Burning fossil fuels produces a lot of waste including CO2 – the most well-known greenhouse gas. Global warming is real and humankind is most likely going to face the consequences. To solve this problem we need to change the way we produce energy. There are several alternative energy sources such as hydroelectric power stations, wind power generators, solar cells, geothermal energy power stations and others. Now, I will focus on solar panels only. The first solar cells were constructed in 19th century. Since that time, a lot has changed. A good thing about solar cells is that they produce clean energy without any waste and the only thing they need is cloudless weather. Nowadays there are plenty of solar powerplants all around the world. Some individuals install them on their own properties and sometimes even make their own small powerplants to produce enough energy to cover all their needs. We are getting used to this technology on the Earth, but what if some existed on other space objects? Like on the Moon? Actually, there are several projects of constructing a power station on the Moon. If we could build a “ring” of solar cells there, we would’ve half way solved the problem of an upcoming energy crisis. While there are such problems as nights and cloudy days (that slow down energy production) on our planet, on the Moon the flow of energy production would be constant. Also, the light that reaches those solar cells would be even brighter because there is no atmosphere on the Moon. The energy can be transported back to Earth either by microwave emitting or lasers (or even both) and collected with the help of special stations that are to be build. It sure may sound like another science fiction tale, and the project like this would cost humongous amounts of money, but at the end of day, we have to take actions and face the music. References: Thair Shaikh, The Independent, 28.11.2013, Japanese engineers plan to turn the moon into a giant solar panel station [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/japanese-engineers-plan-to-turn-the-moon-into-a-giant-solar-panel-station-8969866.html], Accessed 2.11.2016 Wikipedia, 16.11.2016, Solar cell [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell], Accessed 20.11.2016 Sarah Fecht, Popular Science, 17.03.2016, Solar panels grown on the moon could power the earth [http://www.popsci.com/for-nearly-infinite-power-build-self-replicating-solar-panels-on-moon], Accessed 2.11.2016 by Linh Nguyen Have you ever thought that a small, cute and cuddly animal as cat might be a dangerous factor for the environment? A recent study found that cats are one of the top predators to US birds and mammals. A cat in a cat coffee shop in Tampere, Finland (Linh Nguyen, 2015) Americans spend $7 billion annually to feed cats and other few billion dollars in cat veterinary, cat toys, cat houses or cat clothes. Cats are more and more famous today because their videos have millions of views on social media. But they are found to be “cuddly killers” since 1.4 - 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 - 20.7 billion mammals are killed by cats every year. In the book Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer by Peter P. Marra and Chris Santella, free-ranging domestic cats are mentioned as an environmental threat. In 2013, Marra and other researchers found that 4 billion birds, 822 million reptiles, 22 billion small mammals and 299 million amphibians in the U.S. were killed by cats in a single year. According to a 2011 review of 120 islands, cats led to the decrease in species diversity of songbirds (approximately 123 species), seabirds, parrots, iguanas (around 25 species), penguins, lizards, snakes, turtles, snakes and 27 species of small mammals such as lemurs and bats. After that, in another study, a team of researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that the amount of deaths caused by cats was more than 4 times higher than the figure in the previous study. Not only the stray, feral cats but also the pet cats caused a huge amount of deaths of birds (especially American Robin), mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits. Cat owners should not allow their cats to loaf around the neighborhood, not only for protecting other species, but also help their kitties to live longer. The biggest problem is managing more than 80 million unowned cats in the U.S. Many animal welfare organizations such as The Washington Humane Society suggest to use trap-neuter-return programs (TNR). In TNR programs, stray or feral cats are vaccinated, spayed and found home. If there is no home for them, they will be returned to the area which they came from. In the other hand, conservationists say that these programs might make it worse because they are a reason for people to abandon their cats to these programs colonies in which wild animals are often fed by volunteers. According to Dr. Fenwick of the bird conservancy, there are more than 500 TNR provinces in Austin alone and the number of free roaming cats keeps increasing. Even pet cats are extremely adjusted to the hunt, for example, they can’t help but chase when they see moving things. It may be better to put more effort into animal adoption, said Dr. Fenwick. Home can be found for almost healthy cats. "Cats don't need to wander hundred of miles to be happy", he said. Cat owners should control their pets more (for example, keeping their cats indoor) to reduce the effect . It’s also an alert for governments, organizations and scientists to the decline of various species caused by cat hunting instinct. ReferencesAngier N. 2013. That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think. Published 29/09/2013. Read 27/11/2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html.
