Natural Resources: Physics E-portfolio Group Project

Tobiah John Barney Matthew Jay Ney Jacob W. Floisand Candyce E. Fife

Abstract Each person in the group was instructed to write four to five pages in the format that our professor W. Richard McDonald instructed us. The problem was our lack of understanding of natural resources. The nature of not knowing something is that it often takes more than just hearing or reading a fact to truly retain it. The purpose of this paper is informative and educational for both us and you. The paper is to strengthen our learning as a group of natural resources, and how they relate to physics. The methodology of research conducted by us was through the World Wide Web and that of our physics textbook. The result is that we learned of many up and coming technologies. The conclusion that we came to is that usable energy is gaining, the world could one day become one of much greater comfort and a future full of more humans than what we have now. Our recommendations for further study are to never stop trying to advance new technology, and to always maintain hope for the future knowledge.

Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project A key, defining characteristic of the species of Homo Sapiens--humankind, as most of us know it--has always been our massive brain size and capacity and thereby our well-recognized

intelligence, inventiveness, consciousness, and awareness of our surroundings. These unique qualities have been utilized to our advantage, leading us to be the dominant species to exist on the planet Earth. One of our more prominent strategies in becoming a successful and, eventually, conquering species was our manipulation and exploitation of the natural resources that are contained within the environments that we inhabit and the planet Earth is rich in these forms of resource reserves. This has been one of the common themes that have followed through the history of humanity and continues on to this very day, as we develop intellectually, scientifically, and discover the properties of certain materials that could be potentially used and employed to power the inventions that we would create around these forms of energy and fuel, inventions that would improve the lives of our kind and allow each of us to propagate ourselves into bigger and better activities and even more discoveries. With this progression of creativity and utility in mind, my fellow project researchers and myself will be writing and establishing this research project upon the basis of natural resources and the trajectory of their uses throughout the history of humankind and how weve adapted our usage with significant changes occurring across the world. Specifically, we will be researching and reporting upon a certain few resources that have had common and widespread use along contemporary and recent humanity. Fire, wind, water, solar, air, and nuclear have individually carved themselves in history and present as pinnacles of human ingenuity and vast reservoirs of convertible and useful forms of energy. Since the approximate dawn of mankind and, as evidence suggests, even before we were fully recognized as a species, fire was discovered and utilized as a form of heat and warm for hundreds of millennia, if not for thousands at that (Parry, 2011). In this time and this way, fire was primarily used as a comforting source to keep away the cold in the exposed environments that we previously inhabited, also to cook meats and other foods, so we can ensure that what we consume is safe and allow us to more easily digest such food. Even as more sophisticated methods were developed as we grew in knowledge and technology, these traditional applications still remain, as we can see with fireplaces, hearths, furnaces, and even campfires when we find ourselves from our homes and into nature. Combustion is also what powers most, if not all, of our engines, which allow us to commute and cover long distances through our use of motor vehicles. Even ovens and stoves relied directly upon fire to cook foods through, long before we developed electricity-based, gas-powered, and microwave ovens as alternative methods of safely cooking food. As fire and flame can be used in highly positive, beneficial ways, it is also a quite destructive force and has been manipulated by humans in such a manner, especially in times of war and other forms of human conflict. Incendiary devices and weapons, such as thermite, white phosphorus, and napalm (in recent history, this chemical has left a particularly gruesome mark on the course of historical human warfare). To be clear, the use of fire in war is strictly not a recent development in military strategy and has seen many different amalgamations across the countless battles and wars that humanity has waged upon it.

