The most famous individual to bring attention to global warming and recent environmental concerns is former vice president, Al Gore. Mr. Gore has continually pushed the United States to become more active in the fight against global warming. Recently, he has even been pushing lawmakers to make all the US’s energy come from renewable resources in 10 years. Many lawmakers, however, see Mr. Gore’s goal as something unrealistic and unattainable.
On the other hand, an environmental group called the Green Group, which is actually headed by Gore is fighting to convince lawmakers that Gore’s goal is achievable. This response was strengthened by a statement made by the CEO for Climate Protection, who said that techonology was no longer an issue in the search to find clean power.
Gore’s goal is achievable if the US were to take a course that would involve creating efficient energy, through a newer up-to-date system. According the CEO for Climate Protection, the US already has the techonolgy needed to reduce a family’s energy consumption by 20%. The CEO also pointed out that if the US were to place legislation designed to lessen global warming, private sources would be interested in finding and funding, the development of a clean energy source. Thus, the cost of developing a cleaner energy would be mostly covered by private sources, this is because there would be financial incentives to having a clean energy source.
In addition, by having a newer more modern power system designed as a ’smart electric grid’, the US could have a way to generate electricity in one area and move it to wherever it may be needed. The system would be made up of ’smart meters’ that would permit individuals to generate their own energy and even sell the energy they generate to the system. Also by using a newer form of wires, such as the superconductor wires produced by American Superconductor Corp, 10 times the amount of energy that could be carried by normal copper cable, could be achieved.
Thus a new modern electricity grid system, superconductor cables and similar new techonologies, have the potential of making goals, such of the goal Mr. Gore, a strong possibility in the future of the US.
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Its all about going green this year, from industries to the Olympics. Even the presidential candidates have ’spiced up’ their speeches with promises of going green during their candidacy. But what are the real benefits of going green? It is commonly believed that green building is far more expensive than traditional forms of building, but this is in fact not true. Green building has become far more affordable. This is because green building products have become less expensive and ‘green’ education and knowledge has increased a great deal.
At this point, building green can be done with a 2%-0% increase, compared to building in a non-green fashion. Companies have utilized this improvement and are now pushing to make building technology as green as possible. Two such companies are Green Builders Inc, located in Austin, TX and Sage Homebuilders of St. Louis.
Energy Savings- By choosing to go green, one is capable of having huge energy savings. Especially if one purchases Energy Star products, this is because the products with the Energy Star label are especially energy efficient and can save customers 40-60% in energy savings. Even appliances like, energy efficient windows and tight air ducts, can play influential roles in saving energy. In addition, by using low-flow fixtures, water friendly landscaping, systems which collect rainwater and so forth, one can save a lot in water usage and cost. It is obvious that these improvements are designed to effectively cut energy costs and wastes, while still giving one the conveniences of the modern world. Save money, energy and go green!
In addition to energy savings, there are health benefits to going green as well. Many products that are used in the home, including certain paints, adhesives, caulks contain unhealthy VOCs which can be dangerous to ones health. These VOCs as well as urea-formaldehyde, which can be found in many products associated with wood care, can lead one to have increased asthma risks. By using green products one can be guaranteed that his or her home products are not having an ill effect on the health of the individuals living at home.
Energy savings and health benefits are not the only benefits of going green, by making your home green you are granting your home efficiency and sustainabilty. Going green makes sense all the way around!
Starry Night Lights is a company which understands the need and profit of alternative energy sources, such as solar energy. Thus, we have made it our goal to provide customers with information about the newest environmental news and improvements in green building. We specialize in providing night sky friendly outdoor lighting, which works to reduce light pollution, protect the night sky and save you money by lowering energy usage. Join in, in going green and do your wallet and the environment a favor.
Solar Energy, Brightening Energy Potential Around the Globe
Swiss teacher, Louis Palmer, has taken solar energy to an interesting but promising new level, by driving his “solartaxi” across the globe. Yes, Mr. Palmer has driven his solartaxi across Europe, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand and has recently begun his trip through North America. Mr. Palmer has crossed the globe and all without any drop of gasoline. According to Mr. Palmer “I have not paid a single cent for gasoline after driving two-thirds around the world so far!”
