Sunday 5 June 2011

Conclusion





Lets protect our planet.

We CAN do it.

Environmental issues don't just go away until we together do something about it. So lets.
Invest in renewable energy. Stop protesting on issues that were trying to improve the environment. This is important.

We have the sun that provides energy daily everywhere. Use it -solar Panels.
The Oceans cover 70% of our earth. Use it - tidal, wave and temperature energy.
Wind is a renewable source - Use it - Wind Turbines
The sun and the earths core warms our soil. Use it - Geothermal Energy
Recycle our wastes are other renewable materials. Use it - Biomass

When things like these have so many advantages and things like fossil fuels have so many disadvantages. Its sad. Really.

Prevent disasters like oil spills and pollution. Recycle. Save money, eachother.
Save the Planet, love the Plantet.
There's only one.

Ocean Energy

Amazing? There is so many alternatives out there. But we continue to pollute everyday.

The Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth's surface. The sun's heat warms the surface of the water while the deeper it gets is cooler.

According to this website, there are three types of ocean energy
1. Closed-cycle systems: the ocean's warm surface water is used to vaporize a fluid at a low-boiling point. The vapor expands and turns a turbine. This then produces electricity.
2. Open-cycle systems: boil the seawater at low pressures. This produces steam that passes through a turbine/generator.
3. Hybrid systems: are a combination of closed-cycle and open-cycle systems.









Tides and Waves are also sources that provide energy. 

A dam is constructed in the water to convert tidal energy into electricity.

This video explains wave energy:

 According to this article, Ocean projects could creat 50 000 jobs by 2030.

The alternative energy companies are creating jobs, environmentally friendly and cheaper for the people.

Here's an idea replace oil companies completely. Replace them with renewable companies and tax people less than each of us is paying on gas today. We all become happy. The earth is happy and more jobs are created. Sounds impossible today. But maybe tomorrow, maybe.


Pollution





According to this article the U.S. factories release over 3 million tons of toxic chemicals into the land, air and water.
Some Causes Of Pollution are;
  • Industrial and commercial waste
  • Agriculture practices
  • Vehicle emissions
  • non-renewable sources that power everyday human activities, such as electricity. 
  • Chemical and nuclear plants
  • Industrial factories
  • Oil refineries
  • Human sewage
  • Mining
  • Littering
  • Deforestation
  • Tobacco smoke
  • Combustion of coal
  • Acid rain
  • Power plants
  • Manufacturing buildings
  • Large ships
  • Paint fumes
  • Wildfires
  • Nuclear weapons
  • Factories
  • Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers
  • Oil spills


No matter where you go and what you do, there are remnants of pollution.

 Health Affects
According to this article air pollutants may cause difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and aggravation of respiratory and cardiac conditions.
This can cause increased medication use, doctor or emergency room visits, more hospital admissions and even premature DEATH. Yet, we still pollute. There ARE other ways - renewable energy.


How about not? We can make the change. You just have to decide too. This can be Prevented.





Start now.

Carbon Tax?

  




On June 5th there was a rally in Sydney Australia to encourage the government in carbon taxes. Their message was climate change is happening and we need to do something about it.

"What people are asking for is an ambitious price (on carbon), an investment in renewable energy," rally organizer and national director of GetUp, Simon Sheik, said.

So these people are willing to pay more for the damage they are causing on the earth. But that's the price you pay right? the consequence? We shouldn't be using fossil fuels in the first place, which are converted to carbon dioxide, polluting the air.
In Austrailia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard's has been repeatedly attacked against her proposed carbon tax.
Really people? Well then don't use gas it will be cheaper anyway! We need to get renewable energy in the market for cars. This is a start. How are people opposed to this? I don't get it..


Non-combustion energy sources such as;
Wind
Sunlight
Hydropower
nuclear power
do not convert hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide. By taxing carbon- the burning of fossil fuels, things such as gas, aviation fuel and natural gas will be upped in price. Therefore, hopefully more people will turn to Renewable energy.









