The Power of Hydro Electricity

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For this blog post, I chose to present information on Hydroelectric Power. It’s one of the oldest forms of renewable energy, which began use in 1950.

Hydroelectric power’s source of power is water and plants are usually located on or near a water source. The volume of the water flow and the change or fall in elevation is often referred to as head. The head from one point to another determines the amount of available energy in moving water. The greater the water flow and the higher the head, the more electricity a hydropower plant can produce.

There are about 1,450 conventional and 40 pumped-storage hydropower plants operating in the United States. The average lifespan of a hydropower facility is 100 years.

In 2021, hydroelectricity accounted for about 6.3% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation and 31.5% of total utility-scale renewable electricity generation.

Hydroelectric energy is sustainable because it relies on and uses the environment, benefits society, and can benefit the economy. It’s an affordable form of renewable energy that is more affordable than other renewable energy sources. Another reason why it’s sustainable is it’s been used for a long time.

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/https://

www.energy.gov/eere/water/hydropower-basicshttps://

www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/34916.pdf

 

History of Biofuels

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Biofuel is a fuel derived directly from living matter. Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, originally designed it to run on vegetable oil. In fact, one of his early demonstrations, at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1897, had a diesel engine running on peanut oil. Biofuels are used as a remedy to use products we grow with the goal to create our net impact on the environment negligible if not zero. For instance, power generation demonstrates that a  large quantity of energy goes into producing electricity. In 2008, the world produced about 20,261 TWh of electricity. This is problematic because a large majority of their energy is made from fossil fuels such as coal, a natural gas which contributes to the co2 emissions and the global warming. Biofuel is a great alternative because “the net impact is lower than if the waste were allowed to decompose on its own. This is because natural decomposition in oxygen-rich environments produces nitrogen dioxide, with is over 300 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, as well as methane, which is over 20 times more potent. “ Nonetheless, there are many kinds of biofuels, like ethanol and methanol among others. Ethanol is made by fermenting the sugars from plants such as corn or sugarcane, ethanol contains oxygen that helps a car’s engine burn fuel more efficiently, reducing air pollution. Methanol is used as an alternative biofuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or independently. With that being said, currently, biofuels aren’t able to meet our all needs because crop growth isn’t able to meet our demands for energy consumption. Currently there is research around spreading up the production of crops specifically for their energy needs. We are searching for more plans that offer a greater net impact and produce less waste.

Solar is Coming in Hot

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In recent years, the US has increased its investments in solar energy. In fact, in 2016 47.06% of global energy investments went towards solar whereas in 2006 it was only 19.43%. This makes me feel that we are getting closer to commercial-level solar. In 2020 the US consumed 999 Kw hours of solar energy per capita. This is amongst the highest consumptions in the world. However, it is important to note that America has the lowest investment in renewable energy when looking at countries’ GDP. As we have learned the price for solar installation is decreasing, thus, I think more homes will begin to add solar arrays. If this is the case then families can provide their own electricity and even sell it back to the National Grid. My family is part of a Vermont State Program where any excess solar power our array generates is directly sent to the grid. Many electrical companies are pushing this and even offering a stipend to households who make this change. It is a win-win situation after the solar pays itself back after a few years.

Per capita plastic waste generation in US, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, China in 2016

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The graph that I have chosen to use is the data I found from Statista about plastic consumption in 2016. The data set included countries from over 20 countries, but I decided to pick 6 of the countries, ranging from levels of GDP, environmental awareness, and natural resources, etc. Unsurprisingly, the US ranked number one, which is 5 times of what china has. In today’s climate, the US made the public seem like other countries are doing way more harm to the environment than us ourselves, and this chart is really telling in terms of our contribution to environmental degradation.

On the other hand, I realised that GDP doesn’t necessarily reflect the consumption for plastic. according to Voanews, china accumulated 15.92 GDP vs the United States 23 GDP, however, the US uses 5 times more plastics than China. Therefore, environmental awareness is necessary regardless of level of GDP.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1228043/plastic-waste-generation-per-capita-in-select-countries/

https://www.voanews.com/a/chinas-economy-could-overtake-us-economy-by-2030/6380892.html

Water usage from highly populated Countries in 2017

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Water Usage by Country in 2017 per billions

 

When looking at water usage for highly dense countries, this pie graph shows the percentage use of water by each country.  However, I personally thought that water usage was mostly coming from showers, however with laundry, brushing your teeth, washing your hands and doing dishes contributes to how much water we use per day.  Surprisingly China had the highest amount using around 591.8 billion gallons in all of 2017.  I personally thought that the US would have used way more water usage, but when coming to terms with the population of China compared to the population of the United States, its no surprise that they are about 2 times larger when it comes to the US using 444.4 billion.  However, 2017 was about 5 years ago, and scientists have said that water usage has increased.  If there’s a continue increase of water usage in 5 years from now, who knows the results it will have for the irreversible effects of climate change.

