How do we decide what environmental impacts are acceptable? Who gets to decide where those impacts will be felt? How does our society justify an environmental impact in one place and of one type, to offset an impact of a different type elsewhere?
This is the link to the article that you will be responding to.
State Solar Power Plans Are As Big As All Outdoors
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/03/business/fi-bigsolar3
Remember, you need to write a 300 word opinion/reaction to the article by Friday, July 15. You then have between Friday, July 15 and Friday, July 22 to respond to one of your classmate's posts. Please see the calendar page, the link for which is on the right.
Additionally, you should take a look at the links below to familiarize yourself with the issue a bit more. This will give you some context when you read the article. I don't expect you to spend too much time, but take a few minutes to explore the sites and get an idea for the scope of the issue.
Radio discussion about solar power in California about 20 minutes long. Click on the link and go to time 34:30 to listen to the discussion.
http://www.kcrw.com/media-player/mediaPlayer2.html?type=audio&id=ww081203controversy_over_sol
All forms of power production have an environmental impact.
http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-politics/californias-renewable-energy-zones-raise-fresh-controversy/
This link is for a map of the United States showing how much solar energy is available.
http://www.bluechipenergy.org/images/US-PV-Solar-Resouce-Map_600px-clean.jpg
This is a similar map for the entire world.
http://www.oksolar.com/abctech/images/world_solar_radiation_large.gif
When I first looked at the questions at the top of the entry, I thought they would be really easy to answer. "Just go with whatever is 'greener'", I thought. But after having read the article, I realized that not everything that's 'green' is beneficial. I realized that when it comes to making decisions, it's much harder than it seems.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed by how many other problems solar energy can bring. Clearing out desert land? Using minerals that might in fact, cause conflicts in other countries? How much energy is consumed in order to make them? How do we dispose them after they no longer work? I don't mean to say that solar energy is bad, but all these other factors should be examined before making a decision.
I believe that part of what keeps us from examining situations as a whole is our feelings towards them. We take it for granted that solar energy is good. I mean, who doesn't feel that using the sun friendlier than burning fuels per say? Still, I feel it's super important to look at everything and not just one factor. Which one produces more jobs? Which one pollutes less? How does it pollute the environment? Once we know these answers, I feel we should make a priority, and decide from there. Do we want to favor people, conserve species, or reduce pollution? As soon as we know what we really want, we can make sounder decisions with outcomes more favorable to our interests.
Solar-thermal facilities are built to create clean electricity generation using the sun, wind, and others. People now seek for more renewable power, in such places like California, where 80 large solar projects are taking place. I think that people are realizing that we need to save energy to make a better world and reduce global warming. However, California still remains addicted to burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on. This is a problem they need to fix because they need to start reducing greenhouse gases. Rooftop photovoltaic panels are unaffordable or impractical for most Californians too, so it is even more difficult for them to access solar energy as their main energy source. Here it is when utility-scale solar comes to work because it is really effective and it gives what is expected. I find it fascinating to know that there are plants made of glass and steel which use the heat from the sun to generate electricity. It is really an effective way to gain power without damaging the ecosystem too much and releasing dangerous gases. Furthermore, solar thermal power is cheaper and it will continue to get cheaper through time. This solar scale power is therefore the best way to reduce carbon emissions.
ReplyDeleteDoes this really help? Massive solar farms create environmental problems, not only fix them. Here it is when I think that if it is helping the environment in a way but somehow it is also affecting it, is it acceptable? I think that our society will have different opinions regarding this question because it is difficult to know that something that is beneficial to one specific area in the world can be harmful in a way to a complete different are elsewhere. Thus, we all need to decide and take action on what is better for our environment and our future.
Most things related to energy destroy some environmental factors or damage the world. This is why there has to be solar energy (renewable energy) in various parts of the world, so it wouldn’t be in danger of many factors.