Most natural resources that we can transfer into useful forms of energy to power our everyday lives Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project have a limited, or finite, quality to them, which of course means that we will eventually deplete our reserves of such resources and be without the means of supporting certain human functions. Even fire can be viewed as a finite source of energy, as it requires a kind of fuel and oxygen in order to maintain itself and, without those necessities, we could no longer realize fire as we do now. But, as we have become more and more ingenious in our designs and inventions from our ever-increasing knowledge base, we are now capable of harnessing the naturally occurring resource of wind energy. Although new utilizations of wind energy are rather recent and prove to provide as an efficient and effective resource, it would be disingenuous and dishonest to state the manipulation of wind into creative and resourceful purposes is at all a modern practice or development. As we are aware of, windmills are an old and dated tool, primarily used by millers and farmers, but this invention relies on the blowing of winds in order to function and serve its purpose. The windmill is a literally ancient engineering wonder, dating back to antiquity and to the first century, when Heron of Alexandria invented the wind wheel (Drachmann, 1961). To Heron for his creation of the windmill all the way back from the first century, we own immense gratitude as his design to simplify the lives of the rest of humanity has helped recent engineers and scientists construct the wind-powered turbines that we use today to generate electricity in order to combat growing energy insecurities by our nearing depletion of fossil fuels and oil-based energies. Though wind power is not massively or predominantly harnessed in most of the world, as fossil fuels, petroleum, and oil still hold sway across most countries, many nations (particularly Denmark, which generates approximately twenty-five percent of its electricity through the use of wind turbines and power ((REN21, 2011)) have begun turning their attentions towards wind power as it provides a renewable, and therefore, a more effective source of providing electricity to the world. A necessity to all of life in order to survive, water has been a constant and sustaining source of energy for every single species that has ever existed and most likely will ever exist. Aside from being the catalyst and sustainer of all life, water has been realized, recognized, and developed into becoming another renewable resource that we could potentially use indefinitely, owing to rain cycles and methods of purification that allow water to remain usable. A use of water as a natural resource seeps into nearly everything that requires power and/or energy, such as in industry where water is primarily harnessed to produce electricity for power plants and other industrial establishments. Of course, water is essential to the agriculture industry and helps to supply us with the high yields of crop that the industry creates. However, such industry, as it relies heavily upon the services that water provides, also is endangering our supplies of fresh and ground waters through its straining usage (Gleeson et al, 2012). The exact future of water as a continued natural resource is uncertain to say the very least. From water, its only natural to transition into the subject of steam as an energy source. Although locomotion and steam engines may first come to mind as the first utilizations of steam power,

there is evidence that similar uses of steam to create mechanical motion that dates back to 2,000 years ago, however impractical or inefficient it proved to be (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007). Of course, from that point, we began to invent and develop more sophisticated and effective models of steam engines around the time of the 1700s. While one may think that the time of steam power has long since passed with Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project discoveries and creations of newer sources of energy, steam still is accountable for approximately ninety percent of the electric produced within the United States (Wiser, 2000) and companies are working on creating more modern, high-powered steam engines to enter into the market, such as Energiprojekt. As these innovations show with their progress, the might of steam power is far from being on the decline, it may in fact be heading for a return to force. Air, or atmosphere to be more scientific, is primarily a natural resource to almost all life on Earth and certainly for every living creatures (animals, insects, or otherwise). As creatures that inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, atmosphere is absolute important and necessary for plant life as well as animal life forms, thus completing the cycle between the two different types of life. The quality of atmosphere, however, is becoming threatened by the massive increase and output of polluting elements into the air by major industry and the mass consumption and usage of gasoline which emits harmful chemicals that injure our ozone. These changes and deteriorations in the atmosphere have been identified as the main causes behind the climate change that humanity is now experiencing. Finally, this introduction will end by covering one of the most recent innovations of natural resources and a massive source of energy in our modern lives. This incredible resource is known well as nuclear power or energy and came into being with the turn of the 20th century when researchers discovered the immense energy that could be released from particular elements like radium and uranium. Through these research findings, scientists were able to create nuclear fusion and fission. The most famous, and simultaneously infamous, innovation with the discovery of nuclear reactions is, of course, what resulted from the Manhattan Project that was established in 1942: nuclear weaponry, such as the hydrogen bomb. As it is well-known, these weapons were tested and used upon the Japanese twice during World War II and lead to their ultimate surrender and unprecedented level of controversy and criticism for the invention, creation, and usage of such unspeakably powerful weaponry. While nuclear power may have a bad rap from its previous, gruesome uses, nuclear energy is quite an efficient method of producing electricity through the establishing and building of nuclear power plants to power many grids across the world, providing hundreds and even up to 1300 megawatts to the grids that they are connected to. Nuclear power and the usage of its energy may never be shown in a positive light or ever be well-received by the majority of people, but it nevertheless certainly has a grand potential to used in an extremely beneficial way to help humanity along. For the rest of our research project, we will examine more closely certain sources of potentially usable energy that is gaining more and more footholds in our increasing energy insecure society. Specifically, we shall be reviewing solar, nuclear, and geothermal energies. Geothermal Energy

