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Different sources of renewable energy essay
Alternative energy sources
Different sources of renewable energy essay
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Picture smog filled cities being pollution free, while producing clean biofuel and oxygen. Highly polluted areas, such as the Los Angeles area, pose a threat to the elderly, children, and people suffering with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) (“People at Risk,” 2013). Algae can be used to harness the carbon dioxide, nitrogen, make oxygen and be refined for biofuel. Cyanobacteria is the most common type of microalgae used for biofuel (“Massachusetts company making,” 2011) The biofuel from algae can be cost effective, only costing ten to twenty dollars a barrel to produce. However, there are still financial set-backs to the algae biofuel market (Pienkos, P., Laurens, L., & Aden, A., 2011). A french scientist has even invented a lamp of algae, which runs off carbon dioxide and produces oxygen (“Large scale Algae Street Lamps to clean the air off its CO2 content,” 2012). A few companies are researching microalgae biofuel production: Joule Unlimited and the Natural Resource Energy Lab. Methods for finding other strands of microalgae biofuel include natural trial and error testing and genetic engineering (Pienkos, P., et al., 2011). “Algae lamps” and microalgae biofuel are some tools Los Angeles can use to clean their air.
Over a hundred and thirty milling people live in areas where the quality of air is unhealthy (“Key Findings,” 2013). Smog is characterized into two types: Inversion and photochemical. Inversion smog happens when the air becomes unmoving, which makes the smog into a poisonous, deadly cloud. Photochemical smog is a chemical reaction between car exhaust, ozone and sunlight, turning the car exhaust into “formaldehyde” (“Air pollution and pollutants: anthropogenic,” 2010, p. 24). The American ...
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...ssociation. Retrieved from http://www.stateoftheair.org/2013/key-findings/ Large scale street lamps to clean the air off its CO2 content. (2012, April 12). Ecofriend. Retrieved from http://www.ecofriend.com/large-scale-algae-street-lamps-clean-air-its-co2-content.html
Massachusetts company making diesel with sun, water, CO2. (2011, February 27). The Gainesville Sun. n.d.
Pienkos, P., Laurens, L., Aden, A. (2011, November 11). Making biofuel from microalgae. American Scientist. 474 (6).
Randakovits, R., Jinkerson, R., Fuerstenberg, S., Tae, H., Settlage, R., Boore, J., Posewitz, M. (2012, February 21). Draft genome sequence and genetic transformation of the of the oleaginous alga nannochloropis gaditana. National Communication. 686 (3), doi: 10.1038/ncomms1688
Rodgers, B. (2010, August 12). Algae presents danger to animals. The Jamestown Sun.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a colorless gas, which was first discovered in 1577 by Van Helmont who detected it in the products of both fermentation and charcoal burning. CO2 is used in solid, liquid, and gas forms in a variety of industrial processes. These include: beverage carbonation, dry ice, welding and chemicals manufacturing. It is produced by the combustion of all carbonaceous fuels and can be recovered in an abundance of ways. It is widely used today as a by-product of synthetic ammonia production, fermentation, and from flue gases by absorption process. CO2 is also a product of animal metabolism and is important in the life cycles of plants and animals. It is present in the atmosphere only in small quantities (.03% by vol.)
Gulbinas, Vilija. “On the Road to Recovery: an Angelino’s Guide to Smog”. Los Angeles, CA: US. 1998. www.ben2.ucla.edu/~vgulbina
When we think of air pollution we think of the refineries in our cities and the exhaust coming from our cars mostly. In reality there are many more pollutants that we don't think about every day. The six most common air pollutants are; “Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides, Particulate matter, Volatile organic compounds, and Ground-level ozone (nitrogen oxide and Volatile organic compounds reaction)”(David Suzuki Foundation). The fact is people are dying from air pollution and we are doing nothing to make it better, in fact air pollution is getting worse.
For this research paper, I chose to discuss the Louisiana air quality and its effects on the community. I was raised here in Baker, Louisiana which is north of Baton Rouge. Growing up I noticed something very striking and odd. We are overly exposed to chemical plants and their outputs. Driving around Baton Rouge at night and seeing a distant flame I often wonder what it really was. I wonder how this was affecting the community. How was this affecting our health? Upon doing research, I discovered it is called upset emissions. Upset emissions are unplanned events which release VOCs into the air. The Bucket Brigade which is an anti-energy group refers to emissions as accidents. Every year they release an annual report which gives information on the State of Louisiana air quality. A group called Energize LA made a rebuttal against the report. They argued that the Bucket Brigade facts were inaccurate. The views of both will be explained in detail. For this research paper, there will be a discussion on the upset emission effects on communities and health. As well how it correlates to the previous class discussions on the Clean Air Act.
It is believed that the world's supply of oil will last until about 2040. If you think about it, that’s not too far in the distance future. Oil is running out fast and we need to think of an alternate energy source. When we burn oil, we release carbon dioxide into the air which causes the earth’s climate to warm; a temperature rise of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit could have serious if not devastating consequences. In the United States alone 60 percent of each person’s carbon footprint comes from the goods they buy, while the other 40 percent comes from their energy use at home, driving, and flying. That totals out to be about 10 billion tons a year. There are other energy sources but let’s think about the environmental and energy benefits of algae biofuel. Algae was first explored as a fuel alternative in 1978. Gas prices had skyrocketed, and the government was looking to help ease the crisis. The Aquatic Species Program run by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, researched high oil-output algae for biofuel. After testing 3,000 types of algae, the program concluded that the algae, if...
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key global warming gas that is proposed to have direct linkage to global climate changes [1, 2]. Therefore, there is a growing interest in developing technologies for efficient capture and sequestration of large quantities of CO2. An efficient and economical capture material is needed to capture and separate the CO2 produced during various industrial processes. There are four potential sources of carbon dioxide emission; industrial processes, fossil fueled power plants, de-carbonization (production of hydrogen from carbon rich feed stock), and transportation [3]. Among the carbon dioxide emission sources, fossil fueled power plants are ranked the number one potential source. Fossil fuels provide 81 percent of the world’s commercial energy supply [4]. Consumption of fossil fuels produces nearly 30 Pg (petagram) of carbon dioxide annually. About three-fourths of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is attributed to burning of fossil fuels [5].
The Chesapeake Bay has faced an excessive amount of pollution over the past century. The water in the bay has become so highly polluted that It is capable of causing harm to humans coming in direct contact with the water. Although algae serves a vital role in the bay’s ecosystem, it also creates a problem that is causing a large amount of the problem.
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is known to be one of a number of gases that are astonishingly transparent to the visible light that falls on the Earth from the Sun, but it absorb the infra-red radiation that emitted by the warm surface of our Earth, to prevents its loss into space. Moreover, CO2 has varied considerably and this affected the Earth’s temperature. Most common source of this CO2 is known as the fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are primarily coal, hydrocarbons, natural gas, or fuel oil that formed from the remains of the dead plants and also animals. The burning fossil fuel that has been created by humans is the largest source of emissions of the carbon dioxide.
While one may visualize air pollution as huge fumes of smoke arising from a chimney and tainting the air of a city, this kind of image is not reflective of how Kansas City appears. However, air pollution is still an issue to consider as it can arise if residents do not act to prevent pollutants into our breathing environment. One of the most prevalent air pollution issues in Kansas City regards the ground level ozone levels. One should note that there are two types of ozone that make up the atmosphere: the ozone layer at a high altitude above the Earth and the ground-level ozone. The first type that is above Earth protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but the second type is commonly known as ozone pollution or smog (Mid-America Regional Council). Thus, ground-level ozone is a concern when present in at high levels in environments. Before diving in, one should be familiar with how high ground level ozone levels can be harmful. According to Dahl, an adjunct professor affiliated with the department of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, clarifies that “ozone is a common urban pollutant that has been linked to
Air lite, for example, represents an eco-friendly technology advance by purifying the air around working like leaves on the trees, eliminating bacteria, mold, and functioning as a filter that eliminates toxic substances. It also reduces the energy consumption in about a 15-50% as it reflects the hot component of sunlight, avoiding that rooms overheat (EASME, 2017).
Biofuels, fuels that provide energy using relatively recent organic sources, have been around just as long as cars have. In fact, the first cars ran on peanut oil. Henry Ford, founder of a multimillion dollar American car company, planned to fuel his massively successful Model T’s with ethanol (National Geographic 2013.) However, this revolutionary idea was swept under the rug when the discovery of massive petroleum deposits kept gasoline and diesel cheap and affordable. As 2014 rolls around, consumers are starting see that the amount of petroleum in the Earth is shrinking and the same story goes for their wallets (Avro 2012.) Not only does burning gas and diesel empty out the wallet, it is also slowly covering the Earth with a warm carbon dioxide blanket that causes global warming. Transportation, which is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses (Biofuel Association of Australia 2013), is dependent on finite amounts of gas and diesel for its energy needs so it is very important we move towards a more renewable and sustainable fuel source. Biofuels, both ethanol and biodiesel, have the potential to fuel transportation efficiently and drastically reduce the carbon footprint, thus reducing the warm blanket of carbon dioxide on the Earth.
Carbon Dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs in small quantities in the earth's atmosphere naturally. The earth's ocean, soil, plants and animals release CO2. The formula of Carbon Dioxide is CO2. The CO2 molecule contains 2 oxygen atoms that each share 2 electrons with a carbon atom to form 2 carbon - oxygen double bonds. The atoms are arranged as so (OHT). This is called a 'linear molecule'.
"China Plans to Regulate Some of Its Carbon Emissions for the First Time Ever." Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
Air pollution is a type of pollution that can severely damage our environment as well as the earth’s atmosphere. Air pollution occurs all the time when the air contains many substances ...
Factories and transportation depend on huge amounts of fuel--billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. When these fuels burn they introduce smoke and other, less visible, by-products into the atmosphere.