Justification for the project
In this economy, electricity is expensive. With a passive solar home, we would cut costs down and save money.
The Carbon Cycle
There are two types of carbon sinks; Fossil Fuels, and Carbonate Deposits.
Fossil Fuels (ex. oil, coal, natural gas) are released as Carbon Dioxide when humans dig them up and burn them.
The second type of carbon sinks is Carbonate Deposits. These are rocks with carbon in them. (Ex. limestone)
Carbon Deposits are released when volcanoes erupt or during acid rain.
The picture below shows the Carbon cycle.
Fossil Fuels (ex. oil, coal, natural gas) are released as Carbon Dioxide when humans dig them up and burn them.
The second type of carbon sinks is Carbonate Deposits. These are rocks with carbon in them. (Ex. limestone)
Carbon Deposits are released when volcanoes erupt or during acid rain.
The picture below shows the Carbon cycle.
What Happens To The Suns Energy?!
The Sun gives off an enormous amount of energy, and Earth only uses a small fraction of it! Sunlight passes through our atmosphere on the way to Earth's surface.
20% of the sunlight is absorbed in the atmosphere.
30% of the sunlight is reflected back into space
50% of the sunlight hits Earth's surface and is absorbed
As you can see in the picture below, the suns energy is either being absorbed, reflected, or hitting Earths surface.
20% of the sunlight is absorbed in the atmosphere.
30% of the sunlight is reflected back into space
50% of the sunlight hits Earth's surface and is absorbed
As you can see in the picture below, the suns energy is either being absorbed, reflected, or hitting Earths surface.
The Greenhouse Effect
The Greenhouse Effect is the trapping of infrared radiation by gases in the atmosphere. The Greenhouse Effect is a good thing because it keeps our atmosphere at a reasonable temperature, allowing life to flourish. This is also a bad thing because the greenhouse gases are trapping infrared radiation in our atmosphere, making the global temperature rise. The four main greenhouse gases are: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. Clouds are also a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, because they absorb and emit infrared radiation into the atmosphere. Because the greenhouse effect traps heat in the atmosphere, our atmosphere is heating up. This is called Global Warming.
Climate Change/Global Warming
Global Warming is the rise in average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Since the early 20th century, Earth's average temperature has risen 1.4°F. Scientists think that the temperature has gone up is because of the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are emitted by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. The rise in greenhouse gases effect temperatures, and temperatures effect ice, and sea levels. If the temperature goes up, the ice level goes down (because of melting) and then the sea levels would rise.
If sea levels rise enough, due to global warming, major coastal cities and countries could end up looking like this.
Ways of Generating Electricity
There are 5 ways that America produces electricity. Only two of these emit greenhouse gases.
Coal makes up 45% of the total electricity in the US. To get coal, you have to mine it, and burn it in a power plant. Coal is readily available in the US, and cheap. But on the other hand, we only have a limited amount of coal on Earth. Coal also emits pollution and greenhouse gases.
Natural Gas makes up 23% of the total energy. Natural gas is mined by fracking. This type of way to generate electricity is cheap, cleaner than coal, and available in the US. But natural gas also emits greenhouse gases and fracking damages our environment.
Nuclear is another way that humans get energy. This process makes up 20% of the total. To use nuclear power, scientists split atoms, and use radiation to generate the electricity. Nuclear does not emit any greenhouse gases, so it is very clean. And you get a lot of energy from little materials. But this is very dangerous because there is always the risk of a nuclear meltdown. And the disposal of the nuclear waste is a problem too.
Hydroelectric makes up 7% of the total energy made in the USA. To get energy to make electricity, a dam is put up and the power of the water pushes a turbine. There are no greenhouse gases made in this process, but the creation of a dam disrupts the natural aquatic life, and floods the surrounding land.
Renewable Energy makes up 3.6% of the total. This includes solar power, wind power, and bio fuel. There are no greenhouse gases, its free running, and there is an unlimited quantity of these substances. But it is expensive to start up, and there is still developing technology. The picture below shows the different percentages of generating electricity.
Coal makes up 45% of the total electricity in the US. To get coal, you have to mine it, and burn it in a power plant. Coal is readily available in the US, and cheap. But on the other hand, we only have a limited amount of coal on Earth. Coal also emits pollution and greenhouse gases.
Natural Gas makes up 23% of the total energy. Natural gas is mined by fracking. This type of way to generate electricity is cheap, cleaner than coal, and available in the US. But natural gas also emits greenhouse gases and fracking damages our environment.
Nuclear is another way that humans get energy. This process makes up 20% of the total. To use nuclear power, scientists split atoms, and use radiation to generate the electricity. Nuclear does not emit any greenhouse gases, so it is very clean. And you get a lot of energy from little materials. But this is very dangerous because there is always the risk of a nuclear meltdown. And the disposal of the nuclear waste is a problem too.
Hydroelectric makes up 7% of the total energy made in the USA. To get energy to make electricity, a dam is put up and the power of the water pushes a turbine. There are no greenhouse gases made in this process, but the creation of a dam disrupts the natural aquatic life, and floods the surrounding land.
Renewable Energy makes up 3.6% of the total. This includes solar power, wind power, and bio fuel. There are no greenhouse gases, its free running, and there is an unlimited quantity of these substances. But it is expensive to start up, and there is still developing technology. The picture below shows the different percentages of generating electricity.
Economics
The average US household spends around 110 dollars a month on energy and over 1,300 dollars a year! And on electricity and natural gas, the average household can spend up to 1,900 dollars a year! To save money and energy, you can convert to solar energy which is responsible for over 100,000 American jobs.
Passive Solar Home
We are designing a building to directly use the light and heat of the sun. To achieve this we can angle the house toward the sun, place windows strategically, shade windows in the summer, use the proper insulation, and absorb heat through floors and walls. This is an example of a Passive Solar Home.
Explanation
A passive solar home would use the sun's energy to heat and cool itself in the different seasons. As you read above, energy is very expensive and with a passive solar home, it could greatly reduce the expenses of energy in the average American home.