?

**“Hydrogen spectrum”** graphic by OrangeDog. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Australian Earth Science Foundation. “Origin of Life: Miller-Urey.” https://ausearthed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Origin-of-Life-Miller-Urey-Reading.pdf

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Energy: Darwin’s Big IF and the Oparin-Haldane Hypothesis.” 1 February 2024. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2024/02/01/energy-darwins-big-if/

Center for Chemical Evolution (CCE). https://centerforchemicalevolution.com

Darling, David. “Oparin-Haldane Theory: Chart on Differences in Theories of Oparin and Haldane” https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/OparinHaldane.html

Eurofusion. “Where does the plasma colour come from?” 2024. https://euro-fusion.org/faq/where-does-the-plasma-colour-come-from/

Forsythe, Jay G., et al., “Ester-Mediated Amide Bond Formation Driven by Wet-Dry Cycles: A Possible Path to Polypeptides on the Prebiotic Earth.” 15 July 2015. Angewandte Chemie, Volume 127, Issue 34, pages 10009-10013. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ange.201503792

Gronstal, Aaron. “Origins of life in a drying puddle.” 10 August 2015. National Science Foundation and NASA. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/origins-of-life-in-a-drying-puddle/

Horn-Muller, Ayurella. “A shallow lake in Canada could point to the origin of life on Earth.” 17 February 2024. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/17/world/last-chance-lake-origin-of-life-phosphate-scn?cid=ios_app

Mitnick, Michael. “The Current War.” Film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, Nicholas Hoult as Nikola Tesla, and Michael Shannon at George Westinghouse. Premiered 2017. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140507

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “Atomic Spectra Database.” Version 5.11, December 2023. https://www.nist.gov/pml/atomic-spectra-database

Stated Clearly. Narrated by Jon Perry. “What was the Miller-Urey Experiment?” Center for Chemical Evolution, National Science Foundation, and NASA. https://youtu.be/NNijmxsKGbc?si=iHSgQ0wK5ZoHP_g

Thomas, Jeremy. “Igniting the Future.” 15 May 2023. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). https://www.llnl.gov/article/49786/igniting-future-hundreds-gather-celebrate-historic-fusion-achievement

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY: Oppenheimer

Posted on July 22, 2023July 23, 2023 by Building The World

**J. Robert Oppenheimer.** Portrait from student days in Göttingen, Germany. Image: Public Domain. Included with recognition.

Summer blockbuster movies are meant to entertain, but the film Oppenheimer presents more than an opportunity for three hours in an air-conditioned theatre to escape the record-breaking summer heatwave. The film, about a scientist who for many is the face of the Manhattan Project, is a lesson in hindsight. And maybe a hope for future foresight.

**Roosevelt and Churchill could have made a very different decision.** Image: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, 18 January 1943. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Domain. Included with recognition.

There was a moment in time when, after learning from Albert Einstein and other scientists, that nuclear power as a new form of energy was not only possible but could also be used to destroy the world, a different decision could have been made. In the midst of a troubling war, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met. Churchill sent a team to work with the Americans. General Leslie Groves, military head of the Manhattan Project, selected J. Robert Oppenheimer as scientific director to develop nuclear energy – in the form of a weapon. This was only part of Einstein’s communication, but it was the first on which action was taken. The Manhattan Project was launched. But the key decision still had not been made.

**Manhattan Project’s Trinity test of “Gadget” 16 July 1945**. Image from USDE, public domain. Included with recognition.

Roosevelt worried about the decision. He considered informing a war enemy country, perhaps Japan, that there would be a bombing and that all citizens should be evacuated. Then, the bomb would have been dropped, demonstrating the horror and power, and the shock would be sufficient to stop the war. Why was this course of action not followed? After considering the decision, Roosevelt feared the bomb might indeed fall but not detonate, thereby leaving on the field of war a full-scale model to reverse-engineer, improve, and return fire against its creators. Tragically, the decision to move forward was taken by successor President Truman, and terrible injustice rained upon unsuspecting residents of Japan. Oppenheimer, who developed the bomb and witnessed its power when tested, quoted the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

**Tragic atomic bombing of Japan, 1945.** Image: “Bombs detonating over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right),” by photographer Sergeant George R. Caron, 1945. Caron was the first person to see the bomb from the air upon detonation. A military officer on the mission, Caron also happened to be a photographer. Public Domain. Included with recognition.

While its purpose was military, the Manhattan Project also demonstrated that people can come together to work on something of great importance, coordinated across geography and through sectors of society, with remarkable speed and efficacy. Tragically, the Manhattan Project, and Oppenheimer’s team, achieved a level of terror and destruction never before seen. But it also developed a new form of energy. What are we to do with this, now?