Saturday 4 June 2011

Biomass

Sun is renewable.
So far we've talked about how the earth has absorbed energy from the sun and solar panels.
What else absorbs the sun's energy?


Plants -through Photosynthesis store the sun's energy on their roots and leaves.

What is biomass?

Biomass is organic material made from microorganisms (Plants and animals).
Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. When animals eat plants the energy is passed on to animals.

Biomass is
Trees-wood
Crops
waste
manure



Biomass is when this material is burned and the energy stored is released as heat. This can produce steam for making electricity, or provide heat for homes.

It is renewable because we can always plant plants!
Many towns burn their garbage in waste-to-energy plants. Instead of putting the garbage in landfills, they burn it to make electricity.

When is the last time we had a huge technology breakthrough? Technology has increasingly been able to amaze people with the advancements but we haven't seen any huge changes in our daily lives. For example television, cars, or electricity. These were huge. Some people believe that alternative energy will be the breakthrough in technology and investors are calling it "angel investing". According to this article, they believe: "The chances of any one experiment failing may be high, but the chances of all of the experiments failing is very, very low. You should have a thousand points of innovation, and for sure you'll get a breakthrough." The grand goal is that hopefully renewable energy will replace fossil energy sources 100%. However, right now biomass, solar energy and wind energy provide 3.6 percent of the nation's energy. They have predicted that the share will grow 4.2 % by 2030. A lot of money has been poured into ideas and the generation of alternative energy. They are hoping people will invest more and more because they'll cost less than coal or oil. 
Some ideas they've planned are placing 3-mile-square fields of mirrors in the desert to focus the sun's rays and shooting high-pressure water into the hot rock 3 miles underground to create a man-made geothermal reservoir.
As of now biomass is the highest renewable used alternative to fossil fuels at 3.3% (see above graph)
Like other renewable sources, it is environmentally friendly, cost efficient, and renewable.


Sunday 29 May 2011

GeoThermal.

ANOTHER Alternative to POLLUTING the air is Geothermal energy.


Geothermal works much like a fridge. A fridge is cold inside and the back is warm. Heat is drawn out and exits at the back through coils. A heat pump is like a fridge in reverse. Geothermal uses energy from the earth in different forms. Iceland uses volcanic heat to turn water into steam to drive a turbine. Other forms just use a steady state temperature. The exchange process is taking warm air threw pipes in your house and injecting it into the earth to cool your house. To warm a house it takes the warmth from the earth and expels it into the house. 
Here's a video explaining it better. 





Benefits from Geothermal energy include:


-less environmental pollution
-it avoids importing energy resources
-sustainable
-saves money
- works in all weather
- creates less waste disposal 
- has a long life span
-reduces utility costs by almost 70%
-it's Renewable


The ground absorbs the sun just like solar panels and it stays at a constant heat of 55 degrees.

According to this article people think geo-thermal is a great idea, they think it might get us off oil some day. Also, the great thing about it compared to other alternatives is that it runs non-stop. 



Another way to save the planet.
Act now.






Oil Spill in 2010

For those of you who don't truly see the importance of renewable energy, I decided to talk about a devastating  event that happened last year.


For those of you who are extremely environmental friendly, or try to be - thank you.
For most of us listen up!
The image above shows the impact on how far the oil spill has spread.

The oil spill that happened last year in March was horrifying. This article reminds us that we need to realize  that the oil company made an avoidable mistake, however, we are all responsible. Our lifestyle is addicted to oil and this company in question was feeding our addiction while making millions.
Natural disasters are heartbreaking, but if it is a man made disaster, it's disgusting. It could have been prevented.



The gulf spill has been the worst spill in American history with up to 17 and 39 million gallons of oil. As a result 150 endangered sea turtle are dead and 316 birds washed up on shore. It is predicted that it will take almost 7 years for the oil spill to clear in the sea.

