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 ?