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The Past Half Century of Engineering--And a Look Forward Summary of a Forum (2015) / Chapter Skim
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5 Energy in the 21st Century
Pages 16-19

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From page 16...
... is warming, and the consequences of that could be severe." The average carbon dioxide molecule emitted into the atmosphere stays in the atmosphere hundreds of years, so much of the carbon dioxide emitted since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution is still there. Over that time, the burning of fossil fuels has put about 1 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
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From page 17...
... Engineering will give us technological options, our insurance policy for a secure future. The abundance of new local shale sources has separated the domestic price of natural gas from the international price of oil and thus helped
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From page 18...
... A new grid must be optimized for both centralized and distributed resources, with dynamical control and balancing of load, generation, and storage in order to maximize the use of intermittent resources such as wind and solar, reduce overall system cost and carbon emissions, and increase resilience against security and natural threats. We need engineering to design, build, and operate such a complex networked system.
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From page 19...
... I would not give up." Enrico Fermi on the Gulf Oil Spill Majumdar spoke briefly about his experiences with the April 20, 2010, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. During the 87 days that oil flowed into the Gulf, some people speculated about the possibility of detonating a nuclear weapon to seal the well.
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Key Terms

  • fossil fuels
  • oil spill
  • enrico fermi
  • trillion tonnes
  • natural gas

  • carbon emissions
  • global warming
  • spoke briefly
  • mexico caused
  • game changer

  • fluorescent lamps
  • rapidly progressing
  • nuclear wastes
  • increase resilience
  • majumdar added

  • addressing climate
  • gas emissions
  • shale sources
  • reduce overall
  • average carbon

  • current electrical
  • molecule emitted
  • centralized generation
  • tic price
  • international price

  • nuclear energy
  • gross domestic
  • natural threats
  • concerns related
  • majumdar spoke


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