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SeriesISSN:
ISSN: 1939-5221
1939-5221

RILEY
RILEY
SSYNTHESIS
YNTHESIS L
LECTURES ON E
ECTURES ON ENGINEERING
NGINEERING
& C Mor gan&
Morgan & Cl
Claypool
aypool Publishers
Publishers

Engineering
EngineeringThermodynamics
Thermodynamics and
and Engineering
EngineeringThermodynamics
Thermodynamicsand
and
21st
21st Century
Century Energy
Energy Problems
Problems 21st
21st Century
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ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS
AA Textbook
Textbook Companion
Companion for
for Student
Student Engagement
Engagement
Donna
DonnaRiley,
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SmithCollege
College AA Textbook
Textbook Companion
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Engagement
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21ST CENTURY
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often-neglected ABET ABET outcomes:
outcomes:ethics,
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lifelong learning,
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CENTURY ENERGY
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ENERGY PROBLEMS
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differently.Because
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pedagogiesin inengineering
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PROBLEMS
book’s
book’sblog
blogatathttp://smiththermo.wordpress.com.
http://smiththermo.wordpress.com.

About
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gan&
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SSYNTHESIS
YNTHESIS L
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Engineering Thermodynamics
and 21st Century Energy Problems
A textbook companion for student engagement
 Synthesis Lectures on
Engineering

Engineering Thermodynamics and 21st Century Energy Problems: A textbook companion

for student engagement
Donna Riley
2011

MATLAB for Engineering and the Life Sciences

Joseph V. Tranquillo
2011

Systems Engineering: Building Successful Systems

Howard Eisner
2011

Fin Shape Thermal Optimization Using Bejan’s Constructal Theory

Giulio Lorenzini, Simone Moretti, Alessandra Conti
2011

Geometric Programming for Design and Cost Optimization (with illustrative case study
problems and solutions), Second Edition
Robert C. Creese
2010

Survive and Thrive: A Guide for Untenured Faculty

Wendy C. Crone
2010

Geometric Programming for Design and Cost Optimization (with Illustrative Case Study
Problems and Solutions)
Robert C. Creese
2009

Style and Ethics of Communication in Science and Engineering

Jay D. Humphrey, Jeffrey W. Holmes
2008
 iii
Introduction to Engineering: A Starter’s Guide with Hands-On Analog Multimedia
Explorations
Lina J. Karam, Naji Mounsef
2008

Introduction to Engineering: A Starter’s Guide with Hands-On Digital Multimedia and

Robotics Explorations
Lina J. Karam, Naji Mounsef
2008

CAD/CAM of Sculptured Surfaces on Multi-Axis NC Machine: The DG/K-Based

Approach
Stephen P. Radzevich
2008

Tensor Properties of Solids, Part Two: Transport Properties of Solids

Richard F. Tinder
2007

Tensor Properties of Solids, Part One: Equilibrium Tensor Properties of Solids

Richard F. Tinder
2007

Essentials of Applied Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers

Robert G. Watts
2007

Project Management for Engineering Design

Charles Lessard, Joseph Lessard
2007

Relativistic Flight Mechanics and Space Travel

Richard F. Tinder
2006
Copyright © 2012 by Morgan & Claypool

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Engineering Thermodynamics and 21st Century Energy Problems: A textbook companion for student
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Donna Riley
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ISBN: 9781608453634 paperback

ISBN: 9781608453641 ebook

DOI 10.2200/S00387ED1V01Y201110ENG016

A Publication in the Morgan & Claypool Publishers series

SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON ENGINEERING

Lecture #16
Series ISSN
Synthesis Lectures on Engineering
Print 1939-5221 Electronic 1939-523X
Engineering Thermodynamics
and 21st Century Energy Problems
A textbook companion for student engagement

Donna Riley
Smith College

SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON ENGINEERING #16

M
&C Morgan & cLaypool publishers
ABSTRACT
Energy is a basic human need; technologies for energy conversion and use are fundamental to
human survival. As energy technology evolves to meet demands for development and ecological
sustainability in the 21st century, engineers need to have up-to-date skills and knowledge to meet
the creative challenges posed by current and future energy problems. Further, engineers need to
cultivate a commitment to and passion for lifelong learning which will enable us to actively engage
new developments in the field. This undergraduate textbook companion seeks to develop these
capacities in tomorrow’s engineers in order to provide for future energy needs around the world.
This book is designed to complement traditional texts in engineering thermodynamics, and
thus is organized to accompany explorations of the First and Second Laws, fundamental property
relations, and various applications across engineering disciplines. It contains twenty modules targeted
toward meeting five often-neglected ABET outcomes: ethics, communication, lifelong learning,
social context, and contemporary issues. The modules are based on pedagogies of liberation, used
for decades in the humanities and social sciences for instilling critical thinking and reflective action
in students by bringing attention to power relations in the classroom and in the world.
This book is intended to produce a conversation and creative exploration around how to teach
and learn thermodynamics differently. Because liberative pedagogies are at their heart relational,
it is important to maintain spaces for discussing classroom practices with these modules, and for
sharing ideas for implementing critical pedagogies in engineering contexts. The reader is therefore
encouraged to visit the book’s blog at http://smiththermo.wordpress.com.

KEYWORDS
energy, thermodynamics, entropy, liberative pedagogies, critical pedagogy, feminist ped-
agogy, engineering education, climate change, engineering ethics, communication, life-
long learning, social context, contemporary issues, development, service learning
 vii

Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Why College? Why Thermodynamics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Why this Book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Textbook Companion: A Book of Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
An Open Discussion for Students and Teachers: Learning Objectives . . . . . . . . . . 4
Learning Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Evaluating Student Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1 What and Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.1 Module 1.1. Thermodynamics is About Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.1 Exploration: What is Energy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2 Module 1.2. Pedagogy: How to Learn Using this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.2.1 Exploration 1: Principles of Critical Pedagogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.2 Exploration 2: Models of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3 Module 1.3. US and World Energy Needs and Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.3.1 Exploration 1: Energy Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.3.2 Exploration 2: Women, Poverty, and Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.3 Exploration 3: 1 kW per capita? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.4 Module 1.4. US and World Energy Policies: What are the Issues? . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.4.1 Exploration 1: Copenhagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.4.2 Exploration 2: The Cost of Energy [20] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.5 Module 1.5. Getting Education Right for a Sustainable Energy Future . . . . . . . . 28
1.5.1 Exploration 1: Power/Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5.2 Exploration 2: What do Current Engineering Students Need to Learn
to be Able to Work on Energy Issues? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
viii
2 The First Law: Making Theory Relevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.1 Module 2.1. Learning from History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.1.1 Exploration 1: First Law in Western Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.1.2 Exploration 2: De-Centering Western Thermo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.2 Module 2.2. Energy Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2.1 Exploration 1: “Foreign” Oil Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2.2 Exploration 2: Energy Independence Reconceived . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3 Module 2.3. Evaporative Coolers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.4 Module 2.4. Hunger, Poverty, and Obesity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.5 Module 2.5. Thermo to Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

3 The Second Law and Property Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.1 Module 3.1. The Limits of Efficiency: Heat Engines vs. Other Energy
Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2 Module 3.2. Perpetual Motion Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3 Module 3.3. Entropy as a Social Construct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.3.1 Exploration 1: Origins of Entropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.3.2 Exploration 2: Entropy’s Philosophical Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4 Module 3.4. Evaluating Entropy Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.5 Module 3.5. Making Math Relevant: Thermodynamic Relations in Context . . . . 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

4 Thinking Big Picture about Energy and Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4.1 Module 4.1. Climate Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.2 Module 4.2. Selection Criteria for Energy Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.2.1 Exploration 1: Developing Selection Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.2.2 Exploration 2: Evaluating and Selecting Power Generation
Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.2.3 Exploration 3: Evaluating and Selecting Transportation Technologies . . . 69
4.3 Module 4.3. Is it Green? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.3.1 Exploration 1: Nuclear Power as a Green Alternative? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.3.2 Exploration 2: Ethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.3.3 Exploration 3: Coal Train [19] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.4 Module 4.4. Home Energy Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.4.1 Exploration 1: Solar Cooker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
 ix
4.4.2 Exploration 2: Refrigeration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4.3 Exploration 3: Dean Kamen’s Stirling Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.5 Module 4.5. Ethics of Energy Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Author’s Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
 Acknowledgments
Many of the innovations in this book came from my own students in thermodynamics, and from
friends and colleagues kind enough to help me think through the course and my pedagogy. In the
early years it was Stefan Brueck and Sylvia Thorson-Smith who introduced me to bell hooks’s work
and the critical pedagogy tradition. Colleagues at Smith including Lisa Armstrong, Alex Keller,
Ginetta Candelario, Jennifer Guglielmo, and Marguerite Harrison have helped me think further
about my teaching. In more formal settings colleagues participating in the Kahn Institute on Disorder
and the Sherred Center Teaching Circles on Diversity and on the Gulf Spill have further helped me
develop ideas in this book. I thank Kamyar Haghighi and the Purdue Engineering Education faculty
for hosting me on sabbatical while I worked on this book, and particularly thank Alice Pawley and
Julia Thomson for discussing the book with me at some length.
I thank the Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace community, particularly George Catalano
and Caroline Baillie, for the opportunities they have extended to me to develop ideas for this book,
especially George’s grant from Campus Compact that resulted in the development of the module
on hunger, poverty, and obesity.
Some of the material in this book is based upon work supported by the National Science
Foundation under grants 0448240 and 1037655. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recom-
mendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the NSF.
All along my students in the thermodynamics course have been great sports – whether they
came along enthusiastically or reluctantly, I thank them for all they did to improve learning in my
course over the years. Student researchers Lindsay Holle and Ally Gorin worked on this project with
Smith College funding, and students from the Liberative Pedagogies Project and later the e-book
Dissemination Project also contributed to this book. I particularly thank Nora Paul Schultz and Ida
Ngambeki for their contributions to the development of modules in thermo, and Haley Dell’Orso
and Amanda Nadeau for reviewing drafts of this book.
I thank Lionel Claris and Eleanor Jaffee, my colleagues on the Liberative Pedagogies Project,
for their immeasurable contributions to this project. In the early years of the project Lionel in
particular helped shape many of the curricular innovations found in these pages. It was a joy and a
delight to engage in this creative work with them both.
Thanks to the faculty collaborators in the NSF E-book dissemination project who reviewed
and tested out many of the modules in this book, and continue to help improve them in many ways.
I could not have done this without the support of friends and family. Susannah Howe and
Borjana Mikic, friends and colleagues in the Picker Engineering Program, were sounding boards for
ideas in their infancy. Running partners Lisa, Daphne, Marybeth, Kim and Pam (and Susannah and
xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Borjana) provided support and a much needed stress release. The Tribe (you know who you are) was
there to listen and support me, and provide me with hilarity, excellent food and friendship along the
way. My familiars Willow and Raven were constant companions through the writing of the book. I
thank my family for offering me support and encouragement.
Finally, to Phil, for being a fellow scientist who “gets it,” for cheering me on, for believing
in me as I dream the impossible, for being at the center of the fullness of my life outside work, my
deepest love and gratitude.

Donna Riley
October 2011
 1

Introduction
Energy is a basic human need; technologies for energy conversion and use are fundamental
to human survival. As energy technology evolves to meet demands for development and ecological
sustainability in the 21st century, engineers need to have up-to-date skills and knowledge to meet the
creative challenges posed by current and future energy problems. Further, engineers need to cultivate
a commitment to and passion for lifelong learning which will enable us to actively engage new
developments in the field. This undergraduate textbook companion seeks to develop these capacities
in tomorrow’s engineers in order to provide for future energy needs around the world.

WHY COLLEGE? WHY THERMODYNAMICS?

I usually start my thermodynamics class off by asking students why they are in college. Typically,
my students are taken aback by the question; most haven’t thought about it, at least not recently.
They describe college as a “logical next step,” as something expected of them, by parents who went
to college as well as by those who did not. Some describe college as necessary to be credentialed for
particular kinds of jobs that they view as desirable. I work with them to challenge their assumptions,
to help them see college as a choice they have made, to take ownership over that choice. Only once
every few years does a student draw on liberal education ideals in her/his/hir answer: she/he/ze is in
college to learn, to develop her/his/hir intellect and abilities in independent and critical thought.
After we discuss why they are in college, I also ask my students why they are taking my course
in thermodynamics. The vast majority respond that they are there because it is required for the
engineering major. I want students, and I want you, the reader, to have other reasons for engaging
with this book: intellectual curiosity, and a commitment to engage with energy issues as future
professionals and/or as citizens of the planet. I don’t want you to read this because it is assigned, but
because energy matters.
Energy availability, production, and use have enormous political and economic implications.
The First and Second Laws are central organizing principles for science and technology, for industry
and commerce. Using theoretical principles like these as well as mathematics to describe physical
phenomena and to model or design useful products and processes goes to the very heart of what
engineering is all about. With applications in such a breadth of areas – transportation, electric power,
refrigeration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), nutrition and exercise, manufac-
turing of pharmaceuticals, distillation of liquor and gasoline, analyzing behavior of contaminants in
environmental media, and the list goes on – how can an engineering student not find something
relevant to their lives and livelihoods, something of interest personally or professionally?
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WHY THIS BOOK?
Current engineering thermodynamics textbooks seem to adhere to an unspoken canon, grounded in
19th century developments of the steam engine in Europe, and subsequent fossil fuel technologies.
While several texts have added updates, sidebars, and problems on more recent technologies, they
do not frame their texts around what engineers need to know to innovate and lead society into
a sustainable energy future. Alfred Carlson, professor of chemical engineering at Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology, commented in ASEE Prism, “Most thermo books either have no new info
or outdated or useless material.”[1]
This book takes a fresh look at the engineering knowledge and skills required for current
and emerging technologies, and organizes learning around acquiring them. It incorporates innova-
tive engineering pedagogies that foster intentional and independent learning, preparing students to
face new problems and approach new energy technologies with a spirit of inquiry and confidence
throughout their careers. Because our energy future is at least as much about political will as it is
about technological know-how, it includes the fundamentals of energy policy analysis and assists en-
gineering programs in meeting accreditation criteria related to the social implications of technology,
communications skills, and professional ethics.
The book’s distinguishing features include the following:
 Liberative pedagogies and intentional learning – This book embodies the principles of
critical, feminist, anti-racist and post-colonial pedagogies, which seek to empower students
as independent learners and thinkers. Liberative pedagogies engage students where they are,
starting from what students already know from their life experience, and connecting with the
things they find relevant. Recognizing student authority builds confidence and de-mystifies es-
oteric material. With an inductive approach that fosters critical thinking and the development
and pursuit of important questions, readers are encouraged to collectively and independently
explore topics of individual or collective interest. Critical engagement with the world in the
form of reflective action is the ultimate goal of liberative pedagogies, and to this end, exercises
in the book encourage reflection on one’s own learning, and on our collective energy future.
Readers are further challenged to take action as involved citizens and professionals on energy
issues locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
 Sustainability – The ability to properly assess the ecological impacts of different energy
technologies is increasingly important as sustainability becomes a basic design criterion for
energy systems, in response to deepening concerns about environmental quality and global
climate change. This book takes a critical approach to sustainability and seeks to examine
definitions of sustainability in broader economic, political, and social context.
 Global Perspective – As industrially developing nations plan to meet energy needs for eco-
nomic growth, they are poised to make crucial and far-reaching decisions for developing new
energy infrastructures. This is an exciting time for engineers, offering a teaching moment for
students to consider the impacts of technology and the importance of forward-thinking design.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3
It is equally important that engineers learn to understand issues of power in the economic and
political contexts of globalization, and this book encourages students to explore global issues
in ways that take these dynamics into account.

 Policy considerations – Politics drives our energy priorities, and our choices of energy tech-
nologies can drive our foreign and domestic political priorities. Engineers must have a working
knowledge of policy and politics as it relates to energy technology.

 Ethics and social responsibility – Energy poses ethical questions that must be confronted
at multiple levels of analysis. Engineers face both individual and collective decisions as pro-
fessionals with important ethical dimensions. Local, national, and international communities
face ethical choices about energy systems and uses. Engineers need a set of analytical skills to
understand the factors that influence their ethical decision making in all of these settings and
roles. Presenting ethics and social responsibility provides realistic and significant professional
and social context for technical material in thermodynamics.

 A multidisciplinary approach – Today’s complex energy systems require a multidisciplinary

approach that spans all engineering disciplines. Engineering Thermodynamics is typically
taken as a required course (or multiple courses) by engineering undergraduates in specific
disciplines. This book covers a range of applications across engineering disciplines; while
applications are rarely specific to a particular discipline, the intent is to broaden the perspectives
of engineers in every discipline.

 History – The historical development of thermodynamics is important for engineers to un-

derstand. Historical presentations of information can provide insight and make the material
approachable for some readers using the drama of discovery. Historical material is made rele-
vant to students’ understanding of key concepts and to current issues in energy.

A TEXTBOOK COMPANION: A BOOK OF IDEAS

There are many thermodynamics textbooks available for engineering classes today. This book does
not replicate this effort, but is designed as a companion to these. It does not cover fundamentals or
provide the typical practice problems found in traditional texts. It is designed for the Morgan and
Claypool Synthesis series, such that students at subscriber institutions might be able to use the book
in electronic form at no additional cost.
Each module in this book is an idea that can be implemented in courses and classrooms any
number of ways. It is up to professors and students to adapt these ideas as appropriate for different
circumstances and learning settings. I have intentionally avoided being prescriptive; instead, modules
represent suggestions that can no doubt be improved upon implementation.
4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AN OPEN DISCUSSION FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This book is written with both students and instructors in mind. It is a principle of critical pedagogies
to blur these roles intentionally. And so I hope that students as well as instructors will read this section
on accreditation criteria as they relate to course design and learning objectives.
As ABET’s educational outcomes criteria (Figure 1) have been implemented within engineer-
ing programs over the past decade, the need for textbooks that cover social context and professional
ethics has grown. This book provides content to meet ABET criteria while co-existing with tried-
and-true textbooks. The book is designed to help students develop knowledge and abilities primarily
related to outcomes (f-j): ethics, communication, context, lifelong learning, and contemporary issues.

ABET OUTCOMES CRITERIA

(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and
engineering
(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to
analyze and interpret data
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet
desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic,
environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,
manufacturability, and sustainability
(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering
problems
(f ) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) an ability to communicate effectively
(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of
engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental,
and societal context
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-
long learning
(j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineer-
ing tools necessary for engineering practice.

Figure 1: ABET outcomes [2].

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5
While thermodynamics instructors will note that this book does not emphasize ABET out-
comes (b) (experiments and data), (c) (design), (e) (problem solving), or (k) (modern tools), most
traditional thermo courses already heavily emphasize (e), also (b) and (k) when taught with a lab-
oratory, and (c) if a design project is incorporated into the course. The teamwork outcome (d) can
be addressed if the modules are implemented in teams. It is up to the instructor and students to
implement modules in ways that fulfill this outcome if desired. Throughout the book modules that
address particular ABET outcomes are identified with the icons shown in Figure 2.

a c e f g h i j
SEM design problems ethics communi- context lifelong contemporary
knowledge cation learning issues

Figure 2: ABET outcomes icons.