Loss R. S., Will T., Marra P. P. 2013. The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States. Published 29/01/2013. Read 10/11/2016. http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380 Marra P. P. & Satella C. 2016. The Killer Cats Are Winning! Published 29/09/2016. Read 10/11/2016. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/09/29/killer-cats-are-winning/ Morelle R. 2013. Cats killing billions of animals in the US. Published 29/01/2013. Read 10/11/2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-21236690. Nowadays, the demand for food rockets without sight of halting. It is estimated by the UN that food demand will increase up to 70% within the next 35 years. An increase in food production is the most straight-forward solution but it comes with certain hazards. One of the most important food to human is undoubtedly meat. The most common hazard of meat production is that it contributes greatly to global warming by using a great amount of water, destroying forests, causing erosion and emitting carbon dioxide – the most common greenhouse gas (production of cow meat). Nonetheless, the animal wastes from the production are put in coastal areas, thus creating the so-called dead zones. Hence it is high time to advance our cuisine to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Acknowledging the problem, the famous brand IKEA attempts to tackle it by means of technology. For a long time, IKEA has been well-known not only for its affordable furniture, but also for the famous Swedish meatballs and without a doubt it has been one big factor of the company that needs an urgent environmentally friendly solution. The solution they come up with lies within the 3D printing technology. The technology is being developed in IKEA’s future-living laboratory Space10 located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The research (called Tomorrow’s Meatball: A Visual Exploration of Future Food) aims to find out sustainable substitute ingredients and production technology. Futuristically speaking, we will soon be able to have a dinner menu with meatballs of artificially made meat, bugs, nuts, algae, etc. using 3D print technology. The new ingredients might sound unappetizing but they are promised to have similar tastes to our meatballs nowadays and they help reducing the use of real meat by a large margin. Thus in order to cope with the high food demanding future, we need to be ready for these changes (stated by Bas van de Poel – design resident at Space10). The project has showcased some of its finest “green” meatballs menu, including:
The project gives a new vision on a greener and sustainable cuisine where we can utilize most of the edible materials around us. Reference: Yusuf, B. Dec 2015. IKEA Will Save the Planet with 3D Printed Meatballs. https://all3dp.com/ikea-will-save-planet-3d-printed-meatballs/ Pour, K, Poel, B, Perez, S, Renlund, L, Borring, K & Caspersen, S. Dec 2015. Tomorrow’s Meatball: A Visual Exploration of Future Food. https://www.space10.io/journal/tomorrow-s-meatball-what-we-all-could-be-eating-20-years-from-now Every year, human has to face and find a solution for treating the mountain of garbage, 2.3 trillion pounds from around the world. But in that number, only 1% of them is recycled (Graph 1) while 59% is in the landfills (Thompson 2012). From the graph, it is easy for us to recognize how the trash over the world has been treated. In the higher income countries, fortunately, we still have 1% of trash was recycled. The that is still an extrememly small amount. And in both, we spend too much land for building landfill based on 59% of world's garbage was located at landfill. But the land area of the Earth is limited, so if the amount of waste keeps increasing while we do not have landfills anymore, how can we solve this matter? Graph 1. How the garbage is treated in the lower income countries (left) and the higher income countries (right). (Source: The Atlantic. 