Share & Voice: Solar Energy

Solar Energy

Solar Energy is becoming more and more popular but it still only accounts for 1% of electricity use in the United States. This is a great way to produce energy without using a lot of our natural resources but comes at a cost. It costs quite a bit to purchase the equipment to generate power from the photovoltaic panels, but electric companies are trying to use incentives to get people to invest in it. They are suggesting that consumers put these panels on their roofs, from this utility companies can then purchase this power from the consumers. People can produce energy and get paid for it, rather than use energy and have to pay for it.

One of the downfalls of solar energy however is that it doesn't produce energy at night. To fix this the energy produced during the day can be preserved and used during the night for the little amount it is needed.

Solar energy is something we should all start looking into because it quite possibly could be the future of energy production. Although it might be more expensive at first it will save us all in the long run.

Information retrieved from: The New York Times.

Reflection Weeks: 1-4

So far in the past few weeks I have learned quite a lot of information. One of the most interesting things was using all the cool things on blogger. I've used Blogger once before in one of my high school history classes but it was just the basic posting and commenting. We never learned about all the gadgets and extra things you could use or place on your site. Also, learning about how the government is trying to hide important information about global warming from its people. I think this is a serious issue and we deserve to know whats going on and what we should be expecting. If people understood how serious this is, we might be more willing to change the way we live to prevent it.

I've also learned a lot about being more energy efficient and realizing how much more I can do to decrease my ecological footprint on the earth. After taking the earth day quiz, about how many planets my lifestyle would need to support everyone on earth if they lived the same was as I do, I realized I need to seriously find ways to help the environment rather than hurt it. To do this I have been trying to reduce my shower times, watching that I'm turning off the water between brushing my teeth, putting on a sweatshirt rather than turning up the heat, opening windows rather than turning on a fan, etc. I think people need to start taking care of the environment before we don't have the chance anymore and are regretting that we never did.

Read n' Seed: First Quarter of "Aqua Shock"

Lake Superior

1. So far I've covered chapters 1 and 2, pages 1-56.
2. The main topic I have read about are how our water sources are quickly diminishing and how many places are fighting over ownership of these water sources and actually taking each other to court. I also learned 70% of earth is water, yet only 1 percent of that water is readily accessible freshwater. 97% of this water is in oceans, salty and undrinkable unless it is desalinated which is very costly which leaves 3% freshwater. 2% of this freshwater is glaciers, polar ice caps and groundwater, which only leaves us with the 1% freshwater made up by ground and surface water. Another interesting face is about how much water we use daily just for production. Nearly 47 billion gallons of freshwater are used for public water supply systems and domestic uses. More than 142 billions of freshwater are used to irrigate crops, water livestock, and meet other agricultural needs. And finally more than 195 billions of water (136 billion gallons of freshwater and 59.5 billion gallons of saline water) are used in energy production and for thermoelectric power plants (Marks, 2009) . 
3. I learned some significant things from the first two chapters of this book. I learned that the amount of water on earth is constant, what changes is the form it takes-liquid, ice, or vapor, the amount of pollution, and the accessibility of the water. Water goes through the hydro-logic cycle and evaporates in one place but may fall in a completely different place where the temperature is much colder,  therefor turning that once available water into ice.  Also,  according to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District, Lake Superior is at its lowest point since January of 1926 (Marks, 2009) . We are losing much of our fresh water from this lake and we must start being more careful.
4. We need to start preserving our water and stop polluting it. The fact that Lake Superior's water level is going down affects us because lowing water levels make it much more difficult for maritime shipping, which Duluth/Superior is a main harbor and this could have very negative consequences on our economy. If this source dries up too much or completely there will be no way for ships to come through which consequently will make it harder for us to get products out/in. We will have to find an alternate source of transporting our goods. To address this we need to start using less water by cutting down shower times, turning off the water while brushing your teeth, switching to toilets that use less water, recycling water to water plants and lawns, and fixing leaky faucets or hookups. We need to start changing our ways before it is too late. Humans are composed mostly of water and once it's gone it could mean the end of our existence unless we find an alternate substance.

References from: Marks, S. (2009). Aqua shock: the water crisis in america. New York: Bloomberg Press.

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

In doing the earth day quiz about how many planets it would take to support my lifestyle. I found it would take 6.5 planets. My reaction to this way wow. I never even realized even the little things I do and use have such a big impact on the earth. Just from eating meat 1-2 times a week can kills so many animals, and buying foods that aren't locally grown. In order to adjust my lifestyle to help and reduce my footprint I could eat foods more locally grown, try to cut down on meat products that will kill animals,use less electricity by shutting off lights when I'm not using them. I could also shut off water when when brushing my teeth and cutting down shower time. If everyone on earth did this we could extend the life of our planet and the resources we need to live.