LEARNING PROCESS
This book uses a modular format and employs a particular set of pedagogies to accomplish its
learning objectives. All modules are laid out using a four-step process that draws on critical pedagogies
(Figure 3). First, students engage a topic, usually through reading given material and/or searching for
material on their own. Next, students analyze a process or situation related to the topic. Sometimes
analysis is technical, sometimes social. Sometimes analysis is quantitative, sometimes qualitative.
Then students reflect on a particular question or what they have learned from the analysis. Finally,
students are challenged to initiate some change, either to their way of thinking or in the world at
large as a result of what they have learned. This process is normally iterative, where the change may
initiate another question to engage, and so on.
This book will ask students to “do something,” to engage in learning and teaching in ways that
might be unfamiliar and demand more responsibility than is familiar (more on this in Module 1.2).
Some work may occur in the classroom as traditional assignments. Some of it, I hope, readers
will choose to do independently out of a particular interest. The actions aren’t the same as most
typical “hands on” work done in the lab or design shop. It might not be what most have thought
of as “engineering” before. But this is part of the work we need to do if we want engineering and
engineers to have something meaningful to say about the nation’s and world’s energy issues.
Instructors and students should each understand the additional workloads that are required
when exploring relevant material. There may be limits on what is realistically achievable, given
available resources or institutional policies. Expanding these possibilities is part of the struggle for
education. We need to acknowledge the power dynamics at work in our institutions, and become
creative as we dismantle or work around constraints. This is a process that takes time. This book is
6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Figure 3: Learning process for modules.

the result of 10 years of creative experiment and iteration. I recommend introducing modules from
this book incrementally rather than all at once, and evaluating each effort, adapting the materials
for particular students in particular settings.
Some will argue that thermodynamics instructors already have too great a challenge before
them in helping students understand the technical material. There is no time for these “extras,”
which would be nice, but are not necessary. I believe skills in context, ethics, communication, and
contemporary issues are absolutely essential, and underemphasized in engineering education today.
So on one level, this may simply be a question of priorities and values. However, even if technical
skills are considered of the utmost value, it has been my experience that teaching material in this
book actually helps students with their technical understanding, by providing motivation and new
perspectives on the material. Thinking in terms of synergy rather than zero-sum games reveals what
these modules have to offer. It helps to remember that concerns about coverage can be counterpro-
ductive if insistence on coverage impedes learning overall. The question should be the following:
what is really important for students to learn now? It is possible to prioritize in order to incorporate
some of these important topics in the thermodynamics classroom? We need to work toward learning
those things that are going to serve students and society best in the long run.
With additional work for students, and with innovative pedagogies introduced into a classroom
that is very reliant on traditional modes of learning, students should expect to feel challenged and
uncomfortable at times, and instructors should expect resistance from students. To the extent that
 REFERENCES 7
introducing these topics bucks institutional trends (department, institution, discipline…), expect
resistance there as well. The best thing for both students and instructors to do is be transparent and
intentional, always providing the motivation behind our decisions and actions. This does not remove
the dynamic of resistance, but it moves the conversation forward.
It is worth the extra effort if this book can contribute to the development of its readers as
thinkers, leaders, ethical decision-makers and agents of social change.Ultimately, I hope each reader,
instructor and student alike, will come away from this book having learned something new – about
energy, or about learning itself. I hope the book leads us all to ask different kinds of questions, hard
questions that change the world and change our own ways of thinking about the world.

EVALUATING STUDENT WORK

Faculty assigning some of the modules in this book, and students undertaking these asignments, will
find themselves outside their comfort zones – these are not problem sets. Even the modules that
require quantitative analysis are open-ended and do not have a single right answer. Several modules
are well suited to in-class discussions or other kinds of interactive activities. Some are suited to
community-based learning projects.
For instructors new to some of these teaching methods, it may be helpful to consult resources
on techniques such as leading discussions. An excellent resource on this topic is the Canadian Society
for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (CSTLHE) Green Guide [3]. When it comes to
assigning written work, I have found that the development and sharing of evaluation rubrics as part
of the assignment prompt can help students perform better on these assignments, and remove some
of the anxiety around what is perceived as more subjective evaluation of student work. Generally, I
have used the ABET criteria on communication, context, contemporary issues, ethics, and lifelong
learning as performance criteria on the rubric, specifying for each item what constitutes excellent,
average, and poor work. Students sometimes need to iterate to learn the kind of depth of reflection and
critical or original thinking required of lifelong learning, and here I have found that early feedback is
particularly helpful. Many students need practice in developing and supporting effective arguments
in written work, and writing in ethics often requires reminding students of the importance of using
multiple, different ethical frameworks to build their arguments and explore the ethics of an issue in
depth.

REFERENCES
[1] Sharp, J.E.M. (2005). High Tech Text Books. Prism 15(3) (November 2005). Accessed June
6, 2011 from http://www.prism-magazine.org/nov05/tt_01.cfm. Cited on page(s) 2

[2] ABET (2011). Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs. Accessed May 31, 2011
from http://www.abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and%20PP/
E001%2010-11%20EAC%20Criteria%201-27-10.pdf. Cited on page(s) 4
8 REFERENCES
[3] Kustra, E.D.H. and Potter, M.K. (2008). Leading Effective Discussions. Green Guide, No.
9. London, Ontario: Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Ordering in-
formation accessed September 19, 2011 from http://www.stlhe.ca/resources/green-
guides/. Cited on page(s) 7
 9

CHAPTER 1

What and Why?

This book is organized as a textbook companion. It is meant to supplement and complement other
more technically focused thermodynamics textbooks. It is organized into stand-alone modules that
parallel the general development of most thermodynamics texts, so that students and instructors can
engage this book as little or as much as time permits.
This chapter provides an introduction to the book, to the study of thermodynamics, and to
energy problems on a local, national, and global scale. It asks readers to think about what students
need to learn as engineers and as citizens of the planet, to build a sustainable energy future.
The first module asks readers to develop their own definitions of energy and thermodynamics.
The second module provides a hands-on, learn-by-doing introduction to the pedagogies used in this
book. The third and fourth modules tackle big-picture questions: How much energy do we need?
For what do we need energy? How do our energy needs relate to global problems such as climate
change and war? The last module challenges readers to think about what’s in a thermodynamics
textbook or syllabus, and whether that constitutes what engineers need to know about energy in the
Twenty-First Century. Who decided what students should be learning, and what influenced that
decision? What do you think students need to know? How will you pursue this knowledge?

Module 1.1: Thermodynamics is About Energy.

Module 1.2: Pedagogy: How to Learn Using this Book.
Module 1.3: US and World Energy Needs and Uses.
Module 1.4: US and World Energy Policy: What are the Issues?
Module 1.5: Getting Education Right for a Sustainable Energy Future.

1.1 MODULE 1.1. THERMODYNAMICS IS ABOUT ENERGY

Thermodynamics is, and ought to be, the study of energy. For some reason, the word thermodynamics
is daunting, off-putting, and esoteric. Thermodynamics is something your professor knows about,
or other kinds of experts with many degrees in physics or chemistry or engineering. You hope they
will tell you about it in class, or you will read about it in your expensive textbook, and you will write
it down and practice solving problems and hopefully absorb some of what they know.

g i
communi- lifelong
cation learning
10 1. WHAT AND WHY?
This book is built on the premise that traditional learning, as the saying goes, “from professor’s
notes to students’ notes and through the minds of neither” is the wrong way to go about learning
thermodynamics. In fact, thermodynamics is nothing more than – and nothing less than – the study
of energy. Most of us have been studying energy our whole lives; we know a lot about it from hands-
on experience. The trouble is most thermodynamics textbooks only focus on a small, outdated slice
of what energy is and how it is used in socio-technical systems.
This book starts with the recognition that you already know about energy, and that you can
speak with some authority about it. This book is also realistic in acknowledging that there is an
existing curriculum in thermodynamics that will continue to exist for some time, perpetuated by
textbooks, accreditation criteria, industry demand, and other forces.The book is therefore organized
to parallel the organization of many typical thermodynamics textbooks, using the concept mapping
of Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: A schematic of concepts in an Introductory Thermodynamics course.

Typically, courses start by covering four building blocks in thermodynamics. Clearly, the First
and Second Laws are fundamental ideas that take up the bulk of time in a first thermodynamics
course. The idea that energy is conserved and can be converted from one form to another is a central
organizing principle for science and industry. Understanding how the Second Law limits achievable
efficiencies in energy systems is crucial for realistic design. To put these two laws of thermodynamics
to use, it is necessary to understand the properties of working fluids and other substances on a
conceptual level (what are entropy, enthalpy, and internal energy? What is the difference between
heat and work?). It is also necessary to be able to look up, calculate, and/or estimate property data
 1.1. MODULE 1.1. THERMODYNAMICS IS ABOUT ENERGY 11
using equations of state and either computerized or printed data tables. While property relations are
not emphasized in every first course on thermodynamics depending on mathematical preparation and
other considerations, they play an essential role in developing an understanding of thermodynamic
relationships and in making it possible to quantify properties that are difficult to measure from
those that are easier to measure. These four areas can be thought to form a basis that is common
among different “flavors” of thermodynamics in physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical
engineering, etc. The pyramids one might build on top of this foundation are many and varied.
The most common sets of applications might be engine cycles common in mechanical engineering
(including automobile and jet engines, electric power generation, and refrigeration cycles) or solution
theory and phase and chemical reaction equilibria in chemical engineering.
All of this may have begun to seem esoteric, full of new technical vocabulary and presented in
the abstract.The following exploration returns us to concrete and familiar considerations, developing
a clear definition of energy.

1.1.1 EXPLORATION: WHAT IS ENERGY?

engage change
Write down what you Can you develop
know or believe your own definition of
about energy, and energy? Of
why it Is necessary. thermodynamics?

analyze reflect
Now look up several How do different
definitions of energy. definitions fit
You might want to together? Do they
check a few address why energy
textbooks and is so necessary? What
Internet sources. questions do you
have about this?

Figure 1.2: What is energy? Old Faithful, a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, is
a dramatic example of geothermal energy. Photo by Jon Sullivan, Public Domain. http://pdphoto.
org/PictureDetail.php?mat=pdef&pg=5274.

At this point, a traditional textbook would typically supply you with a definition of energy.
Instead, this book asks you: what is energy? I think you already know. That doesn’t mean I think you
12 1. WHAT AND WHY?
can repeat a formal definition that will be the same as one an expert would write. It means I think
in your life experience you have come to know what energy is.
1. Engage. Write down what you know about what energy is. Some of it may be what you
remember from other classes you’ve had. Some of it may be what you’ve learned by experiencing
the world. It’s ok if what you write is not 100% correct in expert terms – this is what learning
is all about.
2. Analyze. Use your information literacy skills to gather a few different definitions of energy.
You might want to start with your course textbook, or some reliable sources in the library or
on the Internet. Write these down, and keep track of the source and page numbers, or the
permanent URL and date accessed for Web resources.
3. Reflect. Evaluate these definitions. Don’t try to select a single most valid definition, though
you may want to consider the reliability of different sources you have selected. Think about
what value you draw from each definition, and how they might be related. What questions
do you have about how different definitions you’ve read fit together? Do the definitions make
clear why energy is such an important part of our world today? If not, how could they?
4. Change. Can you develop a definition of energy that brings together what you know, expert
knowledge, and energy’s importance in life? Now move through steps 1-3 again to develop
your own working definition of thermodynamics. Why do you think most engineering courses
and textbooks are called engineering thermodynamics and not energy engineering?
The previous module challenged you to develop your own definitions of energy and thermo-
dynamics. It utilized a four-step process that included engagement, analysis, reflection, and some
action for change. This process is somewhat different from the typical engineering design process, or
engineering problem solving processes that would be commonly used in a thermodynamics course.
What is the basis for this learning process, and why is it being employed here? The next module
provides an opportunity to explore the development of the process and the educational theory behind
it, contrasted with more familiar approaches to teaching and learning. Some of the learning activities
in the next module involve theatre techniques that build an embodied knowledge of what it means
to learn using different pedagogies. While it may be outside the experience of many students, and
instructors may be apprehensive to incorporate acting into a course, creating opportunities to do
the unexpected, even if it means leaving one’s comfort zone, can lead to breakthrough insights not
achievable in routine and familiar settings.

1.2 MODULE 1.2. PEDAGOGY: HOW TO LEARN USING THIS

BOOK
i
lifelong
learning
 1.2. MODULE 1.2. PEDAGOGY: HOW TO LEARN USING THIS BOOK 13
You may have noticed that this book is written for students, yet these modules read a bit like
something that might be considered a lesson plan. This transparency is intentional. The book is
based on a set of learning techniques that have come to be known by labels such as critical pedagogy,
feminist pedagogy, or liberative pedagogy. [1] It is based on the following principles:

The point is not only to understand the world, but also to change it. [2] The study of energy should
begin with real-world problems, addressing what matters now.Theory is explored as it relates to
these real needs of people.Then those ideas are put to work in communities, and the experiences
of communities contribute to new theories, and so on in a continuing conversation.

“No education is politically neutral.” [3] In engineering in particular we tend to think we are
just learning the facts about science and technology, and we don’t often notice the ways in
which what we learn has a political bent. We therefore need to ask “Who benefits? Who
loses? Who isn’t even at the table?” We not only ask this of the syllabus, of the text, of energy
research agendas and energy company portfolios, but also we need to ask this of ourselves in the
classroom. For example, thermodynamics textbooks focus centrally on the contributions of 19th
century European males. A broader examination of history reveals important contributions to
thermodynamics from every continent East to West, by men as well as women, of all races
and ethnicities. In diverse classrooms, one can no longer assume a common base of knowledge
acquired through a common cultural or social background, and one can no longer take a
“one size fits all” approach to education. Instead, offering diverse learning opportunities and
multiple points of access can build a strong foundation for everyone to share their strengths
and learn from each other.

Power relations are everywhere and the classroom is a perfect place to learn how power relations
work and how to resist unjust power relations. For example, we want to challenge the idea that
the professor knows everything, the students know nothing, and the professor makes deposits
in students’ brains, which are hopefully retained and regurgitated later [4]. We want to explore
what the opposite of this might be. Disrupting classroom hierarchies is an aspiration; although
many forces work to resist this, working toward this goal is itself meaningful.

Student responsibility for learning. If we take this project seriously, and students have more
power in the classroom, it means more responsibility, and more work for you the student. But
the work is different from endless grueling late-night problem sets. It is, or should be, work
that matters – to you, and to your community, however that is defined in a given situation.
A lot of things will be more open-ended than you are used to. There will not always be a
single right answer, or a single right approach to a problem. You will wonder what it is you are
expected to do. The way to approach such things is to try a little, see what happens, reflect on
that in order to learn from it, and maybe try something else, and so on.

One of the hardest things to put into a book form is the centrality of relationships to this kind
of learning. This approach challenges the primacy of individualism – so you want to learn not
14 1. WHAT AND WHY?
only independently, but also interdependently in a community of scholars. In my classes, this
means I am accessible to students, and they work with each other a lot. It is up to you to ensure
that this element is present in your learning. It is absolutely at the heart of these pedagogies.

The phrase “pedagogies of liberation” has caused some critics to ask what students are supposed
to be liberated from (or to), and to challenge masculinist assumptions in the language of
liberation [5]. However, Bell Hooks [3] has suggested that liberatory language has resonance
in particular for some women of color, and takes on the phrase “education as the practice of
freedom” as a central goal of her pedagogy.

My students are sometimes anxious about this shift in the classroom in terms of both content
and pedagogy. Year after year I am convinced by the results – students with deep understanding and
confidence in their knowledge, and abilities that endure, as seniors return from their Fundamentals
of Engineering exam and report that “I rocked the thermo part.”
The following two explorations employ techniques of an approach closely related to liberative
pedagogies known as Theatre of the Oppressed [6, 7]. Developed by Brazilian theatre practitioner
and educator Augusto Boal in the 1960s, this set of practices explores relevant topics in an embodied
way with “spect-actors” who participate in generating the performance, providing opportunities for
individuals and groups to create, visualize, and live out scenarios for personal or social transformation.
Using these methods, you will act out your understandings of traditional and critical pedagogies and
explore what they might mean in engineering education.

1.2.1 EXPLORATION 1: PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGIES

1. Engage. Design a classroom experience in which learning is minimized. What does it look
like? Act it out in a skit that illustrates your vision. 5 min. to brainstorm, 15 min. to plan,
10 min. for a couple of performances.

2. Analyze. Discuss the performances. What did you learn about effective pedagogies from
viewing and/or acting out their opposite?

3. Reflect. What does it mean to learn? What is the goal of education?

4. Change. What would need to change about engineering education to fully apply the principles
presented and that you’ve developed here? What are the primary obstacles to achieving these
goals, and how might they be overcome?
 1.2. MODULE 1.2. PEDAGOGY: HOW TO LEARN USING THIS BOOK 15

engage change
Design a classroom What would need to
experience in which change about
learning is minimized. engineering
What does it look education to fully
like? Plan and apply the principles
perform a short skit discussed?
illustrating your vision.

analyze reflect
Discuss the What does it mean to
performances. What you to learn? What is
did you learn about the goal of
effective pedagogy education?
from viewing/acting
out its opposite?

Figure 1.3: Learning process.

1.2.2 EXPLORATION 2: MODELS OF LEARNING

1. Engage. Read the tableaus on the following pages. Assign one to each of three groups to act
out for the others.

engage change
Read the Tableaus What would you
that follow. Create a change about each
frieze illustrating each scene to align it
learning model. better with the
principles you’ve
developed so far?

analyze reflect
Identify the similarities What questions does
and differences the comparison raise
among the three for you about
scenarios. learning?
16 1. WHAT AND WHY?
Each group will create a frieze, or collection of actors “frozen” in the midst of a particular
action or relationship, that illustrates each model of learning. Choose one person from each
group who can narrate the scene and explain it to the others.

2. Analyze. What is similar about each of the three friezes? What are the differences among
them? What does it mean to learn in each of these models?

3. Reflect. What questions arise for you in thinking about these different learning models? How
does comparing the models change your own thinking about what learning means to you, or
what learning might mean to society?

4. Change. What would you change about each scene to align it better with the principles of
critical pedagogy as you understand them? What does this imply about what needs to change
in engineering education?

