The total amount of energy used in the States each year is 99.89 quadrillion Btu. Considering the fact that one match lets off about 1 Btu of energy, that is a lot of energy.
Wasting energy effects the environment in numerous ways but mostly through the use of non-renewable resources. When your energy comes from sources such as coal and oil fed power plants the carbon emissions left into the air ruin the earth's atmosphere which has an even larger impact on the earth. Nuclear powered plants and industries that use non-renewable resources such as oil and coals which send out dark billowing clouds of pollution that poisons the air we breathe, destroys the ozone layer and later fall back on the ground as acid rain. But there are alternatives.
Both wind energy and hydroelectric power are better sources of energy than getting your energy from power plants.
Wind energy creates it's power from the wind, as it blows through the blades. The spinning blades then turn the turbines and create energy. This is the ideal solution to our power hungry lifestyles, as it has next to no harmful side effects towards the environment, and creates a significant amount of energy.
The second option in hydroelectric energy. While it, like the wind energy, is renewable, it does have some seriously impacting consequences on the environment (though not as bad as the power plants). Hydroelectric power gets its energy from the running water in dams. The water rushes downward through what is called a penstock, past the turbines that spin at a rapid rate. Behind this is a magnet turned by an electric coil that produces electricity. This is all great but many people forget that the building of a dam floods the land upstream, which is a major point of concern because of the vegetation that ends up underwater. It will rot and when it does it will produce methane, which is a known greenhouse gas. The flooding also displaces people who live nearby and thus spurs economic imbalance. An excellent example of all of this is the Aswan high dam in Egypt, which was supposedly built to help people and instead created more harm. Even today people are dying from malaria from stagnant water present just because the dam is blocking the way.
Another downside to this thought to be great solution to the harmful effects of energy use, is that dams significantly reduce the speed of flowing rivers, and in turn, harmfully effects the marine life in that river. Because the water is held in front of the dam for longer than it would in a free flowing river, the water cools on the bottom and would not reflect the natural temperatures of the seasons like it normally would. Not to mention that the chemical levels would have been altered after the dam was installed, for example, water exiting the lake may be higher in dissolved salts or have lower oxygen levels. Also the restricted water flow increases the amount of water that is evaporated each year. In some deserts, the amount of water evaporated can be greater than 7 feet. This means that if a dam was installed, the reservoir would drop in elevation by 7 feet. At Lake Mead on the Colorado River in Arizona and Nevada, evaporation losses in one year can be as great as 350 billion gal (1.3 trillion l).
The only solution we really have to this problem of wasted energy and pollution from energy plants is to find a way to get our energy only from the wind or improve the dams to accommodate for the ecosystems that inhabit the rivers and oceans. We don't realize the impact we have by accidentally leaving a light on in a room when we leave, or leaving the living room light on when we go out so people think someone is home. There are light bulbs you can buy that are more environmentally friendly, but this only scratches the surface of the problem, when we are capable of so much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment