Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) Infographic

Hello, everyone!

Over the past week and a half, my Honors Environmental Science has been talking about energy and energy usage. To complement this unit, the entire class individually researched hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and created an infographic to display said research. Below is my infographic- enjoy!

One thing I did not mention in this infographic was my personal opinion on the fracking issue. Personally, I do not support the practice. I believe the risks greatly outnumber the benefits. A clean and healthy water supply is far more important than energy stability and security. I believe we should invest more money into cleaner, alternative energy sources in lieu of natural gas extraction.

Energy Consumption Reading Questions Part II

What are some ways that electricity can be used? (209)

Electricity can be used to power lights, operate electronic devices such as televisions, and even to charge electric cars to name a few examples. Electricity is essential to our everyday life in the modern world. 

What are some uses for hydrogen fuel cells? (209) 

Hydrogen fuel cells can be used to replace batteries such as those in cell phones, laptops, or electric cars. 

What are some pros and cons of storing energy as hydrogen? In batteries? In flywheels? (209)

Hydrogen can be used to store chemical energy. Batteries are the most common source of energy storage and can range in size to power anything from a watch or hearing aid to a car or even parts of a power plant. Flywheels are used in electric motors to capture kinetic energy. While all of these sources have their own pros, one major con is that all of three of these sources are not 100% efficient. Each time energy is transfered, some energy is lost in the process.

How do policy decisions affect the development of energy technologies? (210)

Policy can affect the development of energy technologies by determining how much time, research, and money goes into the development process. Policy can have both positive and negative effects on development, all depending on what type of policy is being passed. Some policies may favor research in alternative sources of energy such as wind or solar while others may do just the opposite.

Image 1: http://investingreenenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/off-grid-lighting-technology-home.jpg

Image 2: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7324/5battery_678x452.jpg

Image 3: https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/solar-panels-homepage.jpg

Energy Consumption Reading Questions

How does the concentration of energy in a source affect how people can use energy? (198)

The concentration of energy in a source determines how much energy people can extract from said source. For example, if a particular source has a high concentration of energy, then it will produce more energy than another source with a lower concentration.

How do the United States, China, and Kenya compare in total energy consumption? In per capita energy consumption? (198)

In 2008, the United States consumed one-hundred and five billion gigajoules of energy (22% of the global total), China consumed ninety billion gigajoules of energy (17% of the global total), and Kenya consumed twenty-two million gigajoules (0.04% of the global total). The United States consumes the most energy per capita at approximately fifty-six gigajoules per person per year. That’s roughly six times the amount consumed by the average person living in China and sixty times the amount consumed by the average person in Kenya.

How can the same energy service be provided with less energy for lighting? For transportation? (205)

The same energy service can be provided with less energy for lighting by using more-efficient light bulbs such as CFLs or LEDs in lieu of incandescents. Likewise, in terms of transportation, less energy can be used by operating more efficient vehicles with either better gas mileage or driving hybrids.

When does conservation reduce quality of life? Improve quality of life? (205)

Conservation can reduce quality of life when buildings lower their temperature in colder weather and raise their temperature in warmer weather in an attempt to conserve energy; one can argue it makes those who inhabit the building uncomfortable. Conservation can be enjoyable when participating in carpools, driving more-efficient vehicles, or living in energy-efficient homes.

Image 1: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/mobile-phone-death-boy-px.jpg
Image 2: http://green-mom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/led-lights1.gif
Image 3: https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/transportation/sites/brown.edu.about.administration.transportation/files/images/carpool.jpg

Independent Research Project

Over the past few weeks, my classmates and I finished the trimester of Honors Environmental Science by completing an independent research project. For this project, we were able to research any topic of our choosing relating to environmental science. As a lover of the environmental and the co-president of Solebury Environmental Action Committee (S.E.A.C.), I decided to research biodiversity, its importance, and the threats it faces. Check out the website I created to learn more!

Image Source: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/animals-biodiversity-28900966.jpg 

Dialogue Assignment

Later that evening back at the TreeHouse, Alessandro walked over towards Judy and Carmela who were sitting in the corner by the lamp with the new CFL bulb in it. Alessandro told his friends that he had done some research and is now certain the CFL bulb was the best choice for the environment. “How so?” exclaimed Carmela, “It’ll just leak toxic mercury into the environment if someone doesn’t dispose of it properly. We’re just putting the health of our planet at risk.”

“I understand your concern,” said Alessandro, “but I came across some startling information! Did you know that incandescents actually release mercury into the environment too? In fact, 100W incandescent bulbs, some of the most common, release approximately sixteen milligrams of mercury into the environment over the course of their lifespan. Incandescents require more energy than CFLs and therefore power plants need to produce more energy, so more fossil fuels are burned and more mercury is released. This is compared to 23W CFLs, some of the most common fluorescent bulbs, that only release eight milligrams of mercury into the environment over their lifespan.”

“Interesting,” Carmela explained, “I didn’t know that? I guess incandescents harm the environment even more than CFLs. But what about if someone drops a CFL bulb in their home? Wouldn’t that harm them? People could get hurt. Incandescents don’t contain any mercury.”

“Very true,” said Alessandro, “But if we’re extra careful with them, CFLs are the better choice for the environment. We’ll work hard to make sure this one gets recycled after it dies out, but even if it’s not, it will still release less mercury into the environment than an incandescent.”

“That’s a good point,” said Carmela, “we’ll just have to be extra careful with them.”

Before Carmela could finish her thought, Judy interjected, “Wow, Alessandro! I didn’t know that either! Good to know. But don’t CFLs have a shorter lifespan when you turn them on and off frequently? Won’t we just have to buy them more often? And they’re more expensive than incandescents - this TreeHouse is on a budget.”

