Renewable Energy Ideas that Could Change the World

URL: http://www.wellhome.com/blog/2010/02/10-renewable-energy-ideas-that-could-change-the-world/ 

Author: Admin

Date of Publication: February 12, 2011 

 

Picture: This picture shows a solar satellite in space converting the sun’s energy into power and transferring it down to earth.

Summary: Many people like the idea of switching to the alternative energy source solar power. Even though solar power plants are very energy efficient and create huge amounts of electricity, consistency is the problem. Solar power on earth cannot be harvested during bad weather conditions or during the night. A renewable source of energy that could change the world is solar satellites. Solar satellites have an advantage over solar power plants because they are located above the weather conditions and can create electricity 24 hours a day. This technology is in very early stages and the scientists in NASA are working on getting the equipment/materials into space. While potentially an excellent solution, the issues of the expensive costs of getting materials in space, and the technology required to send the collected energy back to earth for consumption is not yet possible. There first challenge is to make this experiment possible. This way of collecting energy could reduce the amount of coal and natural gas we have to use; keeping the coal miners out of danger. If solar satellites can be made and used, it will solve the world’s need of unlimited energy. Even though fossil fuels will run out at a time period, solar power will always be available.  

Opinion/Reflection:

Solar satellites will be a great way to produce huge amounts of energy without producing any pollution or waste. It is environmental friendly and can create energy 24 hours a day. Before today I never thought that this kind of technology could happen. Even though they are still in the early stages of making this dream real with the technology today, anything can happen. My neighbor has solar panels on their house and said that it saves them a great amount of money. There only negative thing about solar power is that you eventually have to turn on your electricity using coal or natural gas. They told me that if solar panels could create electricity during the night it would be a miracle.  What NASA and scientists are trying to do can also hurt coal and natural gas companies greatly. Switching to only solar power and oil for cars will potentially make the unemployment rate increase. There are pros and cons to this source of energy we just need to figure out what outweighs what.

Questions:

1)      What are some pros and cons to switching to solar power using the solar satellite? (2 for each, at least)

2)      Do you think we will have the technology to make the solar satellite possible in the next few years? Explain? 

      3)   Do you think we would use coal or natural gas for electricity after creating energy 24 hours a day using solar satellites? Explain?

California Smog Problem Putting Giant Sequoia Redwoods At Risk
Author: Jaymi Heimbuch
Publication date: May 31, 2012
Link: http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/californias-smog-problem-putting-giant-sequoia-redwoods-risk.html

Caption: This is one of the trees that is harmed by air pollution in California. These trees are called the Sequoia Redwoods.

Summary: California is well known for their gigantic redwood trees. This element of their landscape is in danger due to harmful smog in the Central Valley. Things like farms, food processing factories, and major highways all contribute to the pollution. This pollution prevents new seeds from being established. Also, needles turn yellow and cause the tree to die. The Central Vally region of California has the worst air quality of any national park, According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Not only does this pollution hurt the trees, it hurts us too. Workers in these national parks have to be warned of their increased risk of lung and heart problems associated with the pollution. The future of these trees is still uncertain, and a lot must be done still to ensure better air quality.

Opinion: I think that we had to have known that something like this would happen when we started to pollute more. These trees provide us with oxygen, and humans need oxygen to survive. So, I think that we should do everything we can to save the trees. I remember when I was in California and Oregon on vacation, a saw trees like these. A handful of them looked like they were dying so I asked my dad about it, and he said it was because of bad air quality. In the article, the trees are described as the "lungs of the planet", and it seems to me like they are becoming the 'damaged lungs of the planet'.

Questions:

1)  Explain a few things that can be done to improve the air quality.

2)  Who should be accountable for the polltion? Why?

3)  Do you think that the general public should be worried about this at the moment? Explain.

Temperature Inversion Layers

http://geography.about.com/od/climate/a/inversionlayer.htm

 

Temperature inversion layers, also called thermal inversions or just inversion layers, are areas where the normal decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude is reversed and air above the ground is warmer than the air below it. Inversion layers can occur anywhere from close to ground level up to thousands of feet into the atmosphere.
Inversion layers are significant to meteorology because they block atmospheric flow which causes the air over an area experiencing an inversion to become stable. This can then result in various types of weather patterns. More importantly though, areas with heavy pollution are prone to unhealthy air and an increase in smog when an inversion is present because they trap pollutants at ground level instead of circulating them away.

Opinion: Thermal inversion are areas when warm air is on the top of cold air, reversed from the original pattern Thermal inversions are bad and can create extreme weather conditions. Some of these extreme weather conditions are tornadoes and thunderstorms. Theses inversions are said to be a result of other weather patterns. The occur when a warm less dense air mass moves over a cold dense air mass.

Questions:
1) What are thermal inversions and why are they bad?
2) What are some things that cause these inversions?
3) Explain the normal pattern of air and contrast it to the inversion air pattern.

Pros and Cons of GMO Foods

http://www.livestrong.com/article/213053-pros-cons-of-gmo-foods/

This picture shows a cob of corn. The different colored peices
of corn are supposed to represent the GMO parts of the corn.

          As we all have learned, GMOs are genetically modified organisms that have new genes added from another organism to their existing genes. GMOs are an extremely controversial topic since there are so many pros and cons. The idea of having genetically modified food is appealing to some because it can help them with their issue of malnutrition; vitamins and minerals may be added to a food that were not recently present to enhance the food's nutritional value. On the other hand, some people may experience allergic reactions to genetically modified foods since scientists may mix/add protiens that were not present in the original food. Another con to GMOs is decreased antibiotic efficacy. What that means is that the food is altered so it is immune to certain diseases, then when we eat the food we are also immune to those illnesses. This may seem good at first, however with the GMOs from the food in your body it will make the real antibiotics less effective. Plants can also be altered to be resistant to insects. This is a pro because the GMO helps keep insects away whil still remaining safe for humans to eat. GMOs that keep away repell insects and weeds are also environmentally protective. By using a GMO to keep away the pests/weeds there is no more need for the harmful chemicals to destroy the environment. One of the major cons to GMOs would be the fear of the altered organisms transfering to the wild and mixing thier genes. By doing so, some species may become endangered or even extinct. As you can see there are the pros and cons to GMOs, which is what makes it an extremely controversial topic.

Opinion:
I think that certain GMOs are good, while others are not. I like the idea of the GMOs that repell pests so we don't have to use chemicals. By not using chemicals we are eliminating so much pollution and the idea of GMOs is very positive. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of changing the vitamins, protiens and minerals around in foods. I believe it is very dangerous to do that because someone could have a major allergic reaction to somthing they had always eaten without a problem. I think that GMOs should be allowed when scientists are making the plants resistant to ceratin pests and weeds, but GMOs that alter the vitamins, minerals and protiends of a food should not be allowed at all.

Questions:

1. If you had the power to do so, would you ban all GMOs? Explain why or why not.

2. What are some examples of GMOs that we are in contact with everyday and may not even realise it? Why are we not aware of these GMOs?

3. Do you believe that altering an organism to be pest resistant is better that using pesticides/chemicals? Explain.

Air pollution 'will become bigger global killer than dirty water'

Beijing China is one of the cities estimated to be hit hardest by air pollution.

Air pollution has become a bigger killer to humans than poor sanitation and the lack of clean drinking water. It is estimated that approximately 3.6 million people per year will be prematurely killed due to air pollution by 2050. That is almost 140 billion people, and the majority of the deaths are expected to be in China and India. The richer ocuntries are also expected to get hit harder because of their ground level ozone and their elderly populations--elderly people are more receptive to health problems. A recent report from the OCED revealed four key areas of main concern: climate change, the loss of biodiversity, water, and the health results of pollution. If current policies are allowed to carry on, the world will far exceed the levels of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are safe, the report found. If countries don't use cleanerr energy, emissions are expected to increase as much as half of what they are now.

Opinion:

It's not surprising that air pollution is expected to kill so many people, and that estimation of casualties is based on the current pollution rate, which will probably rise by 2050 so that means air pollution will kill way more people. The amount of pure oxygen in the atmosphere is a rather small percentage, and it's only going to get smaller. So many people are going to die due to things that were originally thought of to make our lives better, which is ironic. But hopefully over the next few years someone will invent a way to reduce the amount of pollution we put into the air.

Questions:

1)Where else in the world will be heavily impacted by air pollution?

2) Could the government(s) put restrictions on the amount of air pollution we are allowed to emit?

