Tag Archives: fossil fuels

Solar Saves Hard Earned Money

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One innovative idea that has been growing in popularity all over the world is the use of solar panels. Solar panels offer a variety of ways to help people’s lives financially and protect the environment, a key of sustainability. Solar is a natural resource and the human population should take advantage of renewable energy sources. The use of solar panels creates zero pollution and zero greenhouse gasses to be emitted into the atmosphere. With solar energy, there is an increase in moving away from importing and exporting oil and fossil fuels that harm the environment. Then in regards to financially, solar panels are a future return on one’s investment. Although they can be expensive to install, eventually there will be a return on investment to the point where some households even create a surplus of energy. This will minimize electricity bills in the future for many people. With the use of solar panels, people can receive the electricity to power their homes and more importantly shift toward electric vehicles. If the sun is paying for the electric vehicle batteries, people will save money on their homes and cars. How can anyone be against saving money while also saving the environment? In the future there will be minimized costs of installing solar panels which will benefit all classes of people.

References:

https://news.energysage.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-solar-energy/

Is Wind Energy the Future?

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In recent years there have been many discussions and efforts to switch away from fossil-fuel based methods to alternative and renewable sources of energy.  One such example of renewable energy that has become a topic of discussion among others, is wind energy.  There is hope for wind energy to become a main form of energy use in the near and somewhat distant future.  Based on the EPA’s Wind Vision Report, wind can become a viable source of energy in every state in America by 2050.  Wind energy is already available in nationwide and this infrastructure makes it possible to dramatically expand the usage of wind energy in the coming years.  In 2013, wind energy already reduced the emission of air pollutants by 250,000 metric tons and if widespread wind energy systems are used throughout the country, the Wind Vision Report estimates that greenhouse gases could be reduced by 12.3 gigatonnes by 2050.  This wind energy format is not only great for the environment but for the public as well, with local communities estimated to be able to collect additional tax revenue totally 3.2 billion annually from land lease and property tax payments by 2050.  The switch however would not be cheap with job losses expected to occur and infrastructure needing creation.  The Wall Street Journal estimates that it would cost 7.8 to 13.9 trillion over the course of the next 30 years.  This isn’t just for wind but for all forms of renewable energy.  The upside however is immense, with the change to renewable energy, our forms of energy will no longer depend on finite reserves of fossil-fuels.  The price of renewable energy is also slowly decreasing as they become more widespread.  Wind energy is roughly $20/MWh compared to coal’s $102/MWh and renewable energy sources can only help the economy with increased jobs in renewable energy sectors and lower prices for goods and energy in the future.  Renewable energy and wind energy in particular will take time to switch to of course, but the benefits of doing so far outweigh the negatives during the process of the switch or not switching at all.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-vision#:~:text=The%20Wind%20Vision%20Report%20shows,and%20supporting%20services%20by%202050.

https://www.inspirecleanenergy.com/blog/clean-energy-101/cost-of-renewable-energy

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-is-turning-green-what-will-this-climate-plan-cost-and-who-will-pay-11634997601#:~:text=The%20biggest%20and%20most%20measurable,energy%20researchers%20at%20Princeton%20University.

 

 

 

Solar Energy Increases

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One source of non fossil-fuel based energy that has been increasing in popularity is solar energy. We can use this type of energy to power homes and the electricity in buildings through the use of solar panels. This is a renewable type of energy source that is not harmful to the environment and is sustainable because it can be regenerated on a daily basis. Solar panels have been increasing in popularity due to the decrease in cost. This makes this type of energy more accessible to access in many populations and socioeconomic groups. There are 92.7 billion solar panels globally and 1.47 million solar panels across the United States. The feasibility of using solar energy is increasing more as time goes on and the cost for solar panels decreases. Hopefully the usage of solar energy only continues to increase because it is an easy, renewable source of energy to use that does not put fossil fuels or other harmful substances into the atmosphere.

sources: https://blog.solstice.us/solstice-blog/solar-energy-statistics/#:~:text=There%20are%20over%201.47%20million,planting%20almost%201.2%20billion%20trees.

https://sunbadger.com/solar-energy-statistics/#:~:text=At%20least92.7%20billion%20solar,average%20U.S.%20residential%20solar%20installation.

