F UELING P : THE LANET THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF ENERGY COURSE GUIDE Professor Michael B. McElroy HARVARDUNIVERSITY Fueling the Planet: The Past, Present, and Future of Energy Professor Michael B. McElroy Harvard University RecordedBooks™isatrademarkof RecordedBooks,LLC.Allrightsreserved. FuelingthePlanet: ThePast,Present,andFutureofEnergy ProfessorMichaelB.McElroy (cid:1) ExecutiveEditor DonnaF.Carnahan RECORDING Producer—DavidMarkowitz Director—IanMcCulloch COURSEGUIDE Editor—JamesGallagher Design—EdwardWhite Lecturecontent©2009byMichaelB.McElroy Courseguide©2009byRecordedBooks,LLC 7 2009byRecordedBooks,LLC Coverimage:DetailfromPinesatSunrise©CharlieSawyer #UT136 ISBN:978-1-4361-8910-1 Allbeliefsandopinionsexpressedinthisaudio/videoprogramandaccompanyingcourseguide arethoseoftheauthorandnotofRecordedBooks,LLC,oritsemployees. CourseSyllabus FuelingthePlanet: ThePast,Present,andFutureofEnergy AboutYourProfessor ....................................................................................................4 Introduction......................................................................................................................5 Lecture1 AShortHistoryoftheEarth......................................................................6 Lecture2 WhatIsEnergy?......................................................................................10 Lecture3 TheSun ..................................................................................................14 Lecture4 FossilFuels:CoalandOil(PartI) ..........................................................19 Lecture5 Oil(PartII)andNaturalGas....................................................................25 Lecture6 WaterandWindPower............................................................................30 Lecture7 TheNatureandHistoryofNuclearPower..............................................35 Lecture8 SteamandtheIndustrialRevolution........................................................41 Lecture9 Electricity..................................................................................................47 Lecture10 TheInternalCombustionEngine ............................................................53 Lecture11 HowWeUseEnergyToday....................................................................61 Lecture12 TheClimateChallenge............................................................................67 Lecture13 OptionsforaLow-CarbonEnergyEconomy: Corn,SugarCane,andOtherBiofuels ..................................................73 Lecture14 VisionsforaSustainableEnergyFuture ................................................78 Glossary........................................................................................................................84 CourseMaterials............................................................................................................86 EnergyRecyclingFacts ................................................................................................87 Notes..............................................................................................................................88 3 McElroy B. Michael of courtesy About Your Professor Photograph Michael B. McElroy MichaelMcElroyreceivedhisPh.D.fromQueen’sUniversityinBelfast, NorthernIreland.In1970,hewasnamedAbbottLawrenceRotchProfessor ofAtmosphericSciencesatHarvardUniversity,andin1975hewasappoint- eddirectoroftheCenterforEarthandPlanetaryPhysics.McElroyservedas chairmanoftheDepartmentofEarthandPlanetarySciencesfrom1986to 2000.HewasappointeddirectorofthenewlyconstitutedHarvardUniversity