Here's an animation video of how it happened,

11 workers and many animals died, along with a lot of jobs that have been jeopardized. Many people relied on the sea for their income and now they have had to change their lives. 

Notices like these have been placed around sea. 


After one year, the oil is still present killing wildlife, and land. 

This could have been prevented. We can live without oil completely. I realize that that is an extreme statement for our lifestyles today, but hopefully we can get there. Don't forget events like these. Everytime you fill your car up remember what you're contributing too.

Let it haunt you. Then invest in renewable energy. 


Solar Panels


The sun powers the earth. It is the source for all energy, so why not capture some of it?





Solar Power is non-polluting. 

How it works,
Solar Panels capture energy from the sun, converting it to electricity. 



Once you've installed the solar panels they are easy and require little maintenance and they reduce utility payments. In Ontario, the cost ranges between 44 and 80 cents per kWh. This cost provides electricity, heating, cooling, and lighting. By installing solar panels this also increases the value of your home. Next, it will reduce the use of fossil fuels that you other wise use. We are using most of our energy during the daytime when the sun is out, and is therefore the most efficient during our biggest load. It is dependable and sustainable. This is beneficial because it would not cause war or conflict. The sun is here for everyone to use and it's renewable. Solar energy is a step to a solution for global warming. 





The biggest impact we feel is cost in gas. We just filled up our car, my mom's driving and it cost $1.316 per liter. Everyday we use it as a part of our lives. Right now I'm driving home and then to work. Gas is not renewable. It WILL run out. I think that before it runs out, gas will become such a ridiculous price that people will finally start looking for alternatives. 
Who killed the electric car? 
So, I think gas will run out but it will take a long time. It will be so close to running out that corporations will make gas so expensive people will start looking for alternatives before it actually does run out. 
Don't wait and continue to dread those heavy gas bills. Start looking now




Solar Panel Cars

This is the future.













Saturday 28 May 2011

Wind Turbines


Depression
Sleep Deprivation
High Blood Pressure
Ear Pain
Motion Sickness
Really?

According to this article, these symptoms are caused simply by annoyance. They believe that when you see the wind turbines and are "annoyed" of them this can cause stress, which may lead to depression. However , there is no direct link. Once your stressed this can cause sleep deprivation and perhaps high blood pressure.

The sound from a wind turbine must be below 40 Decibels at any house near by. That could be compared to somewhere between a quite room and a whisper.

Many people get motion sickness from cars but we don't stop driving cars.

Here we are trying to find an alternative energy source from oil and people are complaining?





Oil can cause
War (from conflict) 
Pollution
It's expensive 
and DIRECT health impacts

The burning of fossil fuels (particularly coal) is a leading cause of air pollution that have a DIRECT health link for pre mature deaths. 


When's the last time you noticed how "ugly" hydro poles are?

When hydro poles were  installed there were some complaints as well. They are everywhere. But we need them and they are generally un-harmful to the environment. 

Wind Turbines are a great way to provide electricity without polluting the air. They have no direct link to cause any symptoms, they are beneficial and they are RENEWABLE.
It's ridiculous to see that people are anti-wind because burning fossil fuels have direct links to problems and they will not last forever. Wind-Turbines are one of few renewable energies to start saving the planet.

 



Wednesday 11 May 2011

Renewable Energy Introduction

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat. This energy is renewable, meaning it never runs out. It is a natural energy that has an unlimited supply.

Non-renewable sources include;
  • oil and petroleum products
  • Natural gas
  • Coal
  • Uranium
This graph represents renewable energy compared to non-renewable energy.





As we can see, a small fraction is renewable. Why?
Oil companies make millions so why should they stop?

Well...because of:
Pollution
Expensive
Non-renewable
Influence foreign policy
Causes conflict

Renewable Energy such as:
Wind turbines
Solar panels
Biomass
are only used 8% in 2009 according to that graph.

This IS an issue.