MTBE, Ozone

Hey guys, since we got into a discussion about MTBE this last class I thought it would be good for us to have some resources on it. The USGS water use estimates say that 37% of the US population gets its drinking water from ground water, and that ground water and surface water also interact. General references on ground water from the EPA and the USGS are pretty interesting. Here is an article on MTBE contamination frequency in wells from the journal Ground Water. And, finally, the National Institute of Environmental Health and the Centers for Disease Control fact sheets on MTBE.

And, we were also talking about ozone. We'll get into the effects of ozone and ozone depletion up high (stratospheric or "good" ozone) after break, but I wanted to give you guys the fact sheet on low-level or "bad" ozone. Oxygen is super-powerful stuff, and O3 is highly reactive even by oxygen standards. We use it to kill organisms to purify our public drinking water. Here is the fact sheet on the effects of high- and low-level ozone from the EPA.

Geek Squad Makes Biodiesel Nano-Tech Style

Hey guys, check out this article about using nano-technology to make biodiesel. Keep the Geek Squad fed and give them some research money and all sorts of cool things happen.

Reference styles for upcoming paper

Hey guys, several of you have asked about how to cite sources in your upcoming paper, general style, etc. We thought it would be good to use the same styles that practicing scientists use, so we'll use the format of the journal Science, one of the two most prestigious journals in all fields of science (the other is Nature). If you have a question about style, go to this page at the Science site. Use this link to see the format for references in particular. And, as in all areas of life, a picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure to log in to Science and simply read an article to see how it looks. Also, WFU provides us with a reference manager called EndNote that makes citations dead simple. If you want a tutorial on how to use it, I'll give one after class on Thursday. Good luck!

Fuzzy on Fungible--Dilbert

Hey guys, I was just looking at the Dilbert cartoon and I'm a bit fuzzy on a different economic principle. It seems to me that if Dilbert spends less money on gas, then whoever sells him gas is getting less money from him. Sure, someone else can buy the gas he doesn't, but he's not giving as much of his money to 'terrorists', just like he says. And, if he has an alternative fuel (say biodiesel), then he can buy that and know he's giving his money to farmers, US oilseed processors, etc. That becomes very attractive when the alternative fuel costs the same as gas or diesel.

How hydrogen fuel systems could work.

Folks, here's how a hydrogen sytem could work. One needs a source of hydrogen--this site shows how electicity is used to remove hydrogene from water. Then, harvesting the energy requires a fuel-cell, which operates basically in reverse, producing an electical current. JC
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/electrol.html

Nuclear Power

Another article from a classmate on nuclear power. Enjoy!

Gas Tax Articles

Hey guys, here are the links I have so far for the gas tax papers. I'll update them as they come in.
First, one asking is ethanol the answer?. Second, an article on hydrogen fuel (use internet explorer--something pops up). And, finally, check these links for three articles--one on how high oil prices might help the economy, another on ethanol and the environment, and an oil tax article from the NY Times. Enjoy!

Gas Tax II

Hey guys, that library session was fun. I hope you are enjoying looking for those articles.

Some of you asked about the blog posts and readings. Most of the time when we post things to the blog, we're doing it because we thought you might be interested in it. When it is required reading, we'll make a point of telling you about it. But, do take advantage of them. They are things that might help you to shape your own ideas on some of these issues. It is a bit of a change in thinking--we're not giving you assignments so that you can give us the same information back, we're giving you assignments so you can form new ideas on problems and then communicate them to other people. This last part is central to being a scholar.

Now, here is yet another article by Thomas Friedman about the gas tax. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder about Dick Cheney. But, putting that aside, file his idea away as yet one more reason that one might argue for or against a gas tax. We'll get the skinny on the economics of the gas tax from Robert on Tuesday, so be kicking these ideas around in your head.

Friedman on the gas tax

Hey guys, here is an op-ed article by Thomas Friedman from today's New York Times on the gas tax. It touches on markets, incentives, etc. See what you think. And, make sure to muscle us faculty aside in the discussions if we get long-winded. You can even post comments right to the blog so that we all can read them.

FAO forest resources

Hey guys, as we start to move through the next material, make sure to take a look at data sources. Here is the link for the FAO forestry information. And, we put links for the FAO, BEA, BLS, NOAA, etc., on the side-bar so you'll have them for reference.

And more from the Washington Post

Hey guys, check out this article from the Washington Post about energy.

If you can't get the article from the link posted above, go to the library journal page and search for the Washington Post. The library actually has subscriptions to lots of newspapers and magazines (like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The New Yorker, etc.). Enjoy!
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More on oil from the Wall Street Journal

The article

NY Times on Bush's energy plan

Hi Folks, here's a New York Times article on Bush's proposed energy policy.

Energy policy from Bush's speech

Excerpt from President Bush's State of the Union Address on energy policy (Jan. 31, 2o06):

"Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.

Read the rest of the section, and the whole speech from the transcript.

Grist for our energy discussion

Hey guys, check out this Op-Ed from the Wall Street Journal: Oil Bashing, Round Two