In 1946, the Atomic Energy Act introduced guidelines for the safe and beneficial use of this potent new form of energy. In Section I, a, the Atomic Energy Act states “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the people of the United States that…the development and utilization of atomic energy shall…be directed toward improving the public welfare, increasing the standard of living, strengthening free competition in private enterprise, and promoting world peace.” The Peace Symbol, created by Gerald Holtom in 1958 by combining semaphore letters (Semaphore is signal system using visuals that can be read at a distance. In the 19th century, ships began to communicate via semaphore flags – it this system that Holtom used.) “N” and “D” to signal nuclear disarmament, remains an important and inspirational icon, reaching beyond the original meaning to a broader call to peace. But its source and heart developed from the very issue that the Oppenheimer film explores.

**The Peace Symbol created by Gerald Holtom combines the semaphore letters “N” (Nuclear) and “D” (Disarmament)**. Image: Gerald Holtom. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

What should the future of nuclear energy be? Oppenheimer’s last words on the subject remain controversial but include “the peacetime applications of atomic energy will have in them all that we think, and more.” The original atomic energy was achieved through fission – dangerous then and still troubling now. Small modular reactors (SMR) are bringing fission energy to a new and less dangerous scale. Reuse and recycling of nuclear waste is similarly changing energy practice. Many energy experts state that we may need nuclear power as a supplement to other forms of renewable energy like solar, wave, and wind. But it is also true that nuclear plants, even SMRs, are still vulnerable, as recent military history in Ukraine warns. Recently, fusion energy may soon offer a capability that could achieve the dual goals of carbon-free energy and world cooperation. Fusion energy advances in ITER in France and in the United States, among others, may produce options in the near future.

Nuclear power is a major energy source in France. Image: “Nuclear plants map of France” by Eric Gaba, based on NASA satellite data, public domain. Included with recognition,

Nuclear capability remains with us, but the stain of nuclear tragedy also remains, as the Oppenheimer movie reminds us. Oppenheimer is often called the “American Prometheus,” after the fire-stealing Greek Titan, whose brother was Epimetheus. Prometheus means “forethought;” Epimetheus means “hindsight.” What is your view of nuclear energy? How can we use what we know, through hindsight, to lead a future informed by foresight?

Prometheus means “foresight.” Epimetheus means “hindsight.” Image: Nevit Dilmon. Creative commons 3.0. Included with recognition.

Bird, Kai and Martin J. Sherwin. American Prometheus. 2006. ISBN: 0375726268

Bobin, Jean Louis. Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion. 2014. ISBN: 9789814590686

Davidson Frank. P, and K. Lusk Brooke. “The Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Act,” pages 477-514, Building the World. Volume 2. ISBN: 0313333742.

Gates, Bill. “Interview with Bill Gates on Nuclear Energy and Reaching Net Zero.” 21 October 2022. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). VIDEO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4pDyQzguJE

ITER. https://www.iter.org

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility. “Fusion ignition breakthrough hailed as ‘one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century'” 5 December 2022. https://www.llnl.gov/news/shot-ages-fusion-ignition-breakthrough-hailed-one-most-impressive-scientific-feats-21st

Nolan, Christopher interviewed by Dennis Overbye. “Christopher Nolan and the Contradictions of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” 20 July 2023. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/movies/christopher-nolan-oppenheimer.html

Oppenheimer, J. Robert. “Now I am become Death,” speaking of the bomb. VIDEO. Atomic Archive. https://www.atomicarchive.com/media/video/oppenheimer

Oppenheimer, J. Robert. “Farewell Speech,” 2 November 1945, Association of Los Alamos Scientists. Atomic Heritage Foundation. Nuclear Museum. https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/key-documents/oppenheimers-farewell-speech/

Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. 1986. ISBN: 9780671657192

United States Congress “Atomic Energy Act of 1946” Public Law 585, 79th Congress, Chapter 724, Second Session S. 1717. https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/deterrence/atomic-energy-act.html

Great appreciation to Jean-Louis Bobin and Lucien Deschamps for sharing research.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY: Here Comes the SUN

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Building The World

Aten, sun religious symbol established by Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Image: “Aten” by AtonX, 2008. CC 2.5. Included with appreciation.

Every culture has myths about the sun: appreciating its life-giving warmth, marveling at its regularity turning night to day, recognizing – and sometimes fearing – its power. In every tradition, the sun is seen as a force above humankind, even a deity. Composer Philip Glass wrote the opera “Akhnaten” in three acts centered on three visionaries: Akhenaten, Einstein, and Gandhi. But this month, humans reached an achievement that may require a new myth. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory generated the sun’s energy – on Earth.

