Topic and Challenges
Topic
How would you power your future?
As the world transitions to alternate energy sources, people have to make fundamental changes in the way they operate. In this high school energy competition, your team’s task is to explore ways to enable some aspect of this transition. What types of inventions or redesigns will be needed to take full advantage of the new energy sources? How will suburbs, towns, and cities need to be redesigned? What types of behavior changes will be necessary, and how do we bring those about?
Challenges
Choose one of these challenges and then create a project that addresses it. Your team may choose to use one of the project examples provided on this Web site, or answer the challenge with your own original idea. The solutions are limited only by your imagination.
Challenge 1. Technology
Invent or redesign a machine or process that uses sustainable technologies for energy production, consumption, and conservation.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
- The front-loading washing machine uses much less water and energy than a conventional washing machine. Identify and redesign the next appliance or machine that will substantially lower energy use in your house.
- On long trips, most current hybrid cars primarily run on the gasoline engine. Determine what changes are required to make plug-in hybrids a viable mechanism for a 200-mile overnight trip.
- One of the challenges for hydrogen cars is the volume required for a storage tank. Identify the top technological innovations that would be required to run a larger vehicle, such as a train or 18-wheeler truck, on hydrogen. Demonstrate a prototype model using one of the key innovations.
Challenge 2. Design
Design a living/working space (a building, suburb, town, or city) that has significantly lower CO2 emissions than at present.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
- In 2007 the U.S. Green Building Council developed a new set of standards for “green” school construction, and Washington State requires new school construction to meet The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standards. Demonstrate the design of a highly energy efficient high school with a model and schematics.
- Washington State now uses over 1 million gallons of biodiesel a year, and use is growing rapidly. Design a town around a biofuel plant in central Washington that minimizes energy use for the town.
- As cities across the state look at developing new transportation systems, from public transportation to highways, they have to consider many issues. Design a low CO2 transportation system for a city.
Challenge 3. Behavior
Consider the question of why people are resistant to adopting and implementing alternate sources of energy. Document a personal or social quality that contributes to this resistance, or demonstrate an intervention that can be applied at the personal, local, or societal level to encourage people to consider and adopt alternate energy sources.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
- As much natural gas is used to heat commercial buildings as is used to generate electricity in our state. Develop a set of incentive structures that could be used to get businesses to adopt alternative energy methods for heating or cooling in our state.
- The state tax on gasoline is 54.4 cents per gallon. Examine the effects that raising the state’s gas tax would have on driving and transportation in Washington. Explore what share of the gas tax, if any, is spent on measures to conserve gas. If the tax were increased, how would you propose spending the added revenue to achieve the most beneficial result for reducing CO2 emissions?
- Oil refineries in Washington primarily get their crude oil from Alaska, meaning your car probably runs on oil from the North Slope. Examine the implications of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for the State of Washington.
Challenge 4. Multidisciplinary Collaboration
It is clear that viable approaches to a sustainable energy future require contributions from multiple disciplines and perspectives. Develop a project that incorporates expertise from at least two distinct disciplines to address some aspect of the shift toward alternate sources of energy. The disciplines must be distinctly and demonstrably different, and it must be clear that each is making a significant contribution to the overall project .
PROJECT EXAMPLES
- Converting freight trucks to biodiesel and the impact on food prices of doing so (brings together engineering and economics)
- Public reaction to solar panels and re-designing of the panels to make them more aesthetically pleasing (brings together psychology and architecture)
- Historical writing on eco-friendly actions and the impact on current public policy (brings together English and political science)
New for 2010
See new guidelines for awards, project displays, presentations, and more.
For information about the Imagine Tomorrow competition, please contact Tena Old at skeen@wsu.edu or
509-335-1467.