How is energy created and harvested, stored and transformed, used and abused? We will study energy science and technology, and related topics such as energy policy and environmental concerns, climate change and global warming. We typically study alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and bio-fuels as well as conventional sources of energy such as hydro, nuclear, gas, and coal. This is a good program for students interested in environmental science and energy physics. We start with skill building and background study, and finish with research projects related to energy.
Student research projects are a major part of Energy Systems. You will choose a research question that particularly interests you, and, with a small team, design and carry out your investigations. For example, research could include field work, energy analysis of an existing system (natural or constructed), or design of a new small-scale energy system, possibly with community applications. Students will be encouraged to apply for Evergreen's green energy grants to build your projects, when appropriate.
Student Research Projects |
Presentation |
Research Paper |
Biodiesel from Waste Vegetable Oil and Fish Oil |
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Electric vehicle charging stations |
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Electrolytic reef building & CO2 production |
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Solar Farmhouse |
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Sem II lighting |
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Stream turbine power |
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Solar Chimney |
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Classes meet full-time in fall and winter. Upper division
credit will be awarded for full-credit upper division work. For more
information, see the Program Description
and webpages linked here.
Calculus? If you have had calculus, you will learn how to apply it to energy physics. If you have not had calculus, that's fine; you should take the EWS calculus module in fall (and ask Dr. Zita about flexible credit options when class starts).
FALL QUARTER: The first class meeting is Monday 24
Sept.2007 at 1:00 in Sem 2 A2105
Assignment for the first day: Get all of
your required textbooks by the first day of class.
Review your math, especially algebra and precalculus (and calculus,
if you have had it).
Questions? You can contact Dr. Zita by email <zita(at)evergreen.edu>, and/or come to
the Academic Fair.
Please include "Energy Systems" in your email subject header,
so the spam filter doesn't delete your email.
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Winter SCHEDULE
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Monday in Sem 2 |
Tuesday in Lab II |
Thursday in Sem 2 A1107 |
1:00 in A2105 Science Seminar in Energy Systems
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1:00 in 2242: Energy Systems |
1:00 Energy Systems |
3:00-5:00 in A2107
Science Seminar on the Magnetic Sun |
3:30-5:30 in CAL: workshops |
3:00-5:00 Research workshops |
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6:00: EWS Calculus II |
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TEXTS: always get
the most recent edition available. Order texts well in
advance from the publisher or another online source such
as Powell's so you have them the first
day of class. The college bookstore may have some texts,
but you never know. Click on titles below for links
to primary sources. Get the seminar texts too!
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Energy,
Environment, and Climate Change, by Richard
Wolfson. This excellent new book is our primary text, and
includes considerable physics. We are communicating directly
with the publisher and will make this text available to
you in class. No need for you to order this one - just get a nice big 3-ring binder to put your copies of the chapters in.
Optional
supplemental text: The Earth System (2d
ed.) by Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, Robert G. Crane,
pub. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004. We used this in Fire
& Water last year - an excellent interdisciplinary text. |
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Calculus:
(A) students will learn beginning calculus.
(B)+(C) students will learn more advanced
calculus. If you're not sure where you belong, we'll help
you decide with a math survey in week one.
(A) Students who have NOT had (much) calculus should take
the EWS
Calculus I module by Allen Mauney and get his required
text: Essential
Calculus by Larson, Hostetler, and Edwards (Houghton
Mifflin 2008), ISBN-13: 978-0-618-87918-2 or ISBN-10: 0-618-87918-8.
Double-check with professor Mauney on that text. Winter: You will learn Calculus II in winter quarter.
Students who HAVE had (nearly) a year of college calculus will start with the last few chapters of (B) Single
Variable Calculus in fall, and graduate to (C) Multivariable
Calculus by winter. Check publishers' websites for student
learning resources including solutions manuals. Winter: The few students who may ready for advanced work will discuss options the first week.
(B) Single
Variable Calculus, 3rd ed., Hughes-Hallett, Gleason,
McCallum, et al. (Wiley, 2002), ISBN 0-471-44876-1 (the
Course Advantage Edition includes supplemental learning
reosurces).
(C) Multivariable Calculus, 4th Ed., McCallum, Hughes-Hallett, Gleason,
et al. (Wiley 2004), ISBN: 978-0-471-48480-6
Optional physics text: Physics
for Scientists and Engineers, with Modern Physics,
by Douglas C. Giancoli, 3d Ed., 2000, Prentice
Hall, ISBN 0130215171. Advanced students need a
good calculus-based physics text for reference. I like this
text. Other good ones include those by Halliday and Resnick
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SCIENCE SEMINAR
in Energy Systems: Mondays from 1:00-3:00
in A2107 Sem II
Fall quarter readings:
State
of Fear, by Michael Crichton (pub. Harper Collins
2004). We'll start with this controversial page-turner to jump-start our conversation. It's long and entertaining, so it's a good book to read over the summer.
Hell
and High Water, by Joseph Romm (pub. William
Morrow 2006). Romm's intelligent nonfiction is engaging
and motivating.
Plan
B 2.0, by Lester
Brown, (pub. W.W. Norton 2006). Brown has visions for
solutions for the near future.
 
Seminar is a required component of the Energy
Systems program. Science Seminar is also open to other interested
students, who may take just this module for 4 credits. (September update: due to a miscommunication with the Registrar, some students are registered for 8 credits. We will discuss in week 1 what additional work you could do for your additional 4 credits.) Be
sure to get your texts by the first day of class (perhaps
from your favorite online source). The college bookstore
might have them, at higher prices. Orca Books downtown may
also have some copies (often at reduced prices for students).
Get the most recent edition available. While there may be
copies of some texts on closed reserve in the Library, you
must bring your own copy to class each day - not
the reserve copy. Take notes in the margins as you
read, and the text becomes a record of your developing thoughts.
"An unmarked text is an unread text." See Seminar
Syllabus for details.
Winter Science Seminar in Energy Systems:
Field Notes from a Catastrophe, by Elizabeth Kolbert (2006, Bloomsbury)
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben (2007, Times Books)
 
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Links: Energy;programs from previous years; CAL =
Computer Applications Lab
Nature reports: Climate Change -
NASA's poop-powered
fuel cells; Union of Concerned
Scientists on Clean Energy
End of Oil: Mother
Jones review and interview; NPR
interview;
Sun:: Early solar
minimum? Solar pathfinder
measures sunlight at your location
Climate change: M&M links
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