CenterfortheEnvironmentin2001andnowleadsaninterdisciplinarystudy ontheimplicationsofChina’srapidindustrialdevelopmentforthelocal, regional,andglobalenvironment.In1997,hewasnamedtheGilbertButler ProfessorofEnvironmentalStudies.HeisaFellowoftheAmericanAcademy ofArtsandSciences. McElroy’sresearchinterestsrangefromstudiesontheoriginandevolution oftheplanetstoamorerecentemphasisontheeffectsofhumanactivityon theglobalenvironmentoftheEarth.Heistheauthorofmorethantwohun- dredtechnicalpaperscontributingtoourunderstandingofhuman-induced changesinstratosphericozoneandtothepotentialforseriousdisruptionsto globalandregionalairqualityandclimateduetoanthropogenicallyrelated emissionsofgreenhousegases.ProfessorMcElroyisalsotheauthorofsev- eralbooks,includingEnergizingChina:ReconcilingEnvironmentalProtection andEconomicGrowth(HarvardUniversityCenterfortheEnvironment,1998) andTheAtmosphericEnvironment:EffectsofHumanActivity(Princeton UniversityPress,2002).ProfessorMcElroyalsorecordedoneofthefirst ModernScholaraudiolecturecourses,GlobalWarming,GlobalThreat (RecordedBooks,2003). YouwillgetthemostfromthiscourseifyouhaveProfessorMcElroy’s Energy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects(OxfordUniversityPress, USA,2009),whichisusedashisprimaryresource. 4 Sawyer Charlie © PinesatSunrise PhotographybyCharlieSawyer,Tallahassee,Florida. Introduction TheselecturesrelyonabookI’vebeenworkingonforanumberofyears,a booktitledEnergy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects(December2009, OxfordUniversityPress).Thethemeofthebookandmyparticularodyssey hereistotrytogetarealsenseofthehistoryoftheworldandhowitgotto whereitis,andwiththattoexaminetheproblemsthathavearisenalongthe way.It’sathemeoftheinterplaybetweenhumanactivity,energyconsump- tion,environmentalchange,andthecompromisesthathavehadtobemade alongtheway. Oneofmymainobjectivesinwritingthebookwastoprovideatreatment thatwouldnotbetootechnicalbutwouldstillprovidearealsenseofhowwe cangetourhandsaroundthisverycomplicatedproblem—atatimewhen veryseriousdecisionsaboutenergyhavetobemadebytheUnitedStates andothercountriesaroundtheworld. 5 Lecture1: AShortHistoryoftheEarth TheSuggestedReadingforthislectureisMichaelB.McElroy’sEnergy: Perspectives,Problems,andProspects,chapters1and2. IntheBeginning TheEarthisapproximately4.6billionyearsold.Itformed, togetherwiththeplanetsandthesun,fromaspinningmassof gasanddustthatcomposedtheoriginalsolarnebula.This matteraccumulatedtoformtheproto-Earth,andtheplanet startedtoheatup.Asthisheatingproceeded,thedistinctzones oftheEarthformed:thecore,thedensecentralpart;themantle,thehot regionontheoutside;thecrust;andtheoceanandatmosphere. AsheatcameoutoftheEarthitcausedthecrustalplatestomovearound. ThisdriftofthecontinentsrearrangedtheEarthovertime,andwithit rearrangedtheclimateaswell. LifebeganearlyinthehistoryoftheEarth.Theoldestrocksfoundonthe surfacetodayhaveclearsignsofthepresenceoflife.Solifeisanancient phenomenon,perhaps3.8billionyearsold,orevenolder.Theearlyformsof life,prokaryotes,wererelativelysimpleorganismssuchasbacteriaandblue- greenalgae.Theseprokaryotesarestillheretoday,andmostlikelythislife beganintheoceanratherthanonthecontinents. Perhaps1.5billionyearsago,lifebecamealittlemorecomplex.Prokaryotes joinedtogether;theyessentiallyfusedtoprovidetheopportunityformore complexgeneticmaterialandorganisms(eukaryotes).Theeukaryoteswere stillverysimple,buttheycoulddomorecomplicatedthings. Someoftheseorganismsdevelopedthecapabilityofsurvivinginthepres- enceofpureoxygen.Theearlyorganismswouldhavebeenpoisonedby oxygen,soafterdevelopingthecapabilitytosurviveinitspresence,theyhad