The modules in this book utilize the liberative learning processes explored here in order to
help students explore some of the big questions about energy that have relevance to all of our lives.
The rest of this chapter will explore world energy needs, uses, and policies, and then return to the
question of what engineers need to know to work effectively in these contexts both now and in the
future.
17
1.2. MODULE 1.2. PEDAGOGY: HOW TO LEARN USING THIS BOOK

Table
eau 1: Ed
ducation as Usu
ual
Excerptt from Paulo Fre
eire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
[4]http
p://www.webstter.edu/~corbe y/education/freire/freire-2.html
etre/philosophy
The teache er talks about re eality as if it werre motionless, sttatic, compartm mentalized, and d predictable. O Or else he [sic]
expounds on a topic comple etely alien to the existential exxperience of the e students. His ta e
ask is to "fill" the
students with the contents off his narration --- contents which are detached from reality, d disconnected frrom
the totality tha
at engendered d them and cou uld give them significance. Wo ords are emptie ed of their
concreteness and become a hollow, aliena ated, and alienating verbosity.
The outstanding
o characteristic of tthis narrative ed
ducation, then, is the sonority of o words, not th heir
transforming power.
p "Four timmes four is sixtee
en; the capital oof Para is Belem m." The student records,
r memo orizes,
and repeats these phrases w without perceiving what four tim mes four really means, or realizzing the true
significance ofo "capital" in the affirmation "th he capital of Paara is Belem," th hat is, what Beleem means for Para P
and what Parra means for Bra azil….
Educcation thus bec comes an act of o depositing, in which the stud dents are the de epositories and the
teacher is the depositor. Inste ead of communicating, the te eacher issues co ommuniqués an nd makes depo osits
which the stud dents patiently receive, memo orize, and repea at. This is the `banking' concep pt of education n, in
which the sscope of action n allowed to the e students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing g the deposits. TThey
do, it is true
e, have the opp portunity to bec come collectorss or cataloguerrs of the things they t store. But in the last analy ysis, it is
the people e themselves wh ho are filed awa ay through the lack of creativiity, transformatiion, and knowle edge in this (at best)
misguided system. For apa art from inquiry,, apart from the e praxis, individu
uals cannot be truly human. Knowledge eme erges
only throug gh invention and d re-invention, through the resstless, impatientt continuing, ho opeful inquiry hu uman beings pursue
in the world d, with the world d, and with eac ch other.
In the banking co oncept of educ cation, knowled dge is a gift besstowed by thosse who consider themselves
knowledge eable upon thosse whom they c consider to kno ow nothing. Projjecting an abso olute ignorance onto others, a
characterisstic of the ideology of oppression, negates ed ducation and kknowledge as p processes of inquiry. The teacher
presents him mself to his stud
dents as their ne ecessary oppossite; by considering their ignora ance absolute, he justifies his o own
existence. TThe students, allienated like the e slave in the Hegelian dialecttic, accept their ignorance as justifying the
teacher’s e existence -- but unlike the slave e, they never discover that the ey educate the e teacher.
 18

Table
eau 2: Le
earner--Centere
ed Educcation
1. WHAT AND WHY?

Excerpt from
m National Rese
earch Council, How People Le
earn [8:167]. “Ho
ow many
altogether??”http://www.na
ap.edu/openbo ook.php?record_id=9853&pag ge=167

The teache
er begins with a request for an example of a basic
b computa
ation.

Teacher: Can an nyone give me a story that cou uld go with this multiplication ...12
. x 4?
Jessica: There were
w 12 jars, andd each had 4 butterflies
b in it.
Teacher: And if I did this multipliication and fou
und the answer, what would I knowk ose
about tho
jars and
d butterflies?
Jessica: You'd know
k you had that many butte erflies altogethe er.

The teache e Jessica’s story

er and studentts next illustrate y and construc e for counting the
ct a procedure t
butterflies.

Teacher: Okay, here

h are the jarrs. The stars in tthem will stand for butterflies. Now, it will be easier for us to count
how many
m butterfliess there are alttogether, if we e think of the jars in groupss. And as usua al, the
mathemmatician's favorite number for thinking aboutt groups is? [Dra aw a loop around 10 jars.]
Sally: 10.

The lesson progresses as the teacher a and students construct

c ntation of grou
ctorial represen
a pic uping 10 sets oof four
a
butterflies and group; they reco
ars not in the g
having 2 ja ognize that 12 x 4 can be tho ampert
ought of as lOxx4 plus 2 x 4. La
then has th groups of 6 jars.
mple, into two g
he children expllore other wayss of grouping the jars, for exam
19
1.2. MODULE 1.2. PEDAGOGY: HOW TO LEARN USING THIS BOOK

Tableau 3: Liberative Learning

[In January 2002 Mary Cowhey readClick, Clack, Moo: Cows That Typeby Debra Cronin to her first grade class. She
describes the results of teaching with liberative pedagogies in this excerpt fromher book, Black Ants and Buddhists [9:
82,84] Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2006. Pp.
82,84.]http://books.google.com/books?id=EjxMiOQDF1UC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=%22click+clack+moo%22+mary+
cowhey&source=bl&ots=V3WYlfIQPd&sig=s7fTPfbmkV-
fCV0uuguy2I3l13A&hl=en&ei=X1MSTObMAsWBlAedgsnXBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCEQ6AE
wAg#v=onepage&q=%22click%20clack%20moo%22%20mary%20cowhey&f=false
In the story, some cows find an old manual typewriter in their barn and teach themselves how totype. They
type a letter to the farmer, asking for electric blankets because the barn is cold. The farmer refuses, so they write another
note telling the farmer they are on strike until they get their electric blankets. When the farmer refuses, the chickens join
the strike, refusing to lay eggs until they and the cows get electric blankets.
My first graders had a lively discussion about demands, strikes, allies, negotiations, and solidarity. As the children
made the transition to snacktime, I told my new student teacher, "You have to be careful when you read a book like this
in class."
As I often do, I sat down at a table of students to have my snack. They were excitedly talking among
themselves about the idea of going on strike to demand more recess at school. I detected a note of nervousness
among them, about whether they should keep this plot secret from me. Perhaps figuring their cover was already blown,
they decided to ask my advice. David, an outspoken boy, asked me loudly. "Would that work, Ms. Cowhey? Can kids
strike?" I said that was a good question, and thought about it. I told them about 15,000 South African students in Soweto
who went on strike in 1976, how they refused to attend classes and demonstrated to protest having to learn Afrikaans,
the language of the White minority that ran their country. The South African police fired without warning, killing and
wounding many children.
Curtis looked over at a poster of our pen pals at a rural school in South Africa. He said, "I think our pen pals
would think we were crazy. They have to pay money to go to a school with hardly any books
and no toilet, and we get to go to school for free. I'd be embarrassed to tell them we did it."
John added, "I think kids in Afghanistan really want to go to school too, and they don't
have any." Another student agreed, and David reconsidered, saying that maybe getting more
playtime wasn't such a great reason to strike.
A shy, thoughtful boy named Allan had been sitting quietly at the end of the table
throughout this animated exchange. Very quietly, with his cracker near his mouth, he said,
"Maybe we could do it to stop the war."
David yelled, "What do you mean, stop the war?"
Still looking intently at his cracker, Allan said softly but clearly, “Maybe kids could go on
strike to stop the war in Afghanistan.”That took my breath away. In this brief dialog, these first
graders moved from a perspective oriented toward their own desire for play and pleasure to a
consideration of real political reasons that people, including children, might strike.
20 1. WHAT AND WHY?
1.3 MODULE 1.3. US AND WORLD ENERGY NEEDS AND
USES

Most engineering thermodynamics books do not include much information about the overall US
and World energy landscape.

a e g h j
SEM problems communi- context contemporary
knowledge cation issues

There are entire books and courses on this topic [10], but undergraduate engineers rarely encounter
this material. Knowing that information changes rapidly, this module presents some basics about
where things stand now and, most important, where you might go for updated information.
We might begin by asking how much energy people need. Basic uses might include cooking,
heating and space conditioning, lighting, and food storage. Providing clean water and sanitation
systems consumes energy. Transportation of goods and people requires energy. Energy powers in-
dustrial and agricultural processes, including the production of building materials for shelter. Energy
is further required for communication and commerce. The energy used for these activities can come
from a number of different sources, and the amount of energy consumed varies widely. Energy analyst
Amulya Reddy argues that rather than focusing on the sources and quantifying energy supply, we
should think in terms of characterizing the demand for particular services that energy provides [11],
and on meeting consumer requirements that energy be accessible, affordable, reliable, safe, of high
quality, and ecological.
The three explorations that follow address the issue of energy needs from different angles.
First, we consider current energy use in different nations around the world, and consider why the
United States is a disproportionate consumer, even among highly industrialized nations. Next, we
take up the relationships among energy, poverty and gender inequality, critically questioning the
conventional wisdom about the role of energy in development. Finally, we turn to the question of
how much energy people need with a personal challenge to students in industrialized nations to live
on one kilowatt per capita.

1.3.1 EXPLORATION 1: ENERGY USE

1. Engage. Find reliable sources of information on energy use in the United States and
Worldwide. Places to start include the International Energy Agency [12], (http://
www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2009/key_stats_2009.pdf), the World Re-
sources Institute [13], (http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_db/index.php?
theme=6), and the BP Statistical Review of World Energy [14] (http://www.bp.com/
statisticalreview).
 1.3. MODULE 1.3. US AND WORLD ENERGY NEEDS AND USES 21
engage change
Find reliable sources What are three best
of information on ways for the US to
energy use in the US reduce energy use?
and worldwide. Quantify your
recommendations.
Try to reduce to levels
in Europe or Japan.

analyze reflect
Find or create useful What story do your
representation of data tell? Why is US
energy use. energy use so much
higher even than
other industrialized
nations?

2. Analyze. Find or create useful representations of energy use (for example, pie charts on uses
in different countries; bar chart of energy use per capita in different countries). Think about
the units presented in the reports and reconcile them for your best presentation; do different
sources of data suggest very different usages? Think about why that might be, and dig for more
information about their assumptions and exactly what they are measuring or estimating.

3. Reflect. What is the story that your data tell? Have you formatted your presentation to tell
the story best? Compare US energy use to that of other nations, including industrialized
and developing nations. Why is US energy use so much higher, even when compared with
industrialized nations like Japan or Germany? Is this justifable? Why or why not? What
responsibilities or duties fall to engineers to address this imbalance?

4. Change. What are the best opportunities the US has for reducing energy consumption? Find
research that makes recommendations on this topic, and synthesize the findings of several
authors to arrive at your own recommendations. To start you off, try Lester Lave’s article [15]
here: http://www.nae.edu/File.aspx?id=14867.

1.3.2 EXPLORATION 2: WOMEN, POVERTY, AND ENERGY

1. Engage. Can we critically examine the connections between women, poverty, and energy?
Read Reddy’s [11] chapter on women, poverty and energy: http://manowar.ma.ohost.
de/UNWEa/chapter2.pdf. How does he connect poverty and energy in developing nations?
How does gender play a role? How is the story the same or different in industrialized countries?
Reddy argues that energy needs to be given serious consideration in development plans. What
roles can energy play in development, according to Reddy?
22 1. WHAT AND WHY?

engage change
What relationship How will you gain
does Reddy lay out knowledge about
among gender, poverty and
energy, and poverty incorporate it into
in the developing your professional
world and in practice?
industrialized nations?

analyze reflect
Critique the Consider the energy-
argument that poverty nexus in the
energy development Chicago Heat Wave
plays a critical role in of 1995. What do
both poverty engineers need to
eradication and know about poverty
achieving gender for ethical practice?
equality.

Figure 1.4: Woman with improved cookstove. Accessed June 2 from http://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cameroon_2005_-_cooking_woman.jpg. Creative commons license
2.0 TreesForTheFuture, originally posted to Flickr as Cameroon2005.

2. Analyze. Engineers may jump to the conclusion that energy development will end poverty
and benefit women – a win-win and a moral imperative that calls for immediate involvement.
But the realities of the situation are far more complex. First, can energy development actually
end poverty or improve the status of women, as Reddy argues? It may be helpful to com-
pare Reddy’s argument with writing on gender and development such as NailaKabeer’s paper
on gender and poverty eradication: http://www.unescap.org/esid/gad/Publication/
DiscussionPapers/13/Paper13.pdf. [16] What are the problems with reducing complex
issues such as poverty or gender inequality to a single technical issue such as energy? What is
the significance of Reddy’s discussion of productivity and women’s involvement in producing
energy, as compared with a more traditional development model in which energy is provided
for consumption by a community from outside? What do you make of the image presented
here of a woman with a cookstove, from this perspective? Is she/he/ze producing or consuming
energy? What opportunities does this use present for development or for poverty eradication?

3. Reflect. Consider the energy-poverty nexus in the case study of the Chicago Heat Wave
of 1995: http://www.slate.com/id/2125572/. [17] What is the role of engineers in
preventing such disasters? The author makes a connection to Hurricane Katrina, in which
engineers also played a significant role. What do engineers need to know about poverty? How
should they consider poverty in responsible professional practice?
 1.3. MODULE 1.3. US AND WORLD ENERGY NEEDS AND USES 23
4. Change. What will you do to acquire knowledge about poverty and other critical social is-
sues that surround your areas of expertise as an engineer? How will you incorporate these
considerations in your professional practice?

1.3.3 EXPLORATION 3: 1 KW PER CAPITA?

In the 1980s, a group of development energy experts proposed that the world could meet basic needs
and in fact reach the standard of living of 1970s Europe on 1 kW per capita – provided optimal
use of available efficient technologies [18] (http://www.jstor.org/pss/4313148). Rather than
focusing on developing nations’ energy development goals, these experts present a daunting challenge
to residents of developed countries and particularly energy-intensive nations like the United States,
which uses on the order of 10 kW per capita [12, 13]. The thought experiment that follows is
aspirational and hopefully will also prove inspirational. What would it take for you to live on 1 kW?

engage change
Track your energy How can you reduce
consumption for a your energy use to
week and try to live come closer to 1kW?
on 1kW. How does this relate
to your goals as an
engineer?

analyze reflect
Tracking your energy What would you
requires have to change
understanding where about your lifestyle to
your energy comes live on 1kW? What
from and efficiencies things do you
in its production. consider basic
needs?

Figure 1.5: José Goldemberg, Brazilian physicist and educator, put forward the 1 kW per capita con-
cept in 1985. Accessed June 2 from http://www.sect.am.gov.br/arquivos/imagens/noticias/
20110117150231josegoldemberg.jpg.

1. Engage. Keep a journal or blog for a week or more. Can you live on 1 kW? (Hint: begin
by thinking through the units here and be sure you understand where time comes into this
picture.)

2. Analyze. Structure your analysis – think about energy services including transportation, light-
ing, refrigeration, computing, cooking, heating, and food manufacturing, preparation and con-
sumption. How do one-time large energy expenditures, such as jet travel, impact your analysis?
24 1. WHAT AND WHY?
How do you estimate energy inputs for items you consume such as books, food packaging,
clothing, etc.?
3. Reflect. What would you have to change about your lifestyle or about the infrastructure of
society to live on 1 kW? What things do you consider basic needs? How would you evaluate
the 1 kW proposal in terms of ethics or justice?
4. Change. Develop a plan to reduce your energy use. How close can you realistically come to
1 kW now? What structural changes can you work for in the future to help you get even closer?
How does this relate to your goals as an engineer?
Having explored energy needs and uses and their relationship to development, we next take
up questions of national and international policy. Given these contexts of energy needs, and energy
use and over-use, how do governments and multilateral institutions make decisions about energy?

1.4 MODULE 1.4. US AND WORLD ENERGY POLICIES:

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?
To comprehensively study a nation’s energy policy, or international energy policies, would require
another volume, and another course.

f h j
ethics context contemporary
issues

But engineers need to understand the national and global contexts in which we work in order to
design technology in an informed way. Specific global and US energy policy questions are visited
throughout this book in an attempt to connect critical policy issues with the existing curriculum
in engineering thermodynamics. Here we explore the big picture briefly to motivate continued
discussion of energy policy issues in a thermodynamics course.
Governments must decide how best to build, maintain, and retool energy infrastructures for
economic development (in both developing and developed nations). Energy cannot be considered
in isolation because of its relationship to basic human needs, the economy, as well as to peace
and security, generation of pollution, and global climate change. Traditionally, engineers respond
to national priorities set by others. What role could engineers play nationally and internationally
to inform the setting of these priorities? Is this desirable? Would engineers’ involvement in such
questions represent a conflict of interest? Would engineers tend to support the status quo in order
to maintain job security?
As industrially developing nations are currently planning to meet energy needs for economic
growth, they are poised to make critical and far-reaching decisions for developing new energy
infrastructures. This is an exciting time for engineers, offering a teaching moment for students to
consider the impacts of technology, global economic inequality, and the importance of forward-
thinking design.
 1.4. MODULE 1.4. US AND WORLD ENERGY POLICIES: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? 25
While some of the modules found later in this book tackle questions of energy technology
selection and development of renewable energy sources, government decision making is often not as
straightforward as choosing and pursuing particular technologies. The two case studies that follow
illustrate the complex contexts in which governments approach energy issues. In the first case,
countries in the global South look to wealthier nations for commitments on carbon reduction and
renewable energy development, which are largely resisted in the North. In the second case, the
United States secures energy resources through costly military conflict.

1.4.1 EXPLORATION 1: COPENHAGEN

engage change
Read about the 2009 What can you do to
Copenhagen summit achieve greenhouse
here and in other gas emission
sources you can find. reductions on your
campus, in your
community, and at
the state and federal
levels?

analyze reflect
Were the actions Why was the United
taken by the nations States particularly
at the Copenhagen reluctant to agree to
summit ethical? greenhouse gas
Examine this from a emission reductions?
number of ethical
and stakeholder
perspectives.

Figure 1.6: Global Day of Action for Climate, mass demonstration and march at the Copenhagen
COP15 Climate Summit, December 12, 2009. Photo from Greenpeace Finland/Lauri Myllyvirta. Used
under Creative Commons 2.0 license. Accessed June 2, 2011 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Global_day_of_action.jpg.

1. Engage. Read the following information about the Copenhagen Climate Summit [19], and
seek out other sources on this meeting and subsequent and prior international climate meetings.
Climate scientists have created models that predict numerous changes in climate caused by
increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. While
these changes are expected to be widespread across the planet, some changes will be more
damaging than others, and some places will be hit harder than others. Many scenarios predict
significant damage in the global South, where many people and their governments lack the
resources needed to adapt to climate change. In 2009, at the Copenhagen climate summit,
26 1. WHAT AND WHY?
Lumumba Di-Apping, chair of the G77 group of developing nations, declared a 2 degree rise
in global temperature a “suicide pact” for Africa.
At Copenhagen as at both previous and subsequent international meetings on climate change,
the South sought leadership from the global North in curbing emissions and in offering
economic development funds for building renewable energy infrastructure. Wealthy nations
committed to less than half the emissions cuts needed, and declined to offer development
funds for renewable energy infrastructure. Europe offered to cut 20% by 2020, and the US 4%
by 2020. 60% reductions are required in order to avoid a 2 degree temperature rise.
Economics is a primary rationale for lack of action on climate change. The conventional
perspective in the US and global North is that cheap energy derived from fossil fuels forms
the basis for economic activity worldwide and must be maintained in order to compete with
emerging economies such as China and India. Many governments in the global South view
energy as essential to development, and want to have the chance northern countries did to
use cheap energy to develop their economies. They argue this is necessary to lift people out of
poverty, meet basic human needs, and to overcome the long history of colonialism that led to
today’s global economic inequalities.

2. Analyze the ethics of the Copenhagen agreement (or lack thereof ) from a variety of philo-
sophical standpoints and stakeholder perspectives. What duties or responsibilities do nations
have to one another and to the planet, or the global North to the global South and vice versa?
What would the principle of justice require of nations at this summit? What rights apply to
nations in this context, and how are these balanced against responsibilities to the international
community? As India, China and other nations develop energy infrastructure, they are draw-
ing on their strengths, using resources available in country where possible – ought they do
otherwise? Who should decide?

3. Reflect. Why is the United States particularly reluctant to cooperate with climate agreements,
more so than other wealthy nations? Why are the US reductions so small compared to Europe,
especially when Europe’s energy consumption and climate emissions are already so much lower
on a per capita basis?

4. Change. What level of greenhouse gas reductions would you like to see your country achieve?
Has your campus complied with this level of reduction? Has your local community? Where
might a city begin to take action that would lead a significant reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions? How does this scale up to larger groups of people? Take some action to expand the
scope of reductions on a state, national, or international level.

