Sustainable Energy and Environmental Impact

[Clayton Munson]

I’m all for it. $250 per year that’s less than most people pay per month on their electric bill.

[Roland Beinert]

I’m glad the nuclear industry is responding to the criticisms of the past and making a comeback. But even nuclear has drawbacks. You can reduce the waste, but it is still going to be there for ages. Uranium is not a renewable resource, and it is mined with machinery that uses fossil fuels. I also think it’s easier for certain other countries to justify having nuclear for “peaceful” purposes if we decide to rely on it ourselves.
All energy sources have their disadvantages. I think we need to keep exploring all alternatives rather than settling on one.
We also need to continue to make all our modern gadgets more efficient. It’s important to remember that people survived for thousands of years without any of them, and just because a technology is old does not mean it is worthless. Bikes, for example, seem to be considered toys by some now that we have cars. But they are actually the most efficient form of transport we have (even more efficient than walking). For me it’s hard to justify wasting money and energy running an air conditioner all summer when there are ways to cool a building passively.

[Roland Beinert]

I just read this article about carnivorous gadgets: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/carnivorous-gadgets-eat-bugs-and-mice-for-charging-up-video.php
Kind of weird.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

ya roland, cool idea, but it kind of creeps me out for some reason. i’m assuming the entire bodies are “digested” by the fuel cells??

[Roland Beinert]

It kind of creeps me out, too. I imagine it does digest the whole thing.
It’s funny how many weird, obscure ways there are to produce energy.

[Clayton Munson]

Ya a little creepy. but it does offer a base to grow off of. If they are powered from decomposing insects (organic matter) what if the technology was further developed to use any organic waste. Food waste from dinner could be used to power your home. Albeit it would take a whole lot of food to produce enough power, but the future is wide open for this. Think about how much organic matter is sent to landfills from your home.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

agreed, if everyone just kept a compost of food waste think how much organic matter could be kept from being “thrown away”. then that could be used for mulching, soil improvement, etc…or for systems similar to this…

[Roland Beinert]

I think I read somewhere that you can use a compost pile as a source of heating. Anyone else heard of something similar?

[Roland Beinert]

Here’s what I was thinking of: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/1980-05-01/Update-Mothers-Compost-Heat-Experiments.aspx
I doubt it would be practical for everyone to heat their homes with compost, but it’s still kind of interesting. I take some comfort in the fact that there are so many ways to produce heat and energy. Who knows what we’ll come up with in the future.

[dermot higgins]

Countries all over the world except a few ones, backed by their governments are concerned with fossil fuel energy usage and are promoting renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, bio mass generated thermal energy etc.
Ireland and other members of EU are in the forefront in this exercise.
The simplest and best money saver in the long run is harnessing solar energy for water heating.want more information on solar water heating for your home, free consultation is available from greentech.ie

[Steve Mercer]

We have been using renewable energy for years.  Even before it was cool.  We use biomass and our fuel source is waste wood from arborists in our city.  They have trouble getting rid of their waste wood and bring it to us free.  The wood would just end up in a landfill somewhere if we didn’t use it.  They consider wood as carbon neutral because it is a part of the natural carbon cycle that exists regardless of whether we use it or not.  Until the technology improves I see wind and solar being geared to only certain areas of the country.  If our government would invest in the development of Fusion energy like we focused our scientist’s attention on putting a man on the moon, we would have a clean energy source.  I as of yet I have not seen a President that has made an effort to make this a priority.  The electric car and Fusion energy would go a long way to putting our pollution and energy problems behind us.  The number one effort that leads to the largest impact the quickest is conservation of energy, that is why electronics, appliances, and homes are all targeted for reduction in energy use.  But it has to be a design phlisophy before the product is built to achieve the highest energy savings but the effort has begun!  For some reason generating electricity on a small scale from biomass is not cost effective.  The cost of the small turbine generators are so expensive that it is cost prohibative to generate electricity from biomass on anything but the largest of biomass heat plants.

 

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