This assigment is due by 8 pm, Friday January 23

This assignment is meant to get you to practice with numbers and various scaling relations.

1. In 2007, the US required electrical power at the scale of 0.9 terrawatts. Calculate the per capita electrical power in the US (this is equivalent to the amount of power required per individual at any given time).

2. Energy = power x time; Power is measured in units of watts (kilowatts, megawatts, gigawatts, terrawatts) and is instananeous. Power used over time is energy. Based on your calculation in question 1, and assuming an average energy cost of 8 cents per KWH, what is the monthly baseline per capita electricy cost to a US citizen.

3. One gallon of gasoline has an energy density storage equivalent of about 34 KWH. In Eugene that typical price of electricity is 7 cents per kwh. You now have two options on what kind of car to buy - a gasoline powered car or a plug-in electric vehicle.
   • Your plug-in EV uses 1 KWH for every 2.5 miles driven.
   • Your gasoline powered car gets 30 miles per gallon

4. In this question you are asked to compute operating costs (per 100 miles) of a gasoline powered vehicle compared to a Plug-in electrical vehicle.

   Gasoline:

   • Assume $3.00 per gallon
   • Assume 20 miles per gallon

   What is the operating cost per 100 miles?

   PHEV:

   • Assume 8 cents per kwh
   • Assume 75% charging efficiency
   • Assume a range of 3 miles per KWH

   What is the operating cost per 100 miles?

5. Large power plants come in unit capacity of 1000 MW of output electricity (MWe).
   a) Estimate how many new power plants could be avoided if every house in America replaced 2 100 Watt incandescent bulbs with 2 20 Watt compact fluourescent lightbulbs (CFL).

   b) A 20 Watt CFL contains 4 milligrams (mg) of Mercury. The number one source of mercury pollution in the US is Coal fired electricty and in 2007 Coal Fired Electricity was at a power level of 450,000 Megawatts. Mercury emissions from coal occur at a level of 200,000 mg per MWe. Based on switching out these 2 lightbulbs, show that your "Mercury Footprint" has actually been reduced by switcing to CFLS.

6. Sequential BioFuels located in Eugene near I-5 is the first altenative fuel station in the State of Oregon. Urban legend has it that all the biodiesel that Sequential sells comes from Waste Vegetable oil associated with the production of Kettle Brand Potato Chips at the facility located in Salem Oregon.

   Well, let's verify this claim:

   Info you will need:

   • It takes 7500 bags of Kettle Chips to produce one gallon of waste vegetable oil.

   • One gallon of waste vegetable oil produces 0.7 gallons of biodiesel.

   If every household in Oregon consumes 3 bags of kettle chips a week, approximately how many gallons of biodiesel could Sequential biofuels sell in one year?