Although the surface of the Earth is at a comfortable temperature to sustain everyday life, its core 4,000 miles beneath, is significantly hotter (See Figure 1). Much of it being a result of thousands of years ago when the Earth was first created and nuclear fission deep within the Earth; the two most essential particles to make up this part of Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project the Earth are uranium-238 and thorium-232. These two molecules are so essential to keeping the center of the Earth heated because they are so radioactive. It doesn't take much energy to cause them to break into smaller particles and release great amounts of energy as heat. The particles that result then collide with other uranium-238 and thorium-232 molecules and cause them to break apart and release yet more energy. This leads to a great chain reaction producing extreme amounts of heat. This is what has kept the Earth's center heated over the millions of years that it has been around (Thinkquest 98, Team 17940, 1998). Because of this huge difference in temperature mankind has the ability to access a hidden natural resource called Geothermal Energy. The energy comes from harnessing one of heats basic properties: Its tendency to move upward above cooler things. This heat, located miles below the surface of the Earth, can be pulled out and used on account of that one distinct reason. The method which is usually used to tap into this energy source, however, is not an easy one. First, a hole must be dug deep into the ground, so it will reach several kilometers into the Earth where the core can heat up the solid rock to extreme temperatures. Second, water is forced down into the hole with enough pressure to break away at rock near the bottom. This expands the hole, creating more surface area so the heating process can be done at a higher speed. Third, another hole is dug somewhere near the first one so it reaches the artificial cavern created deep under ground. Finally, water is pumped into the first hole in large amounts until it emerges from the second hole. By the time the water reaches this point it has conducted enough heat from the super heated rock to be put to use (Hewitt, 2010). Factories to do this, however, must be built in areas where the heat from the center of the Earth is near enough to the surface to be available for use. How We Can Use It The first and most efficient way geothermal energy can be used is by using it to create a change in temperature through something called Geothermal Heat Pumps. See Figure 2 for a picture of the coils used in these heat pumps. Throughout the world temperatures range from well below freezing to just above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. About ten feet underground, however, it usually stays at a fairly constant temperature of about 45 degrees Fahrenheit to about 75 degrees Fahrenheit depending on where you are in the world. So, with a little digging, piping can be placed in a position to collect this heat and release it into a house or building to bring the temperature back up to a comfortable level. The pipes are filled with an antifreeze substance so, as it moves down the pipe where the ground is warmer, it will absorb the heat which will naturally cause it to travel back up the pipe where it can warm the structure. An advantage to this is that it works in the other direction as well. In the summer when the surface of the Earth reaches high temperatures, the area about ten feet

underground maintains that nice cool temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit on average. Now, the substance in the pipes will absorb the heat in the building and deliver it underground in one simple cycle to keep things at much lower, more comfortable temperatures (U.S. Department of Energy, 2012). This particular use of geothermal energy is a growing energy source throughout the country for the reason that it is much less costly than alternate methods of heating and cooling a building and it is also more Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project efficient. The efficiencies of geothermal heating/cooling range anywhere from 300% to 600% while other methods of heating/cooling have efficiencies of 175% to 250% (U.S. Department of Energy, 2012); deep underground there are also streams, and pockets of water that become superheated from the Earth's core. With some digging and pipework, this water can be used just as a common water heater is used for every day activities. It works just as well accept no thermal energy needs to be put into it because it is already heated up (National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy, 1999-2013). The second main way that geothermal energy can be utilized is to create electricity. There are three main methods in which this process is conducted. All of which use holes dug at about ten thousand feet underground. The first method is called "Flash Technology". This method uses the pressurized liquid water which can be anywhere from 300 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The water is brought up to the surface and it instantly becomes steam under the lessened pressure. The steam turns a turbine where it is then converted into electricity. The second method used to create electricity is called "Binary Technology". One of the main differences between this technology and Flash Technology is the temperature of the water sources. Binary technology uses water of somewhat lower temperatures. This method consists of extremely hot water being brought to the surface where it heats another substance which vaporizes and in turn turns a turbine. The final method is called "Dry Steam" in which the water underground is already in a gaseous state. Then it is simply brought to the surface where it turns the turbine to create electricity. Although geothermal power plants cost a great deal of money to build, one of the main advantages of using them over other power generators is its low upkeep. It has fairly low maintenance and operation costs and no fuel costs (Pace University, 2000). Problems with Geothermal Energy Even though geothermal energy is a rather natural energy source it has its raised concerns. The first concern is the gases that it puts into the air. Some of the elements that exist plentifully underground are Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas and could significantly contribute to global warming. Hydrogen Sulfide is a poisonous gas, and, because of its greater mass than air, can gather in holes and valleys and kill the inhabitants. Fortunately, this problem can easily be avoided by simply creating a closed loop in the geothermal system. As long as the gases are recycled safely back to the ground, the environment will be minimally affected (Stewart, 2012). Another problem with using geothermal energy is its tendency to lesson pressure underground. As heat is removed from underground reservoirs the pressure goes down. This causes locations above the area to sink downward at a rate of about half of a meter every year. A year or two may

