Brett Barger
Living Green Final Essay
Everyone knows that protecting our planet is the right thing to do, but few people realize the intricacies of our addiction to energy usage. I’m going to focus not on the moral or ethical reasons, but on the economics of the problem. Energy stored in any form is a valuable commodity that is necessary for modern societies to function. What separates developed countries from undeveloped is the abundance of stored energy they possess, whether it is petroleum, coal, natural gas, fertilizer, or some other stored source of energy. The use of these sources of energy brings great increases to ones over quality of life, but they are in a very limited supply and are destroying our planet.
A lot of people say the solution to this problem is to just use less energy. I partly agree with this solution, but that is just a small step towards fixing the overall problem. Turning the thermostat down or driving your car less certainly helps, but in the grand scheme of things it’s like putting a band-aid on a mortal wound. What is needed is a combination of three things: conservation, efficiency increases, and alternative sources of energy. The first factor, conservation, is often talked about, but the second and third are often not given the attention they deserve. I believe the reason for this is most people underestimate human ingenuity. I think of global warming and environmental issues as threats that are going to bring out the best of man. Instead of imagining severe catastrophes and immense pollution and waste 30 years down the line, I think of man finally being at some sort of equilibrium with nature where as we can existence drawing on technology. This change in infrastructure and technologies will hopefully bring about a new error of prosperity that will benefit everyone across the globe.
Conservation is the first step towards a sustainable earth. Certainly it requires humans to change their lifestyles in some regards, but there is a huge benefit to consumers. If someone drives their car less or turns off the lights in their home, then they are obviously going to save money, because they will be spending less money on either fuel or electricity. If fewer resources are used in the first place, there will obviously be less of an impact on the environment. Another form of conservation is efficient transportation. People and businesses need to become better at planning their trips. If goods need to get from point A to point B then they should not travel the shortest distance, but the route that uses the least amount of energy via train or ship.
The second thing that people tend to forget is efficiency. Human ingenuity has allowed us to get more from our resources since the dawn of time. Recent advances such as fuel injection being used in automobiles since the 1980’s and compact fluorescent light bulbs becoming more popular show that humans are still trying to get the biggest bang for their buck. More advances such as trains that can haul a ton of cargo 300 miles using only 1 gallon of diesel only exemplify the point that mankind is rising to the task using ingenuity. One or two of these advances in efficiency seem miniscule, but when a person is doing multiple things to conserve energy/ fuel the effect is huge.
There is now finally a huge demand for alternative sources of energy. Conventional coal and petroleum are no longer plentiful enough to meet the world’s energy needs. Also, conventional energy sources are horrible for the environment. Mountain top coal mining to drilling in coral reefs for petroleum to the actual release of particulates and green house gasses show the entire cycle from the actual gathering of fuel to the burning of the fuel is bad for the environment. The only solution to this problem is alternative sources of energy that can minimize the impact on our environment.
One of the first things that can be said is biofuels based on feedstocks are a horrible idea. Farming, especially in a industrial farm complex, hard on the environment due to the massive amounts of water, fertilizer, and petroleum used to cultivate and harvest the crops especially in corn farming. Therefore, the USA’s current method of producing ethanol is not up to par. I am now sure of this after reading the “Omnivores Dilemma”. Other people say it is possible and site examples such as Brazil. However, Brazil is a bad example, because people in Brazil are clearing the rainforest at an alarming rate to replace with corn for livestock and ethanol production. This is obviously not a very eco-friendly solution.
What is needed is alternative fuels which rely on human ingenuity. One of the best examples is turning our waste into energy. Turning landfill gas into electricity across the country would result in an additional 1,300 MW being produced. Another example is burning human waste at sewage treatment plants to generate electricity. Some estimates say that human sewage could account for 10 to 20 percent of the countries energy needs if it was used as a fuel. For small 3rd world countries dung cell battery are an interesting source of small amounts of electricity that is just now being needed.
For the fuel that runs our automobiles cellulostic ethanol and alga culture are two of the most promising technologies. Alga culture, that is the farming of algae that contain high amounts of lipid, is capable of producing 3,000 to 45,000 gallons of fuel per acre. That is a huge improvement over the current production rates of corn-based ethanol, which can only produce roughly 300 gallons per acre. Cellulostic ethanol is a technology that uses microorganisms to break down the cellulose into simple sugars that can be fermented. This allows people to use inedible plants or things such as yard trimmings to produce a viable fuel.
The underlying theme for all of these suggestions is human ingenuity. As humans we can arise to the task to develop new means to an end that are better for the planet, and better than the current methods. As humans we can use our wits to save the planet, and we will.