 

The Importance of Solar Panels

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Solar panels are an extremely effective way to help combat greenhouse gas emissions by taking natural energy from the sun and converting that into electricity. Using solar panels decreases our dependance on fossil fuels, which as we have previously learned in important to reduce for sustainability purposes and the health of the earth. There are at least 92.7 billion solar panels in use throughout the world today. One year of solar power saves 12,500 pounds of carbon emissions, which is very important in the subject of sustainability. With less carbon emissions and using natural energy, there are less fossil fuels and therefore a more healthy planet.

The United States and other European countries, like Spain and Italy, and China are the driving forces in increasing the amount of solar panels used. These countries receive a lot of sunlight making this initiative to use solar panels very effective. It is predicted that the growth rate of solar panels will be 7.8% from 2022 to 2030.  The power generated from solar panels has grown by 23% since 2019, making this energy source account for 3.1% of global electricity. In America specifically, the amount of solar panels installed grew 485% from 2010 to 2013. The amount of solar panels that the U.S. had installed by 2014 was enough energy to power about 2.4 million U.S. households. According to the growth rate, solar panels are increasing around the world and saving this initiative from countries is helping to save energy globally.

 

citations: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/solar-panels-market#:~:text=The%20global%20solar%20PV%20panels%20market%20is%20expected%20to%20grow,USD%20286.64%20billion%20by%202030.

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/solar-power-rise

https://sunbadger.com/solar-energy-statistics/#:~:text=At%20least92.7%20billion%20solar,average%20U.S.%20residential%20solar%20installation.

Wasting water and resources is much easier than you may think…

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Humans and animals drink a lot of water daily. It is critical to our survival, but the way that we choose to drink water has a huge impact on sustainability. An example of animal consumption of water is a cow. A cow can consume up to 100 gallons of water per day. One huge form of water waste is the production of clothing. It takes about 2700 liters of water to make the average t-shirt, which is clearly a huge amount of water waste to make one t-shirt. One pair of jeans takes about 7600 liters of water to produce, which means that it takes 10,300 liters of water to make a simple outfit. This also means that thrifting even just one outfit will save about 10,300 liters of water! It would be even better if people kept thrifting to decrease the amount of clothing production that has to occur around the world, therefore decreasing the waste of water. We can all wear clothes that are already in the world instead of buying new ones as a more sustainable option. 

Additionally, I think that bottled water is so popular because it is convenient. I know that my family members who use plastic water bottles just think that they make life easier because they can throw them out when they are done and they do not need to take care or keep track of a reusable water bottle. The average person drinks about four water bottles per day and because there are about 2,700 people (about 2,100 students and 600 faculty and staff members) on Union College’s campus, there are about 10,800 bottles of water consumed on the campus. Water bottles are about one liter of liquid, meaning that I estimate that 10,800 liters of water are consumed on Union’s campus. It takes 1 liter of oil to create four water bottles. I estimate that the amount of oil needed to produce the 10,800 bottles of water would be 2,700 liters of oil, which means that a lot of fossil fuels need to be burned for this production. Transporting the water also uses a huge amount of oil. It depends where the water comes from, but a ten hour plane ride uses 150,000 liters of oil which would clearly add to the fossil fuel emissions used to produce water bottles by a large amount. 

 

