China is Going Green???

While china has the largerst population in the world, it also produces the most pollution in the world. Right now they are not very happy with themselves, and want to help the world that we all must share. That is why most people are putting solar water heaters on their roof, and some are even getting their electricity from only solar pannels. Although their usage on fossil fuel will increase by 3% in the next decade, they still hope to be able to contribute as much as they can. That is why recent news reporters have confirmed that the chinese government just signed with The company, First Solar, to buy enough solar pannels to make a huge solar farm. And when i say huge i mean huge!!!! China plans to set aside unused land in inner mongolia. So much land in fact that they are making a solar farm larger than the city of manhatan. The largest in the world. It wil dwarf any other solar farm and is expected to supply over 3,000,000 homes in china. Now i know you may think, whats the big deal? On the day of this announcement, First Solar's stock price rose 23%. It went from $12 per share to $19 per share. One man even had 5000 shares that he had bought at $4 each for $20000, they are now worth almost $100000.
I think that it is great that china is going through with this project. I also completely agree with the fact that they are the biggest populated countries which means they also are the most polluting country. I am glad that they are finnaly stepping up and taking reponsibility. Not only that, now that they have taken responsibility, they are working as hard as they can to fix their mistakes.
Here are some questions:
1. What is your take on this situation is it a good idea? Why or why not?
2. How do you think they will build this solar pannel? How much do you think it will cost? How long do you think it will take them to build it?
3. How much energy do you think that pannel can produce yearly?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1931616,00.html

In Global Forecast, China Looms Large as Energy User and Maker of Green Power

By: Clifford Krauss

China is the single country that can influence the rest of the world to use various renewable energies. China accounts for 17% of the world's energy consumption toady and by 2035 they will be accountable for 22%. China has surpassed the US and has become the largest energy user. The growing need for energy that China has is producing not only coal plants, but also wind and hydroelectric power that is good for our environment. China is investing in renewable energies around the globe. Beijing will be able to lift many people into the middle class if they keep on pushing to produce more energy. China is going to produce electric cars and their prices of oil are substantially higher than those in the United States. China's decisions will affect everyone in the world and they might create the revolution to cleaner energies like solar, wind, nuclear, and advanced coal. Oil prices will rise in the future and oil, natural gas, and coal will still be the main sources of energy over renewable resources. However, the need for renewable energy will only increase. Global energy demand growth revolves around developing countries like China and India.

I think that China has the potential to really make an impact on not only the health of our environment, but the whole world's way of life. Today, we use energy constantly and if China chooses to become a nation where they use mostly renewable energies, most likely every other nation will do the same. China is the biggest contributor to the production and use of energy. They have the power to change the way we live into a better way that will help future generations.

3 Questions:

1. Do you think that by 2035 we will still be as dependent on oil, natural gas, and coal as we are now? Why?

2. What renewable resource mentioned in the text do you think is going to be the most efficient? Which do you think will be the most popular?

3. Do you think China will work hard to continue making big strides to become an energy efficient nation and to influence other nations to follow their lead?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/business/global/10oil.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

British Airways' to Create Jet Fuel from Landfill Waste

02.24.10

By: Sam Grover

publication: Cars and Transportation(Aviation)

Link:http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/british-airways-jet-fuel-landfill-waste.php?campaign=th_rss

Will it actually work?

Summary: This article talks about that while the US air force announced that algae jet fuel may be just months away from being available everywhere, greener scientists are looking for even more cleaner alternative to Diesel gas which airplanes use. British Airways has been pushing ahead with its own plans and sustainable jet fuel,

their current plan is to create gas or jet fuel from landfill waste.

According to Renewable energy world magazine, British airways plans waste to energy fuel plants in east London and it should be converting 500,000 tons of organic waste per year into 16 million gallons of  jet fuels.

British airways hopes to be using this green kind of fuel by 2014 and by 2050 their goal is to reduce by 50% their emissions. This kind of fuel will be produced by feeding waste into a patented high temperature gasifier, producing BioSynGas which is then converted into jet fuel using the Fischer Tropsch process. An addition for those good news is  that the project will also reduce methane emissions from landfill to create a further by-product of 20 MW electricity per year. British Airways also currently committing to only 10% use of such bio-fuels by 2050.

Opinion: I think that British airways are onto something very interesting, if this idea would grow and spread around the world we could expect much more cleaner skies than what we have right now, i think it is much better to have airplane that runs at least 10% on landfill waste than an airplane which uses 100% fossil fuels, which is much more necessary for the people in the world. I also think that every change would be better for the would than what it is right now, i hope this idea would spread and will be use as a jet fuel all around the world.

3 questions about the passage:

1. Do you think that a jet fuel produced by landfill waste would really work? explain your opinion

2. Do you think we should protect our fossil fuels by trying other alternative ways to create energy?

3.How do you explain the rush of some companies to find an alternative energy source? Do you think the fossil fuels would run out faster that the government actually tells us?

Breaking Away From Coal

Breaking Away From Coal

New regulations have come into effect from Washington saying that 11 generators at four plants and that would have cost 2 million dollars and that would have gone over the limit of cost of 1.5 million. The company has been coal generated for decades but then heard about carbon regulation and knew they had to change. Many companies across the USA are reliazing this. At least ten companies over a year and half are planning to close their oldest and least efficent coal burning generators before 2019. Gas burning is a lot cleaner than burning coal in factories. Dan Eggers says that this has the potential to reshape energy consumption in the US significantly and permanently. Coal is also getting beat by nuclear and renewable energy but scientists think that gas will still win. There is one worry though that drilling for gas maybe hurt or endanger the groundwater.

I personally think that it is great that people are finding a way to make the air cleaner but still having factories that make things. Gas is so much clener than coal. I agree with Eggers when he says that this may change the US. Just changing a couple companies will make a different. Imangine if every factory changed. It wouldn't complelty take away air pollution but it would certainly help.

4 Questions...
1. Do you think it's a good idea to change all the factories all at once to gas?
2. How many factories do you think will have changed to gas by 2020?
3. Do you think this could change the US energy consumption?
4. Should they still drill for gas even if it could endanger our groundwater?

Electricity Collected from the Air Could Become the Newest Alternative Energy Source

Scientists have discovered a potential new energy source that could have a major impact in the way we get electricity in the future. In the past, scientists believed that moisture in the air was electricly neutral and that there was no electricity harnessed within them. New studies however, have proven this wrong and have showed that there is in fact electricity harnessed within water droplets in the air and that we can actually use it for electricity. This form of collecting energy has become known as "hygroelectricity" and scientists hope that in the future they will be able to create conductors similar to the cells used to harness solar power. Creating these conductors will not only allow us to use the electricity in our homes but it should also lessen the number of lightening related deaths and property damage since a vast majority of the electricity in the air would come from electricity conducted in the air through lightening.

Although I do think that this is a great possibility for the future, at the rate that scientists have been moving on gaining information on this energy source, it may take many more years before they actually have enough information to create these conductors to use for major home and business usage. But I do hope that they take large strides in making this energy source more availible for us.

Questions:

1.) Do you think that this energy source could become a major source of electricity ?

2.) How long do you think it will take for scientists to come up with these conductors and why ?

3.) What other energy source can you think of that is similar to this one ?

Fertilizer overuse destroying Chinese soil - study

Source: Reuters
Date: Nov. 18, 2010
Date Published: Feb. 11, 2010
Summary:


In southern China, citizens have been using too much nitrogen fertilizer. This is causing the soil to be completely unusable for agriculture. The pH levels are at 3 and 4 in some areas! This will not just last few days, it is a long term effect. Since most plants grow best in more neutral soil, like from 6-8, less varieties of plants will be able to grow. Soil acidification happens naturally, but in China's case, this is from the overuse of nitrogen fertilizer and the intense working of the soil. In 2007, China was producing 32.6 tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer and has been increasing since 1981. Soil surveys showed that the soil became more acidic after the country started to use nitrogen, or ammonium and bicarbonate and urea, fertilizers. Over all, the pH level in China has gone down 0.5 of a unit, which is significant. Lime can reverse this bad case of soil acidification, but it would be expensive. Other options for China are to reduce the amount of fertilizer they they use or to insert straw or crop residuals back into the soil to decrease its acidity.





Opinion:


I think out of the three choices China should save up the money over time and the government should reverse the soil acidification with lime. I would also want the government of China to set a limit to the amount of nitrogen fertilizers China is allowed to use. This would keep the acidity level down. If the reversed the acidity, but then kept using the fertilizers so much, the soil would just go back to its original, acidic state.





3 Questions:





1. Out of the three choices which would you do if you were the Chinese government? Would you reverse soil acidification with lime, reduce fertilizer use, or insert straw and residuals back into the soil?


2. If you were part of the Chinese population, what would you do to decrease the amount of nitrogen fertilizer use?


3. Why do you think the Chinese farmers are using so much fertilizer?





Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/TOE61805G.htm

Malaysia Messes With Mosquito Genes to Fight Dengue Fever

By: Jami Heimbuch

Published: 10.12.2010

Travel and Nature Magazine

Link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/malaysia-messes-with-mosquito-genes-to-fight-dengue-fever.php?campaign=th_rss

The deadly mosquitoes

Summary: This article is telling us about the mosquitoes, they are the primary way of spreading diseases in humans, the spread nowadays malaria or the evil dengue fever.

 Malaysia has been fighting a frustrated battle with dengue fever, and might become the first Asian country to use genetically engineered insects, rather than pesticides or managed water ways, to fight against the spread of the disease.  

Malaysia has started a test for genetically engineering male mosquitoes -- when they are released from the lab, they will breed with females mosquitoes to produce offspring with shorter lifespans. 

The Malaysian hope is that the population of mosquitoes will be reduced, and along with it cases of disease among humans. 

The disease the test is primarily focused on is the dangerous dengue fever, because it has no cure of treatment to avoid and destroy the virus.

 Researchers seem to feel genetically changing the lifespan of mosquitoes is the best course of action since the Malaysians water is not clean and the chances that it would get clean are very low chances .

 However, local environmental scientists are worried that the genetic change could have consequences beyond reducing disease in the far future -- after all, there are many species that feed off mosquitoes, and reducing the number of mosquitoes also means reducing food sources from birds to fish to other insects. The project plans to release between 2,000 and 3,000 of the newly modified mosquitoes -- a fairly small number to start, but enough to see whether or not mosquito numbers begin to drop. I guess we would see in the next couple months if the results are good or bad.

My opinion: I think that by modifying the genes of mosquitoes, it will surly hurt other  species that are being fed of mosquitoes, this is a very risky step that might cause the world major changes in population and biodiversity,i hope it will not intervene too much with other species. The idea of the scientists is good and i think it will reduce completely the number of human infected by the dangerous disease, but yet i hope that no other species would be damaged completely by humans.

3 Questions-

1. In what ways would you try to remove the mosquitoes which spread difficult diseases?

2. What do you think might happen to species that are being fed of mosquitoes? Explain about their food chain?

3. Do you think this experiment could work? why or why not?