Air Powered Cars

Scientists recently showed a car that runs on air at a car show named the Volvo Air Motion. This car is only a scale model of it and does not run. This car uses turbines to pull air through the car and propel it forwards. The car weighs less than 1000 pounds, which is partially due to the car having no heavy engine. The car doesn't depend on gasoline so it is very environmentally friendly. This car is not the only model that runs on air. The Airpod is another car that uses air as fuel and actually runs.

Wow! The fact that this car runs on air is amazing because it is very environmentally friendly and can save people a lot of money on gas. It's good that scientists are already thinking about these kind of things. We are going to run out of oil eventually and need a good backup.

1) When do you think we will need to use these cars?

2) Do you think that people will be willing to pay a lot of money for these cars?

3) Which do you think is the better choice, an electric or air powered car?

Beyond Fossil Fuels

"Using Waste, Swedish City Cuts Its Fossil Fuel Use"

Article By Elisabeth Rosenthal

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/science/earth/11fossil.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Published December 10, 2010

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Summary

Kristianstad, Sweden promised 10 years ago that they will limit themselves from fossil fuels. The city and the nearby towns use less oil and gas no

w. They do not use

much fossil fuels for heating purposes. The towns consisting 80,000 people have turned 180 degrees from 20 years ago. They do not use just any alternative fuel. Instead, they have a generator that produces energy by processing waste such as potato peels, manure, or stale cookies. It can produce energy from almost anything. The machine that generates the electricity is a 10 year old power plant that changes the waste into a biogas which is a form of methane. After they started seeing the fuel works, they began using other waste like food waste. This town is mostly farm so there were many waste. The product could heat the house or even fuel a car. It decreased the carbon dioxide output by one fourth. It also decreased the dependency on fossil fuels to a half. Europe is beginning to use the biogas system, but in the U.S., it is rare. The use of biogas is like using natural gas, but they both pollute less than the other fossil fuels. After all, the biological waste is just sitting there waiting for it to be decomposed so it will affect the global warming anyway. Why not use it?

Reflection/Opinion

I think using biogas is a great idea because it is cheaper. It uses 3.8 million dollars less than fossil fuels does in a year and it is made locally. It is better to use the waste than let it sit and contribute to global warming. It is going to affect it anyway. Since the fossil fuels are expensive in Europe, it is wise to use biogas because Kristianstad is a farmland. I hope the U.S. will have biogas fuels because we have many farmland and wastes. Our fuel costs are going up and so is the population in the world. We will have to have more coals, but it is running out. We will have to depend on something else like bio waste product that is refined.

Questions

1) Do you think we need biogas? Why or Why not?

2) Will U.S. depend more on biogas in the future? Why or Why not?

3) Why should we use bio waste to make fuel?

4) How much money do you think the Swedish people in Kristianstad used on fossil fuels?

(Guess, don't need to look up unless you want to.) Explain your reasoning.

By James Jung

"Industry and Government Were Unprepared for BP Spill, Study Says" By: John M. Broder, November 22, 2010

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/industry-and-government-were-unprepared-for-bp-spill-study-says/

Summary:

Both the government and oil industry were very unprepared for the huge gulf oil spill, which lead to a lot of environmental damage. The oil companies and government agencies learned lessons and got technological advancments from this disaster, but they still aren't prepared for another disaster like this one. Even though the oil companies made a multibillion-dollar profit over the past several years, they only put a little money into planning to control or clean up after a big spill. The government also didn't put the people, money, and technology into preparing for the spill. The Minerals Management Service was very unprepared for the spill, and even after reorganization, they are still unprepared if another spill occurs. They only had 4 or 5 employees working on preparing for this disaster. If they put more time into preparing for the spill they would have had better luck controlling it. So they came up with steps to prepare for a future disaster like this, hopefully they will be carried out and help with a future spill.

