Q1. You work at a space agency and are responsible for designing an energy portfolio for setting up a human colony on a celestial body that is X km away from the sun, and Y km away from the earth. You are going to start with nothing and build everything from the scratch.

What types of energy sources would you consider to sustainably run the human colony on the celestial body, and what factors would you consider in making your energy choices/decisions?

List out the major areas of energy consumption and match them with an energy source or a combination of energy sources you see fit.

Back your case with logical arguments. When coal was first adopted as an energy source, it was thought to be viable as there was hardly any awareness about its environmental impacts, and we still struggle to completely get rid of it and offset its negative effects. As you are given the power to make energy decisions from a clean slate, how will you ensure that what you think to be a viable technology for the celestial body today wouldn't turn out to be another detrimental technology after a few decades?

Note: Although it's a hypothetical exercise, you should pick a known (non-fictional) celestial body and discuss known (non-fictional) energy sources. So, X and Y are fixed once you pick the celestial body. Do X and Y affect your energy choices? If so, how?

Q2. Problems: (i) How much energy is produced in an M6.8 earthquake? (You can use the earthquake energy calculator available here: https://earthalabama.com/energy.html#/). Express the calculated energy in Joules with an appropriate metric prefix. What is the order of magnitude of this energy? How does it compare to the order of magnitude of the annual global consumption?

(ii) How much energy (in Joules, with appropriate metric prefix) is produced from completely burning 10 g of charcoal during BBQ? (Refer to the calorific value table in the appendix) (iii) How much energy (in Joules, with appropriate metric prefix) is produced from the nuclear fission of 1 g of uranium? (Refer to the table in the appendix)

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Appendix: Calorific Value Gaseous fuels [kWh/kg Acetylene Hydrogen 13.9 39.4 Methane 15.4 Natural gas (US market) 14.5 Liquid fuels [kWh/kg Acetone Butane Butanol 8.83 13.64 10.36 Diesel fuel Dimethyl ether (DME) Ethane 12.67 881 14.42 Ethanol (100%) 8.25 Diethyl ether (ether) 11.94 Gasoline (petrol) 12.89 Gas oil heating oil) 11.95 Glycerin 5.28 Heavy fuel oil 11.61 Kerosene 12.83 Light fuel oil 12.22 LNG 15.33 LPG 13.69 Marine gasoil 12.75 Methanol 6.39 Methyl ester (biodiesel) 11.17 Oils vegetable (biodiesel) 11.25 Paraffin (wax) 12.78 Pentane 13.5 Petroleum naphtha 13.36 Propane 13.99 Tar 10 Turpentine 12.22 Solid fuels [kWh/kg] Anthracite coal 9.06 Bituminous coal 8.39 Carbon 9.11 Charcoal 822 Coke 7.22 Lignite (brown coal) 3.89 Peat 4.72 Petroleum coke 8.69 Semi anthracite 8.19 Sub-Bituminous coal 6.78 Sulfur(s) 2.56 Wood (dry) 4.5 Nuclear Fuels Specific Energy [kWh/kg] Plutonium-239 23,222,915 Plutonium-239 8,700,000 Uranium (U-235) 22,394,000 Thorium (Th-232) 22,061,000 Plutonium-238 621,900 Appendix: Calorific Value Gaseous fuels [kWh/kg Acetylene Hydrogen 13.9 39.4 Methane 15.4 Natural gas (US market) 14.5 Liquid fuels [kWh/kg Acetone Butane Butanol 8.83 13.64 10.36 Diesel fuel Dimethyl ether (DME) Ethane 12.67 881 14.42 Ethanol (100%) 8.25 Diethyl ether (ether) 11.94 Gasoline (petrol) 12.89 Gas oil heating oil) 11.95 Glycerin 5.28 Heavy fuel oil 11.61 Kerosene 12.83 Light fuel oil 12.22 LNG 15.33 LPG 13.69 Marine gasoil 12.75 Methanol 6.39 Methyl ester (biodiesel) 11.17 Oils vegetable (biodiesel) 11.25 Paraffin (wax) 12.78 Pentane 13.5 Petroleum naphtha 13.36 Propane 13.99 Tar 10 Turpentine 12.22 Solid fuels [kWh/kg] Anthracite coal 9.06 Bituminous coal 8.39 Carbon 9.11 Charcoal 822 Coke 7.22 Lignite (brown coal) 3.89 Peat 4.72 Petroleum coke 8.69 Semi anthracite 8.19 Sub-Bituminous coal 6.78 Sulfur(s) 2.56 Wood (dry) 4.5 Nuclear Fuels Specific Energy [kWh/kg] Plutonium-239 23,222,915 Plutonium-239 8,700,000 Uranium (U-235) 22,394,000 Thorium (Th-232) 22,061,000 Plutonium-238 621,900