ReplyDeleteAs the quote said in the article: "The expectation is that renewable will transform California's electricity system," this is completely true since California is used to burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on. Burning on the other hand creates pollution and so it affects the environment. I found the quote interesting since changing the way of energy in California would be like boom for them but great for the environment. It would be great for California to use huge amounts of renewable energy and therefore they will be helping global warming and the environment. Although I think renewable energy will help the environment some people debate that it would create as many problems as they are trying to prevent. It requires power towers and high-voltage lines to get it to people’s homes. The solar plants also requite staggering amount of land which could cause a threaten to fragile ecosystems and stark (severe) America’s deserts. When I think of this energy I related it to pros and cons. It has its advantages but at the same time its disadvantages.
For me this article was the hardest to analyze. I thought it was interesting since we just think of light as something that helps us see in the dark, when really it involves too much chemistry and damage to the world. It also made me think of that huge percent of people who don’t receive solar energy and live in the darkness. We have to find what’s better for our world. We have to contribute to create a cleaner and non-damage place to live on. I would just like that there would be electricity in every place of the world without damaging the environment.
Sometimes using environmental friendly products or resources to create energy aren’t always the best ways to get the final result of a environmental friendly production of energy. This article is a perfect example of how even though states such as California are indeed searching for new ways of creating and generating electricity using the natural resources that their surroundings have to offer, they did not get the actual positive outcome that they planned to have when developing new “green” projects with companies such as the Palo-Alto. An easy solution that many might think would create significant change and a positive result is using the suns energy to create it and transform it to renewable energy and that could be used as electricity. This article would totally change what many people think about using solar energy and thinking that it has no harms only benefits.
ReplyDeleteSome conflicts that solar energy could cause is that in order to produce energy from the sun a large amount of electricity is used to transform the solar energy into usable electricity. Moreover by using solar energy other resources are also abusively used which can also create a negative impact on society. Those who decide were most impacts will be felt are those who witness and feel the change in their surroundings because of the abusive use of natural resources.
Our society justifies an environmental impact in one place and of one type, to offset an impact of a different type elsewhere because we are all used to fix one thing with the cost of manipulating another thing. Society supports the use of friendly energy but creating solar or wind energy to usable electricity means that we have to sacrifice some things to get what we finally want which in this case it would be electricity.
I completely agree with Glori! I would love for there to be electricity everywhere in the world without it having to pollute the environment. But I was thinking... could electricity really be the only form of energy? Maybe there's an alternative energy form that has not yet been discovered that is much greener. Likewise, I was also thinking, do we really need to use solar energy to 'go green'? Maybe we can start with baby steps and start considering the way we build our houses, taking into account the way the light goes in per say. By doing these things, we could lessen the damage electricity might be causing right now without having to change to another energy source like solar energy that can cause further damage.
ReplyDeleteAs Isabella said: "When I first looked at the questions at the top of the entry, I thought they would be really easy to answer." But in fact it was difficult for me to answer since renewable energy, the one that will not affect the world, be placed wherever you want. Of course people would love for it to happen but it is no that easy and so it is dangerous for the world if we don't find a way to use a good non-affectable energy. As Glori and Alejandro also stated, they where debating on the pros and cons of solar energy. It is good in some way, but creates problems in another way. I think it would be great for someone to find a solar energy that will stop damaging the world.
ReplyDeleteThis article was extremely interesting to me because when I think about global warming and all the effects that it causes I usually tend to relate most of the problems with the abusive treatment that humans tend to do mostly in places such as "Earths lungs" or the amazon rainforest but this article showed me that most of the harm caused is not necessarily felt in the places were the damage is most present. I agree with what glori had to say because we focus on how to get energy to live a more comfortable life but in order to do this we sacrifice a lot of our surroundings such as the environment. What we now have to seek such as glori pointed out is a way of either finding a way to create electricity without having to do it by harming our surroundings.