not affect the area very much, but once the facility has been there for a few decades problems begin to develop. If the land uniformly moved straight down there wouldn't be much of a problem, but as the land moves down it also tilts toward the center. This could create problems with pipelines, roads, and building structures which are forced to bend and possibly break (Stewart, 2012). A final problem that people may have with geothermal energy is the resources that it uses up. Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project Geothermal energy takes away the heated water from the ground that is used in natural features such as hot springs, mud pools, and geysers. In the year 1958, in a city called Wairkei geothermal heat withdrawals caused the hot springs and geysers to become smaller and begin to diminish. Problems like this could result in the shutting down of high tourism areas and other problems of the like (Stewart, 2012). This problem, however, is easily fixed by simply tweaking the energy-gathering process by practicing it in moderation. Geothermal Energy is expected to become a much more commonly used resource in years to come. One breakthrough that will aid in this change is the creation of Co-production of Geothermal Electricity in Oil and Gas Wells. Right now, there are many gas wells where significant amounts of water are present that could be utilized for geothermal energy. If the Geothermal and Oil companies were able to establish a way to exploit both resources at the same time, an MIT study predicts, that by 2050, 44,000 more MWs of energy could be produced than what would have been created without it (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2009). With the partnership of geothermal energy, the world could one day become one of much greater comfort, enjoyment, and cleanness. Solar Energy Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant source of energy available. The Earth receives only about one billionth of the light and heat released by the Sun, and yet this small amount makes the existence of life here on Earth possible. Living organisms use the energy from the Sun to survive, such as plant life through photosynthesis. Human beings use solar energy, mainly as a source of heat, but more and more, are using it as a source of power. The Sun is so large it has a pull of gravity that is 28 times stronger than Earths gravity. The Sun is made mostly out of hydrogen, and at its core, these hydrogen atoms collide, making them into helium. This process, called nuclear fusion, emits massive amounts of solar energy. Solar energy must be captured in order for it to be used for power. Currently, the most common method of capturing the Suns rays is photovoltaic cells, or solar panels (See Figure 3). These panels are strategically placed so that they may capture the largest amount of solar energy available. Photovoltaic cells are made of special materials called semiconductors such as silicon, which is currently used most commonly. Basically, when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely (How Stuff Works, 2013). The photovoltaic effect was observed as early as 1839 by Alexander Edmund Becquerel, and was the subject of scientific