2012) The solution for this matter is RECYCLING. Recycling is the process of making a new reusable thing from the potentially useful trash to avoid using new or raw materials to make and use again some reusable things as much as we can. For example, we can use a water bottle from a grocery shop for several times instead buying a new bottle before putting in a trash bin. This is just a small act but very useful for decreasing the amount of world's trash. If everyone does this, people will not have to pay a lot of money in waste treating technology every year. So what can be recycled? Nearly EVERYTHING is recyclable, from the smallest thing, such as, a water bottle, to the largest one like a fridge. It depends on the way it is recycled. In general, a recyclable object is ussually marked by one logo (Picture 1). So when seeing that logo, you know your thing can be recycled. But not every family has the advanced technology for recycling. So in this case, the only act we have to do is separate our trash. Then, the government and the garbage treating center will help you do the left steps. After they collect enough each kind of trash, for instance, glass, plastic or biowaste, they use their advanced technology to recycle one by one type. APicture 1. Recyclable logo. (Wikipedia. 2016) And why is recycling the key to the world's development? As mentioned, the land area on our planet is limited. So we cannot use too much land and money for building landfills as we need that land and that money for other human developments like technology, medication and economy. Through all what we discovered, it is surely ossible to conclude why recycling is important for humand. Recycling is the key to the world's development has been proven. We cannot live in garbage mountains to work or study. Meanwhile we do not join hand to reduce the amount of trash and let it increases day by day. So lastly, if we do not start not, maybe not in near future but nearly sure in future, human will live, work and play in our landfills. Reference. 1. Derek Thompson. 07 June 2012. 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage: Where does the world’s trash go? The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/26-trillion-pounds-of-garbage-where-does-the-worlds-trash-go/258234/. Access: 13.11.2016
2. Recycling. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling. Access: 13.11.2016 Can you actually save money by saving water? Will saving water ruin your bathroom experience? Average Finnish person uses about 155 litres of water in a day. Average usage of water per person in a day that Finnish ministry of environment has set is 100 to 120 litres in a day, so Finnish people are on average over using fresh water by 35 litres or more per day. PICTURE 1. Daily distribution of fresh water usage (Pajunen 2016) Average price of water for reqular house was 5,57 € per qubicmetre of water from top 20 cheapest water supliers of Finland. That means that for regular Finnish family with two adults and two kids the water bill would be a bit over 100 € per month in best case scenario. When compared to regular bathrooms, modern bathrooms could save from 50 to 70 % water while claiming that the bathroom expearince or routines would not have to change at all, but could actually eaven make them better. There are modern shower mechanisms being developed where the shover nozzles atomize water into millions of droplets creating 10 times more surface area than a regular shower but saving 70 % water while doing so. There are modern washing machines that wash loundry faster and quieter while also using less water. There are modern toilets that let the user custom the amount of needed water for flushing and use aproximately 30 % less water. So with modern bathroom anyone can enjoy these new inventions and cut the price of water bills in half? The thing here is that all these modern bathroom units unfortunately cost significanlty more than regular bathroom units. Just for money saving purposes modern bathrooms are not worth the investment, it could take years just to break even, but for someone just trying to reduce household water consumption, these all are great inventions and definitely a leap forward. After all, it comes down to personal preferences. ReferencesMotiva. 2016. Vedenkulutus. Read 2.11.2016
http://www.motiva.fi/koti_ja_asuminen/mihin_energiaa_kuluu/vedenkulutus Yle. 2015. Hanaveden hinnoissa valtavia eroja – Top 20 -listassa kalleimmat ja halvimmat vedentoimittajat. Read 2.11.2016 http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8103533 Nebia. 2016. Experience Water. Read 2.11.2016 https://nebia.com/ Remodelista. 2014. 7 Favorites: The Best Water-Conserving Toilets. Read 2.11.2016 http://www.remodelista.com/posts/5-favorites-the-best-water-conserving-toilets/ |
Want to be an author?Write for us and we will publish your writing right here on our blog! It can be about anything related to environmental engineering Archives
May 2019
Categories
All
|