Energy Education Program Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of the E-Conservation Residential Energy Audit Program

Residential home energy assessments, also known as home energy audits, are comprehensive evaluations of a home’s energy use conducted by certified home energy raters. Energy assessments help consumers identify areas in their home where significant energy savings can be made. Energy assessments also identify occupant behaviors that contribute to overall energy use. The E-Conservation Consumer Energy Education Program successfully utilized home energy audits to help consumers identify building structure and occupant behaviors that contributed to high energy use in their homes. Examining impacts of the audits revealed that those homeowners who were able to implement suggestions from the energy audits realized home energy savings. Examination also revealed that time, cost, and lack of information served as barriers to making home energy efficient improvements.

Conversations: Willing is not Enough - We Must Do

President's column The oil and gas industry employs a large number of people around the world. The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimates that in the US alone, the oil and gas industry is one of the largest employers, supporting more than nine million jobs providing cost-competitive energy and adding more than USD 1 trillion to the US economy. However, the measure of our industry is not only in the numbers that it employs, but more significantly is in the number of lives that it touches, and that is the entire population of our planet, roughly seven billion people. This creates a profound sense of social responsibility for us as an industry. Without a doubt, our industry impacts the lives of almost all of us, regardless of whether we reside in developed or developing countries, in large or small urban areas, or in the remotest corners on this planet. Every day we use hundreds of products that have their roots in petroleum—the clothing we wear; equipment that we use in our work or leisure pursuits; health and beauty products; household furnishings; building materials; transportation; and many other applications. Without these products, the lifestyles and health of many, many people would be significantly different. However, at least a segment of the general public views the activities of the oil and gas industry as incompatible with the concept of a sustainable planet. I am not certain of the extent of the sentiment or the significance of the numbers, but I have clearly heard about it from the industry leaders and the officials in many countries that I have travelled to as the SPE president. Jeane Kirkpatrick, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, once said that “Oil is a product that arouses so much passion. A lot of people have a passionate fear, or distaste, or downright hatred almost for oil. There is no other product that so many people need so badly, yet so many people believe should be produced entirely without profits.” This is a serious matter. Public perception is an intangible asset that helps the industry attract resources, and develop a sustainable viability. We may differ on whether there is a scientific basis for this negative public opinion, but the reality is that the perception exists, and it translates into a more difficult environment for the industry to conduct its business. We, as members of the industry, need to recognize this and find ways to reverse the sentiment. Erosion of our image, I suggest, has not been due to the way we have run our business, but rather because we have behaved somewhat passively in the past, allowing unqualified others to make sweeping negative claims that portray our industry as insensitive to a sustainable planet. SPE’s energy education program is a key weapon in the fight against misinformation. Our outreach efforts that give teachers the science and facts about energy and our industry’s contributions are hugely important.

Building Bridges: My Journey Continues… Carrying the Banner for Energy Education

President's column Our industry needs more young people to consider careers in energy. If forecasts are correct that the world consumption could reach 120 million BOPD in the next 25 years, up from the current level of about 85 million BOPD, it will be our young professionals, university students, and those in the next generation who will be called upon to meet these demands. But beyond our industry's human resources needs, we recognize that ALL students need to become informed consumers of energy. Today's students are the future leaders of companies, universities, and public agencies—they will ultimately make critical decisions that impact our planet's energy supply. We need to let them know that our industry is both a growth and a very high-tech industry, and give them the knowledge to be energy-responsible leaders. SPE has made some big steps in promoting educational programs about energy and careers to young people in elementary school through high school. I hope you've read the Energy Information Committee's reports on these programs over the past year in JPT's SPE News section. I'd like to thank former SPE President DeAnn Craig for her leadership as the first chairperson of the committee, and welcome Bill Pike as the new chairperson. SPE's new energy education program, called Energy4me, has its own website combining all our resources in one place. When you visit www.energy4me.org, you'll notice that we discuss all energy sources, while we provide information about the importance of oil and gas in our everyday lives—an important part of improving our industry's image. The site also provides career information, including a new database showing all SPE section scholarships. Take a special look at the new speaker resources that have been created. The Energy4me Kit updates the Magic Suitcase. You can find presentations that are ready to go. Students today respond positively to hands-on activities, and the new Energy4me kit has some activities that you can do in the classroom or copy and leave behind for the students to do later. You can see the elements of the new kit on the Energy4me.org website, along with an order form.