“Nuclear Fusion” by Haasrm, 2011. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Nuclear fusion is the process of combining, or fusing, two atoms to generate the level of power of the sun. When 192 lasers fired at a cylinder the size of a jelly bean containing a grain of hydrogen (the same gas that powers the sun), the temperature of the hydrogen rose to exceed the heat of the sun, melting the nuclei of the hydrogen to fuse. Scientists have been trying to do this for decades, but now, for the first time in history, the process worked. More energy was generated than used to produce the effect. The future just got brighter.

The Manhattan Project: nuclear fission. Image: “Alpha 1 Racetrack for Uranium – at Oak Ridge” photographed by Leslie Grove. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Nuclear energy got off to an ominous start. The Manhattan Project split the atom to produce atomic energy, in the form of a deadly bomb, during World War II. Later, the Atomic Energy Act changed the purpose from war to peaceful and beneficial use for this new form of energy. Nuclear medicine has saved lives; nuclear power plants (while suffering some accidents) generated energy that has helped many economies supplement and then phase out fossil fuels. Nuclear energy, from fission, has some problems, however: it is weaponable, and it produces toxic radioactive waste that is very difficult to store. Nuclear plants, be they fission or fusion, will always involve some danger, as targets in war or accidents in peace. But smaller is better, and fusion is cleaner. Science knew that nuclear fission could, theoretically, be replaced by nuclear fusion. Projects like ITER in France and JET in the UK have advanced the science, but it was at Livermore that the vision was proven and achieved. Nuclear fusion promises energy with infinite power, zero carbon emissions, and very little waste. But not soon.

Physicist Albert Einstein explained how nuclear energy is released in the now-famous equation: E=mc2. Portrait by Orren Jack Turner, 1947. Library of Congress: cph.3b46036. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

We need to reduce carbon emissions quickly to limit global warming and arrest climate change. Stopping the use of fossil fuels will be the problem. Harnessing renewable energy from wind, wave, geothermal, and the sun via solar energy will still be the solutions. But now, we can look to something more. Nuclear fusion is in our future. Here comes the sun.

“Sun Switchbacks” observed by Parker Solar Probe, 2021, NASA. Image by Adriana Manrique Gutierrez. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Atomic Energy Act of 1954. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1630/pdf/COMPS-1630.pdf

Bobin, Jean-Louis. Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion. World Scientific Publishing Company Illustrated edition, 2014. ISBN-10: 9814590681

Coy, Peter. “What Comes After a World’s First in Fusion Research.” 14 December 2022. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/opinion/nuclear-fusion-research-html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Glass, Philip. “Akhnaten” https://philipglass.bandcamp.com/album/philip-glass-akhnaten-live-from-the-met

ITER. https://www.iter.org/

JET. https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory FUSION IGNITION. https://www.llnl.gov/news/national-ignition-facility-achieves-fusion-ignition

Simon, Clea. “Why nuclear fusion is so exciting.” 13 December 2022. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/12/why-nuclear-fusion-is-so-exciting/

Stallard, Esme. “Nuclear fusion breakthrough – what is it and how does it work?” BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63957085

United States Department of Energy. “Fission and Fusion: What is the Difference?” includes VIDEO. https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/fission-and-fusion-what-difference

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

ENERGY: Agreeing on a better future

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Building The World

The largest energy investment in United States history just made history. Climate and energy policy, worth $369 billion, has been agreed. Incentives and actions in the bill are estimated to lower American carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

“High Park Wildfire, USA.” Image from U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012. Wikimedia public domain, included with appreciation.

It’s not a minute too soon. At a time when Americans are battling drought, wildfires, flooding, heatwaves so intense that roads are melting, climate policy has grown urgent. And costly. The insurance industry reports costs of $39 billion in climate-related damage in the first half of 2022; that’s up from $31 billion just a year ago. Germany is turning off hot water in public taps, and all of Europe is bracing for a winter without Russian energy. The UK announced sea-level rise increased faster and more than expected. Nations, and regions, must work together to share energy resources and transitions.

The Manhattan Project marshaled the cooperation and resources of a nation. Image: “Manhattan Project Map” by Liandrei, 2011. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Americans have risen to the challenge of urgent energy response before. The Manhattan Project, spurred by fear of disaster and damage yet unknown to humankind, marshaled the resources of a nation. The result was a new form of energy. The Clean Air Act of 1990 was the last big American environmental legislation: this will top that, bringing a plethora of incentives, subsidies and taxes. Some environmentalists lament one provision allowing drilling on 2 million acres of public land and 60 million acres of offshore seabed before use for renewable energy. While there are EV credits, the bill lacks similar encouragement for bikes, especially ebikes, knocking off an earlier credit of $900 in the earlier plan.

