Physics 367
Energy in a Modern Society

Supplemental Readings

The syllabus is designed to allow students sufficient time to read Scientific American material for their presentations, to find additional outside materials and to meet with the instructor. The Scientific American reprints are:

TopicAuthorIssue Title

Resources - Coal
A. Squires10/72  Clean Power from Dirty Fuels
N. Cochran  5/76 Oil and Gas from Coal
E. Griffith & A. Clarke  1/79 World Coal Production
R. Balzhiser & K. Yeager  9/87 Coal Fired Power Plants for the Future
E. Corcoran  5/91 Cleaning Up Coal
D. Hawkins et al.  9/06 What to do About Coal
Sci. Am. Editors  8/07 Worse Than Gasoline
Resources - Oil
N. Cochran  5/76 Oil and Gas from Coal
A. Flower  3/78 World Oil Production
G. Davis  9/90 Energy for Planet Earth
W. Fulkerson et al.  9/90 Energy from Fossil Fuels
G. Cooper  5/94 Directional Drilling
K. Martineau11/97 Oil in 4-D
C. Campbell et al.  3/98 The End of Cheap Oil
R. George  3/98 Mining for Oil
R. Anderson  3/98 Oil Production in the 21st Century
W. Gibbs  5/01 Artic Oil & Wildlife Refuge
R. Doyle  9/04 Oil Haves and Have-Nots
Resources - Gas
N. Cochran  5/76 Oil and Gas from Coal
G. Cooper  5/94 Directional Drilling
B. DeKoker  8/95 Going Down
S. Fouda  3/98 Liquid Fuels from Natural Gas
E. Suess et al.11/99 Flammable Ice
R. Doyle10/04 Energy Geopolitics
Resources - Hydroelectric
J. Kraushaar & R.Ristinen 1993 Hydroelectric Power
L. Werner  7/97 Dam Safety
S. Nemecek  8/97 Frankly, My Dear, I Don't want a Dam
W. Rainey10/97 Fish Ladders
J. Kosowatz 1999 Mighty Monolith - China's Three Gorges Dam
P. Janowski  3/00 Running the Dam Gauntlet
C. Ezzell  6/01 The Himba and the Dam
W. Gibbs  7/02 The Power of Gravity
Resources - Wind
P. Moretti & L. Divone  6/86 Modern Windmills
1995 Wind
W. Gibbs10/97 Change in the Wind
W. Williams  3/02 Blowing Out to Sea
M. Fischetti  7/02 Working Knowledge - Windmills
D. Kammen  9/06 Clean Power: The Rise of Renewable Energy
Resources - Solar
R. Hamakawa  4/87 Photovoltaic Power
C. Weinberg & R.Williams  9/90 Energy from the Sun
T. Beardsley  4/94 Hot Property
W. Hoagland  9/95 Solar Energy
1996 Solar Industry Profile
W. Gibbs10/97 Change in the Wind
D. Cho  7/03 Photovoltaic Finesse
2004 Overview of Solar Thermal Technologies
D. Kammen  9/06 Clean Power: The Rise of Renewable Energy
Resources - Biomass
1996 Biomass: Wood
1996 Growth of the Landfill Gas Industry
1998 A View of the Forest Products Industry
D. Kammen  9/06 Clean Power: The Rise of Renewable Energy
Resources - Geothermal
1998 Geothermal Heat Pumps
M. Fischetti10/07 Geothermal Energy Heating Up
Resources - General
I. Dostrovsky12/91 Chemical Fuels from the Sun
D. Schneider  5/97 Power to the People
J. Holdren12/03 The Quest for Affordable Energy
W. Gibbs  9/06 Plan B for Energy

Pollution - Acid Rain
G. Likens et al.10/79 Acid Rain
V. Mohnen  8/88 The Challenge of Acid Rain
L. Hedin & G. Likens12/96 Atmospheric Dust and Acid Rain
Pollution - Ozone Depletion
O. Toon & R. Turco  6/91 Polar Clouds and Ozone Depletion
Pollution - The Greenhouse Effect
R. Revelle  8/82 Carbon Dioxide and World Climate
R. White  7/90 The Great Climate Debate
P. Jones & T. Wigley  8/90 Global Warming Trends
F. Bazzaz & E.Fajer  1/92 Plant Life in a CO2-Rich World
H. Pollack & D.S. Chapman  6/93 Underground Records of Changing Climate
R. Alley & M. Bender  2/98 Greenland Ice Cores: Frozen in Time
T. Karl et al.12/99 The Human Impact on Climate
H. Herzog et al.  2/00 Capturing Greenhouse Gases
K.S. Brown   8/00 Warming to Climate Change
P. Epstein   8/00 Is Global Warming Harmful to Health?
J. Hansen   3/04 Diffusing the Global Warming Time Bomb?
C. Forest et al.  7/04 Narrowing Uncertainty in Global Climate Change
R. Alley11/04 Abrupt Climate Change
Pollution - Other
T. Graedel & P.Crutzen  9/89 The Changing Atmosphere
H. Hubbard  4/91 The Real Cost of Energy

