Assignment 4

1. There are 8 major hydro electric dams on the Columbia + Snake River that are thought to impeded the bulk of the salmon flow. These dams are 1) Bonneville, 2) The Dalles, 3) John Day, 4) McNary, 5) Ice Harbor, 6) Lower Monumental, 7) Little Goose and 8) Lower Granite.
   
   
   a) Research and report on the the total hydroelectric generating power of these combined 8 dams. This total power is called nameplate capacity and is measured in units of MegaWatts (MW). If you multiply that nameplate capacity by 8760 then that's the total amount of energy produced in one year (in units of MegaWatt hours per year)
   
   b) Using this resource for the State Electricity profiles calculate the contribution of the first 4 dams to the total percentage of Electricity Generation for Washington and Oregon.
   
   c) Dams 5-8 only benefit Washington State. What is the extra percentage contribution of the existence of these 4 dams to the total electricity profile of Washington State?
   
   
   
2. The growth of wind energy in Oregon and Washington
   
   
   a) Do some online research and determine the rate of wind energy growth in Oregon and Washington since the year 2010. Make a graph of this data along with the growth rate shown on that graph (note that wind energy growth is generally not smooth from year but can take a big yearly jump as a single new large wind farm comes on line, followed by a couple of years of no growth - this is that makes predicting the future difficult).
   
   b) From that rate predict the installed wind capacity in both WA and OR in the year 2030 (show your process)
   
   c) Now research the total nameplate available to Washington and Oregon by dams on the columbia river and the snake river. Since we are not going to build new dams, then its possible that wind energy can replace the dams.
   
   Research the amount that stream flow has been reduced in the columbia river basic since 2000 as a result of our changing PNW climate and show what fraction of this nameplate capacity is now being utilized.
   
   Remembering that the wind doesn't blow all of the time while stream flow does occur all of the time write a 150 word "Blog" style argument on the feasibility of removing some of these dams because of eventual repacement wind power.
   
   
   
3. Currently there is much attention being devoted to replacing gasoline with some alternative as a primary fuel. Currently there is much hype (e.g. Elon Musk) about ramping up the production of electric vehicles via the planned Telsa GigaFactory with an eventual planned production of 500,000 vehicles annualy. There are numerous studies on the lithium supply chain/problem, etc that you can easily find via a Google Search. Two examples are here:
   
   
   • Example 1
   • Example 2
   
   
   You are to access a variety of reports as this is a controversial subject and in a 300 word report, argue whether or not Telsa will have enough lithium for its battery packs to reach their eventual production goal.
   
   
4. Various countries in the world have different climate change related risks. Some of this is discussed in Module 7 in the section entitled "Differential Adaptation and the Poorest Countries". From table 4 in that section, select one country of your choice, and its population must be larger than 25 million, and write a small report on what that countries main vulnerabilities are to climate change. At the end of that report, assess whether or not that country can overcome the climate change impacts that it faces.
   
   
5. Write an essay of not more than 300 words on what you think the combined broad message is in terms of humanity's continuing war/impact on Nature and how to stop it as given by these two different viewpoints:
   
   
   Shiva
   
   Hedges
   
   
   To properly do this assignment, you need to pay attention and to hear what these two people are saying. They are not spewing drivel and idle chit-chat.