Here are some bill provisions, still pending passage:

POWER PLANTS – tax credits for zero-carbon power including battery, geothermal, nuclear, solar, wind.

CARBON SEQUESTRATION – tax credits for carbon capture.

EV – Buy a new electric car and get $7,500 off; buy a used Ev and get $4,000 off.

ENERGY EFFICIENT HOMES – the bill allocates $9billion for new energy-saving appliances, solar roofs, new air conditioning, heat pumps.

CLEAN MANUFACTURING – for domestic production of batteries, or key minerals like lithium, solar panels, or wind turbines, there is $60 billion waiting, plus an additional $500 million to assist with heat pumps and key minerals.

METHANE MITIGATION – plugging leaks from gas and oil wells, pipelines is key to stopping methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. This provision works by penalty – $900 per metric ton of emissions over federal limits by 2024, moving to $1,500 in 2026. On the plus side, $20 billion for farmers to reduce cow burps and agricultural gases.

DOING GOOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD – $60 billion for communities unfairly burdened by climate change.

In November 2022, the world will reconvene for COP 27 to report climate action steps. If passed into law, this new agreement will advance climate response for the United helping to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #13 – Climate Action.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal – CLIMATE ACTION. Image: United Nations, 2016. Wikimedia public domain. Included with appreciation.

Environmental Protection Agency, United States (EPA). “Clean Air Act.” 1990. https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-text

Nilsen, Ella. “Clean energy package would be biggest legislative climate investment in US history.” 28 July 2022. CNN.com. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/28/politics/climate-deal-joe-manchin/index.html

Shao, Elena and Brad Plumer. “Seven Key Provisions in the Climate Deal.” 28 July 2022. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/climate/biden-climate-deal-key-provisions.html?referringSource=articleShare

Zipper, David. “There’s a maddening omission in the Senate Climate Bill: Congressional Democrats cannot imagine a world in which fewer people drive cars.” 29 July 2022. Slate.com. https://slate.com/business/2022/07/climate-bill-manchin-schumer-senate-ebikes-evs-cars.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

ENERGY: Nuclear to Solar in Ukraine

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Building The World

Chernobyl may transition from nuclear to solar energy. Image: “Nellis Solar Power Plant,” photograph by Nadine Y. Barclay, 2007, of U.S. Air Force. Nellis Solar covers 140 acres and supplies power to Nellis Air Force Base. Public Domain. Included with appreciation to Nadine Y. Barclay.

Russian troops invading Ukraine recently attempted to seize Chernobyl, a nuclear facility built when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Chernobyl was the site of one of the world’s most devastating nuclear disasters in 1986, years before Ukraine gained independence on 24 August 1991. After the accident, the plant was shuttered, but radioactivity remains, blanketed by a concrete and steel barrier reinforced by a 35,000 ton confinement system added in 2016. Further protection was established when with the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, 1000 square miles wide, with its inner core of the most dangerous area termed the Red Forest.

The Red Forest. “Radioactive hot spot” by photographer Jorge Franganillo, 2017. Image: CC by 2.0, wikimedia. Included with appreciation to Jorge Franganillo.

In February 2022, when Russian troops entered the zone, crossfire hit a laboratory building, causing a fire that was quelled, but not without concern of potential radioactive energy released. Additionally, Russian troops dug trenches to lay landmines, likely disturbing radioactive land and then spreading contamination as tanks rolled through. Ukraine fought off the Russian troops who left the Chernobyl area in March 2022. Ukraine retook the plant on 3 April 2022. But worries about radioactive contamination remain.

“The Dangerous View – Pripyat – Chernobyl,” by photographer Ben Fairless, 2008. Image: CC 2.0 Creative Commons wikimedia. Included with appreciation to Ben Fairless.

Chernobyl’s nuclear disaster occurred during a 1986 routine power check. Operators turned off the automatic safety systems to evaluate a steam turbine when the plant’s power suddenly plummeted. The automatic system could not function to restore power, but the operators were not too worried because power was supposed to decline. Then, suddenly, the reactor entered into a chain reaction that melted the core, triggered two more explosions and blew a 1,000 ton roof off the building. Radioactive contamination spewed into the air for the next nine days. The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) rated Chernobyl a 7, the most dangerous level. In 2011, Fukushima Daiichi would reach a similar rating.

The Manhattan Project developed atomic energy, and bombs. Image: “Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” by photographers George R. Carson, and Charles Levy. Courtesy of United States Department of Energy. Image: public domain. With appreciation to George Carson, Charles Levy, and U.S. Department of Energy. Image: Wikimedia.

