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Understanding Nuclear Power Plants
An overview of how different nuclear power plants work; or how to get electricity from rocks. Nuclear energy accounts for about 9% of the...
tannerjanesky
Jan 612 min read
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Electromagnetic Radiation Explained
A foundational concept of nearly everything that we often misunderstand Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is everywhere, and it may be one...
tannerjanesky
Dec 9, 20249 min read
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How Living Things Store Resources for Survival
What nature can teach us about designing resilient energy systems In nature, survival often depends on finding creative ways to store...
tannerjanesky
Nov 19, 20246 min read
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Carbon Capture & Storage
How it works, different methods, and do we need it? Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS, is a technology designed to capture carbon dioxide...
tannerjanesky
Nov 19, 20247 min read
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Food Production & Trophic Levels
The environmental impact of what you eat and how much it matters. In Part 1 , we covered what trophic levels are and how different...
tannerjanesky
Nov 6, 20246 min read
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Trophic Levels
Ecological efficiency and biomass distribution in nature. Trophic levels are the different positions that organisms occupy in a food...
tannerjanesky
Oct 24, 20245 min read
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Solar for Everyone
How Community Solar Projects Are Democratizing Energy In the past, solar energy was primarily available to single-family homeowners who...
tannerjanesky
Oct 15, 20244 min read
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Energy in Perspective
Comparing and visualizing common forms of energy What's a kilowatt-hour? Although we still don't know what energy is at its most...
tannerjanesky
Sep 19, 20245 min read
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Speed vs Efficiency
Using physics to travel smarter. Nobody likes waste. That is, spending something and getting nothing. Efficiency is a ratio of how much...
tannerjanesky
Sep 8, 20247 min read
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Advertising-Induced Overconsumption
The environmental cost of consumerism fueled by manipulation. Advertising is everywhere. From billboards on highways to ads that pop up...
tannerjanesky
Aug 21, 20247 min read
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Secondary Consequences of Solar Panels
Effects on roof lifespan and cooling load. Solar panels are a highly effective way to produce electricity on your property. Rooftop...
tannerjanesky
Aug 8, 20247 min read
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Energy Intensity of Transport
Comparing the amount of energy required to move people and stuff around by different methods. And, road trip or fly? One of the critical...
tannerjanesky
Aug 1, 20247 min read
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How Many Trees Do You Need to Live?
...to make the oxygen you breathe and store the carbon you produce? Trees make oxygen, and humans need oxygen to breathe. Have you ever...
tannerjanesky
Jul 3, 20244 min read
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Resource Intensity, Consumption, & Population
The 3 factors that determine total resource use and environmental disruption. Human existence necessarily causes some disruption to the...
tannerjanesky
Jun 19, 20245 min read
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Rainwater Collection
The basics of why and how, and is it helpful or harmful? Water is arguably the most important natural resource we need. Without energy...
tannerjanesky
Jun 5, 20248 min read
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Environmental Problems Beyond Climate Change
7 interconnected problems worth solving The environment is everything that surrounds us—air, water, land, plants, animals, and other...
tannerjanesky
May 8, 202410 min read
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Biofuel: Good Idea?
Exploring the economic and environmental impacts of biofuel. Biofuels have garnered significant attention as an alternative energy source...
tannerjanesky
Apr 18, 20246 min read
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Jevons Paradox
When more from less leads to more from more. The Jevons Paradox is an economic theory that describes a counterintuitive phenomenon:...
tannerjanesky
Apr 17, 20245 min read
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The Tragedy of the Commons Problem
When shared resource use leads to collective loss. Garrett Hardin popularized the "tragedy of the commons" in his 1968 article of the...
tannerjanesky
Apr 10, 20246 min read
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Garrett Hardin: The Tragedy of the Commons
The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension in morality. By Garrett Hardin December 13, 1968 At...
tannerjanesky
Apr 8, 202432 min read
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