The article this week covers an aspect of California's water crisis in the form of groundwater depletion. Cali gets about 60% of all its water needs from the aquifers underground and aren't replenishing them at a nearly quick enough rate. It's another one of those problems that is simply out of sight and out of mind. Even more today, during California's infamous drought it currently suffers, the aquifers are virtually non being filled at all. Once the resource runs dry it will take thousands of ears to fill them back up. It won't take long to use up the water either. Will many aquifers becoming contaminated, the options are becoming more and more limited for people choosing to live in these areas with no natural source of water.
In class we discussed events similar to these in which aquifers either run dry or become contaminated. Once an oil leak or fertilizer dump reaches an aquifer, it will never be pure again. This may not affect wildlife forever but in terms of human consumption it matters a great deal. Naturally fresh water is a finite resource but we treat it like it will be around forever. Even today I'm learning that the average American uses over 500 gallons of water a day. That's almost 100 ties more than a family in Africa has for a week.
A question I have is in regard to Canada. They have the most amount of freshwater (in the form of ice) out of any country in the world. Someday will they be able to sell freshwater as an export? Te resorts will have sand from Costa Rica, trees from Hawaii, and water from Canada. It sounds funny, but can that be our future?
Monday, February 27, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Putting the "H" is "wow tHis sure is efficient"
In the article today, I read about hydrogen energy storage as means to connect wind and solar farms to "the grid." The reason this technology is seen as fit is due to its decreasing cost, job creation, and high efficiency. The hydrogen cells are being implemented more in more in countries such as the United States and Germany as a clean and cheap form of energy transfer. More American scientists are getting work in developing the technology needed to reach even better cells. To top it all off, it is already nearly 100 percent efficient. Hardly any volts of electricity are wasted in the energy transfer process, it really is the technology of the future.
In class, we discussed these technologies after watching a TED talk about hydrogen cells. It seems to me that more and more people are identifying the stagnant growth of renewable energies is the lack of large enough batteries and energy transfer processes. Once these technologies improve to the point of allowing total transfer of solar and wind energy, we can start to push out coal and oil from the energy landscape.
A question I have is about lobbying. Are there green energy companies that have congressmen and women in their pockets as well? I wouldn't mind having some tried and true un-American persuasion in that area be done. Maybe some money should be send straight into their pockets so we can get this show on the road already!
In class, we discussed these technologies after watching a TED talk about hydrogen cells. It seems to me that more and more people are identifying the stagnant growth of renewable energies is the lack of large enough batteries and energy transfer processes. Once these technologies improve to the point of allowing total transfer of solar and wind energy, we can start to push out coal and oil from the energy landscape.
A question I have is about lobbying. Are there green energy companies that have congressmen and women in their pockets as well? I wouldn't mind having some tried and true un-American persuasion in that area be done. Maybe some money should be send straight into their pockets so we can get this show on the road already!
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Suns out, guns out
I chose the article dealing with solar and wind energy, considering I know a bit about hydroelectric and I have no interest in geothermal or biomass based energy. Inside I learned that the Sun gives off 173,000 TW of energy continuously, which is about 10 times what humans need to use today. It was pressed once again in the article that battery technology is what is really holding back a large push towards renewable, considering the fact the batteries are too costly to store all the energy that could be captured from solar radiation. I also learned about wind energy's "high payback time." Apparently building the turbines is very easy and fast with a very short amount of time to wait to start profiting off the energy produced. This is what makes creating an entire farm or just a handful of them so viable, very little risk is associated with it.
In class we had to sit in the hallway due to a tornado warning. This gt me thinking about wind energy and the best locations for it. Assuming no damage is done to the turbines would it make sense to place these farms in areas with large storms in addition to the open and windy fields? The placement of solar panels and wind farms is a key component to convincing more people to switch to renewable energy. If they are put somewhere that makes sense and is somehow out of the way, maybe more people can get over how they look and see the clear benefits.
A question I have is about batteries. How soon is that tech gonna be cheap enough for schmucks like me to afford it? Tesla cars, solar panels, and other such environmentally friendly tech is on my bucket list of things to mess with one day, I just hope I don't have to give up doing other cool things to do so.
In class we had to sit in the hallway due to a tornado warning. This gt me thinking about wind energy and the best locations for it. Assuming no damage is done to the turbines would it make sense to place these farms in areas with large storms in addition to the open and windy fields? The placement of solar panels and wind farms is a key component to convincing more people to switch to renewable energy. If they are put somewhere that makes sense and is somehow out of the way, maybe more people can get over how they look and see the clear benefits.
A question I have is about batteries. How soon is that tech gonna be cheap enough for schmucks like me to afford it? Tesla cars, solar panels, and other such environmentally friendly tech is on my bucket list of things to mess with one day, I just hope I don't have to give up doing other cool things to do so.
Monday, February 6, 2017
When reading about Europeans getting blown goes right
This week I'm writing about the article that covers wind energy. More specifically, how offshore wind farms work in Europe and the benefits they present to our impending energy Armageddon. According to one company, a single turn of the blades can power a European home for a day, so the output from these farms is no joke. Around 230,000 households will have all their electricity come solely from wind energy. With 12% of all wind farms now offshore and over $15 billion invested in the field, its clear that many people see this method of generation to be the future. The major problem that prevents this boom from becoming our main source is the fact that the energy storage industry can't keep up fast enough. Companies shave nowhere to put the excess energy they receive. Once the governments of Europe work together to establish a new grid system, renewable energy can continue to expand and Europe will be one step closer to complete use of renewable energy.
This relates to our project in class. Our group is learning about hydroelectric power, and its many drawbacks. The problem with using wind and hydroelectric power is the fact that water doesn't always gush and the wind doesn't always blow super hard. On those days, what are we supposed to do about electricity. Without nuclear or solar energy infrastructure, there could be serious problems with that plan of Europe.
A question I have is about wind farms. How much would it cost Houston to set up a bunch of these farms in Galveston to power the entire city? It would be a great example for the world considering our size. I can see some of the oil companies not letting that happen though.
This relates to our project in class. Our group is learning about hydroelectric power, and its many drawbacks. The problem with using wind and hydroelectric power is the fact that water doesn't always gush and the wind doesn't always blow super hard. On those days, what are we supposed to do about electricity. Without nuclear or solar energy infrastructure, there could be serious problems with that plan of Europe.
A question I have is about wind farms. How much would it cost Houston to set up a bunch of these farms in Galveston to power the entire city? It would be a great example for the world considering our size. I can see some of the oil companies not letting that happen though.