1.4.2 EXPLORATION 2: THE COST OF ENERGY [20]

1. Engage. At the time of writing, the National Priorities Projectestimates the cost of
war in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 at $1.26 trillion and total Defense and
 1.4. MODULE 1.4. US AND WORLD ENERGY POLICIES: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? 27

engage change
Gather data on the Propose some ways
cost of war to secure to reduce the price
oil resources, the we pay for energy.
volume and cost of Estimate their
oil imports, and impact.
gasoline use in the
United States.

analyze reflect
If monetary costs of What about the non-
war were paid for monetary costs of
through a gas tax at war? How else have
the pump, how much we paid for oil that
more would we pay isn’t reflected in
per gallon? dollars per gallon?

Figure 1.7: Rumaylah Oil Fields, Iraq (April 2, 2003) – A US Army soldier stands guard duty near a
burning oil well in the Rumaylah Oil Fields. US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Arlo
K. Abrahamson. Public Domain. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/
US_Navy_030402-N-5362A-010_A_US_Army_soldier_stands_guard_duty_near_a_burning_
oil_well_in_the_Rumaylah_Oil_Fields.jpg.

Homeland Security spending at $7.6 trillion [21]. According to the US Energy In-
formation Agency, the US imported about 9 million barrels of crude oil per day
in 2010 [22]. (http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/
company_level_imports/current/import.html) at an average price of about
$78/barrel [23]. (http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&
s=WTOTWORLD&f=W). The trade group NACS estimates that the US consumes about 9 million
barrels/day of gasoline and diesel fuel for highway use [24]. (A little more than half of a barrel
of crude oil is processed into gasoline.) (http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Resources/
campaigns/GasPrices_2011/Documents/GasPriceKit2011.pdf) Can you confirm
and/or update this information?

2. Analyze. If the war costs were paid for by a gasoline tax instead of income tax, how much
more would we pay per gallon of gas for “securing” oil in the Middle East? If our total Defense
and Homeland Security budget were paid for with a gasoline tax, how much more would be
pay per gallon? One might rightly observe that not all of the Homeland Security and Defense
28 1. WHAT AND WHY?
budget is related to middle east conflict. Using resource [21] and other sources, estimate what
percentage is related, and calculate the cost per gallon of gas.

3. Reflect. The monetary costs of war do not begin to account for the total costs. What are the
costs of war beyond dollars and cents? How else have American taxpayers paid for this access to
oil in the region? What have been the non-monetary costs of US Homeland Security efforts?

4. Change. If each of the 200 million cars and light trucks in the US were traded in for replacement
vehicles that saved 10 mpg, by what fraction would this reduce US oil imports? Each vehicle
drives 12000 miles per year, on average. What other proposals can you make that would reduce
US dependence on oil and military involvement to secure these resources in other parts of the
world?

The brief exploration of energy needs and energy policy in this chapter may feel unsettled or
unsettling. How do we decide what we believe the relationships are between national security and
energy? How do we know how much energy would meet basic human needs, or how best to achieve
that? Many engineers retreat from these kinds of uncertainties into seemingly politically neutral
equations and facts. Some feel that technology is a refuge where at least you can calculate things and
know them for certain. Some even think that once you understand the technology, it will point you
toward a correct policy solution.
However, these approaches leave out – or worse, dismiss as unimportant – political and social
realities that influence and are influenced by technology in countless ways. We will see throughout
this book as we explore the history of thermodynamics and its contemporary applications that what
we believe about energy, and what we believe is important to know or ask about energy, is influenced
by social factors in much the same way as larger global questions about energy.
The following module explores the question of what is important for engineers to know about
energy and how answers to this question are themselves shaped by forces of power in the profession
and in society.

1.5 MODULE 1.5. GETTING EDUCATION RIGHT FOR A

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE
Twentieth century social theorist Michel Foucault wrote about how, even in science, there is a dual
relationship between power and knowledge.

h i
context lifelong
learning

What becomes considered to be valid knowledge is laden with the decidedly political process of who
gets to decide what is true or untrue. In turn, knowledge is used in the interest of power and powerful
institutions. This is to be distinguished from the conventional Baconian belief that “knowledge is
1.5. MODULE 1.5. GETTING EDUCATION RIGHT FOR A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE 29
power,” i.e., that coming into knowledge makes one powerful. Instead, Foucault posits that yes,
knowledge is power, but power is also knowledge. He explains the ways in which institutions –

Figure 1.8: Michel Foucault. http://www.msa.ac.uk/mac/Assets/Embedded%20Websites/

Panopticon/Images/Michel_Foucault_Par23100007_130145833_std.jpg.

science, universities, government – play a role in validating knowledge. The following exploration is
intended to stimulate your critical thinking about your own learning, course and curriculum content,
and engineering in society. It lays the groundwork for connections made later to thermodynamic
theory, especially the Second Law.

1.5.1 EXPLORATION 1: POWER/KNOWLEDGE

1. Engage. First, read this excerpt from Foucault on Truth and Power in sci-
ence [25]: http://www.scribd.com/doc/10262971/Foucault-Truth-and-Power-
in-Power-Knowledge (pp. 131–133). It’s important to acknowledge for those of you who
have not encountered Foucault before that his work may seem abstract at first, but is in fact
highly relevant when grounded in context. His writing is not linear or direct, and this is some-
what intentional. Derrida, Foucault’s contemporary, wrote about how language can impose
constraints upon what we are able to say, reflecting and perpetuating a certain kind of power
relations. Foucault consciously sought to challenge the power embedded in language. A wise
colleague in film studies once told me that reading Foucault is a bit like surfing – you ride the
wave for a while when you are in tune with his thoughts, but you do not have the same mind,
so you necessarily slip off the board – and that is the point. But it was a great ride, and you
can always get back on the board and go again [26].
30 1. WHAT AND WHY?

engage change
Read Foucault’s How can you
excerpt from “Truth determine what you
and Power” believe, given the
institutional power
structures that
influence what is
presented as truth?

analyze reflect
What is Foucault’s How have you seen
regime of truth? How power/knowledge
does science wield dynamics operating
power in the in the world?
construction of
knowledge?

2. Analyze. Answer the following four questions:

a. What does Foucault mean by “a regime of truth” and how does this fit with his definition
of truth on p. 133?
b. Foucault is often characterized assaying that truth is relative, but he is saying rather that
truth is political. How are these two concepts different?
c. Foucault focuses on science as an important institution appointed as the arbiter of truth in
present day society. How does the institution of science wield power in the construction
of truth?
d. Foucault’s conception of power, which he writes on extensively elsewhere, is that power
is NOT one-way or top-down, but rather one of power relations in which power neces-
sarily produces resistance. How does this conception of power play out in the notion of
power/knowledge?

3. Reflect.Think of a concrete example from your experience that illustrates the dual relationship
between power and knowledge that Foucault discusses. Make sure the example shows not
just knowledge supporting power, but also ways in which power constructs knowledge. How
might power/knowledge manifest itself in a thermodynamics course, or in the engineering
curriculum? For example, who controls what you learn in thermodynamics, or what courses
you take in order to receive an engineering degree?

4. Change. How can you determine what you believe, given the institutional power structures
that influence what is presented as truth?
1.5. MODULE 1.5. GETTING EDUCATION RIGHT FOR A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE 31
Given these power relations in engineering where accreditation and academic processes resist
changes to the accepted body of knowledge in the field, this book explicitly seeks to challenge the
engineering canon as it relates to thermodynamics and energy. It also seeks to encourage students
to engage your power of resistance by taking responsibility for your own learning in a system that
usually seems to remove a lot of student choice in order to adhere to a standard set knowledge. In the
next exploration, you will identify what you think engineering students need to learn to be able to
work on energy issues, and compare that curriculum to your current education. It may be tempting
to resist the new ideas here and reinscribe traditional ideas about what belongs in a thermodynamics
class; try to keep an open mind as you deliberate on these questions.

1.5.2 EXPLORATION 2: WHAT DO CURRENT ENGINEERING STUDENTS

NEED TO LEARN TO BE ABLE TO WORK ON ENERGY ISSUES?
1. Engage. Make a list of what you think engineering students need to learn as undergraduates
in order to prepare to work on energy problems. Think about what kinds of technical skills,
professional skills, values or ethics, and ways of thinking will be essential in this work.

2. Analyze. Compare your list with what’s emphasized in your textbook, your course syllabus, your
engineering curriculum overall, and ABET’s accreditation criteria (see Introduction, Figure 1).
Refine your list if you come across items you’d like to add or take away.

engage change
Make a list of what What else do you
you think engineering need to learn, and
students need to where will you find it?
learn today to work Develop a strategy to
on tomorrow’s learn what you need
energy issues. to work on today’s
energy problems.

analyze reflect
How does this list How does the
match or not match content of your
with ABET criteria, thermo text
your textbook’s (curriculum, ABET
contents, and your criteria) reinforce
engineering certain energy
curriculum? choices?

3. Reflect. How does the content of your thermodynamics textbook (or course syllabus, or ac-
creditation criteria, etc.) reinforce certain energy choices? What material is not found in
thermodynamics? Is it found in other engineering courses, or courses outside of engineering
but required for the major, or is it not part of your curriculum at all?
32 REFERENCES
4. Change. What else do you need to learn, and where will you find it? Develop a strategy to
learn what you need to know to work effectively on energy problems today and in the future.
What can you learn on your own, and where do you need to seek assistance and guidance from
a mentor?

REFERENCES
[1] Darder, A., Maltodano, M. P., and Torres, R.D. (2008). Critical Pedagogy Reader, 3rd ed. New
York: Routledge. Cited on page(s) 13

[2] Marx, K. [1845] (1976) Theses on Feuerbach. In K. Marx and F. Engels (Eds.), Collected Works
of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1845–47, Vol. 5: Theses on Feuerbach, The German Ideology
and Related Manuscripts. New York: International Publishers, p. 8. Cited on page(s) 13

[3] Hooks, B. (1994) Teaching to Transgress. New York: Routledge, p. 37. Cited on page(s) 13, 14

[4] Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. New York:
Seabury Press. Cited on page(s) 13

[5] Luke, C. and Gore, J. (1992). Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy. New York: Routledge. Cited
on page(s) 14

[6] Boal, A. (1985). Theatre of the Oppressed. Translated by Charles A. and Maria-Odilia Leal
McBride. New York: Theatre Communications Group. Cited on page(s) 14

[7] Boal, A. (1992). Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Translated by Adrian Jackson. New York:
Routledge. Cited on page(s) 14

[8] National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Accessed June 10, 2011 from http://www.nap.
edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853. Cited on page(s)

[9] Cowhey, M. (2006). Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in
the Primary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. Cited on page(s)

[10] See, e.g., Shepherd, W. and Shepherd, D.W. (2003). Energy Studies, 2nd ed. London: Imperial
College Press. Cited on page(s) 20

[11] Reddy, A.K.N. (2000).Energy and Social Issues. In World Energy Assessment: Energy and the
Challenge of Sustainability. New York: United Nations Development Program. Accessed June
10, 2011 from http://manowar.ma.ohost.de/UNWEa/chapter2.pdf. Cited on page(s)
20, 21
 REFERENCES 33
[12] International Energy Agency (2009). Key World Energy Statistics. Paris: IEA. Accessed June
10, 2011 from http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2009/key_stats_2009.
pdf. Cited on page(s) 20, 23

[13] World Resources Institute (2011). EarthTrends Energy and Resources Database. Washington,
DC: WRI. Accessed June 10, 2011 from http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_
db/index.php?theme=6. Cited on page(s) 20, 23

[14] British Petroleum (2011).Statistical Review of World Energy. London: British Petroleum.
Accessed June 10, 2011 from http://www.bp.com/statisticalreview. Cited on page(s)
20

[15] Lave, L. (2009). The Potential of Energy Efficiency: An Overview. The Bridge, 39(2): 5–
14. Accessed June 10, 2011 from http://www.nae.edu/File.aspx?id=14867. Cited on
page(s) 21

[16] Kabeer, N. (2003).Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development
Goals: Promoting Women’s Capabilities and Participation. Gender & Development Discussion
Paper Series No. 13, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Accessed September 17, 2011 from http://www.unescap.org/esid/gad/Publication/
DiscussionPapers/13/Paper13.pdf. Cited on page(s) 22

[17] Klinenberg, E. (2005). When Chicago Baked: Unheeded lessons from another great urban
catastrophe. Slate, September 2, 2005. Accessed September 17, 2011 from http://www.
slate.com/id/2125572/. Cited on page(s) 22

[18] Goldemberg, J., Johansson, T.B., Reddy, A.K.N., and Williams, R.H. (1985). Basic Needs and
Much More with One Kilowatt per Capita. Ambio, 14(4/5): 190–200. Accessed June 10, 2011
from http://www.jstor.org/pss/4313148. Cited on page(s) 23

[19] Livingstone, K. Copenhagen talks show south-north divide is alive, well, and ever-more
polluting. Progressive London, Dec. 16, 2009. Accessed June 6, 2011 from http://
www.progressivelondon.org.uk/blog/copenhagen-talks-show-north-south-
divide-is-alive-well-and-ever-more-polluting.html. Cited on page(s) 25

[20] Adapted from an assignment Frank von Hippel gave to Princeton University students in his
course on Science, Technology, and Policy in the 1990s. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801938 Cited
on page(s) vii, 26

[21] National Priorities Project. (2011). US Security Spending since 9/11. May 26, 2011. Ac-
cessed June 7, 2011 from http://nationalpriorities.org/en/publications/2011/
us-security-spending-since-911/. Cited on page(s) 27, 28
34 REFERENCES
[22] US Energy Information Administration (2011). Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports.
March 2011 Import Highlights. Accessed June 10, 2011 from http://www.eia.gov/
pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/
import.html. DOI: 10.1001/jama.292.10.1232 Cited on page(s) 27

[23] US Energy Information Administration (2011). Petroleum and Other Liquids. Accessed June
10, 2011 from http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=
WTOTWORLD&f=W. Cited on page(s) 27

[24] NACS (2011). Fueling America: Key Facts and Figures. Accessed June 10, 2011
from http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Resources/campaigns/GasPrices_2011/
Documents/GasPriceKit2011.pdf Cited on page(s) 27

[25] Foucault, M. (1980) Truth and Power. In: C. Gordon (Ed.) Power/Knowledge: Selected Inter-
viewsand Other Writings 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon, 131–133. Cited on page(s) 29

[26] Keller, A. (2005) Comments at Liberative Pedagogies workshop, used with permission. Cited
on page(s) 29
 35

CHAPTER 2

The First Law: Making Theory

Relevant
The First Law of Thermodynamics, the idea that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but is
converted from one form to another, is familiar to many of us from our experience of the world.
While the formal study of energy can quickly become abstract, the modules in this chapter are
designed to keep our explorations rooted in topics that resonate with our lives.
The first module explores the First Law in its historical context. This can make the material
more accessible because its presentation follows the arc of scientific discovery. The histories raise
many questions about the practice of science: Who gets to do science? Why are the Western European
discoveries the ones that became enshrined in our textbooks? What are some alternatives? What
does it mean for us doing science today that individuals who “had the science wrong” in that they
subscribed to now-debunked ideas like the caloric theory or the animal theory of heat nevertheless
made bold contributions to science?
In the following three modules we consider applications driven by particular needs to provide
real-world context for exploring the First Law in an open-ended way. Notably, each of these questions
or needs is occurring (more or less) outside of a for-profit context and outside of military applications,
which are the more common focuses in engineering. These modules raise the question of what is
considered to be within our outside the bounds of the engineering discipline, and why.
A fifth and final application allows you to choose your own setting for application of the First
Law, perhaps something that is interesting and relevant to your life, or something you are curious
about.
Module 2.1: The First Law in Historical Context.
Module 2.2.: Technology Selection for Energy Independence.
Module 2.3: Evaporative Cooling.
Module 2.4: Hunger, Poverty, and Obesity.
Module 2.5: Thermo to Life.

2.1 MODULE 2.1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY

g h i
communi- context lifelong
cation learning
36 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT
While your engineering thermodynamics textbook may present thermodynamic theories as abstract
principles and laws of nature, the particular ways in which these laws were discovered and articulated
in history are rich and fascinating stories that can deepen our understanding and appreciation for
thermodynamics. Different expressions of the laws of thermodynamics are grounded in particular
historical times and places. Specifically, thermodynamics texts tend to rely on discoveries in Germany,
England, and France in the 18th and 19th centuries. These stories (and the fact that these are the
stories) tell us much about the process of science and the development of scientific knowledge, but
the histories of thermodynamics from other times and places also deserve our attention. Therefore,
the first exploration below considers the development of the First Law in Europe, while the second
poses an opportunity to uncover other histories of thermodynamic discovery in other times and
places.

2.1.1 EXPLORATION 1: FIRST LAW IN WESTERN EUROPE

engage change
Uncover histories of Where do we identify
the development of social privilege in the
the First Law in practice of science
Western Europe. today, and how can
we work for change?

analyze reflect
Write a biography What does this
that places the analysis tell us about
contributions of those the political process
who developed the of the production of
First and Second scientific knowledge?
Laws in the context of
their lives and times.

Figure 2.1: Sadi Carnot. Retrieved June 3, 2011 from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/8/80/Sadi_Carnot.jpeg, Public domain.

1. Engage. Locate histories of the development of the First Law of thermodynamics in Western
Europe. A good source is Hans Christian Von Baeyer’s book, Warmth Disperses and Time Passes:
A history of heat. [1] He states that there were 12 different individuals who contributed to the
discovery of the First Law, and discusses in detail the lives and work of Julius Mayer, Count
Rumford, and James Joule, among others.
 2.1. MODULE 2.1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY 37
2. Analyze. Choose one or more individuals to profile. Read their publications if available.
For example, you can find Joule’s “On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat”[2] at http://
www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Joule-Heat-1845.html and Rumford’s “Heat is
a Form of Motion”[3] at http://www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Rumford-1798.
html. Learn what you can about their lives. Write a short biography that provides context for
their discoveries and explains their contributions. What enabled them to do the work they
did? What did they know? What gaps in knowledge were they able to close, and what gaps
remained?

3. Reflect. What does it mean that the laws of thermodynamics are not attributable to a single
person, as Newton’s or Maxwell’s laws are? What was accepted as “truth” by the scientific
establishment, and why were so many of the ideas surrounding the First and Second Laws
initially rejected? What does it mean to be able to hold some ideas that have since been proven
wrong, but still make a valid contribution to science? How did social privilege (gender, class,
race) influence who was able to do science, and/or whose contributions are recognized today?
What did people need to do science then? What is needed now?

4. Change. What do you take away from this for your own life doing science? How does social
privilege persist in what you need today to engage in science? What can you do to address this
problem?

2.1.2 EXPLORATION 2: DE-CENTERING WESTERN THERMO

1. Engage. Locate histories of the First Law (or thermodynamics more generally) outside of
Western Europe. Think broadly as you select keywords for your search; histories of technology
may be especially fruitful [4]–[8]. How did technologies make use of energy conservation and
conversion, and how were these principles understood and discussed?

2. Analyze. Write a narrative about one or more contributions and explain the context of its
development. Who are the main actors? What enabled them to do the work they did? What
did they know? What gaps in knowledge were they able to close, and what gaps remained?

3. Reflect. How did you identify non-Western contributions to thermo? What does this tell us
about what counts (and what ought to count) as science, or as scientific theory?

4. Change. How can non-Western contributions be made more visible in thermodynamics?

Where else can you identify similar biases in your education, or your life? What can you do
about them?

