See a past class for problem sets, exams, and solutions.
MWF 10:10 - 11:00 with Activity Friday noon - 2:00 or 2:00 - 4:00. Location: wherever you happen to be

Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics, pschwart@calpoly.edu
Other Classes, Personal Webpage, Energy Research, and my Resume
Office hours: M (3:30- 4:30), T (12:30 - 1:30), W (12:30 - 1:30) and (2:30 - 3:30) R (2:30 - 3:30)

See some projects (2019), and projects (2020)!

Self Interventions:

Problem Sets: PS#1, PS#1 Solutions, PS#2 , PS#2_Solutions , PS#3, PS#3 Solutions, PS#4, PS#4_Solutions, PS#5, PS#5_Solutions, PS#6, PS#6 solutions, PS#7 , PS7 Excel Spreadsheet , PS#7 solutions (#3-#5), PS#8, PS#8 solution #1, PS#8 Solutions, #3

Assessments: Ass#2 Solutions , Ass #2 Solutions2, See #2 Solutions3, Asmt #3 Solutions, More #3 Solutions, more #3, Great #3, #4 Solutions, More #4, #5 and more #5, #6 Solutions, More #6, #7, More #7, Assessment #8, Final Exam

Activities:

Class communication and feedback: Pete and Cheating

Weekly Timeline

Week 1 Intro, units, demographics	Distance Learning at least read first paragraph
Week 2 Heat Flow, Engines, Combustion	1st Self Intervention - Don't throw anything away
Week 3 Efficiency, Electricity, (No class Monday)	--- future: initial electrical self analysis
Week 4 Grid and Smart Grid
Week 5 Climate Change, Solar
Week 6 Peak Oil, Nuclear, Cooking	https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4653 2nd Self Intervention - Empathy, Economist on Nuclear, Fusion from Private?
Week 7 Financial and Carbon Market (Class on Tuesday)
Week 8 Efficiency, renewable energy	3rd Self Intervention - What about light bulb choice Wind Power in Martha's Vineyard?
Week 9 Transportation	Electric Cars are on the Tipping Point, Hybrid Airplanes?, GM goes Carbon Free? Interview with Steve Chu
Week 10 outlook, Projects	Final exam during Activity Session
Finals Week - Final Presentations	Consistent with Cal Poly’s Exam Schedule, our final (project presentation and potluck) is Monday, March 15, 10 AM - 1 PM in our classroom... wherever you may be.

25	Environmental Effects of Urbanization in West Africa	We will be presenting to a high school debate team the negative side of urbanization in West Africa and they will use our presentation's information in their next tournament.
26	Accessible Sustainability: teaching how people can make sustainable changes in their	We plan to teach a series of classes through Wave learning. We'll be teaching high school and college students how alter their own lives so they are making sustainable choices that also make their lives easier. We will also incorporate physics and environmental science to explain the science behind the sustainable practices we will teach about.
27	Energy Saving Street Lights	We're looking into ways to save energy while lighting public areas, both technologies in use (widely implemented or not) and ones being developed/researched/considered. Address why different technologies are in use. Etc.
28	Smart Grid	Our project will be to investigate the smart grid system. We plan to determine if this system could work in California and what it would look like. Part of this will be to examine the infrastructure of the smart grid (compared to the current electrical grid), how the smart grid will operate with PG&E, and the advantages/disadvantages of replacing our current system with the smart grid.
29	Wind Power Possibilities in Morrow Bay	We want to look at the possibility of wind power along Morrow Bay by examining previous research on the topic, researching the general costs and implementation of wind turbines, and proposing a possible project for the residents of Morrow Bay.
30	Energy Management at a Community Village	We examine the energy production, distribution, and consumption at a community village for the unhoused. Ideally, we will volunteer and try to help with their operations. Since Hope's Village of SLO is not open yet, we might need to get in contact with another one, such as Dignity Village in Oregon, or Community First Village in Texas.
31	How to increase the carbon efficiency of SLO auto transit	Our basic idea is that, since automobile carbon emissions make up a significant amount of pollution, if we increase the energy efficiency of slo public transit, people will be incentivized to use it more, and in doing so, significantly reducing carbon emissions.
32	Energy and Emission Differences due to COVID-19	We will be examining the differences in energy usage, both personal and business, as well as the amount of emissions that were created during the pandemic as opposed to “normal”. We will also be looking at some potential reasons for the results that we obtain.
33	Wave Power on the Central Coast	We plan to measure the power that could be generated by harnessing the energy of waves along the Central Coast. We will look at the feasibility of putting a wave power plant along the central coast and analyzing the potential energy output, while also looking at the ramifications if this plant was built.
34	Composting: A comparison of personal vs facility use.	Our project will consist of a comparative analysis of whether it is better to save one's biological waste to compost at home to try to use the biogas for one's own energy needs, or whether it's more beneficial to one's community to send it to a composting facility such as in SLO County.
35	Breakdown of Community Choice Program in SLO County	This project will dive into the Community Choice Program. We will examine the pros and cons and why cities are hesitant or eager to adopt this program. We will also examine where the energy actually is coming from. We are also thinking we could include a breakdown of the environment impacts of each energy choice.
36	Tackling Wind Energy	we are thinking of researching and calculating how many wind turbines would be necessary to provide enough energy to power SLO county for a year. Part of the research could include thinking of policies and exploring the effects.

Notes to self on how to improve the class

PSC-320-01-2212 - Energy, Society and the Environment