This is a very impressive feat and it brings hope to the world’s energy dilemma, reminding us that there are real solutions to our energy problem. The “solartaxi” is still not an appropriate solution for the transportation problem, this is because it costs more than $250,000, a cost that was covered by sponsors in the case of Mr. Palmer. Also, only 50% of the solartaxi’s energy came from the solar panels on the car, the rest came from an international power grid where Mr. Palmer is able to draw energy collected from the solar panels at his home in Switzerland.
At any rate, Mr. Palmer will be setting a record by the time he returns home to Switzerland, as the first non-fossil fuel driven car to cross the globe, on normal roads. Today’s hybrids are capable of reducing gasoline usage by 20% while the solar car is completely gas free, thus it appears to be the ideal candidate of transportation for our future.
It is an exciting time for China, from August 8-24th China will be hosting the 2008 Olympics in its capital Beijing. The country sees this honor as an oppurtunity for it to show its economic, political and cultural achievements to the rest of the world. However there is one matter that will not have the international community raving, and that is the amount of pollution which seems to shadow the capital city. Though China has taken significant steps to reduce the amount of pollutants in the air, the steps seem to have fallen short. China has forced one million cars off the road and has temporarily closed hundreds of factories and yet the city’s air quality is still short of national standards. Olympic organizers fear that these conditions will not improve before the games are scheduled to take place, even though China has stated that it will continue to take the appropriate steps to improve its air quality.
As the opening for the Olympics grows closer, both China and olympic organizers are preparing to take more drastic steps to improve the air quality. This year is especially important as the world moves toward becoming green, this year a “Green Olympics” has been promised. Thus, China may be forced to postpone certain olympic events, such as the marathon, triathlon and other ‘endurance’ events, until cleaner air is present.
Chinese news sources have stated that China is willing to temporarily close construction sites and even more factories if air quality does not improve. Also, China is willing to impose certain traffic restrictions in order to improve air quality. Already, Chinese are assigned a certain day on which they are allowed to drive, depending on if their license plate tag is odd or even. Meaning that odd license plates may drive on one day and even on the next, this alternating system though extreme has proved effective in mediating traffic and improving air quality.
This failure to bring air pollutants or particulate matter in the air down to the national benchmark of 100mg a cubic meter, which is half of the desired 50mg a cubic meter of the World Health Organization, does not mean that China has not made improvements in its air quality. According to statistics, China’s ability to even come close to its 100mg, is a drastic improvement from its past, however it still falls short of international standards.
Recent environmental goals made by China include:
-Millions of coal burning homes, replaced by gas
-Over 2,000 old vehicles replaced by newer more efficient models
-Over 5,000 taxis replaced by newer cleaner models
-5 new urban railways have been added to the public transportation system
If the situation continues China “will implement an emergency plan 48 hours” before the August 8-24 games, said We Li Xin of the Beijing environmental protection bureau. However, this may not be enough, according to the Greenpeace campaign director, Beijing’s air quality is still not that of an Olympic city. Especially because these athletes will be breathing 150 liters of air per minute, thus concerns over the health of the athletes are very legitimate.
For the lastest environmental news and light fixtures guaranteed to protect the environment, look to Starry Night Lights. A leader in the struggle to promote the health of our environment and the beauty of the night sky.
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, have each promised to fight global warming if they have the privilege of becoming the president of our nation. Both individuals have stated that they plan to reduce global warming by reducing carbon emissions. One would think that this reduction of carbon emissions is one of the best steps the US could take in fighting global warming, however some individuals disagree with this mentality believing that this goal of reducing emissions would do more harm than good.
One such figure is controversial Bjorn Lomborg, the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It, the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and a professor at Copenhagen Business School, who has stated that the US goal of reducing emissions, would actually harm the global economy. This notion may seem absurd, but Lomborg argues that the goal should not be reducing emissions it should actually be investing and using alternative sources of energy. According to Lomborg merely choosing to reduce emissions, will hurt the global economy while at the same time have a very weak positive effect on global warming. Thus, Lomborg believes that by choosing to invest in alternative sources of energy, we can ‘replace’ carbon emissions and not merely reduce them.
Lomborg, is not alone in his thinking and though his suggestion may seem strange, there is truth in what he sugguests. By lowering emissions alone, we may weaken our economy without having a strong positive influence on global warming. However by investing and using alternative sources of energy, we can lessen our dependency on fossil fuels which have a negative impact on our environment and place our energy dependency on sources which do not negatively plague our environment such as solar energy and wind power.
