A Report From Energy Ant - How I Spent the Summer of 2001!!!

I had a very busy and exciting summer in 2001! I spent two weeks with teachers from across the country learning about energy. The teachers took a number of field trips, so I got to see so much (from an "ant's-eye view," of course). Here are some of the trip highlights:

The National Atomic Museum has great resources and exhibits about the United States' use of nuclear energy for all kinds of things. It is no surprise that the National Atomic Museum is in New Mexico, because this state is also the home of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the U.S. developed the first nuclear weapon.

This museum takes you on a tour through the development of nuclear weapons to today's use of nuclear power - power released from the nucleus of an atom - to generate electricity to heat and cool our homes, make our lamps and home computers work and more.

Nuclear power provides many things to the United States and other countries around the world - from nuclear medicine to devices to test bridges for structural integrity - harnessing the power of the atom was one of the biggest discoveries of the last 100 years.

The teachers that came here with me really enjoyed the museum. There are planes, rockets, machines and much more on the grounds of the museum. It is located inside the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Make it a stop on your next vacation!

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The electricity generated from these solar panels can help make lamps shine, help run your appliances, and help make street signs blink caution outside of your school. Most of the time, when you think of manufacturing, you think of big industrial buildings and lots of equipment. This facility is no different, but it is so clean. The tour was great and we learned how the glass is handled and how the circuitry is implanted in the glass to receive and carry the electricity. We even had to wear funny little shoes and goggles to be safe.

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The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center has resources about all of the Indian Pueblos in New Mexico. The sun has always been a very important part of the pueblo culture, so it makes great sense that this museum uses solar energy to provide electricity to its lighting systems.

The Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has made a great effort to include solar energy in its programs. In fact, they have installed photovoltaic (solar) panels in the parking lot, and those solar panels generate electricity from all of the sunshine in Albuquerque. That's a lot of sunshine!

These photovoltaic systems take solar energy and convert it into electricity. There's a great diagram of how this works in the solar section of this site. Solar energy has many practical applications here in New Mexico and in lots of other places around the country and the world. You can use it to heat water, generate electricity, cook food, and even make tea! Some people have even found great ways to use solar energy to move themselves from place to place - in solar cars!

The Cultural Center works with the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to help bring renewable energy to more places in New Mexico. Our guide for this trip was Mr. Chris Wentz. Chris is the Director of the Energy Conservation and Management Division.

 

As you can see from the picture - the solar panels not only provide electricity for the building, they also provide shade for cars here in the hot New Mexico desert!

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The U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory has so many great energy resources to see and learn about! Located on the grounds of Kirtland Air Force Base (near Albuquerque, New Mexico), Sandia National Lab has one of the world's leading research centers for solar energy. While there, we were treated to lessons about wind energy and solar energy. From the picture you can see me in the part of the Lab where they test solar panels to be sure they work.

You'll also see some of the teachers at a solar exhibit being used to charge an electric car - that's cool - using the sun's energy to recharge a car so that you can drive without gasoline.

The funniest picture is of me hanging on the fence at their Solar Power Tower - where they take the sun's radiant energy, reflect it off of mirrors to concentrate its power, and then generate heat and electricity. It can concentrate solar power so well that it can even burn through metal!

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The United States is the world leader of coal reserves and lots of that coal is shipped abroad (exported) to other countries. The teachers and I came to Norfolk Southern Corporation's Lambert's Point coal export facility to learn more about how coal mined here in the United States is shipped to other countries to help them generate electricity.

 

 

Each day, trainloads of American coal come here to this coal yard in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and are loaded onto ships to sail to other countries. This trip made all of us realize that there are so many ways our energy sources are used around the world each day and that there are lots of countries that don't have all of the same resources we have here.

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Nuclear power plants work the same way coal plants and natural gas plants do.  They heat water - here they just use nuclear energy to heat water to make steam.  In coal plants, they burn coal to make steam.  Here's a great chart to show you how nuclear power works.  

Nuclear energy is one of the United States leading sources for electricity. In fact, is it among the top five electricity producers. Surry Nuclear Power Station near Surry, Virginia, has two reactors that generate 1,602 megawatts of power together. That's a lot of electricity.

This power station trip was very interesting. We also toured the Nuclear Information Center - you can see me checking out the exhibits.

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