While the histories of thermodynamic discovery are indeed dynamic and revealing, contem-
porary conversations may also capture readers’ imaginations. The next module therefore takes up
contemporary conversations around energy independence in order to explore further the usefulness
and relevance of the First Law.
38 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT

engage change
Uncover non-Western How can non-
conceptions Western contributions
of/contributions to be made more visible
thermodynamics. in thermo? In other
areas of your
education or your
life?

analyze reflect
Write a narrative How did you identify
about one non-Western thermo?
contribution that What does this tell us
explains its context about what counts
and development. (and what should
count) as science or
scientific theory?

Figure 2.2: Maria the Jewess, considered to be the first alchemist and inventor of the still, lived in
Alexandria in the first or second century CE. From Michael Maier, Symbola aurea mensae duodecim
nationum, 1617. Accessed June 3, 2011 from http://www.alchemywebsite.com/images/amcl111.
jpg.

2.2 MODULE 2.2. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Contemporary conversations in the United States around energy independence have strong political
resonance.

h j
context contemporary
issues

This module critically examines claims made in the public arena about the goal of energy inde-
pendence, and then entertains a reinterpretation of the concept of energy independence in local
communities.

2.2.1 EXPLORATION 1: “FOREIGN” OIL INDEPENDENCE

1. Engage. US leaders have made much of the concept of energy independence on a national
level. This phrase typically is used to mean independence from foreign oil sources. Watch a
segment of the Rachel Maddow Show [9] (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#
37769319) that argues that “energy independence” as conventionally conceived in US politics
is a myth.
 2.2. MODULE 2.2. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE 39
2. Analyze. Why does Maddow argue that energy independence is a myth? Would it be possible
to achieve independence from foreign oil? If so, how? Try to think of multiple ways to achieve
this goal.

3. Reflect. How dependent are you on oil? How would your life change if that oil were entirely
produced in your country? Think both in terms of the practical aspects of your life and your
experience of national or international politics.

4. Change. Maddow’s vision is for the US to become oil independent altogether. How can
engineers help make this happen? What would need to change structurally to make this a
possibility?

engage change
Watch Rachel Maddow’s vision is for
Maddow’s analysis of the US to become oil
Energy independent
Independence in US altogether. How can
politics. engineers help make
this happen?

analyze reflect
Would it be possible How dependent are
to achieve you on oil? How
independence from would your life
foreign oil? If so, change if that oil
how? Try to think of were entirely
multiple ways to domestically
achieve this goal. produced?

2.2.2 EXPLORATION 2: ENERGY INDEPENDENCE RECONCEIVED

A different kind of energy independence is occurring in local cities in the US and elsewhere: in-
dependent, public ownership of utilities. With this model, local communities can create low-cost,
sustainable energy alternatives. For example, in the state of Massachusetts, there are 41 cities that
own their own municipal utilities (these mostly date back to the early 20th century). A recent state
report found that these utilities offered significantly cheaper rates than industrially owned facilities,
from 14% cheaper in 2004 to 30% cheaper in 2006. At the same time, municipal utilities were as
reliable or more reliable than their industrial counterparts, with more local control to respond rapidly
to outages [10]. Many towns support changes in state law that would lift barriers to municipalization,
so that new municipally owned facilities can be added [11].

1. Engage. Select a site near you that could be electrified using a new local energy resource.
40 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT

engage change
Pick a site near you What is needed
that could be beyond these
sourced by a new constructs of “first
local energy law” and “efficiency”
resource. to help us select an
appropriate energy
technology?

analyze reflect
Use first law analysis How do the forms of
to compare solar, the energy equation
geothermal, wind, change, and what
hydro, and local does efficiency
biomass as potential mean for each? Can
sources. Calculate you use this analysis
efficiencies for each. to select one best?

Figure 2.3: Holyoke Dam, a municipally owned power generation facility in Holyoke, MA. Photo from
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain. Accessed June 3, 2011 from http://www.fws.gov/
r5crc/images/Fish/holyokedam.jpg.

2. Analyze. Use a First Law analysis (energy balance) to compare solar, geothermal, wind, hydro,
and local biomass options for your plant. Calculate efficiencies for each.

3. Reflect. How do the forms of the energy equation change for each technology, and what does
efficiency mean in each case? Can you use this analysis to select a single best technology?

4. Change. What is needed beyond the constructs of efficiency and energy balances to determine
the best energy technology for municipal application? Where in your education can you learn
these other pieces? What will you do to learn them?

If municipalization represents a form of energy independence in the United States, what

might energy independence look like in the global South? To explore one angle of this, consider
that in development contexts, the notion of technology transfer can be controversial when wealthy
nations in the North simply export their technologies to settings in the South without consideration
for geographic or cultural differences, and often with economic strings attached. This traditional
model of technology transfer can create dependence in a variety of forms, from reliance on imported
parts and materials to foreign technical knowledge required to maintain continued operation. In the
next module we consider examples of technologies emerging from the global South, utilizing the
principle of evaporative cooling for refrigeration and space conditioning.
 2.3. MODULE 2.3. EVAPORATIVE COOLERS 41
2.3 MODULE 2.3. EVAPORATIVE COOLERS
Evaporative cooling makes use of the First Law of thermodynamics.The process of water evaporation
requires heat as water changes phase from liquid to gas.

c e h i
design problems context lifelong
learning

Several technologies make use of this principle by drawing heat from an area one is trying to cool
– a warm room, for example, or vegetables one is trying to preserve – cooling the area of interest
while evaporating water from the system. This module explores applications of this principle in
technologies originating in countries in the global South.

engage change
Read about one of How could these
several evaporative technologies be used
cooler designs in your life to replace
presented. How do reliance on
they work? refrigeration or air
conditioning?

analyze reflect
Use first law analysis What did you learn
to estimate the about these
cooling process for a technologies? About
typical scenario. How the process of
much water is used? estimation and open-
How much cooling is ended problem
produced? solving?

Figure 2.4: Zeer pot. Accessed June 3, 2011 from http://practicalaction.org/images/zeer6-

fresh.jpg.

1. Engage. Consider one of the many designs of evaporative cooling used in locales where
electricity or electric refrigerators are unavailable. Although numerous clay pot designs have
utilized evaporative cooling for centuries in many locations around the world, Nigerian Mo-
hammad Bah Abba patented his design of a pot-in-pot refrigerator, generating international
interest [12, 13]. There are also a number of designs for evaporative room coolers; for example,
Myra Wong offers two versions [14] and Eric Rusten several more [15].
2. Analyze. Use a First Law analysis to estimate the cooling process for a typical scenario. For
the pot-in-pot case, assume typical outdoor temperatures on location, a typical pot size, and
42 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT
estimate how much water would be used to cool what mass of vegetables. For the room
coolers, assume typical room sizes, and outdoor temperatures/humidity on location, and the
specifications described to determine how much water would cool how much room air. Your
thermodynamics textbook will have data that can help you with these calculations. Can you
make this connection?

3. Reflect. What did you learn about these technologies? About the process of estimation and
open-ended problem-solving? About the First Law and how to apply it in engineering design?

4. Change. What improvements if any would you suggest for the design you reviewed? How
could these kinds of technologies be used in your own life context? Under what conditions if
any could they, for example, replace refrigeration or air conditioning?
We’ve seen how the First Law can be used in engineering design applications. The next
module illustrates its usefulness in a very different applied context: hunger and nutrition.

2.4 MODULE 2.4. HUNGER, POVERTY, AND OBESITY

Betty Ann, of Nacogdoches, TX, posted the following comment to an online CNN article on food
stamps:

a f i j
SEM ethics lifelong contemporary
knowledge learning issues

Granted, $3.00 a day is not very much for food and of course those who are hungry should receive
more, however; in a country where over-weight and obese thrive, lets make sure these people are
really needing the food… I can not tell you how many times I have been in line at the grocery behind
an obese person who used food stamps to pay. Should people have to “weigh in” to receive the food
assistance?.... There needs to be more control over the food stamps. The ones who are truly starving
should be the recipients [16].
Betty Ann has hit upon a common misperception about hunger in the United States. Being
hungry means not being able to supply sufficient food for one’s self and family. Sufficient food is not
defined in terms of a person’s size, and being a certain weight does not give us any information about
that person’s access to adequate nutrition. In the United States, where processed foods abound, even
in so-called “food deserts” where fresh produce is scarce, often the cheapest foods that are readily
available are also the most Calorie-dense. This creates a situation where getting a large number of
Calories (note that Calories in nutrional contexts is spelled with a capital C and denotes kilocalories
in thermodynamic terms, so 1 Calorie = 1000 calories) does not necessarily result in sufficient mass
or volume of food to fill one’s belly, or in sufficient nutrition to support good health. Can we use
the First Law of thermodynamics to link hunger, poverty and obesity in order to challenge popular
misconceptions about what hunger looks like?
 2.4. MODULE 2.4. HUNGER, POVERTY, AND OBESITY 43
What is Obesity? Is it a problem? Public health studies tell us that obesity rates in the United
States have been rising. In 1995, less than 20 percent of the population in each of the 50 states was
obese. By 2005, only four states had populations in which less than 20 percent were obese, and three
states had more than 30% obese people (Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia) [17]. It is not
a coincidence that in 2005 those states ranking 1st , 2nd , and 3rd in obesity ranked 50th , 49th , and
47th in personal income per capita [18]. The highest rates of obesity in the United States are found
among those with the lowest incomes [19]. At first this may seem counterintuitive; worldwide, as
countries develop economically, the population gains weight [20]. Why is it that in the United States,
the highest rates of obesity are in low income groups? This is an important question, but it cannot
be answered simply, as the relationship between the two is complex, and correlations do not imply
causation.
The link between obesity and health is also complicated and subject to a lot of misinterpreta-
tion. The Centers for Disease Control defines obesity as “having a very high amount of body fat in
relation to lean body mass,” or a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. The BMI is a measure of
weight that accounts for different heights of individuals; to calculate the BMI, an adult’s weight (kg)
is divided by the square of his/her height. A BMI ranging from 18.5-25 is considered healthy, while
a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese [21]. Though a lot of evidence finds a correlation between
high BMI and negative health outcomes including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, other public
health researchers point out that direct measures of physical fitness are better predictors of health
outcomes, and that physically fit obese people have better health outcomes than inactive people who
are not overweight [22]. Feminists and others are quick to point out the dangers of a size-focused
anti-obesity movement that heaps more stigma on a group already targeted for bullying and ridicule.
[23] We have already seen in Betty Ann’s comment the way that fat stigma and classism combine
in a vicious size-based judgment of a person’s worthiness to receive food stamps.
So how do we make sense of the links among health, poverty, and obesity? Slate’s Daniel
Engber [24] explores this question, concluding that health, poverty and obesity “are spun together
in a dense web of reciprocal causality.” That is, being obese can make one poor as sure as being
poor can make one obese, and both increase the likelihood of getting sick, and so on. Engber notes,
importantly, that being poor is a stronger predictor of negative health outcomes than being obese.
What is Hunger? In 2006, the US government stopped using the word “hunger” to describe
the condition of not knowing where one’s next meal is coming from [25]. The current term is food
insecurity. In 2005, the USDA reported that 12.6 million households (about 35 million people, or
12% of Americans) were food insecure, meaning that at some point during the year they were unable
to afford sufficient food for their family [26]. While the average US household spends about $40
per person per week on food, a typical food insecure household spends about $30 [25].
Adam Drewnowski and associates study the energy density and energy cost of food [19, 26].
Energy density is defined as the ratio of energy provided by food (kcal) to its mass (g). Energy
cost of food is the ratio of the amount paid ($) to the energy provided (kcal). Drewnowski and
Darmon [26] considered the relationship between energy density and energy cost, and found that
44 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT
the cost per Calorie of “healthy” foods such as fresh produce was several thousand percent higher than
“unhealthy” foods such as fats and sweets. Furthermore, they showed using linear programming
models that when food expenditures are restricted, diets become more energy dense, with fewer
vegetables and more fats.
Results from a USDA study corroborate this finding. When asked what foods they would
buy if they had more money, low-income respondents indicated they would buy more meats, eggs,
cereals, and bakery products. People only increased the amount spent on fruits, vegetables, and dairy
products when the income level rose above 30 percent over the poverty level [27].
Anecdotal experiences of hungry Americans also support this idea. Consider the following
account from the wife of a Marine:

My husband knew he was going to be in the field for three weeks. He also knew that I would be here
by myself with very little money and no dishes or pots and pans. So he went down to McDonald’s on
Sunday when hamburgers were thirty-nine cents and bought twenty-one of them. I’ve been eating
one hamburger every day for the last twenty days [28].

engage change
Explore a local How would you
grocery store. Gather critique thermo
data on cost and textbooks’ discussion
energy content of of “biological
foods. systems,” based on
what you have
learned in this
exercise?

analyze Reflect
Plan a day’s menu Compare Pollan and
for yourself using Drewnowski’s takes
three alternative on causes of (and
budgets, while still ways to address)
meeting basic hunger. What do you
nutritional guidelines. think should be
done? Why?

Figure 2.5: Smith Engineering students in the Fall 2010 Thermodynamics class created a graph similar
to Drewnowski’s [16] based on data they collected from three food outlets in Springfield, MA. The graph
relates the energy density of selected foods (MJ/kg) with energy costs ($/MJ). As with Drewnowski’s
findings, the energy cost difference between processed foods high in sugar and fat compared with fresh
vegetables is striking (note the log scale).

1. Engage. Explore a local grocery store.

 2.4. MODULE 2.4. HUNGER, POVERTY, AND OBESITY 45
a. Search for the cheapest item in each of the pyramid groups (grains, fruits, vegetables,
milk/cheese/yogurt, meats/beans) you can find and write down each one’s nutritional
data from the USRDA label and cost. What is the energy cost ($/100kcal)? What is the
energy density (kcal/kg)?
b. Now find the most nutritious item you can find in each category in the store and write
down their nutritional values and costs. What are their energy costs ($/100kcal) and
energy densities (kcal/kg)? (Nutritious is a highly subjective term; use http://www.
mypyramid.gov for some guidelines).
c. Tip: make sure you write down information that can help you estimate the mass of food
per serving. Don’t just copy what’s on the label, but think about what the real mass or
volume of a serving will be, and whether the recommended serving on the label is realistic.
2. Analyze. Plan a day’s menu for yourself using each of three alternative budgets:
a. $5 (maximum individual daily allotment for a food stamp recipient).
b. $10 (low budget/student).
c. Maximize nutrition regardless of cost.
For each menu you must meet the national nutrition guidelines for a 21 year old female exercising
less than 30 minutes per day, or 2000 Calories (kcal) [29] which including the following:
6 oz. grains, half of which are whole grains
2.5 c. vegetables, varied among dark green, orange, pea/bean, starchy, and others
2 c. fruits or fruit juices
3 c. milk, yogurt, cheese, or other calcium-rich food
5.5 oz. meat and beans
Visit USDA’s website http://www.mypyramid.gov for more information.
One question that will arise is whether one can buy bulk items, or any items with multiple
servings. Can one assume that certain staples have already been purchased? You will need to make
a reasonable judgment here. It is neither realistic to assume all costs are borne up front for a single
serving, nor is it realistic to assume that costs can be infinitely prorated – people on a tight budget
don’t have the luxury of affording the “family size” item of everything in order to save money in the
long run.
3. Reflect. Read Michael Pollan’s New York Times article on the Farm Bill (http://www.
michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=88) [30]. Why, in his view, are carrots more ex-
pensive than twinkies? Now consider Drewnowski and Darmon’s [27] supposition “that the
rising obesity rates reflect an increasingly unequal distribution of incomes and wealth.” How
might each analysis lead to different approaches to addressing hunger, poverty and/or obesity?
What do you think should be done? Why? Provide at least two substantively different ethical
arguments for your position. What specific action will you take as a result?
46 2. THE FIRST LAW: MAKING THEORY RELEVANT
4. Change. Many thermodynamics textbooks engage students with a discussion of “thermody-
namic aspects of biological systems” and a series of related homework problems [31]. How
would you critique this part of the textbook, based on what you have learned in this exercise?
Can you think of a way to move the conversation forward about health effects of hunger,
poverty and nutrition in the US without adding to social stigma around size or weight?

Having explored the First Law in the contexts of developing strategies for national and local
energy independence, designing evaporative cooling technologies, and understanding links among
hunger, poverty, and obesity in the US, we now turn to a “free choice” module where you can explore
the First Law in any application that strikes your interest and curiosity.

2.5 MODULE 2.5. THERMO TO LIFE

a e h i
SEM problems context lifelong
knowledge learning

engage change
Explore and describe What might we
the thermodynamic change to improve
aspects of an the system, or our
everyday life interest; understanding?
pose a question to
explore further.

analyze reflect
Define a system and What does this
conduct an energy analysis tell us about
balance or other the phenomenon
analysis employing described? What did
thermodynamic we learn? What new
principles that might questions emerged
address the question. as a result?

Figure 2.6: Inveneo’s Bicycle Powered Generator, 2005. Photo by Ho John Lee, used under the
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Accessed June 8, 2011 from http://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inveneo_bicycle_powered_generator.jpg.

This module employs the idea of praxis, in which theory and practice are interdependent
and inform one another, grounded in community and directed toward social change [32]. You will
explore a question that arises from a social need related to energy, conduct an engineering analysis
of that phenomenon, and take socially transformative action in response to what you have learned.
 2.5. MODULE 2.5. THERMO TO LIFE 47
The goal is to pick a topic that you find relevant and interesting, and explore how the theory and
analytical tools you are learning apply to your topic.

1. Engage. Choose a question that you have heard emerge from the community (you define com-
munity here – it could be the campus community, your home community, a local community,
or any other group that has posed a relevant question). Example questions might include the
following:

What would it take for my community to be compliant with the Kyoto Protocol, or other
proposed climate change policies? Is it feasible to be carbon neutral? What would that
entail?
What is the potential for using more human-powered machines in my community? What
would be involved in, say, developing a human-powered television?
How do igloos work, and what would it take to construct a working igloo in my com-
munity?
What is the energy and nutritional content of local elementary school lunches?
Some energy usage might be considered a basic human need, such as home heating in
cold climates. How much energy goes to basic human needs locally, and how could we
address the impact of rising energy costs, or the impact of policies such as a carbon tax,
on the poor?
What does it take to retrofit a car for biodiesel, or to refine biodiesel fuel in my community?
Conduct an energy audit on a local building to identify opportunities for energy and cost
savings.

You want to be sure your question will also meet the other requirements of the assignment (can it
be subjected to analysis, and ultimately result in transformative action?). Present a background
description and a qualitative write-up that explains the thermodynamics in layperson’s terms
and illustrates the potential transformative value of the work you will do.

2. Analyze. Perform some quantitative analysis on your selection – this will most likely be an
energy balance, but you could also perform other calculations that illustrate how it works
thermodynamically – for example, an engine cycle analysis, or chemical reaction equilibrium
analysis, depending on your chosen system. Some of the topics may not have been covered yet
in your course, but you should feel free to explore topics as they are relevant and learn what
you can about them, driven by your interest. Thoroughly explain the thermodynamics behind
how it works. Make reasonable assumptions where necessary. Be as realistic as possible, but
make simplifications if needed.

3. Reflect. Think (do not write or type, just think) for 15 minutes about what have you learned
from your engagement and analysis so far. What questions emerge for you? Write a short
48 REFERENCES
reflection on what you learned, and what you would like to explore further. Identify possible
avenues of change or further exploration.