Atomic energy, developed during the Manhattan Project, came into the world with an initially deadly effect: bombs dropped during World War II destroyed lives and cities, leaving behind radioactivity lingering for generations. After the war, the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 established principles for the development of this new form of power. Recently, while accidents like Chernobyl and 2011’s Fukushima confirmed fears of the danger of nuclear power generation, some energy experts noted that because nuclear energy is carbon-free (except during construction or decommissioning of reactors and plants), and because nuclear power is available over 90% of the time, it may be a necessary support to intermittent renewables like solar or wind. Fission energy, such as that developed by the Manhattan Project, leaves considerable radioactive waste: disposal and storage remain a contentious problem. Another form of nuclear power, fusion energy created when two atomic nuclei are combined into one larger nucleus, is now under active development: ITER in France and England’s Joint European Torus (JET) are reaching rapid advancements. Fusion energy promises many advantages, among them the impossibility of an unintended chain reaction such as destroyed Chernobyl. ITER is scheduled to begin operation in 2027. It might be noted that nuclear fusion is the same energy process as the sun.

“ITER Tokamak and Plant Systems” drawing by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Creative Commons 2.0 wikimedia. Included with appreciation to Oak Ridge.

If nuclear fusion enters the energy mix, what will happen to decommissioned fission plants? Chernobyl may offer one response. In 2017, a Ukrainian-German joint venture announced construction of a new facility on the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone that will host a different kind of power: Solar Chernobyl.

**The sun generates energy by nuclear fusion**. Image by NASA, Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), 2010. Wikimedia, public domain. Included with appreciation to NASA and SDO.

Hallam, Jonny. “Video shows Russian forces dug trenches in highly radioactive off-limits area near Chernobyl.” 7 April 2022. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-04-07-22/index.html

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Fusion: Frequently asked questions.” https://www.iaea.org/topics/energy/fusion/faqs

McFadden Brendan. “Chernobyl: Russia troops disturbed radioactive soil by digging trenches and laying landmines, Ukraine claims.” 3 March 2022. Inews. https://inews.co.uk/news/chernobyl-russia-troops-disturbed-radioactive-soil-by-digging-trenches-and-laying-landmines-ukraine-claims-1554854

Rhodes, Richard. Energy: A Human History. New York: Simon & Schuster 2018. ISBN: 9781501105357

Solar Chernobyl. https://solarchernobyl.com

The Conversation. “Nuclear fusion hit a milestone thanks to better reactor walls – this engineering advance is building towards reactors of the future.” 4 April 2022. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/nuclear-fusiion-hit-a-milestone-thanks-to-better-reactor-walls-this-engineering-advance-is-building-toward-reactors-of-the-future-178870

United States Congress. “Atomic Energy Act of 1946,” https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/deterrence/atomic-energy-act.html

World Nuclear Association. “Chernobyl Accident 1986,” updated April 2022. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx

Yergin, Daniel. The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. New York: Penguin 2011. ISBN: 9781594202834

Appreciation to Shira P. White for research on Ukraine, and to Jean-Louis Bobin and Lucien Deschamps for research on nuclear fusion energy.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

ENERGY: Coal Goals

Posted on January 4, 2022January 2, 2022 by Building The World

“Land reclamation – restored land at the Seneca Yoast Coal Mine” by Peabody Energy, 2014. Image: wikimedia commons.

Energy goals to stop climate change are clear: we must transition from fossil fuels. Chief among the priorities is coal. Transitioning from coal threatens jobs: as coal declines in use, some areas formerly active in coal mining suffer 30% unemployment. Past efforts to offer new jobs in American coal-mining towns included $7 million to open an optometry school in Pikeville, Kentucky, where miners could train and practice a new profession. As the only college of optometry in Kentucky, UPIKE offers opportunity. Another option is work reclaiming abandoned mines to prevent mudslides and collapse, threats increasing in stronger weather due to climate change. Before the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), mining businesses were not required to clean up or reclaim sites. Since then, 46,000 open mine portals have been reclaimed with water supplies restored and renewed. But mines left open prior to the law remain a threat, and $11 billion is required to reclaim the sites.

Transitioning from coal jobs will be an important goal. “Coal mining.” Illustration from *The Graphic,* 1871. Image: wikimedia public domain.

Rebuilding coal sites with renewable energy projects seems like a natural option. Coal mines are already abandoned, but not suitable for housing developments or office buildings. There are 130,000 former coal mines available for development. What about solar plants? That’s the idea of Edelen Renewables, now building a solar facility where 300 workers will install solar panels on 1,200 acres at a pay rate of $25-30 per hour. Miners usually make about $30 per hour. Workers will also earn a certificate. Solar is the fastest-growing source of renewable electricity in the United States, and tax-credits are only increasing growth.