Drilling for Water and Life - The Human Side of Petroleum Engineering

In the 40 years or so that I have worked in the oil and gas industry, I have witnessed an impressive transformation in our industry's performance in protecting people and the environment. There are obvious business and legal drivers, but the success would not have happened without appealing to employees in our industry to be good stewards of the environment and to help others. It is understood that our industry operates by permission of the public: no permission, no permits. Many companies have excellent programs for partnerships with the communities where they operate. Every year, SPE recognizes exceptional service to the public with its Public Service Award. SPE also has an active energy education program with the objective of improving the industry's public image. The Society encourages section members to get involved with local civic groups and to serve as speakers on energy issues. SPE also sponsors speakers to attend teachers' conventions and is starting a fund to help teachers buy teaching materials on energy education for classroom use and to help pay for education events and trips. The vision statement in the Industry Image section of the recently approved SPE Long Range Plan states: "Petroleum professionals are widely regarded as ethical, competent, environmentally sensitive, and providing a vital service to society." It is in keeping with SPE's tradition of community service that I share an opportunity for humanitarian service that requires the special skills of petroleum engineers. In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Johannesburg Declaration committed the 189 nations who signed it to develop concrete action to reverse the poverty, hunger, and disease affecting billions of people. The declaration endorsed a previous set of goals formulated by world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. One of the goals is to "reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation by the year 2015." A few years ago, a group of nongovernmental organizations combined to form the Millennium Water Alliance to coordinate efforts to save lives by providing clean water and sanitation to the world's poorest countries, where approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

Using Energy Audits to Enhance Experiential Energy Education

ABSTRACT This article describes the development of techniques for integrating energy audits into an energy education program targeted to provide experiential educational to accelerate the development of related knowledge and skills. These techniques were refined in the classroom during the fall of 2005 as part of an electrical/mechanical engineering course concerned with the design and analysis of systems for the production, conversion, and use of energy. Major goals of the class were (1) to facilitate the development of analytic capabilities and skills for the design and optimization of various energy systems in commercial businesses and industry in new ways; and (2) to enhance the speed, quality, and efficiency of learning. The approach has resulted in increasing both the level of understanding and the rate at which it is obtained. This is accomplished by directly involving students in energy audit and research activities and by using computer visualization tools to facilitate the development of needed ...

Development of Energy and Environment Education Program and Teaching Aids for Upper Grade of Elementary School by Effective Utilization of Regional Collaboration

Energy and environment education learning unit for upper grade of elementary school was developed and carried out. A regional collaboration among elementary schools, universities and municipal governments was utilized to develop the learning unit effectively. The learning unit was proposed based on the analysis using questionnaires done to the sixth grade students in Yahaba-Higashi elementary school. The results of the analysis revel that the 78% students acquire the knowledge about energy and environment by the previous times of synthetic learning. However, the students do not have strong motivation to act for remediation of the energy and environmental circumstances, whereas they have rich-knowledge about those issues. Based on the analysis, the learning unit of energy and environment was designed with focusing to get the skill through the demonstrational experiment developed and/or arranged by academic staffs in Iwate University and in Yahaba-Higashi elementary school. The designed learning unit consists two courses; one is electricity production learning and the other is fuel cell learning. The detail of two courses is shown in Table 1. The designed learning program was carried out as time of synthetic learning for sixth grade students in Yahaba-Higashi elementary school and was evaluated by questionnaires. The results showed the designed energy and environment learning program motivated to act locally for sustainable development as shown in Fig. 1. Table 1.

Promoting Energy Understanding in the Classroom

Have you visited an elementary, middle, or high school classroom lately? Was there an atmosphere of excitement in the room? Were the students engaged in active learning, and tackling tough subjects and issues? More important, were they learning about energy? If you were in a Natl. Energy Education Development (NEED) Project classroom, you would have discovered all of these things. After 25 years, its innovative energy curriculum and programs reach more teachers and students every year. The NEED Project was launched with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Energy with a goal to educate teachers and students about all types of energy and the issues that surround the exploration, production, use, and conservation of energy. Its mission is to promote an energy-conscious and educated society by creating effective networks of students, educators, businesses, government, and community leaders to design and deliver objective, multisided energy education programs. Today, the program serves teachers and students in 45 states and U.S. territories. The public’s understanding of energy is critical to both the industry and citizens. This program teaches the scientific concepts of energy and provides factual information about energy sources and use and about energy’s impact on the environment, the economy, and society. It includes curriculum materials, professional development, evaluation tools, and teacher recognition. Materials are available for all grade levels from kindergarten through high school. Educators can design classroom programs that spark the interest of their students and meet course objectives. To ensure that teachers and students are working with accurate information, materials are updated regularly, using the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Admin., as well as from a wide range of energy industry partners. The NEED curriculum begins with science. Students at all grade levels learn about the science of energy—heat, light, motion, sound, nuclear, and electricity—with age-appropriate, hands-on exploration that emphasizes the scientific process. Students explore the history of energy and the role energy plays in current events, and they consider the possibilities and challenges of the future. The energy industry faces labor shortages in the coming years. Energy choices and challenges will become increasingly complicated as the nation and the world balance the need for energy supply with the importance of increasing energy efficiency and conservation. The world energy market grows daily, with new stakeholders, new resources, and greater challenges. The energy world is ever-expanding, and this program exists to prepare future leaders, train teachers to teach energy from a balanced perspective, and reach parents and community decision makers through energy outreach and education. NEED teachers are among the best. Sometimes called “energy geeks” by their peers, these teachers recognize the value of teaching energy to their students. Energy is a natural fit in any classroom, in any subject area. In NEED classrooms, energy is integrated into science with hands-on experiments. In social studies, students consider land use and energy policy. Energy shows up in the language arts curriculum as a persuasive essay written by a student balancing the pros and cons of drilling in the Alaska Natl. Wildlife Refuge. In the technology classroom, students learn about hydrogen fuel cells. And energy is in the career center as students consider the energy industry as a viable option for employment after high school, community college, or college. Energy can be integrated easily into every classroom.

