Cap and Trade Legislation

The Obama administration and the Democratic party are attemtping to enact the most massive climate change bill in history. The new legislation is seeking to fundamentally alter the environmental policy landscape like never before. According to the bill, "a cap and trade system that would curb carbon emissions 20% by 2020 and a renewal energy standard that would require a certain amount of alternative energy be used every year. " The legislation has created negative feedback for many buisnesses as they would be forced to pay for their carbon emissions. Other critics claim this could lead to job losses and a slower transition to clean energy as well. Here is the outlook of each sides stance according to the article: "Democrats are in support of stonger legislation; Republicans are against the bill; Companies want to ensure that proper credits are not auctioned off; and others want to make sure their specific goals are not impacted".

I believe a cap and trade system would be an effective way to manage carbon output; however, I am not sure about the economic impacts. Its easy for companies to support this because it can cost money but more would be done to ensure that jobs are not lost. I feel some sort of system would be effective, though.

Superconductor Electricity System

South Korea is going to embark on one of the lragest superconductor electrictiy systems on the planet. This project represents a unique type of energy effecieny that is not that common. The green benefit is that these cables can carry 10 times the amount of power as regular cables. These cables can carry more electricity and do not require the same type of maintence and material as conventional lines. Accoridng to the article, South Korea only has aroud 1% of renewable energy as a result of the project.

Artic Sea Ice Change

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/nasa-releases-simulation-of-arctic-sea-ice-changes.php?dcitc=TH_rotator

This is the most recent video of artic sea ice change. The video illustrates the means in which information is gathered for the melting ice shelf. The changes that are occuring are very real and have dramatic impacts. Alterations in sea levels can have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and cause sea levels to rise. An area like Chestertown would see massive flooding with sea levels rising. Watching these types of videos makes it apparent why we need to have alternative energy.

This is an example of a crabon capturing device that is up and running. This operates out of an existing gas-fired boiler at a power plant in France. The €60 million project will transport some 60,000 tonnes of CO2 every year and store it, at a depth of 4500 meters, in the nearby depleted gas field at Rousse. The CO2 will transported by reusing an existing pipeline that had been transporting natural gas from the Rousse field. The project will run for two years, to determine if the CO2 stored in the Rousse field can be safely stored inside.

New cars

Heres a look at some of the future automobils:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/video-recharging-transportation-green-cars-electric-cars-hybrids-america-gov.php?daylife=1&dcitc=daylife-article

Recession and Wind Power

Much of the recent activity to establish windpower throughout the country has been linked to the recession. In a recent article, many rural areas like Kansas, Utah, Illionis, Wisconsin, and Oklahama have all established programs that will bring in bidders for wind energy. In most cases, the legislation passed these bills unanimously and have been fully supportive. For these projects up to thousands of new jobs can open up as well as the powering up thousands of homes. These projects would benefit the rural areas the most hit by the recession. The stimulus bill provides numerous incentives that can help persaude people to shift their energy focus. In having a more effiecent grid with better energy, people will be less effected by energy prices.

Could be intresting

This could be an intresting program for the class...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/nec-creates-online-game-to-make-monitoring-power-consumption-fun.php

Solar energy

1Bog has been created in san diego to help unite home owners for the use of solar panles throughout the region. The organization works to use collective bargaining for homeowners; meaning, the group lumps people together to negotitate a cheaper price. San Diego has adopted this for homeowners...here is a sample video

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/san-diego-homeowners-unite-cheaper-solar-power-one-block-off-the-grid.php

In California as well, another organization called Helio Green Energy Plan works as a creditor for no upfront costs of solar pannels. A homeowner can pay the company over time rather than any costly installation.

E-waste

The recycling of electronic waste-cell phones, computers, etc.-is a necessary action because many of these products require extend periods of time to decompose. The company Telenor is providing improving recycling action for their phones and promoting green policy. The company from Norweiga estmiated that 4 million unused phones are simply lying around and collecting dust. Joining with the red cross, the company is offereing incentives to help with people recycling their phones. The company will be planting trees in regions througout Asia and Europe. Their goal is 70,000 phones and 1.25 million tress planted (25 trees per phone). In recycling phones, the company can reuse parts and plastic and contribute less waste. This begs the question of how much e-waste exits in the world? Due to the nature of these products, what is their impact in landfills and how long do they take to decompse? Most estmiates say 10,000 years for some products. Recycling these types of products can be benefical.