Are We Green Yet ?

If you are a tree frog, your skin is green. If you are an oak leaf, you are green Are These Organisms Green?

I AM A GREEN OAK LEAF. I need: My living space is : I get water from: Things that eat me: Changes in my environment that affect me are: Are We Green Yet?

I AM A GREEN FROG. I need: My living space is : I get water from: Things that eat me: Changes in my environment that affect me are:

Is this green ?

What was green in the picture? What do we mean by ‘green choices’? What do we mean by green ?

Transportation and Energy H2OH2O NO x CO 2 Acid Rain H2OH2O

The Chemistry of Acid Rain NO x + Water NO 2 + H 2 O Acid Rain HNO 3

The pH scale

What is the problem?

Are cars the problem?

What other fuels could be used? Are they cleaner? What do you think?

One Answer -- Fuel Cells They use hydrogen as a fuel Their fuel cell passes the gas through a proton exchange membrane or PEM

Fuel Cell Animation Los Alamos National Laboratory A Look at the Data

Notice in the animation: What combines with the Hydrogen? What product comes out of the tail pipe ?

The Hydrogen Car

Bremo Power Station on the James River west of Richmond What do you see here? This station burns coal to make electricity.

Burning Coal SO 2

The Chemistry of Acid Rain Sulfur oxides + water SO 2 + H 2 O sulfurous acid H 2 SO 3

Scrubbers are inserted The companies that make electricity put in a device called a scrubber. It would be placed here

The problem doesn’t end Scrubbers produce lots of lime slurry that dries into fly ash. Now what do we do with fly ash?

Often it goes to the landfill.

A new solution: Collect the fly ash Compact it into a new form— LIGHTWEIGHT AGGREGATE—a small rock like substance

Making Concrete + = + CEMENT

We can make concrete Group A—the leaf people – will make normal concrete Group B—the frog people– will make new concrete with some fly ash aggregate in place of gravel Check out your instruction sheets

Does your concrete look like this? Compare your product with one from the other group? Making Concrete

What have we learned ? We have choices to make: OR

Your Choices: What can we do to be GREEN ?

Fill in your Certificate and Be Green Green Certificate Name _________________________ I can be green by: _____ cutting off the water when brushing my teeth _____ recycling paper, plastic or metals _____ riding my bicycle or in a carpool _____ cutting off lights and appliances when not in use _____ using fluorescent light bulbs

More Green ! For more information about fuel cell cars go to