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6EP- 50 Year Energy Plan Portfolio

By Nancy Mitchell
Last updated over 2 years ago
17 Questions
Oregon State Legislature 50-Year Plan

Oregon State Legislature 50-Year Plan

Every other year (biennially), Oregon publishes an evaluation of energy use in the state, which provides current data on energy use and souces and predicts energy needs for the future.


Read an excerpt of Energy by the Numbers (page 1 below) and Climate Change (page 11 below).
1.

From the "Energy by the Numbers" excerpt above, summarize the main sources of energy currently in use by our state.

2.

From the "Climate Change" excerpt above, what do you notice about the different sectors contributing to Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG)?

Charge to the Energy Plan Commission

The Oregon Legislature, through the bipartisan Energy Plan Commission, of which you are a part, is writing a 50-year energy plan for the state. The Commission needs to provide a plan with a rationale and a working spreadsheet to show the effects of alternative plans.

Many legislators are unfamiliar with the basic physics of power production, so please include background information to help them better understand the challenges we face. As part of the requirements, the plan must be responsive to the values of Oregonians and fulfill the requirements of the Oregon Law titled “Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Plan” which requires the state to move completely off fossil fuels by 2040.

Additionally, the state requires power companies to produce reliable power that always meets or exceeds the energy needs of all Oregonians while staying within projected growth each decade.
3.

Engineering Problem Statement

We as (role) seek to (problem) in order to (major criteria/goal) for (stakeholders).

Fill in the orange text using the information from the "Charge to the Energy Plan Commission" to complete your problem statement.

Looking More Closely at the Challenge
4.

Looking More Closely at the Challenge


To wrap our heads around this, let’s try out a “wild guess” Initial 50-Year Plan.

CLICK THIS LINK TO OPEN THE SPREADSHEET TEMPLATE


Play around with some initial numbers, and paste a screenshot of your "wild guess" below.

5.
Constraints are the restrictions placed on potential solutions to problems.

Any successful energy plan must meet the projected energy needs of the state for the next 50 years. In 2016, Oregon passed the Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Act, a first-of-its-kind law to transition off of polluting coal-fired power by increasing the state's commitment to clean electricity (like solar and wind) to by 2040. A successful energy plan must respond to the values of Oregonians: use of clean technologies and prioritizing preserving the environment with a focus on wildlife.

Constraints in the 50 Year Energy Plan:
1. _______
2. _______
3. _______
6.
Criteria are the standards by which something is judged.

Environmental Impact/ Land Use:
Describe how this energy strategy affects the land/water it is on or around. Does it need to be in specific locations?

Climate Impact / Air Quality:
Describe any impact on CO2 emissions or air quality associated with this strategy

Lifetime Cost:
Describe any costs, both short and long term, directly and indirectly associated with this strategy.

Criteria in the 50 Year Energy Plan:
1. _______
2. _______
3. _______
7.

You are tasked to write an essay communicating the problem you are trying to solve with the 50 Year Energy Plan and evaluate your design solution against others.

There will be four (4) sections of your essay:
  1. Exploring Our Engineering Challenge (Claim)
  2. Evaluating Competing 50 Year Plans (Evidence)
  3. Reasoning about the Best Design (Reasoning)
  4. Limitations of your Plan

Click this link to open a copy of the graphic organizer

Use the graphic organizer and sentence frames to make sure your Final Recommendation has all the required information.

We are working on the introductory paragraph only right now, Exploring Our Engineering Challenge (Claim).

When you've finished with the first page, paste a screenshot below.

Background Information
8.

The Basic Physics of Electric Generators


To assist our legislators in their understanding, write a paragraph explaining the basic physics of how electric generators work.

Be sure to include the terms: electromagnet, permanent magnet, current, electrons, voltage, energy, coil, magnetic field, electricity.

9.

Background on Large Scale Power Production, Distribution, and the Grid



To further aid the legislators’ comprehension of this complex topic, describe how our power grid works, using the image as a guide. Include information about how power is produced in large quantities and distributed.

Be sure to include the terms: power plant, high voltage lines, transmission lines, energy, current, transformer, customer.

Designing Solutions
10.

Designing Solutions

Using your prioritized criteria and constraints, your new knowledge about energy sources, computational thinking, and one of the templates below, create a final 50-Year Energy Plan and then copy and paste it in.

Template A) 50-Year Energy Plan with Energy Rubric
Template B) 50 Year Energy Plan with Customizable Energy Source Rubric

11.

Trade screenshots with a partner. Paste your partner's final 50-Year Energy Plan below.

Evaluating Design Solutions
12.

Find and open the graphic organizer we started before by searching in your Google Drive for "6EPSupport- Sentence Stems and Graphic Organizers for Energy Plan Essay".

Use the graphic organizer and the scoring guide below to write your introductory paragraph.


Introductory Paragraph- Exploring Our Engineering Challenge (Claim)

  • Introduce the problem you are trying to solve.
  • Describe what requirements must be met (the constraints) in order to successfully meet your goal.
  • Describe the criteria that will be used to judge the created solution.
  • Make a claim as to what you think is most important of the criteria and explain why.
  • Detail what may happen if a plan is not implemented.

13.

Use the graphic organizer and the scoring guide below to write your Evidence paragraph.

Evaluating Competing 50 Year Plans (Evidence)

  • Your plan
  • Describe the strategy of your plan
  • Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your plan
  • Competing plan
  • Describe the strategy of the competing plan
  • Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the competing plan

14.

Use the graphic organizer and the scoring guide below to write your Reasoning paragraph.


Reasoning about the Best Design (Reasoning)

  • Restate which criteria you found most important and state which plan best fulfills that priority.
  • Describe the differences between your plan and the competitor’s plan in terms of the criteria and strategy.
  • Conclude which plan you find better and explain why.

15.

Use the graphic organizer and the scoring guide below to write your Limitations paragraph.


Limitations of your Plan (Confidence)

  • What challenges do you envision in implementing your solution? Have you made any assumptions?
  • What problems may still remain if your proposed plan is implemented?
  • What technological breakthroughs might change your plan design? How might it change?

16.

Reflect on the Impact of using STEM in Design

How have you grown as a scientist or engineer or how did you use the tools or the mindset of an engineer to improve your design? Explain an example.

17.

Overall, what is the value of applying STEM to Engineering Design?