“Coal Production in China: 1950-2012.” by Plazak, 2014, compiled from USEIA and US Bureau of Mines and Minerals Yearbooks. Image: wikimedia commons.

Coal generates 30% of world electricity. Coal power is decreasing in the U.S., but in Asia, specifically China, it is the source of 36% of energy. China recently promised to end financing of new coal plants outside its borders, but concerns remain as domestic use continues. But a new Chinese solar project in Anhui, built on a former collapsed and flooded coal mine, developed by China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP) and the French floating solar expert Ciel & Terre may be a sign of hope. Regional plans for sustainable energy infrastructure for Europe, Middle East, and North Africa include an array of renewable energy options.

“Sketch of possible infrastructure for sustainable supply of power for Europe, Middle East, and North Africa EU-MENA)” by Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation. Image: wikimedia.

COP26 Glasgow net zero emissions pledges predict fossil fuel use to peak in 2025, CO2 emissions fall 40% by 2050 – but even that will drive temperature rise to 2.1 Centigrade. Coal is the largest source of energy-related CO2 emissions (He, et al., 2020). If pledges are kept, 13 million new workers will be employed in clean energy by 2030, and double that by 2050 (IEA 2021). Coal is not the only fossil fuel driving climate change: oil is even greater. Of world energy sources, coal is 27%, natural gas is 24%, and oil is 33%. But coal is a focus because it is especially polluting, leading to environmental and health dangers. Renewable energy is increasing, costs of solar, wind, and storage are decreasing. Eight European Union countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal) declared phase-out of coal by 2030.

“Electricity for All: TVA” sign displayed at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY, USA. Photo by Billy Hathorn. Image: wikimedia.

In an earlier energy transition, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) offered job training as well as worker housing communities. A new town, Norris, became a showroom for household uses of hydroelectricity from refrigerators to toasters. More recently, the German Coal Commission (GCC) introduced a task force on job transition along with coal plant closures. Retraining coal miners, and workers along the entire supply chain, will accelerate and strengthen environmental justice and energy transition. How can the world move towards sustainable electricity for all?

Buckley, Cara. “Coming Soon to This Coal County: Solar, in a Big Way.” 2 January 2022. New York Times.

He, Gang, et al., “Enabling a Rapid and Just Transition away from Coal in China.” 21 August 2020. One Earth, Volume 3, Issue 2, pages 187-194. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332220303560 and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.012

International Energy Agency (IEA). “Coal.” https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/coal

Kenning, Tom. “World’s largest floating solar plant connected in China.” 20 March 2019. PV Tech https://www.pv-tech.org/worlds-largest-floating-solar-plant-connected-in-china

Lohan, Tara. “Reclaiming Abandoned Mines: Turning Coal Country’s Toxic Legacy into Assets.” 29 March 2021. The Revelator. https://therevelator.org/abandoned-mines-legislation/

Lynn, Loretta. “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eHp7JJgq8

Eller, Ronald D. Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945. University Press of Kentucky, 2008 and also 2013. ISBN: 9780813142463

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Interior. “Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act” (SMCRA). P.L. 95-87, Enacted 3 August, 1977. https://www.osmre.gov/lrg.shtm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

ENERGY: Jobs of the Future

Posted on September 16, 2021September 15, 2021 by Building The World

Jobs of the Future will focus on renewable energy. Image: “Energy on the Grid,” by photographer Kenueone, 2016. Public Domain CC0 1.0. Original image: https://pixabay.com/electricity-sun-wind-1330214.

Born after 1996? Or 1981? You are 70% more likely to rate climate change as the top priority for your future (Pew Research Center 2021). Universities are responding, integrating climate and environmental studies into the curriculum. University of Massachusetts Boston founded the School for the Environment, as well as the Sustainable Solutions Lab and Stone Living Lab. MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) founded in 2014 involves design, engineering, humanities, policy, science, social science, and technology. Harvard’s Center for the Environment (HUCE) offers research, policy, science, climate leaders program, and special events like “Literature for a Changing Planet.” University of Southern California inaugurated “Sustainability Across the Curriculum” weaving the environment into majors of 20,000 undergraduates.

“Shift Change at Clinton Engineering Works, Oak Ridge, TN, August 1945,” by Ed Westcott, US Army photographer. Public Domain. Over 82,000 people were employed. Energy jobs will dominate the future.

Upon graduation, a new generation will find the jobs of the future. Throughout history, great undertakings, like the Manhattan Project, Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric, attracted those seeking careers in new energy. Now, a similar surge in energy employment means you can do well by doing good: average pay for climate scientists is $73,230; environmental lawyers earn median salary of $122,960. Not all jobs require traditional degrees: urban farmers earn $71,160. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics/Guardian 2021).

