Daily Archives: April 18, 2022

Construction’s Relation to Sustainability

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More often than ever, as a nation, we are witnessing forests and woodlands being torn down. The most common reason for tearing down all of these trees is to start up a new construction cites. Although there are a surplus of different reasons that these trees and animals habitats are being torn down, it eventually all comes down to greed. Most of the buildings that are being constructed are money-making entities. Consider some of the following examples; apartment buildings, storage facilities, casinos, etc. In fact, the amount of trees that are being planted opposed to torn down is an incredibly interesting ratio.

Annually, 15 billion trees are cut down. On the other hand, only 1.9 billion trees are planted a year. That means that the ratio of trees that are cut down to planted is 15 to 1.9. Meaning, for every 1.9 trees that are planted, 15 trees are torn down. To help better understand this idea, “For the 15 billion trees that are chopped down each year, every person on the planet could have 3,000 rolls of toilet paper” (Kilgore, 2022). According to Jonah Bader, “President Joe Biden has announced an ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2050… The idea of “net-zero emissions” is that any remaining emissions can be fully offset by so-called “negative emissions” — methods of sucking carbon out of the atmosphere. Planting trees is the most straightforward way to do that. Trees absorb CO2 for photosynthesis and store it as cellulose and lignin, the main components of wood” (Bader, 2021). Furthermore, “Planting trees may also be the most popular climate policy. Even former President Donald Trump loved the idea. He championed an international initiative to plant 1 trillion trees, which would be enough to soak up at least a decade of global emissions” (Bader, 2021). The possibilities are endless when it comes to further studying the ways that construction cites interfere with sustainability.

Works Cited:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/opinions/climate-plant-and-cut-trees-down-bader/index.html

How Many Trees Are Planted Each Year > Day > Minute

https://8billiontrees.com/trees/how-many-trees-cut-down-each-year/

Electric Mobility

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Electric cars are new and interesting with technology that has never been seen before. In our lifetimes, we have seen the rise of electric cars as well as the adoption of many motor companies producing hybrid cars. Even our college has electric car charging stations. The use of electric cars has been gradual and patient over time. With the current price of gasoline, many individuals are considering alternate modes of transportation that are more eco-friendly than traditional gas cars. In 2012 there were only 130,000 electric cars sold worldwide. While this is a number larger than I expected for that year, this number is nowhere near what it is modern-day. In 2019, comparatively, 2.2 million electric cars were sold. This represented 2.5% of global car sales. In 2020, the number of electric car rose to three million and represented 4.1% of total car sales. This trend continues with 6.6 million electric cars being sold in 2021 accounting for 9% of the global car market. The change from 2012 to 2021 is a staggering 4976% change. The global adoption of alternative fuel sources is leading to new technologies for human transportation. Those numbers alone from 2012 to 2021 show how popular and promising electric vehicles can continue to be moving into the future. Some food fo thought is although we are moving in a cleaner car direction… if 6.6 million electric cars were sold last year, how much carbon emissions were emitted in the production of so many cars? (Although these cars are better for the environment and reduce an individual’s carbon footprint, it is inevitable for carbon emissions to be attached to the production and transportation of electric vehicles before they are purchased and driven off the lot). It has been estimated that there are now around 16,000,000 electric cars on the road worldwide, but while electric car’s are being consumed at a higher rate, this is being offset by a parallel increase in the sale of SUV’s. It will be interesting to see what the automotive industries do in the coming years and how the auto-market will react and balance. Stay tuned.

Sources:
https://www.iea.org/commentaries/electric-cars-fend-off-supply-challenges-to-more-than-double-global-sales