FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR 238W Physics for Decision-Makers: The Global Energy Crisis
Monday/Wednesday 3-4:30 p.m.
Dr. William Dorland, Department of Physics

Human society requires energy. Industrial societies require large amounts of energy. Three easily discernible trends related to energy production and use are coming together to make the decisions that tomorrow's leaders will face very challenging: (1) Fossil fuels are abundant and easily utilized, and remain the energy source of choice around the world. (2) The world's most populous nations are rapidly growing and industrializing. (3) Burning fossil fuels contributes strongly to long-term global warming, and is changing the Earth's climate.

In this course, we will examine each of these trends, study how they interact, and seek to learn to what they may imply for humanity. Our perspective will be neither adversarial, as in the legal profession, nor aloof, as a journalist might aim to be. Our perspective will be scientific. We will ask questions which have answers, and discuss how scientists go about finding these answers. What is energy? What are the basic laws of thermodynamics, and how do they constrain our understanding of energy production? How is electricity produced and distributed? What is a greenhouse gas? With this understanding of the facts, we will then address more difficult questions. What options exist for addressing global warming? What are the best alternatives to the expanded use of carbon-releasing energy sources? Solar? Nuclear? Conservation? Recycling? How do the economics of energy supply and demand affect national security? One answer is already clear: your generation will be grappling with these questions for decades. This course will give tomorrow's decision makers the basic tools needed to make informed, rational choices about energy.

There will be three major course projects. We will measure the energy used (and wasted) on the campus of the University of Maryland. We will work together to produce an Energy Wiki—a web-based resource with links and original answers to questions about energy use and climate change. Finally, we will go directly to the United States Congress to find out where today's legislators stand on critical aspects of energy and climate policy. There will also be regular homework assignments and a final examination. Final grades will be affected strongly by participation in class discussions.

Readings include: Gordon Aubrecht, Energy: Physical, Environmental and Social Impact; K. S. Deffeyes, Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage; and Spencer Weart, The Discovery of Global Warming.

CORE: Physical Science, non-lab [PS]