Back to Blogging

The eighth grade GT students of Fruita 8/9 are back to blogging about energy topics after a one semester hiatus. Analytics tell us that readers from many states in the U.S. and in many countries around the world are at least "checking in" to see what this blog is all about. If you check in to see what our students are doing, please leave a comment or let us have some ideas about what you think the students should be studying/learning. Thanks.

Solar Energy

By Daggermouth John
India has created and launched a program to increase their solar power production over the next 10 years. India wants to make solar energy an important part to combat climate/weather change. India's prime minister Manmohan Singh decided to start a national "Solar Mission" which is excpected to generate 20,000 megawatts of energy in 12 years. The prime minister hopes that this project will help India boost its power supply.

Tesla Coil

by Tito the Flying Asian

This is the tesla coil that a friend and I made. Our tesla coil is powered by a 9kv NST and 6 salt water capacitors. All the electricity passes through a spark gap and flows through the primary coil that is pictured here in an upside-down cone made of copper tubing. When the electricity goes around the tubing it creates a strong magnetic field. The magnetic field then transfers to the secondary coil which is blue. The electricity then travels through the secondary and emits out of the top load. That is where we encountered a problem because our spark gap is working but we believe that the magnetic field is not properly transfering to the secondary coil which doesn't produce any sparks out of the top load. This may be caused by incorrect resonant frequency between the primary and secondary coil. If we get the coil to work, the top load will emit up to 6 inch sparks. If you have any ideas why it is not working please tell.

1970's emissions compared to todays cars

by zim?

As studies and this picture show the emissions of today's cars compared to the past has dramatically improved. "Emissions from an individual car are genually low, relative to the smokestack image many people associate with air pollution." quote from EPA 1994 factsheet. "The Clean Air Act of 1970 gave EPA broud authority to regulate motor vehicle pollution, and the Agency's emission control policies have become progressively more stringent since the early 1970's." another statement from the EPA. In 1980-81 the use of " three-way" catalytic converters generates carbon dioxide and water from carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. It also generates oxygen and elemental nitrogen from nitrogenoxide.

All information courtesy of the EPA

Nuclear Power New Fuel of the Future?

By Kaleb Krouse

Nuclear power is known to most people as fuel to make a weapon of mass destruction. However, could such power be used to fuel our homes and cars? Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei bond and create one single heavy nuclei. In nature the atomic nuclei cannot bond because they are similarly charged, meaning they cannot fuse. However, scientists are able to make the particles fuse by replicating the conditions of the sun's core. Nuclear power may be the most acsessible energy sorce that radiates energy on the planet. Using the power of nuclear fusion and the energy that radiates from it people may one day learn to power every day utensiles thus ending the energy crisis. Although it may seem like science fiction now, the clean efficent use of nuclear energy could one day save the Earth...without the need to release deadly greenhouse gasses.

Algea for fuel by Hezikia Dempsey

A group of scientists from Kansas State University is attempting to make biofuels easier to afford by making them from algae. Not only will algae fuel be cheaper, but a growing it in America will create jobs for more Americans.

The scientists will be debating whether algae grown on specialized rafts in the ocean would provide a cheaper green energy source. Growing the biofuels on the rafts will provide a cheaper source of water and sunlight and nutrients that are necessary for the algea to grow. The platforms that they are growing on are made out of aluminum and dimpled to make it easier to scrape off and process the algae into fuel.

So far the algea has responded well to the aluminum dimpled surface but the scientists do not know why.