resources:

https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress

 

Waste (in tons) Per Person in Landfills by State in 2019

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One major issue in today’s society is waste production and management. In recent years, there have been many concerns about a rise in pollution and global temperatures. Ocean acidification and air pollution are two direct results of improper waste management, and these have negative impacts on all of us, and many can lead to long-lasting health conditions and problems. As can be seen in the graph, Connecticut had the lowest per capita waste presence in landfills, with 8.7 tons of waste products in 2019. The next lowest state is Massachusetts, with 16.2 tons of waste byproduct in landfills. The trend continues increasing, with several states remaining in the 16-18 ton range. With regards to North Dakota, Maryland, South Dakota, and Vermont, and Maine, the per capita presence of waste in landfills in 2019 ranged from 20.3 to 21.9 tons, respectively. This is an alarming statistic, and the total gap between Connecticut and Maine is 13.2 tons.

Sources Cited:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/591862/least-waste-per-capita-in-us-landfills-by-major-state/

Sustainable Fishing

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When it comes to the fishing industry there are a lot of issues of sustainability. Whether it is in the catch size, techniques used, areas fished in, or bycatch. Bycatch is the accidental catching of the not target species. In most cases, these marine life forms are often killed before they can be released back into the ocean. Bycatch poses another major issue within the already difficult overfishing problem.

This graph is based on data from the FOA regarding catch sizes between the years 1950 and 2018. This graph shows the growth trend of the fishing industry and as more sustainable attitudes developed a slower decrease in catch size in the more recent years. The lowest catch was in 1950 with about 250,000, the highest being in 2002 with catch sizes around 850,000. The size eventually drops down to about 680,000 in 2018. Based on this larger drop in 2018 and information from the NOAA and FOA this number aims to be lowered even more. Protecting marine populations will increase the likelihood that these populations can survive and repopulate in order to sustain future generations.

.https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/capture

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulletin/noaa-fisheries-announces-changes-catch-levels-sector-allocations-accountability

Gas Prices By State

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One relevant topic to sustainability is the carbon emissions from vehicles into our atmosphere. Recently there has been a United States increase in prices of gas and this can be beneficial for our future. Electric cars are becoming more practical with the ridiculously high gas prices. In the graph below, there are ten different states in the U.S. and their current price per gallon. As we can see, the different states have different prices which can be confusing to people wondering why it isn’t unanimous throughout all states. The data was collected from triple A where they collect data on gas prices daily. As we can see from the graph, California has the highest price per gallon and Texas has the lowest price per gallon. It would be interesting to find a correlation between the gas prices per state and the reason as to why they are all close, but different.

 

https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Globally

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Climate change and the long term effects that come with it is something that most people agree is an issue that needs to be combated.  The global temperature increase is mainly caused by human activities, which produce gasses that trap heat in our atmosphere.  These greenhouse gasses have increased from human activity, and, as seen by my graphs below, are still increasing, furthering climate change.  When most people think of a greenhouse gas, they think of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.  As seen below, between 1990 and 2015, the net emissions of carbon dioxide increased by 51% globally.  This is a real issue, as three-fourths of total global emissions come from carbon dioxide, so it is a major contributor to global warming.  Carbon dioxide was not the only greenhouse gas that has increased globally; as seen below, methane increased as well.  Methane was actually the gas in the data set that increased the least, only 17%, but as you can see from the graph, even the gas that increased the least still consistently increased in recent years.  Other gasses that are not pictured in the graphs but increased include nitrous oxide and fluorinated gasses.  No matter how you look at it, the way these greenhouse gasses have consistently increased globally is a sign we need to make real changes to combat this issue before it gets even more out of hand.

CO2 Emissions Per Capita Per State

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The graph I created is one that shows the annual CO2 emissions per capita per U.S. State with data up until 2017.

(I couldn’t get the chart to upload with better quality for some reason, so please use this link instead to view it as a PDF)

In metric tonnes, this data helps to show the amount of CO2 emissions produced per state per person. When looking at this graph, it is very easy to see where the high amounts of CO2 emissions per capita are found: states like Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska stand out as the worst offenders for CO2 emissions per capita. This is in contrast to states like New York, California, Oregon, and Maryland who comparatively have very small CO2 emissions per capita.

This could lead people to believe that states like Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, etc. are more responsible for the large CO2 emissions put out annually by the U.S. as opposed to states like New York, California, etc., but that would be incorrect. What this chart tells us instead is that states on this chart that appear to be putting out gargantuan amounts of CO2 are instead putting out large amounts of CO2 in comparison to their population. A state like Wyoming that has a relatively small population but large amounts of farming/agriculture could appear to produce extreme amounts of CO2 compared to a state like New York, when in reality New York could be putting out much more CO2, but due to its large population it doesn’t appear to be as extreme of a CO2 emitter as Wyoming.

 

WORKS CITED

https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/