Some interesting quotes at the start of the book;
"We shall require a substantially new way of thinking if mankind is to survive" Albert Einstein
"We are a part of this environment, not apart from it" Sir Peter Blake
The book was basically a guide to what kind of products to buy and what to do to have a healthier home and body. And I kinds knew this already, but we are exposed to so many chemicals! - fluoride in water, the cleaning products we use, the sheets we sleep on, clothes we wear, processed and un-organic foods!! its very interesting to read and scary at the same time.
Most of the chapters in this book where things like "look at what you drink" and "more about processed foods" - chapters that told you how things were made and how to avoid them etc, which was interesting, but not really relating to my subject matter for this assignment, so I won't talk about them. However, there are chapters on sustainability and climate change....
Sustainability
- "sustainability means meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their needs. " - books definition of sustainability.
- electricity is a major source of environmental pollution, and its responsible for the emission of large amounts of green house gases.
- Renewable energy resources: water, wind, geothermal steam, biomass/biofeuls and solar power. Non-renewable: coal, natural gas, petroleum (oil) and nuclear power.
- Approximately 75% of NZ's electricity comes from renewable sources. Theres 60 power station in NZ and 40 are hydro stations, and these account for 64% of our national electricity generation. The amount of electricity that can be generated by our hydro stations depends on lake levels in the hydro dams.
- hydro dams are expensive to build, and building them floods large areas of land, which has a huge impact on the environment and the people living around them. Its unlikely that enough dams will be able to be built, to be a reliable source of energy for the future.
- NZ has 9 geothermal power stations, 7 based in the central North island. They create energy by harnessing the volcanic heat of geothermal water. this source provides around 6.4% of our national energy supply, but its not that efficient, as only 10% of the primary energy in geothermal steam is actually converted into electricity. There are other environmental impact to this too; the loss of many geysers around the central North island has been attributed to the use of heat for geothermal production. The productions process releases small amounts of carbon dioxide into the air and it can release chemicals like boron, arsenic and mercury to water supplies and streams.
- There are several wind farms in the lower North island, that generate energy with wind driven turbines. NZ has enough wind to produce good supplies of energy this way, but it only accounts for 1% of NZ's power supply. This is mainly because of concerns about the visual impact of the turbines from people. Domestic turbines are available for people with reliable levels of wind.
- Biomass. The book didn't really explain what it was, so I googled it; "Biomass is any sort of plant matter or animal wastes. From it, we can extract stored energy. Biomass energy, or “bioenergy,” is stored in organic matter with the help of the sun. A common example is wood. To create wood, trees manufacture cellulose from sugars, which they make during photosynthesis. Because cellulose is made from sugars, it contains stored chemical energy. This energy is released as heat when wood is burned." From http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/Biomass/Overview.asp?page=1
- Sources of Biomass can come in solids; wood, dry plant matter and liquids; alcohol, methanol and ethanol which are from wood or purpose grown crops like suger beet). Currently NZ doen't have any biomass power stations, but some companies have their own that they use to power themselves. (I googled this and it still stands. however there is a bioenergy association of New Zealand that is working towards making biomass part of New Zealands energy supply.)
- Burning plant material (as part of the process of biomass) does release carbon dioxide, but it is the same amount that the plants extracted from the atmosphere when they were growing. While this method has the potential to get rid of plant material rubbish, the material would have to be harvested close to the biomass power station for it to be economic.
- Solar power can be captured through solar water heating panels, which can charge electric batteries through photovoltatic cells. These cells convert sunlight into electricity, which must be stored in batteries. Generally a backup source is needed, for times when there is less sunlight and usage is high. Again, I was still a little confused with this explanation so I googled it...
"As the sun burns the hydrogen at its core, it releases immense amounts of energy. This energy is radiated to the Earth in the form of heat and light. We use the term "solar energy" to describe our ability to harness this energy through man-made devices. Putting the sun's energy to work is not new. Solar technologies — some primitive, some more advanced — have been used in all ages and every part of the world. A hundred years ago, pioneer families in North America painted tanks black and placed them in sunny areas to heat water for domestic use. This method is still used in many warm countries.
But the invention and development of modern solar technologies goes back only 40 or 50 years. As a result of these technologies, the possibilities for solar energy are expanding as mankind searches for innovative ways to harness solar energy to warm houses, heat water and air and generate electricity. There are several ways of capturing and using the sun's energy, including photovoltaic cells, active solar energy, passive solar energy and concentrating solar power systems." http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/Solar/Overview.asp?page=1
- There is technology to capture energy from tides, waves and ocean currents, and its being used already in France, Canada and Japan. How they do this is by using turbines simular to onces used for hydroelectric stations. NZ's coastline has a big potential for this energy source. Again, I googled this...
"Tidal energy is produced through the use of tidal energy generators. These large underwater turbines are placed in areas with high tidal movements, and are designed to capture the kinetic motion of the ebbing and surging of ocean tides in order to produce electricity" http://www.energy-consumers-edge.com/tidal_energy_use.html
The Book gave me this website -
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