Course title
エネルギー科学   [Energy Science]
Course category	technology speciality courses,ets.	Requirement		Credit	2
Department		Year	3～4	Semester	Fall
Course type	Fall	Course code	023612
Instructor(s)
鳥居 寛之   [TORII Hiroyuki A.]
Facility affiliation	Graduate School of Engineering	Office		Email address

Course description

Energy policy has been among the hot topics of discussion in Japan especially since the disastrous accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Electricity generation in our country now relies to a major fraction on thermal power stations, but in order to restrict consumption of fossil fuels and to suppress global warming effects, we need our effort to shift to renewable energies and construct a sustainable society. In the first half of the semester, the lecture deals with various types of energy sources, discussing their characteristics and problems from the point of view of physics and chemistry as well as energy engineering and economics. The latter half of the semester will be devoted to the nuclear energy and radiation. Lectures will be given on various aspects of radiation: the basic physical properties, its detection, biological and medical effects and radioactive contamination of the environment. All these knowledges will be required of the students in order for them to have their own opinion about the usage of nuclear energy. This lecture course gives students a unique opportunity of learning introductory nuclear and particle physics, which are otherwise not taught in this university

Expected Learning

To acquire knowledge on energy usage, a topic indispensable in our contemporary society, and be educated enough to consider the energy problems from various points of view. (1) To understand merits and problems for each of various types of energies including renewable energies. (2) To understand radiation and nuclear energy from physical, bio-medical, environmental and other points of view. (3) To understand relevance of energy sources and energy engineering to various fields of physics and chemistry, such as mechanics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, semiconductor physics, chemical reaction, radiation and radioactivity, nuclear physics etc. To understand various forms of energy and consider effective usage of energy from engineering point of view.

Course schedule

1. Overview of Energy Science: Energy engineering and physics, Sources and types of energies, Energy demand and supply. 2. Fossil Fuel and Thermal Energy: Mechanical and electric power generation, Steam engine and gas turbine, Coal / oil / natural gas / shale gas. 3. CO2 and Global Warming: Global energy balance, IPCC report, Fuel energy and CO2 emission, Carbon capture and storage (CCS), Biomass 4. Solar Energy: Blessing from the sun that nurtures the earth, Solar energy and spectrum, Solar cell and photovoltaics, Feed-in tariff. 5. Wind Power and Hydropower: Wind power, Electric power transmission, Dam and hydroelectricity, Low head hydropower, Tidal power, etc. 6. Heat Engine and Heat Pump: Application of thermodynamics, Effective usage of cooling and heating, Enthalpy and exergy, Geothermal energy and solar thermal energy. 7. Effective Usage of Energy: Fuel cell and hydrogen economy, Cogeneration and coproduction, Next-generation vehicles, Energy mix and storage. Energy policy. 8. Basics of Radiation and Radioactivity: Types of ionizing radiation, Radioactive decays, Natural radiation in the environment. 9. Radiation Physics and Radiation Chemistry: Interaction of radiation with matter (atoms and molecules). Degradation of charged particles, Attenuation of photons. Production of free radicals. 10. Radiation Measurements and Environmental Radiochemistry: Units and principles of radiation measurements for the air, soil and food, Environmental pollution caused by the accident of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. 11. Radiobiology, Radiology, Radiation Protection: Biological effects of radiation to cells and human bodies, Radiology, Concept of radiation protection, Risk communication. 12. Nuclear Physics: Nuclear structure and stability, Strong interaction and weak interaction, Properties of the neutron and nuclear fission, Accelerator science. 13. Nuclear Engineering: Principle of nuclear power generation, Reactors, Nuclear and radiation accidents, Nuclear fuel cycle, High-level radioactive wastes. 14. Nuclear Fusion: Solar energy and artificial nuclear fusion, Introductory plasma physics, Structure and problems of nuclear fusion reactor, ITER project, Other types of fusion. 15. Examination and Summary.

Prerequisites

No particular knowledge is required, but students are expected to have enough interest in social energy issues and environmental problems concerning radiation.

Required Text(s) and Materials

References

The latter half of the lecture course will proceed along with the content of the following book, not indispensable but recommended: “Houshasen-wo Kagakuteki-ni Rikaisuru” (in Japanese; 5th or 6th printing recommended), by TORII Hiroyuki A., SHOZUGAWA Katsumi, WATANABE Yuichiro. Maruzen Publishing Co., Ltd. No specific suggestion of books for the context of the first half of the lecture course is given. Students are requested to refer to any books on the market regarding various types of energies including renewable energies.

Assessment/Grading

Attendance and habitual seriousness (28%), selected reports from various themes (36%), brief examination at the end of the semester (36%). Distribution of evaluated grade for the last year 2017: S 15%, A 23%, B 25%, C 25%, D 2%, E (effort abandoned) 11%.

Message from instructor(s)

As the media reports discussions on re-operation of nuclear power plants or a rapid growth of solar power generation business, energy issues are now a hot topic of daily news in Japan as well as in the world. Surely the young students should acquire knowledge for your future society. Ionizing radiation is an important key of the latter half of the series and will be discussed with an emphasis from different fields of sciences. Students from other departments than Applied Physics are also highly welcome to join. The lectures will be given in Japanese with presentation slides.

Course keywords

Energy, Sustainability, Renewable energy, Policy, Electricity generation, Thermal energy, Hydropower, Solar energy, Wind power, Geothermal energy, Nuclear power, Nuclear fusion, Fuel cell, Fossil fuel, CO2, Carbon dioxide, Global warming, Heat engine, Heat pump, Exergy, Atomic nuclei, Radiation, Radioactivity, Radioactive materials, Accident of nuclear power plant, Environmental pollution, Low-dose radiation exposure, Risk, Accelerator, Elementary particles.

Office hours

Questions should be asked right after each lecture. E-mails are also accepted at torii-energy@radphys4.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Remarks 1

Remarks 2

Related URL

http://radphys4.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~torii/lecture/TUAT/ (in Japanese)

Lecture Language

Language Subject

Last update

9/21/2018 2:37:00 PM