inquiry through the early twentieth century. In 1954, Bell Labs in the U.S. introduced the first solar photovoltaic device that produced a useable amount of electricity, and by 1958, solar cells were being used in a variety of small-scale scientific and commercial applications. A newer method of capturing solar energy is Concentrated Solar Power (or CSP). This method uses mirrors that have been shaped to focus the Suns rays into a circulating fluid. The fluid then heats a Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project molten salt mixture that can reach 350C. The heated molten salt mixture is then used to boil water into steam and drive turbines that generate electricity. One of the advantages of using the CSP method over photovoltaic cells is that the molten salt mixture will retain heat for long periods of time and allow power plants the ability to convert the heat energy into electricity as needed. With photovoltaic cells, the electrical output can be sporadic and can be dramatically affected by clouds moving in front of the Sun. This property of being able to generate electricity on demand is called dispatch ability (Scientific American, 2013). Currently, the price of solar power is 20-30 cents per kWh for small, distributed generation and around 15 cents per kWh for large, centralized installations. This is not ideal, as compared to coal, which averages around .01 cents per kWh (Curtis, 2011). Though, according to Science Magazine, Industry projections suggest that CSP-generated electricity will cost the same as that from coal, gas, and oil-fired power plants within less than 15 years for midload electricity at the middle ranges of cost and demand (AAAS, n.d.). This demonstrates that the cost of solar power is becoming more competitive. Another way solar energy is made useful is for transportation. Although solar power in transportation is not something that you see in your everyday commute, there are many examples of solar powered vehicles that are currently being used. One example is the Solar Impulse, which is an airplane that was designed to be able to fly all day and all night, powered only by solar energy. The solar impulse completed a flight across the United States from San Francisco to New York City earlier this year, on July 6th 2013. Like a lot of solar applications in transportation, the Solar Impulse is mostly useful as a test bed for the current technology, and a driver for pushing the technology forward. The Solar Impulse project nicely demonstrates a lot of the concepts from physics. The engineers behind the project had to consider every variable that would affect the efficiency of the airplane. They then optimized all of the components to get the most out of their plane. They made sure that the plane would be as light as possible. The most recent prototype, the model HBSIA, weighs just 1600 kg. The light weight makes it so that the plane will require less force to accelerate and reach take-off speeds. Additionally, the wingspan of the airplane is extraordinarily large to maximize the amount of lift needed to get it into the air. According to the projects website, the wingspan of the HB-SIA model is 63.4 meters long, thats about of a football field. The large surface area of the wings makes the Bernoulli Effect large enough to create enough force to keep the plane aloft. The large surface area also means that there is more room to place solar cells, about 10,748 of them, that collect sunlight for charging the batteries and powering the motors.

It is not a very practical project right now since it is only capable of carrying one person at a time. Also, the average speed of the airplane is surprisingly low. It travels at an average of 70km/h, or 43 mph. This low speed is intentional and necessary. If the airplane were to travel faster, it would encounter larger forces from drag and it would use more energy (Solar Impulse, 2013). In the past, passive solar power was used to heat homes in the winter. This was done by building the houses facing in the direction of the Sun, which is south if you live in the northern Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project hemisphere, in order to capture the rays. Today, the potential of solar power is limitless, versus fossil fuels, which are not renewable and harmful to the Earth. Nuclear Energy The purpose of this paper is to help you understand why nuclear energy is important, and to describe nuclear energy plus its uses. Also, this paper will include uses, historically important events in nuclear energy, commercial application, and a speculation by me on the future of nuclear energy. To describe nuclear energy is to talk about fission and fusion. Fission is a process that involves separating a single atom into two different atoms by firing a single neutron at the molecule. The molecule separates into to smaller molecules and the two molecules release three neutrons. Are current form of fission involves using the element uranium, specifically U-235. The U is for uranium and 235 is the mass number; which represents the protons and neutrons (Wiki Answers, 2013). It is also necessary for the U-235 to be a certain size called its critical mass (Hewitt, 2010). If the U-235 doesnt have this critical mass then it will not be able to conduct a significant chain reaction to cause significantly large amounts of energy output (Hewitt, 2010). Figure 4 This is a an example of fission Uranium 235 is very rare an only makes up 0.7% of the uranium in pure uranium metal, (Hewitt, 2010). There are breeder reactors being built that are experimental in France, Germany, India, and China (Hewitt, 2010). Breeder reactors exist to create more U-235 because U-235 will run out in one hundred years if no new source is created (Hewitt, 2010). Fusion is the opposite of fission because it involves combining four hydrogen elements together to make a single deuterium molecule. Fusion can also be done with one lithium and hydrogen. The reaction that works best at moderate temperature is the fusion of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium (Hewitt, 2010). The amount of matter converted into energy is 0.7% in comparison to fission which is 0.1% (Hewitt, 2010). The energy output of fusion is greater, but requires greater energy in put to start the reaction (Hewitt, 2010). The energy output has yet to be greater than the energy input for fusion (Hewitt, 2010). More perks of fusion is that the fuel used for the process is hydrogen which is the most abundant molecule in the universe, and fusion has no nuclear waste (Hewitt, 2010). The equation E=mc helps explain why fission