Individuals like Lomborg, are encouraging us to look into the future and base our energy decisions on what would be best for the globe in the long run. Presidential candidates McCain and Obama, may benefit from this sort of mentality. Though their goals of reducing emissions are noble, they may not be the best goals for the US in the long run. By choosing to place their efforts in investing in altenative sources of energy, both individuals could place the US in a far more advantageous position for its future.
For the lastest environmental news and light fixtures guaranteed to protect the environment, look to Starry Night Lights. A leader in the struggle to promote the health of our environment and the beauty of the night sky.
With alternative sources of energy becoming more popular, solar energy has risen in importance. In the near future, solar energy could cost as much as traditional energy sources, if solar technology continues to improve. Thus, many experts believe that in the future, solar panels will replace much of traditional energy sources.
However, it is still too early to depend on solar energy as a strong alternative energy source. Even by 2020, solar energy will still only represent 3 to 6 percent of installed electricity generation. In any case, solar energy is still an excellent alternative energy source, capable of greatly lowering emissions.
In the solar energy sector, competition is high. Companies are competing with each other to stay on top, by providing low prices and guaranteeing their company easy access to raw materials. Each company hopes to create the cheapest and most effective solar cells, a task that can only be accomplished with innovation and new technology.
The ‘era of solar power’ is still some time away. Unfortunately, there are strong risks involved in the production of solar power. Those companies that drag their feet may lose their customers to those companies which have stayed on top and continued to innovate. Government decisions will also play a strong role in the development and production of solar energy. As governments pass legislation, these companies will decide how and when to develop and produce their products.
It is clear that it will still take some time before solar energy can compare and compete with traditional energy sources. Solar energy is still expensive when compared to conventional energy sources. However the future looks bright for the production of solar energy, though it will take longer to develop this energy source in nations like India and China. Both these nations require a great deal of energy in order to run their nations and it will be hard to break them of their dependency on coal, a resource which though cheap, is very poor for the health our environment.
As fuel prices rise, the need to find alternative sources of energy has become far more necessary. However, it has not been an easy task, especially considering how alternative sources affect our economy and our environment. In addition to these factors, weather plays a strong role in our ability to use alternative fuels. For example, both corn and palm oil have been used for fuel, but both of these crops are dependent on good weather in order for them to be cultivated.
In the US ethanol prices went up 21% since June, because of floods. This did not have a very strong effect on gas prices, since only 6% of the US’s fuel comes from ethanol. However, the use of ethanol for fuel purposes is expected to increase over the years, as the world turns to bio-fuels for energy needs. Thus, weather failures or extremes could have an impact similar to oil-pipeline disasters, where fuel prices are concerned.
In the United States, hurricanes Katrina and Rita lead to a fuel disaster, shutting down refineries and causing individuals to wait in lines in order to get gas, as the price rose to more than $3 a gallon. This price was considered to be a record price at the time. Just as weather made gas more expensive at that time, it could make bio-fuel energy more expensive at times of weather distress.
However, experts also believe that the supply of ethanol has kept gasoline prices from rising even higher than they have already risen. In addition, the government has a mandate requiring oil companies to mix ethanol with motor fuel, in hopes that this could reduce energy costs. Many experts believe that ethanol will soon be made by using switchgrass or wood chips, elements which are not as strongly influenced by the weather.
In any case, it is clear that weather plays a strong role in the pricing of fuel, both bio-fuel and crude oil. Though, bio-fuels serve as an excellent alternative source of energy, it is clear that a safer more reliable energy source could be an even greater energy savior.
Experts have stated that the most challenging issue of this century will be dealing with climate change. This is because many of the efforts already made to lessen global warming have not been very effective. Efforts have been made by environmentalists and other experts to influence the opinions of powerful leaders and to in turn make dramatic steps which would greatly lessen emissions. However, much of these steps have still not been made, and in addition it has been truly difficult to find an appropriate system for dealing with climate change across the world.
Carbon emissions trading, has been one such effort, which has not made real improvements in dealing with climate change. It is true, that carbon emissions trading may lead to some sort of emission reduction in industrialized nations, but in developing nations it will not prove to be very effective. In nations like India and China, where forty percent of the world’s population lives and where economies are still developing, measures such as carbon emissions trading, will not work.