Shared Vision (March 2005)

Everyone will remember the oil price collapse of the mid-1980s and the related layoffs and hiring freezes. At that time, the industry, which had hired aggressively for more than 10 years (1973-1984) and built up large staffs, entered a period of austerity, characterized by almost unending restructuring, reorganizations, mergers, consolidations, downsizings, layoffs, and cost cutting in virtually every sector, including R&D. The doors of most operating companies were sealed to the many new university graduates looking for a post at the same time that many employees at those companies were losing their jobs. The lack of recruitment, combined with widespread job cutting, drastically reduced employment in the industry. Our industry’s reputation deteriorated, and energy was no longer seen as an attractive career by most. Many of the displaced upstream professionals discouraged their children from careers in the petroleum industry, concerned that the downward spiral would continue. Major accidents, with huge spills from oil super-tankers, the loss of offshore platforms and human lives, and images of dense black smoke produced by hundreds of wells simultaneously on fire, have also contributed to the public’s critical view of the petroleum industry. The negative picture of our industry resulted in a remarkable decrease of students in geology and petroleum engineering curricula. In recent years, to guarantee their future, most oil and service companies have begun hiring geologists, engineers, and geophysicists after a long period of little employment activity. But the earlier events have caused a drastic change in our industry’s demographics, shown in Fig. 1. A large part of today’s workforce is made of those who survived the restructurings, and the average age of E&P employees has shifted from about 43-45 to 48-50 years of age. These employees are typically extremely busy, with little time left for mentoring, and likely will retire within 5 to 10 years. It is not difficult to envision a critical need to replace this huge amount of outgoing senior expertise. Our industry must recruit, train, and rapidly develop the brightest, most creative, well educated, and environmentally and socially responsible young talents. To have the best chance of success, our industry must have ample and permanent availability of skilled students choosing petroleum and energy as an extremely exciting and challenging career. Furthermore, to proceed with enthusiasm along the challenging path of providing the technological innovations required to deliver low-cost, safe energy, these professionals must feel supported by the public. This is why the SPE Energy Education initiative is both timely and strategic. The effort was initiated by 2002 SPE President Steve Holditch in the form of the SPE Public Energy Education Committee (PEEC). One of PEEC’s major efforts was creation of the Energy Education pages on SPE.org, which include an Energy Education Slide Library that SPE members can use in presentations to students or the public. The work begun by PEEC is being continued as a comprehensive Energy Education Program through a global network of Regional Coordinators.

Solar energy education - a viable pathway for sustainable development

The growing consumption of limited reserves of fossil fuels and their impact to the environment have raised global interest in harnessing solar energy. Proper knowledge of solar energy is lacking in many levels of society. Recently, the Energy Research Institute (ERI) of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have conducted a survey on the availability of solar energy education program around the world. It has been observed that a considerable amount of work has been done for developing solar energy technologies but relatively little attention has been paid on the role of solar energy education. This paper gives an overview of the current status of solar education program available around the globe and it also highlights the importance of the energy information network for solar education program.

Holocaust Education: Legislation, Practices, and Literature for Middle-School Students

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsEdna Greene BrabhamEDNA GREENE BRABHAM works at the Institute of Science and Public Affairs at Florida State University in Tallahassee as administrator of the Children's Language Arts and Science Project, an energy and environmental education program for primary students that combines children's literature with language arts and hands-on science activities.

The Effects of an Energy Education Program on Energy Conservation Behaviors

In the 1980s, an energy education program in Georgia funded by the Governor’s Office of Energy Resources was designed specifically to help low-income and elderly consumers save money on their utility bills by practicing energy-conservation measures. A study was conducted in 1991 to evaluate the effects of this energy education program using a sample of 1009 individuals who participated in the energy education program. A significant increase in energy conservation behaviors on the second visit, compared to the behaviors reported at the pretest visit, indicated considerable improvement (86% had a higher score) after having received the energy education. Given that education can result in increased energy conservation and decreased utility costs for consumers, efforts to continue energy conservation education to low-income and elderly consumers should be included as a topic in programs targeting these audiences.