4. Change. Take some action that changes the situation. If your topic is policy-relevant, it may
mean contacting your representatives and communicating with them about what you have
learned. If your topic is local, it may mean communicating with the local community through
pubic media or through private contacts. Perhaps you have an opportunity to suggest a design
improvement and show either through calculations or some course of experimental action how
your idea improves the artifact or situation. Be creative. Reflect on the potential or realized
impact of your action. What else might you do in the future?

REFERENCES
[1] Von Baeyer, H.C. (1999). Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: a history of heat. New York: Modern
Library. Cited on page(s) 36

[2] Joule, J.P. (1845). On the Existence of an Equivalent Relation between Heat and the ordi-
nary Forms of Mechanical Power. Philosophical Magazine. Series 3, Vol. xxvii, p. 205. Ac-
cessed June 12, 2011 from http://www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Joule-Heat-
1845.html. Cited on page(s) 37

[3] Thompson, B. (Count Rumford) (1798). Heat is a Form of Motion: An experiment in bor-
ing cannon. Philosophical Transactions (vol. 88). Accessed June 12, 2011 from http://www.
chemteam.info/Chem-History/Rumford-1798.html. Cited on page(s) 37

[4] Al-Hassan, A.Y. and Hill, D.R. (1986). Islamic Technology: an illustrated history. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Cited on page(s) 37

[5] James, P. and Thorpe, N. (1994). Ancient Inventions. New York: Ballantine Books. Cited on
page(s)

[6] Macdonald, A. (1992). Feminine Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America. New York: Bal-
lantine Books. Cited on page(s)

[7] Stanley, A. (1993). Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology.
New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Cited on page(s)

[8] Andah, B.W. (1992). Nigeria’s Indigenous Technology. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. Cited
on page(s) 37

[9] Maddow, R. (2010). Oil Independence is a Myth. In B. Wolff (Producer), The Rachel Maddow
Show, New York: MSNBC. June 17, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2011 from http://www.msnbc.
msn.com/id/26315908/#37769319. Cited on page(s) 38
 REFERENCES 49
[10] Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. (2010). Municipal Utility Study. Technical
Report. January 28, 2010. Accessed June 7, 2011 from http://www.mass.gov/Eoeea/docs/
doer/publications/doer-municipal-utility-rpt.pdf Cited on page(s) 39
[11] Massachusetts Alliance for Municipal Electric Choice. (2011). Website. Accessed June 7, 2011
from http://www.massmunichoice.org/. Cited on page(s) 39
[12] Practical Action (2011). How a Zeer Pot Fridge Makes Food Last Longer. Accessed June 7,
2011 from http://practicalaction.org/?id=zeerpots. Cited on page(s) 41
[13] Elkheir, M. (2004).The Zeer Pot: A Nigerian invention keeps food fresh without electricity. Sci-
ence in Africa, September 2004. Accessed June 7, 2011 from http://www.scienceinafrica.
co.za/2004/september/refrigeration.htm. Cited on page(s) 41
[14] Wong, M. (2003). An Evaporative Cooler. In Field Guide to Appropriate Technology, B. Hazel-
tine and C. Bull eds. New York: Elsevier Science. pp. 257–258. Accessed July 7, 2011 from
http://books.google.com/books?id=kEAOTpIYFBcC&pg=PA257&lpg=PA257&dq=
%22myra+wong%22+%22evaporative+cooler%22&source=bl&ots=Pe6C0Ic9jM&sig=
TBe12l8tYxtUZogMvv6Nn69ySb4&hl=en&ei=riYhTO_jNMH98AaE-c2ZAQ&sa=X&oi=
book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22myra
%20wong%22%20%22evaporative%20cooler%22&f=false. Cited on page(s) 41
[15] Rusten, E. (1985). Understanding Evaporative Cooling. VITA Technical Paper #35. Volunteers
in Technical Assistance. Accessed June 7, 2011 from http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/
vita/evapcool/en/evapcool.htm Cited on page(s) 41
[16] Anderson Cooper 360 Blog. Accessed June 15, 2007 from: http://www.cnn.com/
CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2007/04/oregon-governor-tries-
living-on-food.html. Cited on page(s) 42, 44
[17] Centers for Disease Control Obesity Trends. Accessed June 15, 2007: http://www.cdc.gov/
nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/ . Cited on page(s) 43
[18] US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Survey of Current Business. Web:
www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/spi/. Cited on page(s) 43
[19] Drewnowski, A. and Specter, S.E. (2004). Poverty and obesity: the role of energy density and
energy costs. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79:6–16. Cited on page(s) 43
[20] Kumanyika, S., Jeffery, R.W., Morabia, A., Ritenbaugh, C. and Antipatis, V.J. (2002). Obesity
prevention: the case for action, International Journal of Obesity, 26 (3):425–436. Cited on
page(s) 43
[21] Centers for Disease Control Obesity Trends. Accessed June 15, 2007: http://www.cdc.gov/
nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/ Cited on page(s) 43
50 REFERENCES
[22] Blair, S.N. and Church,T.S. (2004).The fitness, obesity, and health equation: is physical activity
the common denominator? JAMA 292 (10):1232–1234. Cited on page(s) 43

[23] Harding, K. and Kirby, M. (2009). Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere: Stop dieting and declare a truce
with your body. New York: Perigree Trade. Cited on page(s) 43

[24] Engber, D. (2009). Give me your poor, your tired, your big fat asses: Does poverty make people
obese, or is it the other way around? Slate, Sept. 28, 2009. Accessed June 7, 2011 from http://
www.slate.com/id/2229523/. Cited on page(s) 43

[25] Williamson, E. (2006). Some Americans Lack Food, but USDA Won’t Call Them Hun-
gry, Washington Post November 16, 2006. Accessed June 7, 2011 from http://www.
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501621.
html. Cited on page(s) 43

[26] Nord, M., Andrews, M., and Carlson, S. (2006). Food Security in the United States, 2005,
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-29) 68 pp, United States Department of Agriculture,
November 2006. Cited on page(s) 43

[27] Drewnowski, A. and Darmen, N. (2005). The economics of obesity: dietary energy density and
energy cost. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(suppl): 265S-273S. Cited on page(s) 44,
45

[28] Blisard, N. and Stewart, H. (2006). How Low-Income Households Allocate Their Food Budget
Relative to the Cost of the Thrifty Food Plan Economic Research Report No. (ERR-20),
United States Department of Agriculture, August 2006. Cited on page(s) 44

[29] USDA. MyPyramid Plan. Accessed August 23, 2007 from http://www.mypyramid.gov/
mypyramid/index.aspx. Cited on page(s) 45

[30] Pollan, M. (2007). You Are What You Grow. New York Times Magazine, April 22, 2007.
Accessed August 23, 2007 from http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=88.
Cited on page(s) 45

[31] Çengel and Boles. (2008). Thermodynamics: An engineering approach. 6th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, pp. 193–200, 210–211. (Other texts have similar sections or sidebars.) Cited
on page(s) 46

[32] Marx, K. [1845] (1976). Theses on Feuerbach. In K. Marx and F. Engels (Eds.), Collected Works
of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1845–1847, Vol. 5: Theses on Feuerbach, The German Ideology
and Related Manuscripts. New York: International Publishers, p. 8. Cited on page(s) 46
 51

CHAPTER 3

The Second Law and Property

Relations
This chapter explores the Second Law of thermodynamics and the related concept of entropy in
practical, historical, and philosophical terms, and grounds the fundamental property relations of
thermodynamics in relevant contexts.

Heat flows
The best you can do is break even. naturally from
hot to cold.

The Second Law and the related concept of entropy are often challenging for students to grasp
initially; students often see multiple statements of the Second Law that have been developed his-
torically as well as colloquial statements intended to assist student understanding, although it often
leads to confusion as students struggle to reconcile disparate statements and long for a single, concise,
and correct one.

No process is possible No process is possible in which the

whose sole result is sole result is the absorption of heat
the transfer of heat from a reservoir and its complete
from a body of lower conversion into work
temperature to a body
of higher temperature.

This chapter is designed to help you with these new ideas by demonstrating their relevance in
personal, professional, and philosophical terms. Using historical and social analysis to view the Sec-
ond Law from multiple perspectives, you will gain insight into the concepts and their development,
as well as into the scientific enterprise.

The entropy of an isolated system

(or the entropy of a system plus its
surroundings) always increases
(except for reversible processes
where it remains constant).
52 3. THE SECOND LAW AND PROPERTY RELATIONS
The first module explores how we define efficiencies and what efficiency has to do with the
Second Law.What do the limits of achievable efficiency mean in real terms for heat engines compared
with other energy technologies? The second module considers the history of pursuit of perpetual
motion in the United States and asks why so many are seduced by the idea even in contradiction
of reason. The third module provides historical background on the development of entropy as a
thermodynamic property and explores its philosophical implications. The fourth module tests the
accuracy and helpfulness of entropy analogies used to help students with the concept of entropy.
The fifth module demonstrates the relevance of the mathematical “guts” of thermo, the fundamental
property relations, by challenging you to apply them in a context of your choosing.

Module 3.1: The Limits of Efficiency – Heat Engines vs. Other Technologies.
Module 3.2: Perpetual Motion.
Module 3.3: Entropy: Origins and Implications.
Module 3.4: Entropy Analogies in Textbooks…
Module 3.5: Making Math Relevant: Thermodynamic Relations in Context.

3.1 MODULE 3.1. THE LIMITS OF EFFICIENCY: HEAT

ENGINES VS. OTHER ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
Efficiency is a central principle in thermodynamics; you may have been calculating the efficiencies
of different systems as part of your problem solving in your thermo course.

a h
SEM context
knowledge

You may also have noticed popular discussions of energy efficiency as part of energy conservation
strategies. What do each of these discussions of efficiency have to do with the Second Law? This
module guides your work to answer this question by comparing definitions of efficiency, as well as
comparing the limits of efficiency, for different types of systems.

1. Engage. What does efficiency mean? What is the difference between thermal efficiency and
mechanical efficiency? Which kinds of efficiency apply to which energy technologies? Seek
out some definitions of efficiency from textbooks and other sources. What is your definition?
Pay attention to qualifying terms such as thermal or mechanical efficiencies. What is being
measured, relative to what?

2. Analyze. Find or develop specific definitions of efficiency for solar, geothermal, wind, hydro,
and coal fired power plants. What is similar among them, and how do they differ? What is
the difference in consequence (economic, environmental, social) of low (or high) efficiencies
in each case? Can you conclude one technology is better than another based on efficiency
figures? Why or why not? What is the maximum possible efficiency of each type? When does
 3.2. MODULE 3.2. PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINES 53

engage change
Write some definitions What are some other
of efficiency as you ways of presenting
understand it and as essential
it is described in your performance
textbook or other information that help
sources. us think about
sustainable energy?

analyze reflect
Refine your definitions How is efficiency
for specific energy properly used in
systems. Characterize engineering design?
the impacts of low or In public
high efficiency in conversations about
each case. Can you energy?
compare systems?

Figure 3.1: Hoover Dam, Windmills in Lubbock, TX. What does efficiency mean? http://
www.windmill.com/images/Cluster_at_Sunset.jpg http://www.visitingdc.com/images/
hoover-dam-directions.jpg.

Carnot Efficiency come in to play, and when is it irrelevant? Does the Second Law still apply
to systems that are not heat engines? If so, how?

3. Reflect. Based on this exploration, how do you think efficiency is properly used in the context
of engineering design? How is it properly used in public conversations or political debates
about energy?

4. Change. What are some other ways of presenting information about an energy system’s per-
formance, particularly with regard to sustainability? Can any of these new methods help us
compare different kinds of technologies better?

Having explored achievable efficiencies, the limits of what’s possible, we now turn to the
seductive pursuit of the impossible: perpetual motion machines.

3.2 MODULE 3.2. PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINES

For centuries, people have pursued machines that produce infinite energy.

g h i
communi- context lifelong
cation learning
54 3. THE SECOND LAW AND PROPERTY RELATIONS
Why have such pursuits garnered so much attention, even well after science’s widespread acceptance
of the Second Law?

engage change
Learn about and How can science
retell an incident of help?
perpetual motion
machines in history.
Choose from
examples below or
find your own.

analyze reflect
How did the Why are perpetual
technology violate motion machines so
either the first or seductive? Why do
second law? Why people readily
were people fooled distrust science in this
for a time? and other areas?

Figure 3.2: An ironic t-shirt referencing the debate over teaching evolution in public schools urges us
to “teach the controversy” of perpetual motion. http://controversy.wearscience.com/img190/
perpetual.gif. Used with permission.

1. Engage. Learn about an incident in history where perpetual motion or “free energy” was
pursued. Retell the story in your own words. Choose from the following examples detailed by
Bob Park [1], in which the United States Congress gave time and attention to these ideas,
despite their lack of scientific merit:
The 1989 Cold Fusion experiments of Fleischmann and Pons.
The Newman Energy Machine.
The Giragossian Energy Machine.
2. Analyze. How did the technology violate either the First or Second Law of thermodynam-
ics? Why were people fooled for a time? How was the idea debunked? Both Newman and
Fleischmann/Pons continue to have defenders to this day. Why do you think that is?
3. Reflect. Why are perpetual motion machines so seductive? What would be the social and
economic consequences if we could operate perpetual motion machines? Think about other
present-day cases where science is distrusted or discounted – for example, in approaching
evolution or climate change. What social and economic consequences might be at stake,
driving a discounting or distrust of science?
 3.3. MODULE 3.3. ENTROPY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT 55
4. Change. The notion of critical thinking or skepticism is held up by both sides in these debates.
Supporters of Newman and others claim that the scientific establishment is closed to new ideas,
and evolution proponents argue for “teaching the controversy” – allowing religious accounts to
be taught alongside scientific accounts in biology classrooms.Why are such positions ultimately
uncritical?
Here we’ve applied some social analysis to understand why and how some well-proven scien-
tific concepts go unaccepted and not understood by people at large. In the next module we take up
the more challenging task of applying social analysis to the development and acceptance of concepts
by the scientific establishment itself, examining how entropy came to be, and its implications for
other fields of knowledge.

3.3 MODULE 3.3. ENTROPY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

Having encountered in the last module the persistence of challenges to the Second Law, it may be
particularly provocative to title this section “entropy as a social construct.”

g h i
communi- context lifelong
cation learning

Let me be clear that I do not doubt entropy any more than I doubt gravity, but both concepts take
on certain forms of expression that are shaped by the social and historical contexts in which they
were developed, and are subsequently interpreted in new times and places. In this module we first
consider the social forces influencing the historical development of the concept of entropy, then
explore the implications of entropy as interpreted in contexts far afield of heat engines.

3.3.1 EXPLORATION 1: ORIGINS OF ENTROPY

1. Engage. Read historical accounts of the conceptual development of entropy by Rudolf Clau-
sius; Von Baeyer’s is particularly readable [2]. Clausius’s key papers can be found at http://
www.humanthermodynamics.com/Clausius.html. Von Baeyer argues that the history of
entropy illustrates some central points about the “thematic content of science”[3] – that science
has certain preferences in expressing theoretical content for both universal theory and for par-
simony (mathematical simplicity that can be expressed on a t-shirt like Maxwell’s Equations or
Einstein’s E=mc2 ). These preferences and biases drove Rudolf Clausius’s attempts to express
the Second Law of thermodynamics in ways that were both elegant and parallel, as well as his
attempts to create entropy as a mathematical quantity to put into an equation, which ends up
an inequality that doesn’t “balance.
2. Analyze. Reviewing your textbook and other sources, gather as many expressions of entropy
and the Second Law as you can. Write a short essay reviewing how the thematic content of
science plays out in these forms of expression. What does it mean that there are so many ways
56 3. THE SECOND LAW AND PROPERTY RELATIONS

engage change
How did the concept What can you do to
of entropy come to understand entropy
be? How did the better? Choose one
preferences of thing and try it out.
scientific institutions
shape this process?

analyze reflect
How does the What have you
thematic content of struggled with most in
science play out in coming to
multiple expressions understand the
of the Second Law? second law or the
concept of entropy?

Figure 3.3: Parsimony: Reducing Entropy to a symbol on a button http://rlv.zcache.com/

entropy_button-p145655327883250137t5sj_400.jpg.

of expressing the same concept? What does it mean to acknowledge that entropy is socially
and historically constructed?

3. Reflect. Why do you think students find entropy difficult to grasp on a first encounter? How
do the difficulties relate to the thematic content of science and our expectations to learn
engineering concepts in certain forms? What have you struggled with most in coming to
understand the Second Law, or entropy?

4. Change. What can you do to understand entropy better? Choose one action you can take and
try it out.

While entropy may be challenging to grasp at first, it is rewarding in its profundity. Consider
for example, entropy’s ability to answer why it is that we experience time as moving ever forward,
never backward.

3.3.2 EXPLORATION 2: ENTROPY’S PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS

1. Engage. Read some descriptions of the arrow of time [6]. In the quotes above, both Einstein
and Vonnegut reference Minkowski’s concept of space-time, in which forward and backward
in time would be matters of convention… in theory. But the Second Law gives time a direction
– how? A good place to start is Von Baeyer’s summary [2] of the work of several physicists
 3.4. MODULE 3.4. EVALUATING ENTROPY ANALOGIES 57
engage change
How does one get What can you do to
from the expressions find or make deeper For those of us who believe in physics,
of the Second Law in meanings in your this separation between past, present, and
thermo to concepts work?
like the arrow of
future is only an illusion, albeit a stubborn
time? one.
-Albert Einstein[4]

analyze reflect
Explain how the How did the practical It is just an illusion we have here on Earth
Second Law shows considerations of that one moment follows another one, like
that time moves ever Carnot, Kelvin, beads on a string, and that once a moment
forward… or at least Planck, and others is gone, it is gone forever…. So it goes.
almost ever. lead to profound
philosophical
-Kurt Vonnegut [5]
insights?

Figure 3.4: Albert Einstein (top) and Kurt Vonnegut (bottom) http://www.glsc.org/einstein/
images/einstein_3.jpg http://adreampuppet.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/vonnegut.
jpg.

and mathematicians instrumental in developing a probabilistic and microscopic approach to

the Second Law, including Maxwell and Boltzmann.

2. Analyze. How did Maxwell and Boltzmann come to characterize the Second Law in terms of
probability, and at the molecular level? How did entropy come to be characterized as disorder?
How do the work of Ehrenfest, Ruelle, and Boltzmann come together to show that the proof
of the Second Law is not absolute but statistical in nature (albeit with an astronomically high
probability of holding true)? How do these findings give time a direction?

3. Reflect. How did we get from Carnot’s, Kelvin’s, and Planck’s very practical investigation of
steam engines to philosophical conclusions about the direction of time? What follows directly,
and what is indirect, unrelated, or even metaphorical?

4. Change. Engineers aren’t known for producing deep philosophical insights, and yet these
grand ideas can certainly be traced back to engineers. Can we cultivate an appreciation for the
insights, and the questions around these deeper meanings, in engineering? What can you do
to find or make deeper meanings in your work as an engineering student?

Entropy is indeed an abstract concept, with implications waxing philosophical. It is not sur-
prising then, that engineers in particular would seek to return the concept to concrete and practical
considerations. We will see in the next module how some instructors and authors of thermo textbooks
seek to make entropy more relevant through various analogies to common life experiences.
58 3. THE SECOND LAW AND PROPERTY RELATIONS
3.4 MODULE 3.4. EVALUATING ENTROPY ANALOGIES
1. Engage. Thermodynamics textbooks and other sources seeking to make thermodynamics
relevant to everyday life will often use analogies to illustrate entropy. Some of these analogies
are metaphorical, not literally true, while others have been developed as “entropy” in their
own right, applied in other fields. For example, Çengel and Boles [7] discuss four different
analogies: entropy in learning, in libraries, in rooms, and in armies. The concept of entropy
is used in military science [8] and in information theory, the Shannon entropy represents
missing information [9]. Neither of these is literally the same as thermodynamic entropy,
and is instead an analogous concept, though there are strong theoretical connections between
thermodynamic and information entropy that continue to be pursued [10].
2. Analyze. Provide a critical discussion (as in critical thinking; you may defend or refute any part)
of an entropy analogy from your textbook or another source. Include both thermodynamic
and social considerations, discussing the following: Where do the analogies for entropy hold
(thermodynamically and socially), and where do they fail? What are the (thermodynamic and
social) implications of applying entropy in these ways, and of using these examples? What is

a g i
SEM communi- lifelong
knowledge cation learning

engage change
Find entropy How else might you
analogies used in make entropy
your textbook or concrete for
another source. students?

analyze reflect
Provide a critical Are these analogies
discussion of the helpful for your
analogy. Where does learning? Why or why
it hold? Where does it not?
fail, in both
thermodynamic and
social terms?

Figure 3.5: Messy rooms are a misleading metaphor for students learning about entropy. http://www.
roommatesusa.com/wp-content/wpuploads/2010/12/messy-room.jpg.
3.5. MODULE 3.5. MAKING MATH RELEVANT:THERMODYNAMIC RELATIONS IN CONTEXT 59
the bias of the source; do they seem to have a position on entropy as good or bad, desirable or
undesirable? Can you challenge their assumptions?

3. Reflect. How do these analogies help you learn? How might they get in the way of learning?

4. Change. How else could you make entropy more concrete for students learning thermody-
namics? Supply either a new analogy that you think holds better, or devise a new way to help
students relate entropy to everyday life.
Entropy is not the only abstract entity thermodynamics students come across. Indeed, making
entropy useful in many engineering applications requires an understanding of the fundamental
property relations, mathematical relationships that help us derive expressions for thermodynamic
properties of interest in terms of quantities that are known or readily measured. Thus, the next
module revisits the “Thermo to Life” approach used in Module 2.5 finding relevant applications of
the thermodynamic relations.

3.5 MODULE 3.5. MAKING MATH RELEVANT:

THERMODYNAMIC RELATIONS IN CONTEXT
This module seeks to demonstrate the usefulness of the thermodynamic relations.The goal is to pick
a topic that you find relevant and interesting, where the thermodynamic relations can be applied.
This is somewhat more difficult than in the Thermo to Life exercise in Module 2.5 because of the
narrower applicability of the material considered here.

a e i j
SEM problems lifelong contemporary
knowledge learning issues

1. Engage. Find and describe an application of the thermodynamic relations in everyday life.
You may find your own or choose one of these:

a. Calculating Entropy in terms of measurable quantities using Maxwell Relations.

b. Predicting partitioning behavior of pollutants in soil, air, and water using Gibbs Energy
and Fugacity [11].
c. How the Gibbs Energy is used to characterize Fuel Cell function [12].
d. Using the Gibbs Energy to describe fuel distillation or other separations processes (vapor-
liquid equilibrium).
e. Using Gibbs energy and chemical reaction equilibrium to understand fuel combustion.
f. Using Gibbs energy and chemical reaction equilibrium to understand environmental
controls on power plants.
g. Using Helmholtz energy to predict behavior of volcanic eruptions or other explosions.
60 REFERENCES

engage change
Find and describe an What might we
application of the change to improve
thermodynamic the system, or our
relations in everyday understanding?
life; choose from the
list below or find your
own.

analyze reflect
Show how What does this
thermodynamic analysis tell us about
property relations are the system? What did
used to analyze this we learn? What new
system. questions emerged
as a result?

Figure 3.6: Biodiesel processing equipment http://www.extremebiodiesel.com/photos/

articles/full-Processor.jpg.

2. Analyze. How is thermodynamic theory used to characterize your system? Which thermo-
dynamic properties are relevant? On which measurable properties do these depend? Find or
create an illustrative example that demonstrates the usefulness of the thermodynamic prop-
erties in characterizing your system. Thoroughly explain the thermodynamics behind how it
works. Make reasonable assumptions where necessary. Be as realistic as possible, but make
simplifications if needed.

3. Reflect. Think (do not write or type, just think) for 15 minutes about what have you learned
from your engagement and analysis so far. What questions emerge for you? Write a short
reflection on what you learned, and what you would like to explore further. Identify possible
avenues of change or further exploration.

4. Change. Did your example provide a satisfactory case study explaining how thermodynamic
theory can be useful in everyday life? If not, what would you explore further to establish a
better link?

REFERENCES
[1] Park, R. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York: Oxford University
Press. Cited on page(s) 54

[2] Von Baeyer, H.C. (1999). Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat. New York:
Modern Library. Cited on page(s) 55, 56, 61
 REFERENCES 61
[3] The idea of the “thematic content of science” is attributed to Horton, G. (1973). Thematic
Origins of Scientific Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 47. Cited in [2,
p. 56]. Cited on page(s) 55

[4] Einstein, A. (1972). Letter to Michele Angelo Besso’s son after his father’s death, 1955. In P.
Speziali, ed., Albert Einstein–Michele Besso Correspondence. Paris: Hermann, p. 538–9. Cited on
page(s)

[5] Vonnegut, K. [1969] (1991). Slaughterhouse-five, or, The children’s crusade, a duty-dance with
death. New York: Dell, p. 27. Cited on page(s)

[6] Eddington, A. (1929). The Nature of the Physical World. New York: MacMillan, p. 68ff. Cited
on page(s) 56

[7] Çengel and Boles. (2008). Thermodynamics: An engineering approach. 6th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill. Cited on page(s) 58

[8] Herman, M. (1998–9) Entropy-Based Warfare: Modeling the Revolution in Military Affairs.
Joint Force Quarterly (JFQ) No. 20: 85–90. Accessed June 8, 2011 from http://www.au.af.
mil/au/awc/awcgate/jfq/1620.pdf. Cited on page(s) 58

[9] Shannon, C.E. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Bell System Technical Jour-
nal, 27:379–423, 623–656. DOI: 10.1145/584091.584093 Cited on page(s) 58

[10] Von Baeyer [2] covers these connections. See also Maroney, O. (2009). Information Process-
ing and Thermodynamic Entropy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E.N. Zalta, ed. Stan-
ford, CA: Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information,
Stanford University. Accessed June 8, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/
information-entropy/. Cited on page(s) 58

[11] Mackay, D. (1979) Finding Fugacity Feasible. Environmental Science and Technology, 13(10):
1218–1223. DOI: 10.1021/es60158a003. See also Mackay, D. (2004). Finding Fugacity
Feasible, Fruitful, and Fun. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 23(10): 2282–2289.
DOI: 10.1897/03–465. DOI: 10.1021/es60158a003 Cited on page(s) 59

[12] Smith, J.M., Van Ness, H.C., and Abbott, M.M. (2001) Introduction to Chemical Engineering
Thermodynamics. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill. Cited on page(s) 59
 63

CHAPTER 4

Thinking Big Picture about

Energy and Sustainability
The goal of the modules in this chapter is to create opportunities to think about complex, real-
world issues in energy and sustainability. While the list of topics explored here is by no means
comprehensive, each module is designed to help you learn how to consider technical and social
contexts, engineering ethics, community needs, and public policy simultaneously.
What should the United States do to curb its greenhouse gas emissions in order to mitigate
climate change? Module 4.1 challenges you to develop and test out a concrete plan to achieve
meaningful reductions. How does one choose a technology for a particular community or application
in power generation or transportation? In Module 4.1 you will first define and refine selection criteria,
then apply these to cases in the power generation and transportation sectors. Module 4.3 examines
sustainability criteria, asking you to evaluate the “green-ness” of three scenarios: nuclear power
generation, corn-based ethanol as a transportation fuel for the United States, and the transportation
of western, low-sulfur coal to eastern power plants in the US. Module 4.4 takes up how consumers
use energy in their homes, for cooking, refrigeration, and water purification. Finally, Module 4.5
asks how we understand large-scale disasters that have come to be common occurrences in our quest
for energy, and work for their prevention. All of these questions require keeping the big picture in
mind, even as detailed analyses are brought to bear on these topics.

Module 4.1: Climate Action.

Module 4.2: Selection Criteria for Energy Technologies.
Module 4.3: Is it Green?
Module 4.4: Home Energy Uses.
Module 4.5: Ethics of Energy Disasters.

4.1 MODULE 4.1. CLIMATE ACTION

This module challenges you to move between a “big picture” contextual perspective and the focused,
sometimes narrow world of engineering thought.

e f j
problems ethics contemporary
issues
64 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

engage change
Identify a set of Take some action
significant actions toward making these
that can be taken to reductions happen.
reduce US Document and
Greenhouse Gas reflect on the impact
Emissions by 1000Tg of your action.
CO2 eq / year.

analyze reflect
Justify your What are the limits of
reductions strategy in individual behavior
quantitative, strategies such as
qualitative, and green consumerism
ethical/moral terms. on GHG reductions?

Figure 4.1: From Derrick Jensen and Stephanie MacMillan’s graphic novel As the World Burns: 50 Simple
Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial [1]. Used with permission.

Learning to move between these frames is essential in forming sound engineering judgment. This
assignment also challenges you to move between theory and action, between your life as a student
and your life as a citizen of the planet. Integrating theory and action is the essence of engineering;
engagement reminds us it is a false distinction we sometimes make between “College” and “The
Real World,” between an academic subject like “thermo” and what we more generally refer to as our
“life.”

1. Engage. Identify a set of significant actions that can be taken to reduce US greenhouse gas
emissions [2]. Significant in this case means it must have the potential to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to 1990 levels, when the atmospheric global carbon dioxide concentration was
354 ppm. This is a significant reduction, but is also far from sufficient when one considers
that global increases in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion between 1990 and 2008
have been much higher, around 40%, compared to the US’s 15% [3]. Despite these emissions
increases abroad, the US remains a grossly disproportionate emitter of CO2 , putting out 19%
of global CO2 emissions from human activity (excluding deforestation) while comprising only
 4.1. MODULE 4.1. CLIMATE ACTION 65
4.6% of the world population [3]. On this basis one could argue that US reductions need to
be much deeper in order to be equitable and to allow developing economies to grow.

2. Analyze. Justify your choice by explaining what impact you expect your actions to have and
put them in perspective. You must do this quantitatively, qualitatively, and in terms of ethical
or moral argument.

Quantitatively, estimate the total CO2 equivalent reductions your actions would bring
about on an annual basis (see [2] for a definition of CO2 equivalents). The goal is to
eliminate enough Tg of CO2 equivalent emissions per year to return the US to 1990
emissions levels. Keep track of uncertainty in your assumptions and present your estimated
reductions with a sensitivity analysis (carry through +/- values that extend from a critical
assessment of your own assumptions used in your estimates). Your sensitivity analysis
should capture the range of emissions reductions that can reasonably be expected, given
the uncertainty in your assumptions.
Qualitatively, you need to describe why your proposed action is feasible in the time
allotted, and why you expect it to be effective in the long-term toward bringing about
the reductions targeted.
Make an ethics-based argument for why your proposed action is necessary or justified,
referencing multiple ethical frameworks (e.g., utilitarian, deontological, social justice,
morally deep world, etc. – see [4]–[7] for more on ethics frameworks and how to apply
them).

3. Reflect. How much can individual personal actions, such as using energy efficient light bulbs
impact climate change? How likely are individuals to comply with behavioral strategies? What
adjustments would you make to your calculations to make sure they are realistic? What kinds
of collective actions that target structural and infrastructural issues might be more likely to
bring about significant change? What are the barriers to individuals acting collectively for
change?

4. Change. Take some action that demonstrates the effectiveness of your proposed reduction
strategy or that works toward actually making these reductions happen. For example, you
might implement one strategy on a small scale, which, if implemented widely, would result
in the reductions claimed. Or you may work to bring about larger structural change through
collective action – for example, working to pass national legislation. Document your actions
and their short-term effects on yourself, your local community, and larger society.

5. Reflect. What are your accomplishments so far? Describe results quantitatively, qualitatively
and in ethical or moral terms. What impact have your actions had globally, locally, and within
yourself? What feedback have you received, and what new knowledge have you acquired as
a result of your actions? How will you adjust your actions going forward, as a result of what
66 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
you learned? What opportunities for transformation lie ahead? What do you wish you had
done differently? What future actions do you recommend or commit to do next? How did this
exercise change you? What have you learned? How did this project connect to your learning
thermodynamics? How will you use what you’ve learned in your future as a student? As a
professional? As a citizen of the world?

All climate strategies must take up the question of which energy technologies ought to be
implemented to best support greenhouse gas reduction plans.The answers will be different depending
on intended applications in specific communities. In the next module you will generate a set of
criteria for energy technology selection, considering not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also
other environmental, economic, social, and political considerations, and apply the criteria to uses in
transportation and power generation.

4.2 MODULE 4.2. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR ENERGY

TECHNOLOGIES
How does one determine the appropriate energy technology for a given application? Here you will
generate a set of criteria to use in approaching this problem, and apply the criteria in transportation
and power generation.

4.2.1 EXPLORATION 1: DEVELOPING SELECTION CRITERIA

1. Engage. Brainstorm a set of criteria you think society should use in making choices about
an energy technology. Some possible criteria are presented in Table 4.1, and details on how
different energy sources address some of these criteria can be found in energy studies texts,
e.g. [8]. Are there any criteria you would add or take away? How is each criterion defined?
Conduct background research to develop a working knowledge and critical understanding of
what each criterion means in an energy context. Are terms different for different technologies,
such that you can’t compare them directly? For example, efficiency means different things
for different energy sources (see Module 3.1). Should it be included, and if so, how can it
be used as a basis of comparison? A category like sustainability might have multiple criteria
within it – air toxics, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions – that cannot be compared
directly. How sustainability is defined may itself be contested. What human impacts deserve
consideration? Job loss or gain, displacement of people, quality of life, environmental racism or
classism in citing of energy resource extraction, production, or waste facilities? How do energy
systems require certain types of control and certain social structures to maintain them? See
Langdon Winne’s classic article “Do Artifacts have Politics?”[9] http://zaphod.mindlab.
umd.edu/docSeminar/pdfs/Winner.pdf.

2. Analyze. Devise a strategy for determining whether a given criterion has been met. Is the goal
to meet a set standard (if so, what is the standard?), or to maximize or minimize that quality? Is
 4.2. MODULE 4.2. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 67

e f h j
problems ethics context contemporary
issues

engage change
Brainstorm the Based on what you
considerations learned in your
involved in choosing reflection, revise your
an energy decision-making plan
technology. to address ethical
considerations.

analyze reflect
How is each criterion What difference does
defined and met? it make how the
Devise a system for criteria are framed
decision-making and and evaluated
test it with a few against each other?
example energy What are the ethical
technologies. considerations?

Figure 4.2: Generators at Hoover Dam, Jon Sullivan, PDphoto.org. Public Domain. http://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hoover_Dam%27s_generators2.jpg.

anything a go/no-go criterion where something must be met at a given level or the technology
should be rejected? Which if any criteria can be traded off against another? Develop a process
for deciding about a technology – be careful of tools such as weighted objectives trees [10] or
cost-benefit analysis [11] that might not capture all considerations. Do a test run comparing
several energy technologies – what comes out on top and why?

3. Reflect. How do different methods of decision-making, or different definitions of criteria,

affect the choice that ends up on top? What ethical considerations come into play in setting
up the rules of decisions? How do we currently make decisions about energy technologies?
How should we? Who should devise criteria or decision-making plans, and who should apply
them?

4. Change. Based on what you learned in your reflection, revise your decision-making plan to
be more responsive to the ethical considerations you discussed.

4.2.2 EXPLORATION 2: EVALUATING AND SELECTING POWER

GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES
1. Engage. Select an energy technology to evaluate (this could be a real technology in use or an
ideal cycle you are studying – see Table 4.2 for ideas). You may want to have each person in
68 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Table 4.1: Some Suggested Criteria for Energy

Choices.
Cost
Efficiency
Scale
Sustainability
Reliability
Safety
Rate
Human impacts
Social structures required

engage change
Select an energy What would you
technology to change about your
evaluate and gather course or textbook,
basic information given what you
about it. learned?

analyze reflect
Evaluate the What was difficult
technology about the
according to evaluations? What
specified criteria. was surprising? What
did you learn?

Figure 4.3: The Brazos Wind Farm, also known as the Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm,
near Fluvanna, Texas. Public domain. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/
8b/GreenMountainWindFarm_Fluvanna_2004.jpg.

the class choose a different one and compare results. For some technologies such as coal-fired
power plants, there are many different designs with different characteristics – so you will need
to be specific about the type of plant, and in some cases, the type of fuel as well. If you are doing
the assignment individually, you might choose more than one technology or plant designs, so
you can compare those. Research how the technology works and other information relevant
for your evaluation and write a brief description.
 4.2. MODULE 4.2. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 69
2. Analyze. Evaluate each technology using the criteria you developed. Try to take uncertainty
into account by working with reasonable ranges of values where appropriate.
3. Reflect. What was most difficult about conducting the evaluations? What was most surpris-
ing? How do the social and technical merge, interrelate and overlap in these considerations,
becoming the socio-technical? What did you learn?
4. Change. What would you change about your course or textbook to incorporate this material?
Where does it fit? How would you teach it?

Table 4.2: Possible Technologies to Consider for Evaluation and Selection.

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4.2.3 EXPLORATION 3: EVALUATING AND SELECTING

TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES
1. Engage. Select a transportation technology to evaluate. Use Table 4.3; though not exhaustive
by any means, it provides a place to start. Begin with choosing an intended application (pas-
senger or freight, start and end points?). Then mix and match choices of vehicle types, power
source, and thermodynamic cycle as appropriate. There are many choices and configurations;
be specific, and be careful, as some choices aren’t appropriate for all combinations. Research
how the technology works and other information relevant for your evaluation and write a brief
description.
2. Analyze. Evaluate each technology using the criteria you developed. Try to take uncertainty
into account by working with reasonable ranges of values where appropriate.
70 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

engage change
Select a What would you
transportation change about
technology to transportation
evaluate and gather infrastructure or
basic information standards?
about it.

analyze reflect
Evaluate the What was difficult
technology about the
according to evaluations? What
specified criteria. was surprising? What
did you learn?

Figure 4.4: Traffic congestion, Brasilia, Brazil. Photo by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz (Mariordo). Used
with GNU Free documentation license http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/
ec/Traffic_Congestion_Brasilia.jpg.

3. Reflect. What was most difficult about conducting the evaluations? What was most surprising?
What was different about these considerations compared with power generation? How do you
feel being put in the position of decision-maker here? Who should decide? Government?
Technocrats? Consumers? Citizens?

4. Change. What would you change about transportation infrastructure or standards (e.g., CAFE
standards or limitations on shipping emissions) based on what you learned? Engage in public
advocacy of your position by connecting with a group that represents your interests, writing a
public official or media outlet.

The explorations in this module have made clear some of the complexities involved in evalu-
ating and selecting particular technologies for specific settings. The next module considers in greater
depth how one evaluates the environmental performance, or “green-ness” of three different energy
technologies.
 4.3. MODULE 4.3. IS IT GREEN? 71

Table 4.3: A Wide Array of Options for Transportation Technologies. Choose a Mode of
Travel and Vehicle Type, Fuel, and Cycle.

Mode Vehicle type Fuel/Power type Cycles

Road Cars Diesel (incl. 5-100% biodiesel) Carnot

Tractor-trailers Gasoline (incl. reformulations, Otto

oxygenates, up to 100% ethanol)
Buses Jet Fuel (conventional, biofuel) Diesel
Bicycles Electric (multiple sources) Brayton
Water Rowboats Electric Hybrid Stirling
Motorboats Steam (multiple sources) Rankine
Cargo ships Hydrogen Fuel Cell (multiple sources)
Sailboats Wind 2-or 4-stroke?
Cruise ships Solar
Air Passenger planes Human Power
Cargo planes Natural Gas (fossil fuel or biodigested?)
Rail Passenger trains Biomass (wood, dung, grass, etc.)
Freight trains

4.3 MODULE 4.3. IS IT GREEN?

e g h i j
problems communi- context lifelong contemporary
cation learning issues

This module explores three instances where energy activities are labeled green, but upon closer
examination, their claim to sustainability is perhaps more limited than previously assumed. Is nuclear
power a green alternative to carbon-based power generation? Under what circumstances can ethanol
be considered a sustainable fuel choice? When eastern power plants seek out low-sulfur coal from the
western United States to control air pollution and acid rain, what environmental costs are introduced
in transportation? In each case you are challenged to think more deeply about what sustainability
might mean.

4.3.1 EXPLORATION 1: NUCLEAR POWER AS A GREEN ALTERNATIVE?

1. Engage. Patrick Moore [12] made waves when he published a “green” argument for nuclear
power in 2006: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/
04/14/AR2006041401209.html.
72 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

engage change
Read widely on the Advocate for your
debate over nuclear position in the public
power as a green sphere. Join an
alternative. What are action group, attend
the arguments? a rally, or write a
public official.

analyze reflect
Evaluate the best How did you make
arguments on both your decision? What
sides and make an criteria did you use in
evaluative judgment evaluating sources
whether nuclear and their content?
power is green.

Figure 4.5: Have a nice day. Is nuclear as green as it looks? http://www.ecosprinter.eu/wp-

content/uploads/2010/10/nuclear.jpg.

Greenpeace [13] disputed Moore’s claims of affiliation with their organization and pointed
out his ties to the nuclear industry: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/
nuclear/patric-moore-background-inform/. While some environmentalists see nu-
clear power as an important part of addressing climate change, other environmentalists [14]
take issue with the substance of Moor’s argument, pointing out the ways in which nuclear
power is not green at all: http://www.counterpunch.org/montague11032008.html.
Read these articles and search for additional material on the debate over whether nuclear
energy is green.

2. Analyze. Evaluate the best arguments on both sides and make an evaluative judgment about
whether nuclear power is green. In what ways is it green and in what ways is it not green?
Be sure to include a range of conceptions of sustainability. Think holistically about the entire
process from mining to waste disposal, and consider the environmental impacts of nuclear
accidents. How do other “green” technologies such as wind, solar, and conservation/efficiency
improvements compare?

3. Reflect. How did you make your decision? What criteria did you use in evaluating sources and
their content? Are there considerations beyond the “green” aspect of nuclear power that affect
its desirability? What are they? For example, does the fact that nuclear fuel presents a potential
security risk raise issues of sustainability? Does the scale of a technology, or the amount of
social control required to implement it, affect sustainability? Does its impact on marginalized
communities, such as uranium mining on indigenous lands [15], affect sustainability?
 4.3. MODULE 4.3. IS IT GREEN? 73
4. Change. Advocate for your position in the public sphere. Join an action group, attend a rally
or other event, or write a public official to express your views.

4.3.2 EXPLORATION 2: ETHANOL

engage change
Read debates on How will you take
ethanol in Science. your independent
What are the key learning strategies
issues? forward?

analyze reflect
Write a dialogue What did you learn
among the paper about reading the
authors to illustrate scientific literature to
the key issues and understand current
authors’ main points. topics in energy?

Figure 4.6: Corn is the primary source of ethanol in the US. But is it a green choice? http://blogs.
princeton.edu/chm333/f2006/biomass/ethanol%20corn%20gas.jpg.

Is ethanol a green fuel? This is a surprisingly complex question to answer. It depends on what
biosource is used to produce it, how it is produced, and perhaps most important, what is taken into
account in the analysis, reflecting different definitions of what “green” means. In some cases, ethanol
can provide a net benefit, and in other cases, a net loss for the environment.
How can you, as a student, or as a technically educated person who may not be an expert in
this particular area, sort through literally hundreds of studies on this topic and come to an informed
conclusion? This exercise guides you through one approach.

1. Engage. One useful place to go to learn about a topic with this level of policy relevance is the
journal Science, which includes sections with readable introductions to technical issues in their
public policy context. While the development of these debates over many years is itself quite
interesting, here we will consider only a few of the most recent discussions of this issue in the
journal.

Read the following three articles:

74 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
Scharlemann and Laurance, How Green are Biofuels? [16] DOI: 10.1126/sci-
ence.1153103.
Robertson et al., Sustainable Biofuels Redux [17] DOI: 10.1126/science.1161525.
Tilman et al., Beneficial Biofuels: The Food, Energy, and Environment Trilemma [18]
DOI: 10.1126/science.1177970.

(Note: Some DOI links may be publicly available on the Internet, or you may need to authen-
ticate through your campus libraries to access Science online.)

2. Analyze. Write a script that creates a dialogue (tri-alogue?) among the three articles to summa-
rize their key positions and reflect the issues in the ethanol debate. Under what circumstances,
if any, can ethanol be considered a sustainable fuel choice, and why?

3. Reflect. What did you learn from this exercise about using peer-reviewed articles to help you
understand a current topic in energy?

4. Change. How can you take this independent learning strategy forward in other areas that
spark your curiosity?

4.3.3 EXPLORATION 3: COAL TRAIN [19]

1. Engage. Read the essay “Coal Train” in John McPhee’s book Uncommon Carriers [20]. Why
did the Clean Air Act of 1970 reinvigorate the railroading industry? Why don’t all eastern
power plants use higher-Btu coal from nearby West Virginia and Pennsylvania as opposed to
Wyoming?

2. Analyze. Perform a back-of-the-envelope calculation based on information in McPhee’s chap-

ter. If a coal train weighs 3000 tons empty, and 19,000 tons when loaded with low-sulfur coal
from Powder River Basin, and travels 1800 miles from Wyoming to Georgia:

a. How much energy does it take to haul the coal this distance? Make simplifying assump-
tions for an initial estimate.
b. How much energy is in the coal being hauled?

3. Reflect. Under what conditions is it the “right” thing to do to move coal across the country?
What criteria are you using to determine whether it is “right” or not? What other criteria that
you haven’t considered might change the outcome of your evaluation?

4. Change. How does what you’ve learned here change your views on energy, if at all? How (if
at all) does it change your consumption of energy?
 4.4. MODULE 4.4. HOME ENERGY USES 75

engage change
Read John McPhee’s How does this
chapter on the Coal change your views
Train in Uncommon on energy, if at all?
Carriers [20]. How does it change
your consumption?

analyze reflect
Estimate the energy Under what
required to move a conditions it is “right”
trainful of coal from to move coal across
Wyoming to Georgia, the country? What
and how much criteria influence this
energy that coal evaluation?
provides.

Figure 4.7: Union Pacific coal train with two locomotives (at the end) in Converse County close to
Douglas, Wyoming USA. July 20, 2010. Photo by Wusel007. Used with permission under GNU Free
Documentation License version 1.2 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_
Pacific_Coal_Train_Douglas_WY.JPG.

4.4 MODULE 4.4. HOME ENERGY USES

So far in this chapter we have primarily considered industrial and commercial uses of energy in
electric power generation and transportation.

c h
design context

This module turns our focus to applications in the home. It is interesting to note that engineering has
traditionally focused on large-scale industrial and commercial applications, preferring these settings
over the home environment. Historically, areas traditionally considered “women’s sphere” such as
the home, or “women’s work” such as cooking or cleaning, were excluded from the engineering field
altogether, categorized instead as “home economics”[21]. Alice Pawley [22] has pointed out that
the field of engineering therefore looks something like Swiss cheese – certain areas that ought to
be considered engineering are excluded, leaving holes. This module takes up to three explorations
related to home energy uses: solar energy in cooking, three alternatives for refrigeration, and a
Stirling-powered electrical generator combined with water filtration. All three explorations have
some potential and some limitations for sustainability, as well as applications in developed and
developing nation settings.
76 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
4.4.1 EXPLORATION 1: SOLAR COOKER

engage change
Learn about designs What would you
of solar cookers. How change to improve
do they work? What your solar cooker for
are the different next time?
types of designs
available?

analyze reflect
Design and build a Demonstrate your
solar cooker from design. What worked
scavenged objects. well? What do you
wish worked better?
How does it fit or not
fit with your culture’s
cuisine and lifestyle?

Figure 4.8: Solar cooker or solar barbecue Alsol 1.4 made in Spain: more information on http://
www.solarcookingatlas.com. Public domain. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/e/ed/ALSOL.jpg.

1. Engage. Learn about designs of solar cookers. How do they work? What are the different
types of designs available? What principles of heat transfer apply to their functioning?
2. Analyze. Design and build a solar cooker from scavenged or borrowed objects and tools
that can bake a cookie (recommended temperature: 350◦ F, 160◦ C; minimum temperature:
100◦ C). Make sure the cooker is of adequate size, easy to use and convenient, with low startup
and cooking times. It should be durable and stable during operation. It should be aesthetically
pleasing and achieve the highest quality construction possible, subject to the design constraints.
Consider the ability of the cooker to collect sunlight at different times of day. You will need a
method or device to help you determine whether the oven is aimed directly at the sun (do not
look directly at the sun!)
3. Reflect. Demonstrate your design. What worked well? What do you wish worked better?
How does it fit or not fit with your culture’s cuisine? With your physical setting? With your
lifestyle? (Or you could choose an application setting different from your own for this same
evaluation.) Compare solar cookers to biomass stoves, natural gas stoves, or electric stoves,
considering criteria from Module 4.2.
4. Change. What would you change to improve the design of your cooker in terms of its technical
performance and/or its suitability for use in your culture?
 4.4. MODULE 4.4. HOME ENERGY USES 77
4.4.2 EXPLORATION 2: REFRIGERATION

engage change
Learn about What else do you
evaporative coolers, need to know to
vapor-compression complete a
refrigeration, and refrigeration design
absorption for a particular
refrigeration. application?

analyze reflect
Estimate design Should the analysis
requirements for a you did be
single family using considered
each refrigeration engineering? How
technology. did your systems
compare? Why does
the US have mostly
vapor-compression?

Figure 4.9: Old Refrigerator, Restaurant, Mandeville, LA. Photo by Ingfrogmation of New Orleans.
(Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY 3.0) http://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Mandeville_Maxens_refrigerator.JPG.

1. Engage. Learn about evaporative coolers (see Module 2.3), vapor-compression refrigerators,
and absorption refrigerators. How does each work? What are they used for, and why are these
uses important? What materials and energy are required for each? What are their typical
operating temperatures?
2. Analyze. Select an application for each type of refrigeration in different home settings. Provide
a back-of-the envelope estimate of the design requirements for a single family application in
each setting. Give dimensions of the refrigerated space, amount of food that can be cooled,
approximate temperature of the food, and energy requirements. Make reasonable and justified
assumptions.
3. Reflect. Should the analysis you just did be considered engineering? Why or why not? How
did the energy requirements compare for your different systems? Why do you think we have
mostly vapor-compression systems in the United States and not other technologies? (See Ruth
Schwartz Cowa’s history [23] at http://epl.scu.edu/∼stsvalues/readings/cowan2.
pdf for an answer.) What recommendations would you make for home refrigeration in different
settings?
78 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
4. Change. What (else) would you need to know in order to complete a full design for a particular
application

4.4.3 EXPLORATION 3: DEAN KAMEN’S STIRLING ENGINE

engage change
Learn about Dean How would you
Kamen’s Stirling change the project?
Engine that How has the project
simultaneously changed since the
creates household article was written?
electricity and
purifies water.

analyze reflect
Evaluate the Is Kamen’s technical
inventor’s claim claim reasonable?
about the What other factors
performance of the are important for
engine. implementation in
the developing
world?

Figure 4.10: Dean Kamen’s Stirling Engine produces both electricity and heat to purify water in the
Slingshot water filter. http://www.geekologie.com/2008/04/22/water-cleaner.jpg.

1. Engage. Consider the following excerpt from a recent article in the Manchester, NH Union
Leader [24] http://forums.segwaychat.com/archive/index.php/t-286.html.

NH inventor Kamen eyes Stirling Engine.

By KATHARINE McQUAID, Union Leader Staff.
Inventor Dean Kamen is inching closer to the creation of a
Stirling Cycle Engine that can create enough electricity to
run a few household appliances, while at the same time making
contaminated water drinkable....
Kamen said he imagines the device will give people in remote
villages of India and other third world countries a constant
source of clean, safe, drinking water, as well as a central
source of electricity.
‘‘It could be used to make a central place where people go
to charge batteries for computers or cell phones, where people
 4.5. MODULE 4.5. ETHICS OF ENERGY DISASTERS 79
could get access to electricity so that they could have light
at night and, all the while, it could be turning 10 gallons of
just about anything into potable water,’’ Kamen told Rather.
The version unveiled by Kamen on last night’s program creates
about 300 continuous watts of electrical power, according to
Rather.

2. Analyze. Evaluate this claim by considering an ideal Stirling engine with helium as the working
fluid (Kamen’s patent states that helium could be used). Suppose it operates at one cycle per
second, between temperature limits of 300 K and 1500 K, and pressure limits of 150 kPa and
1.5 MPa. Assuming the mass of the helium used in the cycle is 0.1 kg, determine the thermal
efficiency of the cycle, the amount of heat transfer in the regenerator, and the work output per
cycle. Assume that water purification is achieved by boiling off all the water once, and that no
heat is recovered through condensation.

3. Reflect. Is Kamen’s claim reasonable? Why or why not? What other considerations are nec-
essary to determine whether this technology is suited to the proposed application? What else
would you need to know?

4. Change. How would you change the project, either the device or implementation plan? How
has the project changed since this article was written?
Having explored the engineering involved in home uses of energy, the next module connects
consumer energy choices with large scale energy disasters such as oil spills and nuclear accidents.

4.5 MODULE 4.5. ETHICS OF ENERGY DISASTERS

This module examines connections between the ethics of two energy disasters: The BP Oil Spill
following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010, and the meltdowns at the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March
2011.

f j
ethics contemporary
issues

Each disaster has parallels with past disasters that exclude it from being considered an “isolated
incident.” As with mining accidents for energy resources such as coal and uranium, these disasters
form patterns that repeat, in this case it seems every few decades. Social scientists who have studied
engineering ethics cases such as the Ford Pinto case [25] or the space shuttle Challenger disaster [26]
have pointed out the ways in which the cases don’t boil down to individual decisions of professional
engineers, but have at their heart institutional and organizational norms (and beyond these, political
and economic forces acting on organizations) that produce these outcomes as a matter of course.
80 4. THINKING BIG PICTURE ABOUT ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

engage change
Learn about the BP Develop an effective
oil spill and Fukushima concrete strategy to
meltdowns. In what prevent future
ways could they energy disasters,
have been predicted focusing on the
30 years ago? collective nature of
the disasters.

analyze reflect
What are the Given that we can
structural forces that anticipate that things
shaped the we can’t anticipate
engineering of each will occur, what kinds
facility? Were events of preventive design
preventable or strategies should
inevitable? engineers employ?

Figure 4.11: Deepwater Horizon Offshore Drilling Unit on Fire, April 21, 2010. US Coast Guard photo,
Public domain. http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_
itemId=836364&g2_serialNumber=5.

1. Engage.Watch the Rachel Maddow Show segment “That was then, this is then”[27] (http://
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/) from May 26, 2010. What are the similarities be-
tween the BP Spill and the Ixtoc 1 Spill in 1979? Read the March 15, 2011 New York Times ar-
ticle [28] on the Mark I containment system used at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors: http://
www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16contain.html. What were the prob-
lems identified in the early 1970s with the Mark I containment system?

2. Analyze. Watch a January 11, 2011 Maddow segment [29] in which a government report
labels the BP disaster foreseeable and preventable with regulatory oversight. http://www.
msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41026520.Then watch this March 25, 2011 segment [30]
that exposes regulators issuing new deep water drilling permits with the same blowout preven-
ter device found to have a flawed design: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#
42278768. In what sense are these events preventable? In what sense are they predictable, or
even inevitable?

Watch “A is for Atom” a BBC documentary on nuclear power’s history [31]: http://www.
bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/03/a_is_for_atom.html. While the entire doc-
umentary is of interest, key segments are at minutes 20-29 and 36-42. What structural forces
shaped the scale and safety system designs of nuclear plants in the United States?
 REFERENCES 81
3. Reflect. Sarah Pfatteiche’s book on the ethics of engineering and the 9/11 collapse of the World
Trade Center asks a number of questions in the wake of that tragedy that can be translated
for these and other energy disasters [32]. To what extent are energy disasters “business as
usual?” Should they be prevented? Can they be prevented? Who is responsible to prevent
them? It can be argued that in both cases considered here, energy companies believed they
were taking sufficient care and protecting people and the environment “to the extent possible.”
What makes such measures possible or impossible? Are economics and a company’s desire
for profit-making legitimate constraints on the health, safety, and welfare of the public? Why
or why not? Do engineers have a duty to design for the unanticipatable? That is, if we know
things will go wrong that we can’t predict specifically (and thus design for), can we design
out some of the problems – for example, by working at a smaller scale in the case of nuclear
power, or not as deep in the case of ocean oil drilling? Can better regulation prevent disasters,
or are other changes required? What are the responsibilities of individual engineers? Of their
management? Of energy companies? Of government? Of consumers/citizens?

4. Change. Develop a strategy for change – among energy consumers, corporate culture at an
energy company, or governmental regulations and oversight – that would best prevent future
energy disasters.

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 85

Author’s Biography

DONNA RILEY
Donna Riley is a founding faculty member and Associate Profes-
sor in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College, where
she has been teaching thermodynamics for over 10 years. She
received her B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton
University and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from
Carnegie Mellon University. Her technical research combines
methods in engineering and the social sciences to characterize
and communicate chemical risk. She seeks to integrate quantita-
tive modeling of chemical risks (from sources to exposure end-
points) with an understanding of the ways in which human beliefs
and behavior influence risk. Past projects have involved charac-
terizing the risks of mercury use as part of religious and folk traditions in Latino and Caribbean
communities, and developing improved consumer-product warnings. She is currently collaborating
with chemists at Smith and the University of Massachusetts on developing a community-oriented
air quality research lab.
In 2005 Riley received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for imple-
menting pedagogies of liberation, based on the work of Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and others, into
engineering education. Aspects of critical pedagogies that are operationalized in Riley’s classrooms
include connecting course material to student experience, emphasizing students as authorities in the
classroom, integrating ethics and policy considerations in the context of social justice, problematiz-
ing science as objectivity, and incorporating contributions from women, people of color, and people
living in the global South.
This is Riley’s second book with Morgan and Claypool, having published Engineering and
Social Justice in 2008.