and fusion work without breaking the law of conservation. Mass is just congealed energy, so it mass can be converted into energy as it is in fusion (Hewitt, 2010). Now Im going to try and define nuclear energy so I can talk about its uses. The oxford online dictionary defines nuclear energy as, the energy released during nuclear fission or fusion. However nuclear energy in fission is really caused because of unstable molecules with a large AMU (atomic mass unit) number that releases neutrons. This process of releasing neutrons naturally occurs in nature its what makes a substance radioactive (Hewitt, 2010). Fusion releases photons when the hydrogen molecules combine. Machines that use x-rays for imaging also release photons. All though nuclear Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project energy is very similar to a lot of chemical reactions and the outcome is similar to a lot of different process there are two very big distinctions. One thing that defines nuclear energy is a changing of mass due to activity of neutrons leaving the nucleus, or protons combining. So nuclear energy isnt concerned with electrons. The second thing that helps define nuclear energy is it produces a massive amount of energy output if done right. Now that Ive defined nuclear energy we can talk about its uses. Some uses that I could easily fine are power plants, bombs, and mine craft a video game (Hewitt, 2010; Industrial Craft, 2013). Both power plants and bombs were developed at the same time, but the bomb was the first thing to be presented to the human race. Nuclear power plants are basically giant heat factories that produce steam to turn turbines to give power to a generator which sends it to a transformer (Hewitt, 2010). Nuclear power plants make radioactive waste, and currently there is no sufficiently safe way to store this nuclear waste (Hewitt, 2010). Hydrogen bombs are the most effective nuclear bombs because they use fusion instead of fission (Hewitt, 2010). As previously mentioned in this paper fusion releases more energy than fission (Hewitt, 2010). The video mine craft uses nuclear energy as something you can build and create in a virtual world for fun (Industrial Craft, 2013). Time for me to talk about the history of nuclear energy, and historically important events that lead to mans control of this energy source. Nuclear energy has been around much longer than man, and occurs naturally in the universe. The sun is a good example of fusion energy and the earth is a good example of fission energy (Hewitt, 2010). The fission energy occurs in the earths core, and for the most part isnt harmful to humans (Hewitt, 2010). The knowledge that really started mans control over nuclear energy came from the knowledge of what makes up an atom and the magnetic forces inside. On August 2, 1939 Albert Einstein writes to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him about nuclear energy just before the beginning of World War 2. A Nuclear fission reactor was first built at the University of Chicago under the stands at the same year that the Manhattan project was sanctioned on December 2, 1942 by Enrico Fermi (Hewitt, 2010; History, 2013). When a nuclear bomb was finally made by the Manhattan project Robert J. Oppenheimer commented later on the task by saying, Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds (See Figure 5), which is a direct quote from a Hindu doctrine (History, 2013). A nuclear bomb called

Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima Japan by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay in August 6, 1945 (History, 2013). The affect of dropping the Little Boy wasnt what President Harry S. Truman wanted; so on August 9, 1945 a nuclear bomb called Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki Japan to make the Japanese surrender unconditionally (History, 2013). Thus the world was introduced to nuclear energy. Little Boy was kept a secret by the emperor of Japan Hirohito, and the United States Government (History, 2013). Fat Man caused Japan to surrender unconditionally, and the world learned about the nuclear bombs (History, 2013). Mostly scientists were the only non military citizens aware of nuclear energy prior to the bomb called Fat Man being dropped (History, 2013). Commercial application of nuclear energy is primarily in the form of power plants, but is also to a great extent in research as well. There are currently 65 commercially operating nuclear power plants Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project with 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states around the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Center (2013). Some examples of research in nuclear energy are breeder reactors, plasma lasers, and magnetic plasma containers (Hewitt, 2010). Some countries havent even started to understand nuclear energy as a nation state, while other countries are working on building new bombs (Arms Control Association, 2013). In an American laboratory scientist are working on recycling nuclear energy, and greatly reducing the negative waste by making it non radioactive (Argonne National Laboratory, n.d.). Also the waste would only take 500 years to break down verse the current 250,000 years for the current waste (Argonne National Laboratory, n.d.). My speculation of nuclear energy is that it is mans greatest home for evolving towards even higher collective intelligence. At the same time man could potentially off himself if enough countries had nuclear bombs. I am an optimistic person, and want to bet that we as a race wont annihilate each other to extinction. Im really excited for fusion to work, or for someone to find a way to make it give consistently high energy output. I would love to help; it makes me want to be a scientist. Not sure how long its going to take for nuclear energy to be advanced and for all of the current problems to be resolved. It might never happen, but Im going to do what ever I can to increase the probability of it happening. The more people we can sustain for our population the faster are discoveries and knowledge will grow. If we do nothing to further our energy sources, we will have killed thousands of people both alive, and not yet born. It is both the correct logical and moral choice to choose to improve nuclear energy. Yes nuclear energy could kill us off, but so could a lot of other things. I would rather try and fail then wait for the human race to naturally go extinct from the laws of physics. I cant perceive or accurately predict the future, but I do hope that it is a future full of more humans than what we have now; who are living life comfortably thanks to advancements in nuclear energy, and science. Who wouldnt want that?