ReplyDeleteNormally when we think of renewable resources we think clean green energy, yet we don’t think of the cost on the environment on implementing this technologies. Most of the time these technologies need a lot of space this means that habitats are going to be destroyed and animals moved. There will always be an impact on the environment when we try to implement new green technology yet people should try to find areas in which the impact won’t be so great this way the environment can benefit at the same time that we do. We always justify the impact that we make since we believe that we are having more profits than losses. In order to have a greener tomorrow we must use technologies such as solar energy, wind mills, tidal mills yet at the same time that we implement this technologies we must evaluate their impact on the ecosystem around them so that this way we don’t destroy the ecosystem just to build a energy plant.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about how important is to evaluate the area in which an energy project should be built since normally when you think about green technology you only see the benefits but never evaluate its impact on the ecosystem around it. How much impact is acceptable? This depends on the area in which the project is going to be developed people should evaluate the pros and cons of building a project in a certain area and if the impact caused by the plant exceeds the benefits which the plant brings into the environment then this renewable resource plant should be built in another place in which the impact is less. In conclusion building green energy projects is a must in order to improve the environment yet these projects should be built in specific areas in which the impact on the ecosystem will be minimal.
This article helped me realize that even though we intended to save the environment by building green technology we must be careful at the same time because it’s important to evaluate the area in which this project will be developed this way the impact will be minimal and the environment will truly be healthier. I agree with Isa that at the beginning I used to believe that building green project would only improve the environment I know realize that there are other factors that one must consider before developing a green project in a specific area.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental impacts affect the world in every way. They are not always acceptable but some can change the world into being a better place to live. Sometimes, even using environmental friendly products do not always help the planet. Going the green way might not always be the smartest choice. People are always in the search of how to save energy and make this a better place by reducing global warming.
ReplyDeleteSolar-thermal facilities are built to clean electricity using the sun, wind, and other renewable resources. Even though one of the nation’s toughest obligations for increasing green energy and reducing greenhouse gases, California has still to keep burning fossil fuels to keep all lights on. This problem has to stop, burning fossil fuels is bad for the environment and they need to start decreasing greenhouse gases. Some say the utility-scale solar is a way to get lots of clean megawatts online quickly, efficiently and at a much lower cost. Solar thermal plants like the Ausra, are basically giant boilers made of glass and steel that use the sun’s heat to create steam to power turbines, which generate electricity. Some fear that massive solar farms could create as many environmental problems as much as they sense to solve them.
It surprises me how sometimes you think you are doing what is best for everyone around you and all the species that surround but the plan always backfires. Without energy the world is nothings, imagine a Christmas tree without the lights or even having to read in the dark when the sun is already down. Energy is everywhere in the world and people use it a lot, if we do not protect our energy sources sometime we would have to live without it.
In California there is about 80 solar projects to help on the environment. The solar thermal facility consists to clean the electricity generation using wind, sun and other renewable sources. It is expected that renewable transform California’s electricity system. All this new activities are actions of people who are now worrying about the environment and are enforcing to start and take care of Earth by saving energy and trying to reduce global warming. Although California is reducing greenhouse gases and increasing green energy they have a problem. The problem is that they still burn fossil fuel to keep lights on. If they encourage the population to make a change it really would have a great outcome on the environment. It not only helps their country, but also it helps reduce global warming if they start to use renewable energy.
ReplyDeleteThere are solar thermal plants (Ausra’s) that are made of glass and steel that uses the sun’s heat to generate electricity. This is a great way that helps the environment from extinction and it is cheaper. Also there are many people who fear that solar farms would create environmental problems. Solar plants could be a danger to ecosystems and some deserts.
The largest collection of solar thermal facilities is located in California, but it ended when California forced utilities to start using renewable power. Renewable energy is willing to fight global warming. Energy seems to be a simple word, but behind it has many details that might ruin our environment. In a way it is just unbelievable. There are many people who leave their lights on and don’t know how much damage they can cause. Saving energy is just one of the many ways we can save the Earth from global warming. We have to contribute for a better environment to come.