3) How long do you think will it take/ What needs to happen for everyone to realize just how badly we are treating the earth? What do you think will happen afterwards?

Wind Turbines Disrupt Golden Eagles Flight Paths
Author: none given
Publication Date: 5/10/2012
Link: http://www.statejournal.com/story/18260148/wvu-researchers-study-how-to-keep-wind-turbines-out-of-eagles-flight-path

Caption: This is a picture of the wind turbines in Altamont Pass, which is in California. Golden Eagles fly through this pass in order to get to their nesting grounds.

Summary: Wind turbines can provide a lot of renewable energy with proper conditions. However, there are a few drawbacks to the turbines. Studies were done in order to try to figure out why many birds, specifically the golden eagle, were getting killed by the wind turbines of Altamont Pass in California. West Virginia University found that birds would rather get to their nesting grounds fast and be tired rather than slow but well rested. In order for the birds to go fast, they need good wind. The places where the wind is optimal, are the same places that have a huge amount of wind turbines. The birds are unable to avoid hitting the wind turbines due to the huge quantity of them. Two biologists from WVU named, Adam Duerr and Trish Miller, placed trackers on the eagles to categorize their flight  and stop the problem. They hope that they can save the birds before it is too late, especially since their population is down to about 2,000 to 5,000.

Opinion: I knew that this kind of thing happened and wanted to know why. I also remember discussing something similar in class about bats getting killed by wind turbines. But you have to know that every good thing has to have at least one or more drawbacks. In this case, we would either have to move the turbines, or let the bird slowly die off. I would defininetly want to move the wind turbines, but to me it just doesn't seem likely. However, if the birds were smart they would change their flight patterns. So, in turn, the wind turbines are actually just speeding up natural selection in my opinion.

Questions:

1)  Do you think the turbines should be moved, or should we let natural selection happen? Provide an explanation of your opinion.

2)  Discuss the pros and cons of wind energy.

3)  What other types of alternative energy could be relied on at Altamont Pass as a substitute for the wind turbines?

Solar Energy 

This picture shows solar energy panel. These panels sit out in the sun all day collecting energy and transmitting it into electricity for us to use.

http://www.dasolar.com/solar-energy 

       Solar energy is a clean, renewable, alternative energy. It is prodused by having panels absorb the sun's energy and convert it into electricity. The elctricity is then either stored in batteries, sent to the grid, or converted into alternating current using an inverter for use at the location.  In fact, "Solar energy is our most abundant form of energy... Just one hour of sunlight provides enough solar energy to power the world's homes for an entire year" (dasolar.com). Solar energy is a renewable enrgy and will always be renewable since it collects its energy from the sun and, hopefully, the sun will always be there to provide us with energy. Solar energy may also be available to people in their homes; instead of paying fof their next electric bill, people may have the oppurtunity to put their own solar panels on their home to collect and make their own energy. There are actually a few ways to use solar energy which include, but are not limited to: Solar Thermal Energy at Home, Solar Hot Air Collectors, and Utility Scale Solar Energy. Solar Thermal Energy at Home is almost exactly what it sounds like; the sun is used to heat air or water which can be used to circualte around your house to keep it warm, or even be stored for showering. Solar hot water heaters are very simple, effective, and an inexpensive way to get hot water. Thermal solar energy is used around the world daily to provide free hot water for every day uses. The next usage of solar energy is solar hot air collectors. Hot air collectors, once again, do exactly what they say they do; collect hot air. This air is heated by the sun and then ventilated throughout the house to keep it warm. Finally there is utility scale solar energy. Utility scale solar energy is when a company produces solar energy that is then sold to everyday users like you and me.

Opinion:

I think solar energy is a great alternative energy source. Solar energy is something that companies should look into and invest in because some day solar energy may be our new main energy source. I believe that we should switch from fossil fuels over to alternative energys, especially solar energy. Solar energy is better than fossil fuels in many different ways, for example it is a clean energy source. Solar energy is also better than fossil fuels becuase it is renewable and free after the panels are set up. Plus, solar energy can be used in the home so people can produce their own energy and not have to worry about their next electric bill. Solar energy is a great way to produce electricity and should be used more often.

Questions:

1. Would you ever use solar energy in your home? Why or why not?

2. What makes solar energy renewable? Explain.

3. Do you believe solar energy will be the next main energy source?