“New Crops: Chicago Urban Farm,” by Linda N. Creative Commons CC 2.0. Wikimedia.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the transition to a global net zero energy system will see renewables like solar and wind power dominate, while bioenergy and carbon capture will develop innovative approaches. There are 400 milestones to guide development, with total annual energy investment of $5 trillion by 2030.

**Education + Jobs = Health of the Planet**. Graphic by Nevit Dilmen, 2011. Image: creative comons, public domain.

Climate change will cause an era of innovation more comprehensive than we have seen in the history of the world. Every field will be impacted; every field will see innovation. Rachel Larrivee, 23, Boston-based environmental consultant, says it well: “I’m in the first generation who knows the extent to which climate change poses an existential threat to life on Earth, and also the last generation who may be able to do anything about it.” (Lashbrook, 2021.)

International Energy Agency (IEA). “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.” Report May 2021. https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050

Lashbrook, Angela. “‘No point in anything else:’ Gen Z members flock to climate careers. Colleges offer support as young people aim to devote their lives to battling the crisis.” 6 September 2021. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/06/gen-z-climate-chnage-careers-jobs

Pew Research Center, by Alec Tyson, Brian Kennedy, Cary Funk. “Gen Z, Millennials Stand Out for Climate Change Activism, Social Media Engagement With Issue.” May 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2021/05/PS_2021.05.26_climate-and-generations_REPORT.pdf

Thanks to Yujin Asai of dotmeta.com for sharing this research.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

ENERGY: HOT(TER)

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Building The World

“SUN” by NASA, STEREO Science Center, 2010. Image: public domain.

The long, hot summer – but it’s not August, it’s not even 2021. It’s the whole 21st century. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released findings today. Here is a summary:

Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying
Warming is speeding up
Every region of the world is facing climate change
Human influence is a major cause – and could be the cure (IPCC 9 August 2021)

**Do we have the power to respond?** Image: TVA Sign at Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY, USA. By Photographer Billy Hathorn, 2015. Image: CC0 1.0 Public Domain. Wikimedia.

It’s (almost) not too late. Can we meet the challenges? Some changes, like rising seas, may be permanent. Other results may last a century but could be eased or even reversed. There is still time to determine the future we choose (Figueres and Rivett-Carnac, 2020). Throughout history, people have responded to crisis with innovation. Energy transitions have been turning points in civilization: Tennessee Valley Authority hydroelectric power gave the world the first homes with refrigerators when the TVA opened the town of Norris. Danger led to the Manhattan Project and development of atomic energy. Geothermal, solar, wind, and wave power offer options in every region.

“Spinning Globe Map.” by Anonymous101, 2007. Image: public domain, wikimedia commons.

Regions all share climate change but conditions will vary. “For the first time, the Sixth Assessment Report provides a more detailed regional assessment of climate change, including a focus on useful information that can inform risk assessment, adaptation, and other decision-making, and a new framework that helps translate physical changes in the climate – heat, cold, rain, drought, snow, wind, coastal flooding and more – into what they mean for society and ecosystem.” (IPCC 2021) Regional information and options can be explored in detail in the newly developed Interactive Atlas here.

Climate Nexus. “IPCC: Human-Caused Climate Change Impacts Severe, Widespread.” 9 August 2021. https://climatenexus.org/climate-change-news/ipcc-climate-change-2021-report/

Figueres, Christiana and Tom Rivett-Carnac. The Future We Choose. 2020. ISBN: ;9780593080931.

International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “Sixth Assessment: Summary.” https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2021/08/IPCC_WGI-AR6-Press-Release_en.pdf

IPCC “What Matters?” 2018. VIDEO: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/mulitimedia/video/

Plumer, Brad and Henry Fountain. “A Hotter Future Is Certain, Climate Panel Warns. But How Hot Is Up to Us.” 9 August 2021. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/climate-change-report-picc-un.html?referringSource=articleShare

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

ENERGY: Genie in a Bottle

Posted on February 18, 2021February 17, 2021 by Building The World

“Genie in a Bottle,” from Stripped Tour, Christina Aguilera Image: wikimedia.

February 18, 2021. It’s National Battery Day. What is this genie in a bottle that we call a battery?

Lithium-ion batteries are making news. It’s a technology popularized in 1991, when rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were first used in hand-held camcorders. A decade later, Apple began using these batteries in smartphones. When electric cars entered the market (Edison worked on one, before Henry Ford invented the gasoline-driven automobile), batteries became the way to power the future. SEMATECH introduced a new industry, and now two new semiconductor materials – gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SIC) are now being used in EV batteries. With General Motors (GM) pledging a full transition from gas and diesel to electric vehicles by 2035 (Ford, Tesla, Volkswagen and others in similar quests), the race is on.