abigadvantage.Theycouldusesunlightforenergybyphotosynthesisand disposeoftheoxygenwasteintheatmosphere. Therefore,approximately1.5billionyearsago,theatmospherebeganto moveclosertoitspresentcondition. Theprofusionoflifecontinued,thoughnotinasteadyfashion.Ittendedto moveinbursts.Therewasanexplosionofnewlife-formsthatoccurredinthe periodknownastheCambrian,about340to510millionyearsago. Sixty-fivemillionyearsago,amassivemeteorhittheEarth,anditchanged theclimate.Itwipedoutthedinosaursandessentiallychangedthecharacter- E N isticsofsomeofthelargeformsoflifespreadaroundtheEarth. O E Thedemiseofthedinosaursprovedbeneficialfortheworldofmammals. R U Humansareaverylatearrivalonthescene.Infact,Homosapienssapiens CT havebeenontheplanetforonly50,000yearsorso,havingdescendedfrom LE earlierformsofhumans. 6 OntheMove Duringthelastmajoriceage,humansbegantomovearoundtheworld. HumanancestorsprobablybeganlifeincentralAfrica,andastheymovedinto theMiddleEastandfarthernorthintoEuropeandEurasia,someofthese hardyindividualswereabletowalkacrosstheBeringStrait,thebodyofwater nowseparatingAmericafromAsia.Inashortperiodoftimethosehumans movedallthewaythroughtheAmericasdowntothetipofSouthAmerica. Thestoryofcivilizationcontinued,andacoupleofhundredyearsago humansexperiencedwhatisusuallyreferredtoastheIndustrialRevolution, whichessentiallypointedthewayfortheentiremodernindustrialenergy- intensiveeconomy. UnderstandingtheHistory IfthespanoftheEarth’s4.5billionyearswasputinthecontextofasingle year,thehistorywouldlooksomethinglikethis: January 1: FormationofEarth. September 1: AppearanceoflifeonEarth. November 20: Profusionoforganisms. November 24: 9p.m. Appearanceofvascularplants. November 25: Expansionoflifefromoceantoland. December 6: Appearanceofamphibians. December 12: Massiveextinction. December 18: Appearanceofmammals. December 25: 5p.m. Extinctionofdinosaurs. December 31: 8p.m. AppearanceofHomoerectus. December 31: 11:42p.m. AppearanceofHomosapiens. December 31: 11:56:30p.m. Humanmigrationaroundglobe. December 31: 11:58:30p.m. Developmentofagricultureand domesticationofanimals.* December 31: 11:59:58p.m. IndustrialRevolution. *AgriculturebeganasbestascanbetoldintheMiddleEastintheregiongenerallyreferred toastheFertileCrescent(theareacurrentlyoccupiedbySyria,Lebanon,Israel,andpart ofIraq).Therearegoodreasonstobelievethatthedevelopmentofagricultureoccurredin responsetoachangeinclimate.Beforetheclimatemovedtoalesshospitablecondition, thiswasundoubtedlyaGardenofEden—aregionwithabundantgenotypesofawidevari- etyofplantsandanimalssuchassheepandgoats.Peopledidn’thavetoworkveryhard forsustenance,butastheclimatechanged,itwasadvantageoustocultivateplantsand domesticateanimalsthatotherwisemightmoveofftobetterpastures. 7 WhentheEarth’shistoryisputintheprecedingcontext,it’sapparentthat humansarelatearrivalsonthescene,butarenowimportantplayersinthe globalsystem.Inmanyrespects,humanscontroltheEarth.Humanshave choppeddowntrees,builtlargecities,learnedhowtofly,learnedhowto movematerialandinformationglobally,effectively,instantaneously,andhave alsolearnedhowtochangetheatmosphereonaglobalscale—andconse- quentlyhavedevelopedthecapacitytochangetheclimate. LECTUREONE AportionoftheHongKongskyline. ©JasonMurray/shutterstock.com 8 FORGREATERUNDERSTANDING (cid:1) Questions 1.Whatareprokaryotes? 2.WhateventsinthehistoryoftheEarthcontributedthemosttotheplanet’s currentenergy-intensiveeconomy? Suggested Reading McElroy,MichaelB.Energy:Perspectives,Problems,andProspects.New York:OxfordUniversityPress,USA,2009. Other Books of Interest Diamond,Jared.Guns,Germs,andSteel:TheFatesofHumanSocieties. NewYork:W.W.Norton&Co.,1997. 9