To summarize I have told you about the topic of nuclear energy, its uses, historically important events concerning nuclear energy, commercial application, and why its important in my personal speculation on nuclear energy. Summary We have talked about natural resources primarily in the geo energy, solar energy, nuclear energy, and the history of energy. We have explained the topics of each of these sources, and the problems that these sources of energy are currently experiencing. What will you do to improve our natural resources?

Natural Resource: Physics E-portfolio Group Project References AAAS (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5993/773.full?sid=5de212f2ab16-4835-a9576a26d4e01c6 Argonne National Laboratory (n.d.). Nuclear fuel recycling in 4 minutes Retrieved from http://www.anl.gov/videos/nuclear-fuel-recycling-4-minutes Arms Control Association (2013). Nuclear weapons: who has what at a glance Retrieved from http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat Drachmann, A.G. (1961). "Heron's windmill", centaurus, pp. 145-151 Energy W. (2000). Resources: Occurrence, production, conversion, use Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=UmMx9ixu90kC&pg=PA190&dq=electrical+power+generat ors+steam+percent&hl=en&ei=JppoTpVexNmBB4C72MkM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result &resnum=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=steam&f=false Gleeson, T. et al. (2012). Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater footprints, nature, 488 p. 197-200 Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7410/full/nature11295.html Hewitt P. (2010). Conceptual physics eleventh edition. St. Petersburg, FL: Pearson Education,Inc. History (2013). World war II Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fermi-produces-the-firstnuclear-chain-reaction How Stuff Works (2013). How solar cells Work Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-cell1.htm

Industrial Craft (2013). Nuclear reactor Retrieved from http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Nuclear_Reactor Institute for Advanced Study (2013). J. Robert Oppenheimer Retrieved from http://www.ias.edu/people/oppenheimer Lisa Curtis (2011). Retrieved from https://joinmosaic.com/blog/cheapest-most-abundant-energy-world National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy (2013).Geothermalenergy Retrieved from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/tech/geothermal-energy Pace University (2000). Electricity from: Geothermal energy. Retrieved from http://www.powerscorecard.org/tech_detail.cfm?resource_id=3 Parry, W. (n.d.). It took humans many chilly millennia to master Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/13223-fire-mastery-early-humansneanderthals.html REN21 Renewables (2011). Global status report Retrieved from http://germanwatch.org/klima/gsr2011.pdf Science Daily (2013). Science news: Iron in earth's core weakens before melting Retrieved 11/12/2013 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131010142750.htm Scientific American (2013). Solar heat challenges photovoltaic as power source Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=solar-heat-challengesphotovoltaics-as-power-source&page=2 Solar Impulse (2013). Solar impulse HB-SIA Retrieved from http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/airplane/hb-sia/ Stewart, Carol (2012). Geothermal energy - effects on the environment. Retrieved fromhttp://www.teara.govt.nz/en/geothermal-energy/page-5 U.S. Department of Energy (2012). Geothermal heat pumps Retrieved fromhttp://www.http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/geothermal-heat-pumps U.S. Energy Information Center (2013) Frequently asked questions Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=207&t=3 Union of Concerned Scientists (2009). Clean energy Retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewableenergy/how-geothermal-energy-works.html#Future Webzeest (2013). Is nuclear power green energy? Retrieved from http://www.webzeest.com/article/326/is-nuclear-power-green-energy%3F Wiki Answers (2013). In uranium-235 the number 235 represent? Retrieved fromhttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/In_uranium235_the_number_235_represent#slide1 Wikipedia (2013). Geothermal heat pump Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_heat_pump Wikipedia (2013). Solar power

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power