“Tesla Model S at a Supercharger station.” Image: wikimedia.

Who’s Who (a partial list) in Electric-Vehicle Batteries:

CATL or Contemporary Amperex Technology Col, Limited, founded in 2011 in China, announced an increased investment of $4.5 billion on 4 February 2021. CATL will open a new plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, upgrade a plant in Yibin, Sichuan Province, and expand a joint venture plant with automaker China FAW Group. A new plant in Germany is also under construction. (300750:CH)

LG Chem in South Korea, world’s biggest EV battery manufacturer, just announced its battery division would now be a stand-alone business. LG counts GM, Geely Automotive Holdings Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co., Hyundai Motor Group, and Tesla among its customers. Tentative name for the new business: LG Energy Solutions. (LGCLF)

Nissan Motor Co. and American Electric Power are competitors with a different strategy: reusing old EV batteries with a technology to extend lithium-ion battery life by over 30%. The experiment uses Nissan Leaf expired-batteries with a method developed by Melbourne-based Relectrify. BMW AG and Toyota are also reusing cells in EV charging. (NSANY)

Novonix is working with Dalhousie University on battery material research, noting new deals with Tesla on synthetic graphite. (NVNXF)

Panasonic. Tesla is in talks with Indonesia to build a battery cell factory with Panasonic. (PCRFY)

QuantumScape is introducing solid-state batteries lithium-metal batteries, offering a faster charge, longer life, and increased safety. The San Jose, California company filed with the SEC for a new development on 1 February 2021. (QS)

Tesla. Bringing battery production in-house has been a goal for Elon Musk who introduced a ‘tab-less’ battery called 4680 that will produce a 16% increase in range for the company’s electric vehicles. They new cells measure 46 millimeters by 80 millimeters. (TSLA)

Zinc Copper Voltaic Pile. Image: wikimedia.

The oldest battery known to history was found in Baghdad: a clay pot containing a metal tube and rod. But when Alessandro Volta discovered that zinc and coper, placed in a saline or acid solution, could transform zinc into a negative pole and copper into a positive pole, the action began. Chevrolet named one of its early EV models a “Volt.”

Will batteries advance hydroelectric power? Image: Hoover Dam, wikimedia.

Battery storage may transform hydroelectric power In Chile, a 50 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage project (think the equivalent of 5 million iPhones) will be paired with a hydroelectric facility, to store generated energy without need to construct a dam or reservoir. Will the Hoover Dam explore this technology, with consideration to drought affecting Lake Mead? It was hydroelectric power that first fascinated Nikola Tesla who, looking at a photo of Niagara Falls, said: “Someday I’ll harness that power.”

Battery Council International. “It’s national battery day.” www.batterycouncil.org

Hareyan, Armen. “Rumor says Tesla may have completed 1st round of Indonesia battery talks involving Panasonic.” 12 February 2021. Torque News. https://www.torquenews.com/1/rumor-says-tesla-may-have-completed-1st round-indonesia-battery-talks-involving-panasonic

Hawkins, Andrew J. “Tesla announces ‘tabless’ battery cells that will improve the range of its electric cars.” 22 September 2020. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/22/21449238/tesla-electric-car-battery-tabless-cells-day-elon-musk

Kawakami, Takashi. “EV-battery giant CATL to boost capacity with $4.5bn investment.” 4 February 2021. NikkeiAsia.com. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/EV-battery-giant-CATL-to-boost-capacity-with-4.5bn-investment

Kubik, Marek. “Adding Giant Batteries To This Hydro Project Creates A ‘Virtual Dam’ with Less Environmental Impact.” 23 May 2019. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marekkubik/2019/05/23/adding-giant-batteries-to-this-hydro-project-creates-a-virtual-dam-with-less-environmental-impact

Schmidt, Bridie. “EV battery material firm Novonix strengthen ties with Dalhousie University.” 15 February 2021. The Driven. https://thedriven.io/2021/02/15/ev-battery-material-firm-novonix-strengthen-ties-with-dalhousie-university

Semiconductor Review. “How Semiconductor Advancements Impact EV Batteries.” 26 October 2020. Semiconductor Review. https://www.semiconductorreview.com/news/how-semiconductor-advancements-impact-ev-batteries-nwid-124.html

Stringer, David and Kyunghee Park. “Top Electric-Car Battery Maker Wins Approval for Company Split.” 30 October 2020. Bloomberg News and Transport Topics. https://www.ttnews.com/articles-top-electric-car-battery-maker-wins-approval-company-split

Stringer, David. “Companies Explore Using Old Electric Car Batteries to Cut Costs.” 24 January 2020. Transport Topics. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/companies-explore-using-old-electric-car-batteries-cut-costs

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp