Tag Archives: Energy

Energy Endeavors Part I: Teachers trek Texas in a week-long energy quest

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I’ve always enjoyed traveling. It’s not something I’ve gotten to do as much as I’d like, but I’m working on it. I have fond memories of traveling with my family to places like Washington DC and Williamsburg, with my high school to Spain and Boston, and in college to Florida, Colorado, and England. I enjoy wandering along the back pathways, eating local food and seeing the sights.

Like most people, when I travel I tend to venture far from where I live at the expense of a lot of local destinations. Texas is rich in destinations that deal with energy: The Bureau of Economic Geology in Houston stores core samples from wells around the world.  Schlumberger runs a test rig down in Sugar Land to train their engineers. And there are many, many more.

What better way to go see some of these sights than with a group of interested (and interesting) people? So we created a week-long teacher workshop to visit different energy destinations throughout Texas.

The first day, things got going a little slowly. We waited for everyone to arrive, filled out paper work, and reviewed the week’s objectives. Once that was out of the way, we loaded up in the vans and headed to our first destination – the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) in Austin.

Energy Road TripThe BEG is a great place, and it’s part of the University of Texas system. It’s a large warehouse where they store drilling cores, and scientists and engineers can come and study them. They can pull out cores from different areas from around the world and see what the subsurface geology looks like. This is a must for people looking for crude oil, people looking at how coasts form, and people looking at what type of rocks and at what layers can hold carbon dioxide. The inside of the warehouse looks a bit like the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

On day two, we went to two different locations. The first was the test well at Schlumberger. It’s a fully working rig that drills through cement without hope of striking oil, and its purpose is to train field engineers. Schlumberger makes its money not by drilling for oil, but by providing services for the oil industry. Specifically, they’re known for well logging — when you scan the inside of a well for specific attributes, like conductivity and resistivity.

Energy Road Trip

It’s always fun to stand on a rig and talk with the people who run it. One of the major differences between a rig drilling for oil and the test rig is that the people on the test rig often get to go home at the end of the day.

Our second stop of the day was Marathon Oil’s Visionarium. It’s like the Giant Screen Theatre, a conference room, and a digital laboratory all rolled into one. On a 27-foot by 8-foot curved screen, the engineers are able to display data (seismic, pipeline, etc.) and model a geological formation in 2D and 3D (and probably 4D as well).

After that, the people at Marathon did something great — something I’d never seen done.  They asked the teachers their opinions on all the different ways to get kids into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). The teachers all answered similarly — the time that makes or breaks science for a kid is in 6th and 7th grade. Kids need to see what options there are for jobs and they need mentoring.

On Wednesday (the third day), we went down to the South Texas Nuclear Project (STP) and took a tour of the facilities. The cooling reservoirs cover a massive 7,000 acres, or 10.9 square miles. The training control room has an exact mockup of STP’s reactor control rooms. Because of the way that licenses are given to nuclear plants, the control rooms haven’t changed much.

In the training control room, unlike the real one, we were able to turn knobs and press buttons. In fact, we were even able to make several of the alarms go off — fun in a training room, but disastrous in a real one.

Energy Road TripAfter that, we took off to Brazosport College. Why Brazosport College, you ask? Because of its Process Operations Management degree and its on-site working chemical plant.  Process operators are the people who run plants — not plants like the ones you find in a greenhouse, but chemical and energy-producing plants. Brazosport offers a two-year program and is able to offer some incredible hands-on experience because it has a small chemical plant onsite, where students experience what happens when they have a blocked pipe or things are flowing incorrectly.

Join me next time here on the blog where we’ll see a coal-fired plant and a drill bit factory.

Quest for Conservation: New Sugar Land exhibit teaches smart energy use

Published by on in HMNS Sugar Land
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Think of it as mission possible.

A new exhibition is set to hit HMNS Sugar Land Sept. 21 that aims to teach patrons all about energy — where we come from, how we use it, and how we can use it effectively and efficiently.

Conservation Quest™

Sponsored by Reliant, an NRG Company, Conservation Quest™ uses interactive exhibits to relay important messages about energy conservation that will hopefully inspire the next generation to make thoughtful choices about energy use.

Visitors can turn cranks to compare the amount of energy required to light up a traditional light bulb versus an LED light, as well as learn about the cost and longevity of different types of bulbs.

Families can determine their average daily electricity use and play with appliances to sample ways to use less.

Renewable energy has a moment in the sun, too, in a Solar Energy section where patrons explore the science behind solar panels.

To learn more about Conservation Quest and book your visit to HMNS Sugar Land today, click here!

Fall for energy conservation: A tip as we (hopefully) approach cooler temps

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Summer’s almost gone — and with it, my white linen suit and matching white patent dress shoes. *Stares wistfully into space*

September is officially here. Where has all the time gone? It’s the beginning of a new school year, the weather is (finally) starting to become (sort of) cooler, and for many people it’s the time to start preparing for the winter. The crops come in, jellies and preserves are made, and people start to take out their warmer clothing.

1970s Energy Conservation StampAs somewhat cooler temperatures approach — yes, even here in Houston — what better way to spend the month than preparing to save energy?

Spend some time tracking your energy usage. When does it peak? When do you use the least amount of energy? What uses the most electricity? If you have kids (or teach kids), encourage them to do the same. Let us know what you find out!

For more information on energy and conservation, visit our Energy 101 page and get stoked for HMNS Sugar Land’s upcoming exhibit, Conservation Quest.

The Bear Necessities

Published by on in Anthropology
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If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
Benjamin Franklin

When I was younger, my parents would read to me before I went to bed.  I would hear tales of adventure and science from Tom Swift, Jr. and tales of mystery from the Hardy Boys, and the fantastical from The Hobbit.  They would also read the Berenstain Bears to me.  If you’re unfamiliar with this series, it’s about a family of bears that face situations that are likely to be faced by children and parents.  The Bear family consists of Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, Sister Bear, and, since 2000, Honey Bear.  There have been more than 260 books in the series.  In the books, Brother and Sister bear learn many valuable lessons, like what happens when you watch too much TV (The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV), eat to much junk food (The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junkfood) (hurmmm American public), or about earning and saving money (Wall Street)… I mean Trouble with Money.

The one that made a lasting impression on me was The Messy Room (da, da, daa).  In that book, Brother and Sister have a messy room and can never find anything (they even forget that they have some things) and their parents come up with an idea for storage.  Clearly labeled boxes stacked in the closet.  And then their room is clean (I’m still working on it myself, is it messy if I know what’s in all the piles?).

The current (that pun again) electrical infrastructure is like that messy room.

Wind Energy
Creative Commons License photo credit: l.bailey_beverley

The current electrical grid operates on a “use or lose” bias.  Meaning that only the amount of electricity needed at any given moment is on the grid.  If an energy source, like a wind turbine in West, Texas produces more electricity than the grid can use, it is bled off as waste.  If the amount of electricity needed increases, then short start up generators go online and once the demand is over they shut back down.  That strikes me as a very dumb grid.

One of the large hurtles in making a smarter grid is electrical storage.  We are all used to some forms of electrical storage.  We have alkaline batteries lying about our houses (except AA, I can never find any, but I’m sure they’re just over there…).  These work by producing electricity through the reaction of zinc and magnesium dioxide. They make up 80% of the batteries in the United States.  People have also gotten familiar with the lithium ion batteries which are found in most mp3 players and some phones. Lithium ion batteries are rechargeable, but through many recharges slowly loose the ability to hold a charge.  Lithium sodium batteries are in the works that can hold more energy and be a little less expensive.  One way to get batteries for your home is to get the old batteries from your hybrid car.

Chemical batteries are not the only way to store electricity.

Engine & Flywheel
Creative Commons License photo credit: Howard Dickins

Another way is to store the energy as compressed air.  The excess electricity is used to compress air, and when the electricity is needed the air is let out and turns a turbine.  Compressed air has been used for energy since the 1870s in Paris, London, and other cities. Another way to store electricity is the use of fly wheels.  The excess electricity is used to power up a rotor in a spinning motion.  When electricity is needed, the movement of the rotor is converted back into electricity. The new Gerald Ford class super aircraft carriers will make use of flywheels to help launch planes.  One of the main technical concerns is friction.  Too much friction and too much energy is lost. One of the most efficient ways to store up electrical power on the large scale is pumped water. The excess electricity is used to pump water up in a holding chamber or reservoir.  Then when electricity is needed, the water flows back down.

Electrical storage is also important for renewables.  Solar power can be unreliable.  Because of the rotation of the earth, solar power can be reliably unreliable.  Solar power can only be gathered when the sun is out.  Most of the time the sun is out, I’m at work.  There are usually only a few days a week when I get to see the sun.  Therefore, most of my electrical needs happen when solar power is not an option.  If I had a way to store it while I was at work, then I would use it when I got home. The same is true for wind.  Despite the United States being full of hot air, wind does not always blow.  Wind generated electricity can sometimes be too much for the electrical grid.  If the excess were stored, it could be used when there’s no wind a blowin’.

Small scale electrical storage would also help small scale renewables.

If I have a small scale solar panel, a small wind turbine, and a small water pump all tied up with some sort of electrical storage, I can take the electricity I gather in and only use it when I need it.  That way if the sun shines, the wind blows, or the rain falls while I’m away, I can come back and have Mother Nature power my computer.