Citations: https://www.peta.org/features/california-drought-stats/

https://greenactioncentre.ca/tip-of-the-week/14-ways-to-reduce-water-waste/

https://blog.arcadia.com/how-many-water-bottles-does-one-reusable-bottle-save/

The Effects of Carbon Dioxide Emissions on POC’S

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Communities of color are extremely effected by the burning of fossil fuel. it is reported that People of color breathe “in 40% more polluted air than white communities across the US. ” Fossil fuels are viewed as the main cause of this. The effects of the extreme amount of Carbon Dioxide emissions are extreme. Some of the effects include high blood pressure, coma, asphyxia, convulsions, etc. In fact in the US POC’s are 38% more likely to be exposed to asthma. Something that surprised me while researching for this blog post is that, even though Black people make up 13% of the US population 68% live within 30 miles of coal plants compared to 56% of white people. Coal plants are places where coal is burned in order to make electricity, bought throughout his process they are releasing. a large amount of fossil fuels into the atmosphere. Now don’t get me wrong these are both huge numbers and we really should be asking ourselves why are their so many coal plants to begin with, but we should also be asking ourselves why is it that people of color are significantly more effected by this than white people? and why are POC communities specifically where they want to be building coal plants, what makes that environment the best fit? In 2020 alone the US has emitted 4.58 billions metric tons of carbon dioxide now let’s imagine how the POC community was effected by this. Fossil fuels come from everywhere 29% is burned through transportation, 25% through electricity, 23% through industry, etc. These are things that we we use/interact with in our daily lives. We need to be able to be made aware of because the rise of CO2 emissions effect the environment we live in, in different ways. Although Carbon Dioxide is the fourth most abundant gas in our atmosphere it is still something that we need to watch the levels for!

Work Cited:

Fernandez Rysavy, Tracy, and Andre Floyd. “Green America.” Www.greenamerica.org, www.greenamerica.org/climate-justice-all/people-color-are-front-lines-climate-crisis.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” US EPA, 9 Apr. 2018, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services. “Carbon Dioxide.” Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2 Jan. 2018, www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/chemical/carbondioxide.htm#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20CO2%20can%20produce.

 

Carbon Dioxide Levels are Increasing Yearly

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Carbon dioxide has a heavy impact on the atmosphere of the Earth and is proven to affect climate change, global warming, and the ecosystems for the future. With the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this is an issue to the energy imbalance which leads to the Earth’s temperature to increase; global warming. Due to human interactions and human life, there will always be carbon dioxide being released in different forms into the atmosphere, but there needs to be a way to reduce this amount of carbon dioxide for the wellbeing of the human population and the earth. If it continues to rise with the amounts of carbon dioxide, the human population and the land we inhabit will be in trouble due to temperature and destruction. What can be attested to this rise of earth’s temperature is the burning of fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas, that all release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. This has been studied heavily and due to the amounts of greenhouse gasses being pushed yearly, this is not normal or necessary. In a USA Today article reporting on the carbon dioxide emissions it states, “In the past 20 years, the world’s temperature has risen about two-thirds of a degree Fahrenheit,” which may not seem impactful, but this constant rising of temperatures will be detrimental without changes being made. Just hearing that global carbon dioxide emissions have reached the highest level in history, should be alarming and should incite awareness and sustainability ideas. To preserve the environment we live in and increase recycling, renewable energy sources, and reducing emission is crucial. As the world shifts back to a “normal society” after recovering from Covid-19, there needs to be a change from the Pre-Cvoid Era where human population abused the amount of fossil fuel use. There needs to be an alternative to burning coal in order to have factories, cars, and businesses be run. Coal has been the issue of 40% of the overall global carbon dioxide emissions in 2021. One idea we can look toward is electric car batteries and also the rise in use of solar panels.

 

Works Cited

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/08/global-carbon-dioxide-emissions-soar/9429433002/

Fossil Fuels and Human Health

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We talk a lot about fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, and how the impacts they have on the environment. Something that is not often talked about, however, is the impact of fossil fuels on human health. According to an article published by the NYU School of Law, the burning of fossil fuels and the inhalation of the subsequently polluted air contribute to several health conditions, including, but not limited to: asthma, cardiovascular disease, and preterm birth. What’s more, the article states that “if fossil fuels were completely eliminated, the global average life expectancy would increase by 1.1 years”. The article then goes on to describe the effects of burning fossil fuels, and different variations of pollutants. The thing that interested me most about this article was the mention of a study done in Southern California, where diminished levels of particulate matter (mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets) and nitrogen dioxide over a 21 year period lead to 20% fewer cases of childhood diagnoses of asthma. This is just one of many examples of how fossil fuels and greenhouse gases effect both the environment, the world around us, and humanity as a species.

Sources Cited:

https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/state-impact/projects-reports/projects/climate-and-health/health-effects-of-burning-fossil-fuels