BeckGroup Theoretical Chemistry: Energy
This is a course partially funded by NSF grants (CHE-1266105 and CHE-1565632). The purpose of the course is to gain basic energy literacy and to develop critical reasoning skills to begin to deal with the complex issues related to energy production and usage in our society. You should keep two notebooks for the course: one for notes in class (including class discussion and in-class problems) and one for your own problem solving work. In addition, you should have a notepad on which you can write short answers for quizzes I give in class and then tear out the sheet to turn in for grading. Each day you should come prepared to share one interesting fact about energy science -- this fact should come from your class reading.
This course is intended to introduce students to the important topic of energy usage in our society, and the role of chemistry in the development of renewable energy sources. The course will cover the history of human energy usage, a detailed analysis of current energy sources and their consequences, and potential alternative sources of energy. The students will engage in projects aimed at proposing scenarios for future energy production that both fills our growing needs and minimizes environmental impacts.
Some of the major issues facing humanity are the issues of energy usage, its consequences in the environment, and the development of novel renewable energy sources. It is important that we offer instruction in our college and department that covers the topic of energy in our society. I propose to teach a freshman seminar course on this subject (to roughly 20 students). I think it is crucial to catch the students at an early stage to hopefully stimulate an interest in this broad field. The course will be broadly based and will not require a great deal of detailed chemical knowledge. The course will cover the history of energy usage and then move on to a detailed analysis of current energy usage and sources. We will discuss the consequences of our current reliance on fossil fuels. Then we will discuss developments in renewable energy sources and novel energy storage devices (batteries and super-capacitors). The students will be encouraged to think about scenarios for transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable sources, with a focus on realistic possibilities and how they may play out. After setting the groundwork, the students will be encouraged to research on their own, largely through online resources, the role of chemistry in the development of renewable energy sources. Study topics such as novel catalysts, solar energy conversion, the hydrogen economy, etc. will be encouraged for small group projects. The main text will be "Energy for a sustainable world" by N. Armaroli and V. Balzani, two Italian chemists. I have assembled a list of other recent books and a large collection of web sites devoted to renewable energy. The teaching style will explore using the 'mastery' approach discussed in a recent NYTimes article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/in-flipped-classrooms-a-method-for-mastery/?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20131023&_r=0