One cannot expect nations like China and India to make the same sacrifices as wealthy industrialized nations. Also, it will be difficult to create an emission reducing system, which will allow nations to not feel as if they are hindering their economies by abiding by regulations set to sustain the environment. Because of the world’s dependency on fossil fuels (such as coal and crude oil), nations that lead in the production of these elements frequently do not have the same responsibilities as other nations.
This means that many of the world’s wealthiest nations are equally the highest emission producers. The US, Australia, Canada and the oil rich nations of the Middle East, are all wealthy nations, with high carbon emissions. This does not mean that all the wealthy nations of the world are high emission producers. For example Japan, which is the world’s second largest economy, is 32nd in per capita emissions. These high carbon producing nations are less than 10 % of the population but yet their emissions are five to twenty times the emission of poorer nations, China and India included.
It is clear that these wealthy high carbon producing nations need to cut their emissions. In fact one could even say that these nations have a greater responsibility than other nations in this mission. Especially given the importance in slowing climate change, these nations should do whatever possible to reduce their emissions by at least half as soon a possible.
The Group of Eight summit of 2008, began on Monday in Japan. The goal of the nations participating in this summit is to lessen greenhouse emissions by half by the year 2050. However, these nations have found it difficult to agree on how exactly to take the appropriate steps, in order to met this goal. According to news reports these nations have agreed that midterm goals will need to be set in order for the goal of dropping emissions in half by 2050 to become feasible. At the moment, however, no numerical goals have been set.
This effort has been well received by many of the ‘wealthy’ nations of the world. The European Commission President, has even described the summit in environmental terms, as “a strong signal to citizens around the world”. However the nations of the world which are ‘less wealthy’ and environmental groups, have criticized the summit and its goals saying that the leaders have not fully met their responsibilities.
The environmental group, WWF, has stated that “the G8 (nations) are responsible for 62 percent of the carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth’s atmosphere, which makes them the main culprit of climate change and the biggest part of the problem”. Thus, many environmentally based groups and organizations, such as the WWF, feel that these nations have a greater responsibility to climate change issues than they have been willing to accept.
In the previous Group of Eight summit, the nations agreed to aim for lessening emissions in half by 2050, but this year both Japan and the European Union have placed pressure on these nations, encouraging them to go beyond that aim. Unfortunately, the U.S. has said that it cannot agree with ‘binding’ agreements until countries like India and China, which are large polluters, agree to lessen their emissions as well.
The summit should effectively set goals for fighting global warming once the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.
In addition to discussing lessen global emissions, the nations have also discussed rising food and fuel costs. The leaders are very concerned that these high prices will have a very negative effect on a global economy, already suffering from serious problems. Also, G8 leaders have agreed to deal with energy concerns through pushing oil producers and consumers to come together and discuss energy security, prices and so forth.
Engineers from China and all over Asia have recently come to Japan to observe the design of the Taiheiyo Cement factory. Its design has allowed the company to greatly lessen the amount of the energy it uses. This is because the Taiheiyo Cement factory uses its waste heat to actually make a great deal of its own energy.
The Taiheiyo Cement factory is designed with high furnaces and conveyor belts resembling something close to a building from the Industrial Revolution. This factory can be considered a modern marvel because of its energy efficiency level.
This building is one of many of Japan’s impressive efforts to combat global warming. Japan has taken strong steps to lessen its dependency on oil since the oil shocks of the 1970s. As a result, Japan has made significant efforts to increase its reliance on renewable energy and place specific efforts in making its energy use efficient.
The Group of Eight meeting which is taking place in Japan, will allow Japan to take a leadership role in the climate change issue. During the meeting, Japan will show off its latest technology and its energy efficient mentality to the Group of Eight leaders. According the Prime Minister of Japan, “Superior technology and a national spirit of avoiding waste give Japan the world’s most energy efficient structure”, he also added that Japan has the desire to “contribute to the world”.
The recent energy crisis is expected to be highly discussed in the meeting. President Bush and other leaders have been pushed by other nations to increase their oil supplies by increasing offshore drilling to improve the current energy situation.
Japan is considered to be the most energy efficient nation among all the developed nations of the world. Japan has grown accustomed to learning how to conserve its energy. Among the industrial nations, Japan is the only nation which kept up its investment in energy research during the period when oil prices fell. So that even though oil prices were low, Japan continued to find other sources of energy so that it would not remain dependent on foreign oil.
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