Once again, we were greeted with a quote on the whiteboard at the back of class that said: “The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution. –Gurinder Singh-”
Straight away, I was reminded of Reading 2, which talks about how we can incorporate new technologies to achieve sustainable energy usage. For example in vehicles, instead of petroleum, we can now use biofuels, fuel cells, and cleanly produced hydrogen. For buildings, insulation and new efficient equipment can help to reduce energy usage. Also, we can incorporate computerized energy management systems. For industries, advanced in technologies can reduce energy usage and CO2 emissions.
Also, it continues to talk about how technologies can transform energy supply, from fuels which will produce a lot of CO2 to renewable energy sources e.g. using nature, advanced fossil fuel combustion technologies which can reduce the amount of CO2 produced, and also technologies which can capture and store CO2. Other alternatives include hydrogen and nuclear fission technologies.
However, the article was focused more on how new technologies can be used in transport to move towards a sustainable transport system. It also provided steps on how to achieve a sustainable transport system. Which was really good. Transport is a main area where we use a lot of energy in. Hence, if we were to change the way we use the energy in transport from non-renewable to renewable energy sources, we will be taking a huge step forward in moving towards sustainable development.
If we were to take a look at real life examples, we can already see countries taking that step. For example, Europe’s government said that it is their aim to have 10% of the energy used for transport be bio fuels instead of using petroleum by 2020.
Prof then showed us a video on how until 1850, all the energy used was renewable, after that, things started to change. Now, we are moving back to our old ways. A cycle is formed. However in the future, when we get complacent, we will start to use non-renewable fuel again! However, if we were to analyze it deeper, in the past, less energy was needed as technology was not so advanced and hence needed less energy as compared to present times.
This ties in with Reading 1, which gives us an idea about how much of each resource is left in the world and the consumption rates of these resources which are used to produce energy.
It is shocking to note that the only form of renewable energy in BP’s chart is hydraulic energy! The rest of the resources used to produce energy by the world are non-renewable! At the rate we are going, it is said that we will only be able to use these resources till they become depleted in a mere 40 – 50 years time!
It also shows the trends of countries. For example, the US is the largest consumer for gas and fossil fuels, while China is still the largest for coal. However, it is good that China is currently investing the most in moving towards clean energy development, even more than the US. It could be due to China who had moved from being the largest exporter of coal to the largest importer of coal, hence causing much pollution that had damaged the environment in their major cities. Hence, they need to invest more to clear up the mess they have caused.
Also, Germany is particularly active in solar energy. 30% of it’s energy used will be renewable by 2020. The government played a role by offering cash incentives for putting up solar panels and everyone is starting to use solar panels.
Hence, we can notice a trend that the world is moving towards the idea of having sustainable development and replacing their energy sources with cleaner, and renewable ones. Come to think of it, we all have no choice! Sooner or later, the fossil fuels will run dry, and we have to look for alternative forms of sustainable energy sources! Fossil fuels and coal should only be used as a transition stage where the world innovates and invents new forms of energy.
However, very often, the move to take such a step towards such a change must be taken first by the government. Reading 3 talked about how it is important to balance the 4 areas relating to energy. These are economic development, national security, social welfare, and environmental protection. Resources are there, but it is the governance that matters.
It is true that as the world is experiencing a global population rise, and hence we will all need energy, we still have to balance it with environmental protection. Too little energy will affect social well-being. However, in order to have more energy and more pollution is caused, it will also affect the social well being of the society. Hence, it is a very fine line to thread on. Hence, a solution as mentioned is the use of alternative energy, which is what most countries’ governments are now doing. And also to have good energy efficiency programs.
Reading 4 went in dept of the bioenergy sector now and the process of how it is being produced by using biotechnology. Which links us to our previous lesson about biotechnology and how it has developed.
Bioenergy is an emerging form of energy now as it is renewable and it does not cause so much harm to the environment, however at the same time meets our requirements. However more R&D has to be put in to improve the production efficiency of bioenergy. This brought to mind what a classmate brought up in class, where he said that the only way that we can continue to sustain our energy use is by continuous R&D. Governments and NGOs must continue non-stop in their quest to find alternative clean energy sources so as to create a sustainable energy cycle.
We then had our student presenters who each gave us many different ideas of alternative energy sources. They were interesting and it gave us an idea about how we are all moving towards using alternative energy sources and all we need is just continue R&D to improve and refine the process invented.
This lesson was really interesting and insightful. Most of the presenters this week were really good and they know their stuff well. Hence, I would rate this lesson a 9.5/10.
See you guys next week!
-Thong Yong Sen (Matthew)-
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