“I completely understand your concern, Judy,” said Alessandro, “but I’ve also come across research that tested the lifespan of CFLs when used with shorter operation cycle times. The study started with three hour cycles being the cycle time that gives the bulbs the longest lifespan. When the average cycle time was reduced from three hours to one hour, the fluorescent bulb lasted eighty-percent of its projected lifespan. When the average cycle was reduced to fifteen minutes, the bulb lasted only thirty percent of its projected lifespan. When the average cycle was reduced to five minutes, the bulb only lasted fifteen percent of its project lifespan.”

Judy exclaimed, “See?! I told you incandescents were the better choice for our budget. If we keep buying these things for the TreeHouse, we’ll just blow through all of our money. Is it really worth it?”

“It depends,” said Alessandro, “If everyone in the TreeHouse can agree to only turn the lights on when they absolutely need to and not only for a few minutes here and there, the CFLs are the better choice for our wallets and the environment. If used correctly, CFLs can last ten times longer than incandescent bulbs.”

“But what if people are irresponsible with turning the lights on and off ? Not everyone is as careful as the three of us you know? We’d need to buy new CFL bulbs just as often as we already need to with the incandescents, and incandescents are much less expensive,” explained Judy.

“That’s an excellent point,” said Alessandro, “But CFLs require four times less energy than incandescents. Even if people in the TreeHouse lessen the lifespan of the CFL, the amount of energy we will save on our electric bill will greatly outweigh the cost of the bulbs.”

“Good point,” said Judy, “I didn’t really think about that.”

“Wow,” Carmela exclaimed, “You really did your research, Alessandro! I’m impressed. I think CFLs are the winner here - hands down. We just need to be extra careful so they don’t break and leak mercury in the TreeHouse. We should also make posters for around campus instructing people to recycle their CFLs instead of just throwing them away.”

“I agree,” said Judy, “CFLs are the best pick after all! If we can use them responsibly, this TreeHouse will be in great shape.”

“I’m glad we can all agree,” said Alessandro, “Now let’s go eat some bagels!”

Information Source: Ramroth, Laurie. "Comparison of Life-Cycle Analyses of Compact Fluorescent and Incandescent Lamps Based on Rated Life of Compact Fluorescent Lamp." Rocky Mountain Institute. Feb. 2008. Web. 

Story Line Modeled After: Boose, David L. "A Green Light for CFLs?" Gonzaga University. Biology Department. Print. 

Image: http://hhomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Designer-Treehouses.jpg

World Population Video Reflection

Over the past two days in Honors Environmental Science, we watched a PBS documentary on world population and the changes it currently undergoes. This documentary was nothing short of eye-opening; I was shocked to discover just how fast the world population is increasing. I was also amazed by the fact that birthrates in developed countries are dropping and population sizes are decreasing dramatically. It is projected that Europe’s population will drop by approximately sixty percent over the next fifty years and Russia’s population by twenty percent. In addition, Japan is experiencing a crisis; there are a large amount of elderly citizens and smaller amount of younger citizens. This is due in part by women not wanting to get married as early in life, to pursue their careers further, not wanting as many children, or not wanting children at all. One scene in the documentary was of a boy in the fifth grade who lived in a rural village; the video went on the explain how the boy was the only one in his class due to the decrease in younger populations and that this was becoming the norm across Japan. Another thing that surprised me was that the United States is the only developed country with a growing population, but this is only due to the million immigrants we take in annually.

To the contrary, developing countries are experiencing massive population growth. India, for example, is split demographically; the northern portion of the country is more impoverished and overcrowded while the southern portion is less crowded with a more educated population. In northern India, the increase of population size leading to water and food shortages. Something else I found interested is that half of the country is below the age of twenty-five. In addition, Kenya and other countries in sub-saharan Africa are also experiencing massive population growth and it is leading to the same types of issues as in India. What's Interesting about Kenya is that the HIV / AIDS epidemic is causing lots of younger people to die at an earlier age. Despite this tragic outcome, the population is still growing significantly. Overall, I really enjoyed this documentary. I found it to be very informative and it made me aware of issues I was previously unaware of.

A Look Back

Looking back on the Winter Trimester thus far, we have covered a lot of material in Honors Environmental Science. With almost every topic we cover, a blog post is soon to follow. This blog represents my progress in the class; it is a way to track just how much I have learned and how well I understand the material covered. After all, the best way to know if you understand something is to teach it to others.

Without a doubt, the blog post I deem to be my best is my “r Selection, K Selection, and Survivorship Curves” post. In this post, I felt I did an excellent job describing the in-class activity and what it meant to me. Not only was I able to describe what we did in class, but why it mattered as well. I believe I did this well in my other posts too, but I feel as if I mastered it in this one. I was clear and concise, yet I did not leave out any important information or explanations. In addition, I added several meaningful and effective visual aids to break away from one giant wall of text. The pictures I chose serve as a supplement to the material I discussed in the post. Together, my concise yet effective wording combined with my meaningful choice of pictures made this blog post one of my best works thus far.

The one blog post that needs improvement is my “Human Survivorship Changes” lab. I do not believe it is the content that needs improving here - I think I was able to capture the importance of the lab in my analysis. Instead, it’s the visual aids I used as supplements. I didn’t quite realize what I did until meeting with my teacher in the following class. He explained how my post was good by all means, but that it could be better. He pointed out the screenshots of the data and graphs I made and went on to explain how they were good, but could be even more meaningful. I could enlarge the images, make comparison graphs of the data, and a few other tweaks to make the post its absolute best. I completely agree with him; the data is there, it can just be presented in a more effective, more meaningful way. I will most certainly be making adjustments to that post in the near future.

Overall, this class has been super great. I look forward to see what comes out of the remainder of the year. If it's anything like the first half, I know it'll be equally as amazing.