In-Home Energy Education for Elderly and Limited-Income Households

AbstractThis study was designed to evaluate the impact of the Energy Education Program (EEP) on energy-conservation and energy-related behaviors among elderly and limited-income individuals in Georgia. Data were collected before and after the home visits of an energy-education counselor. The visits appeared to influence energy-related dwelling and behavioral changes. Dwelling changes correlated highly with three factors: 1) home visits by the energy counselor, 2) desire to keep warmer in the winter or cooler in the summer, and 3) the desire to reduce energy bills. The influence of promotions on television, radio, or newspapers was not correlated with changes. Of participants who had wasteful energy-consumption behaviors at the first summer visit, 61 percent showed improvement at the second visit. Among the reasons given to make changes, 78 percent of the sample attributed their action to visits from the energy counselor.

An Evaluation of a Statewide Energy Education Program

An Evaluation of a Statewide Energy Education Program

HOME ENERGY EDUCATION AND THE ELDERLY

The home energy problems of elderly people have not received much attention until the last decade. The need for information and education is now being recognized by educators, gerontologists, and public policy makers. Energy education can assist people to keep pace with new energy technologies and available assistance programs. This research identified factors which were significant in predicting familiarity with, and participation in, energy assistance programs for low income elderly people. Specific sub‐groups of elderly people were identified as being most in need of home energy information. Recommendations are made for those providing energy education to elderly people. Low income elderly people, particularly males and those over 75 years of age, need to be encouraged to participate in energy education programs. These programs should include information on energy assistance programs available to them. Programs should be planned with consideration of immediate usefulness of information, of daytime pres...

Impact on a Five Week Energy Education Program on Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes

Impact on a Five Week Energy Education Program on Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes

Instructional development through a national industry-education partnership

A Grade K-12 energy education program was developed, field tested, and installed in the schools with more than a million students in 1984 under an industry-education partnership involving several major energy companies and national education organizations. Nationwide field testing during development yielded mean pretest and posttest scores of 52 and 86 percent across the elementary and high school units. Data from 50,000 students using the program revealed similar overall test scores after its installation in regular classes. A set of ID practices that contributed to the success of the project are recommended for instructional developers.

An inservice energy education program for elementary schoolteachers

AbstractA National Science Foundation‐sponsored energy education inservice project was conducted during thirty, weekly sessions for twenty‐seven elementary school teachers throughout the 1979–1980 school year. Time was devoted to studying energy sources, demand for energy, and energy policy and decision making. Energy education curriculum materials were examined for each of these content areas, and an energy education unit was taught by each participant in his or her own classroom. The Energy Inventory, developed by The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, was used with a pretest‐post‐test control group design to determine if the participants gained a significant amount of knowledge about energy and significantly changed their opinions about energy. Analysis of covariance indicates that significant changes in knowledge possessed and opinions held about energy were achieved during the thirty weekly sessions. Since most current energy education materials require a considerable amount of teacher knowledge about energy and modeling of good energy practices, it is assumed that teachers participating in this project will do a better job of teaching energy education materials than they might otherwise have done.

Captain Power and Power Quiz: Two New Energy Education Programs

The Elementary SchoolJournal Volume 79, Number 5 o 1979 by The University of Chicago 0013-5984/79/7905-0005$00.95 In 1975 Federal Energy Administration, now Department of Energy, sponsored regional hearings around country to learn what schools were teaching about energy and what needs schools might fill in future. Educators at these meetings frequently expressed need for direction in developing energy education curricula. There were frequent complaints about the lack of useful classroom materials and . . . structured programs, and it was generally felt that major need was for a systematic approach to energy education, as opposed to present reliance on a Band-Aid technique (1). This report describes first two years of an energy education project that is intended to be responsive to concerns raised during hearings of Federal Energy Administration. To date, project has produced two classroom-tested energy education programs for more than two thousand primary and intermediate classrooms in San Diego area. Two similar secondary-level programs are being developed. Involved in project are school districts of area, San Diego Gas & Electric, and a number of specialists in development of educational products. This report is addressed to all interested in energy education, particularly groups that intend to develop their own programs.

How To Implement Energy Education

Despite the many dif ficulties involved in integrating effective energy education pro grams into the school curriculum some pro grams have been developed and imple mented successfully. Some recommenda tions are made and one such program is described here.

School Program Takes Lead in Energy Conservation

An energy education program is underway in one New York high school that involves the staff, the students, and the school community. That program is described on the following pages.