Conservation - Population
R. Kayfitz  2/84 The Population of China
A. Vining  4/85 The Growing Regions of the Third World
J. Bongaarts  3/94 Can the Growing Human Pop. Feed Itself?
M. Potts   1/00 The Unmet Need for Family Planning
F. de Waal et al.  5/00 Coping with Crowding
E.O. Wilson  2/02 The Bottleneck
J.E. Cohen  9/06 Human Population Grows Up
Self Sufficiency - Nuclear Waste
  9/95 Disposing of Nuclear Waste
G. Zorpette  3/96 Hot Pork
C. Whipple  6/96 Can Nuclear Waste Be Stored Safely at Yucca?
G. Zorpette12/96 Down the Drain
C. Hollister & S. Nadis  1/98 Burial of Radioactive Waste under the Seabed
S. Ashley  6/02 Divide and Vitrify
S. Nadis  3/03 Man Against a Mountain
M. Wald  3/03 Dismantling Nuclear Reactors
W. Hannum et al.12/05 Smarter Use of Nuclear Waste
Conservation - Agriculture
J. Reganold et al.  6/90 Sustainable Agriculture
C. Gasser & R. Fraley  6/92 Transgenic Crops
J. Bongaarts  3/94 Can the Growing Human Pop. Feed Itself?
D. Plucknett et al.  9/95 Technology for Sustainable Agriculture
R. Prosterman et al.11/96 Can China Feed Itself?
P. Ronald11/97 Making Rice Disease Resistant
E. Glenn et al.  8/98 Irrigating Crops with Seawater
S. Postel   2/01 Growing More Food with Less Water
E.O. Wilson  2/02 The Bottleneck
S. Goff & J. Salmeron  8/04 The Future of Cereal
P. Polak  9/05 The Big Potential of Small Farms
Conservation - Water
W. Gibbs 11/95 Sewage Treatment Plants
K. Malle   1/96 Cleaning Up the River Rhine
P. Gleick   2/01 Safeguarding Our Water - How We Can Do it
P. Gleick   2/01 Making Every Drop Count
S. Postel   2/01 Growing More Food with Less Water
R. Doyle   7/01 In A Dry Land
P. Polak  9/05 The Big Potential of Small Farms
Self Sufficiency - Hydrogen
W. Nellis  5/00 Making Metallic Hydrogen
J. Wakefield  5/02 The Ultimate Clean Fuel
M. Wald  5/04 Questions About a Hydrogen Economy
P. Grant et al.  6/06 A Power Grid for the Hydrogen Economy
J. Ogden  9/06 High Hopes for Hydrogen
Self Sufficiency - Fuel Cells
A. Hayashi  4/98 Taking On the Energizer Bunny
  7/99 The Future of Fuel Cells
A. John Appleby   7/99 The Electrochemical Engine for Vehicles
A. Lloyd   7/99 The Power Plant in Your Basement
C. Dyer   7/99 Replacing the Battery in Portable Electronics
S. Ashley   7/01 Fuel Cell Phones
L. Burns et al. 10/02 Vechicle of Change
S. Ashley  3/05 On the Road to Fuel-Cell Cars
Self Sufficiency - Mass Transit
G. Stix  5/95 Putting the Mass Back in Transit
T. Eastham  9/95 High Speed Rail: Another Golden Age?
W. Gibbs10/97 Transportations Perennial Problems
J. Rilings10/97 Automated Highways
K. Howard10/97 Unjamming Traffic with Computers
J. Raoul10/97 How High-Speed Trains Make Tracks
A. Perl & J. Dunn10/97 Fast Trains: Why the U.S. Lags
G. Stix10/97 Maglev: Racing to Oblivion?
A. Schafer & D. Victor10/97 The Past and Future of Global Mobility
P. Scott  9/00 Aviation Supersized
Self Sufficiency - Personal Transit
J. DeCicco & M. Ross12/94 Improving Automotive Efficiency
D. Zetsche  9/95 The Automobile: Clean and Customized
J. Kargel & R. Strom11/96 The Case for Electric Vehicles
V. Wouk10/97 Hybrid Electric Vehicles
J. Rennie10/97 13 Vechicles That Went Nowhere
J. Rennie  6/01 A Low Polution Engine Solution
S. Ashley  3/05 On the Road to Fuel-Cell Cars
J. Romm & A. Frank  4/06 Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction
Conservation - Buildings
A. Rosenfeld et al.  4/88 Energy-efficient Buildings
A. Fickett et al.  9/90 Efficient Use of Electricity
R. Bevington & A. Rosenfeld  9/90 Energy for Building Homes
Self Sufficiency - Air Pollution
R. Shaw  8/87 Air Pollution by Particles
A. Nero  5/88 Controlling Indoor Air Pollution
J. Lents & W. Kelly10/93 Clearing the Air in LA
W. Ott & J. Roberts  2/98 Everyday Exposure to Toxic Pollutants
M. Holloway  9/02 Unsettled Air
Conservation - Other
M. Ross & D. Steinmeyer  9/90 Energy for Industry
D. Blevissn & P. Walzer  9/90 Energy for Motor Vehicles
R. Repetto  6/92 Accounting for Environmental Assets
Y. Shcherbak  4/96 Ten Years of the Chornobyl Era
T. Coutts & M. Fitzgerald   9/98 Thermophotovoltaics
E.O. Wilson  2/02 The Bottleneck
A. Lovins  9/05 More Profit with Less Casrbon