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The Complexities of Fossil Fuel Use vs. Battery Power in Sustainable Housing

Despite the environmental concerns surrounding fossil fuels, they continue to be a primary energy source in power plants due to their availability and cost-effectiveness. In contrast, creating a battery-powered house presents the challenge of expense and efficiency for devices with varying voltage requirements. This project aims to assess the feasibility of using batteries to power each of the seven home devices while considering the environmental impacts of heavy metal mining and battery disposal. We will explore cost-efficient battery combinations while weighing their sustainability.

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The Complexities of Fossil Fuel Use vs. Battery Power in Sustainable Housing

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Do Now • Justify why we use fossil fuels in power plants, even if they are bad for the environment.

  2. Why Not Battery Power?

  3. Introduction • We hear a lot about the negative aspects of fossil fuels in the news • Being so progressive and environmentally-minded, we are going to design a house which runs completely on batteries • Unfortunately, high-voltage batteries can be expensive, so you need to try to keep the cost as low as possible

  4. Your Goal • We have a 7 devices in our house that we need to power, and each device has a minimum voltage that it needs to run at (on the next slide) • You also have a list of half-reactions in front of you, along with their reduction potentials, and cost per unit • Your goal is to come up with the most cost-efficient combination of batteries to power all of the devices in your house

  5. List of Devices and Minimum Required Voltages • 1) Pick two half-reactions • 2) Determine the number of batteries required • 3) Calculate the cost for each of the half-cells • 4) Calculate the total battery’s cost • 5) Multiply by the number of batteries required (if necessary) • Alarm clock: 0.6V • Microwave: 2V • TV: 24V • Xbox 360: 7V • Water heater: 3V • Laptop computer: 12V • Overhead light: 4V

  6. Environmental Impact of Heavy Metal Mining • Heavy metals tend to gather in clusters underground • If you dig to reach heavy metals that you want, you can also disturb metals you don’t (e.g., arsenic, mercury) • If those metals end up reaching groundwater, it can have far-reaching environmental impacts • Copper mine near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

  7. Other Environmental Impacts of Heavy Metal Mining • Cost and danger of digging tunnels through the ground can be extremely high • Other methods besides tunneling: • Strip mining (deforestation) • Mountaintop removal mining • Fracking (hydraulic fracturing)

  8. Battery Recycling • Even if we were able to get all of these batteries, what do we do with them after we are done? • Could just dump them in the trash – basically free • Where would chemicals in the landfill end up going? • Recycling the can be very expensive (in the chemistry classroom as well)

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