Web Exercises

World Petroleum Reserves

Go to http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/DDS-60/ and click on the world maps link (http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/DDS-60/worldmaps.html). Look at the "World Petroleum Assessment 2000 Regions and Geologic Provinces" (the first map listed).

1. Where are the major petroleum reserves?

2. Why are most of them along coastlines?

3. What might be the environmental risks of oil drilling and shipping in these regions?

4. Where is there no oil? Why might this be?

5. Find the "executive summary" on the first page listed above. How many barrels of oil and gas are reported to be in world reserves?

6. Where are the greatest volumes of undiscovered oil expected to be found?

7. Why might we not have explored these places already?

You can also find energy information at http://energy/cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/WEnergy.html

Renewable Energy

Go to http://www.eren.doe.gov/ the renewable energy program of the Department of Energy. Click on the following links: "solar," then "Million Solar Roofs," then "About Solar Technologies," and finally "photovoltaics." Hint you should end up at http://www.eren.doe.gov/millionroofs/whatispv.html

Either follow the links in the left frame (Learning about PV, Turning Sunlight into Electricity, Why Use PV), or the right frame: various materials, produce electricity, logical power sources, and so on.
Take the quiz in "Learning about PV." This is a challenging quiz. If you can get all the answers right, you deserve an A+ in solar power.