Opinion/Reflection:

I think it is ridiculous that both the oil industry and government were not prepared for this spill. Maybe if they were prepared for this spill it wouldn't have been as bad. Even if it did happen, and they were prepared for it, maybe they could have at least stopped it before it got to out of control like it is now. It is really a shame how much of the environment is polluted with oil. I really hope they can get this oil spill cleaned up soon so the environment can be healthier for the wildlife living in it.

Questions:

1. Do you think they will ever get this oil spill cleaned up? Explain.

2. If they ever get it cleaned up, how long do you think it will take? Explain.

3. Why do you think they didn't focus on preparing for this disaster? Explain.

Electrical Air?

"Electrical Air- New Alternative Energy Source"

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Electrical-Air-New-Alternative-Energy-Source-153753.shtml

From: Smaranda Biliuti, Softpedia

Published August 6th, 2010

2010. Copyright Softpedia

Summary

What if we could get all of our electricity from air? The science-fiction sounding idea may soon become a reality. Since there is electricity in the air, scientists and inventors have come up with an idea to harvest the electricity from the air and convert it into usable energy. There was an invention prototype that was created and presented at the 240th National Meeting of American Chemical Society.

The invention uses hygroelectricity, also known as humidity electricity, meaning that when it is humid out, the electricity is more charged up. The invention will be useful in northeast and southeast USA and tropical, humid areas. It will also be very helpful in areas that are hit with lightning storms. Not only will the lightning be absorbed into the device, but it will also create electricity. Everyone wins with this invention.

Opinion

I think that it is so cool how they can get electricity from the air and put it in useful energy. We are constantly looking for alternative energy and this is a resource which we can use over and over again because it doesn't take anything from the environment that is necessary. Also, makes lightning storms slightly safer. If a building got hit with a lightning bolt, the invention will absorb the electricity. No one gets shocked, but everyone gets electricity. Also, the nearly free electricity will lower the bills for the households and buildings using them. This invention could work nearly anywhere, all you need is air.

Questions

1. Do you think scientists will be able to make such invention?
2. How would the humidity affect the levels of electricity in the air?
3. Do you think we could replace our usage of nonrenewable resources completely with hygroelectricity?
4. What do you think is better: solar energy or hygroelectricity? Why?

Katie Abraham

Peak Oil, Then Coal

From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published December 2, 2010 06:42 PM

http://www.enn.com/energy/article/42071
Environmental News Network

Summary

The time in which the global petroleum extraction is reached is called the peak oil. When it does reaches peak, there will not be much oil or coal production on Earth. Scientists assume that it'll hopefully begin 2020 which is the latest the peak can occur but there are some clues that the peak will begin sooner. If countries do not change the way they use oil heavily, then the world will run out of oil soon. There has been recent recorded analysis decline of coal production also, which is a fossil fuel that's another source on Earth that is being used worldwide. Research in Austrailia supports that the coal peak will occur from 2010 to 2048. China is afraid that its coal miners are using the reserves too quickly before the ecosystems can recover itself over a long period of time. If these factors continue, the world might aleady be in peak oil and peak coal. Chinese researchers think that the country will reach its peak in 2011 because it produces 40% of the world's coal production. Then United States (20%) in 2150. India (8%) and Austrailia (7%).

Heavy crude oil, oil sand, and oil shale are not part of the reserves but SEC has made a law to protect them too for the environment to be able to save more energy.



Opinion

I think there should be a policy over how much oil production should be allowed each year so that countries worldwide would not be getting close to reaching the peak oil or peak coal. We need those resources for us to survive and if people are willing to survive, they will think that it is a better idea to use less to use for later when we are more desperate. Since there have been researches going on in labs and universities, there should be improvements on solving how to conserve more of the Earth's natural resources that plays a big role in our ecosystem.

Question

1. What are some ways you can try to prevent peak oil or coal? Explain, why or why not?

2. What would happen to the world if we reached peak oil or coal?

3. Will the peak affect people economically? Why or why not?

4. If we were to give up on one of the two natural resources, which one is more important?

Explain, why or not?