In the movie, Power Surge, they
propose the solution to the energy crisis to be through energy technological
innovation. With our current societal energy demands not one source of renewable
or sustainable energy will be capable of meeting our large request and maintain
our current carbon levels. Therefore, they suggest that in order to halt our
carbon emission and sustain the current amount of carbon we are inputting into
the atmosphere we as a society must use several technology in parallel with
each other. The four main categories that were focused on were efficiency,
nuclear power, cleaning up coal plants, and harnessing the sun’s power. Efficiency
can be addressed through increasing fuel millage with vehicles which would
provide customer savings, nuclear power through re-examining our current plants
and constructing safer plants, cleaning up coal by removing and burying it’s
harmful carbon emissions, and harnessing the sun through the use of solar
panels and wind turbines.
I agree with their assessment of how
to solve the energy crisis through the use of innovative energy technologies.
With our current nation’s energy needs and expectations for a standard of
living, it is not reasonable to believe that we would be able to solve this
problem through moderating or cutting back significantly on our usage. Because
of that, we must find a means to maintain this lifestyle while also stabilizing
out current carbon input into our atmosphere through the use of technology. We
currently have the capability to greatly reduce our carbon footprint nationally
as well as globally; with one of the major obstacles holding us back being
economics. As they stated in the movie, technologies such as developing fuel
from yeast waste, fabricating a material that mimics how plants remove carbon
and photovoltaic cells are fully functional just not at a cost most Americans
are willing or even able to pay. The incentives that some companies and
individuals such as Richard Branson are offering for advancements are an
effective means to accelerate the race to develop a commercially viable and
economically feasible product.
The effects on the environment, society,
and economy were addressed accurately when they considered what alternative
energies to use. With the fuel derived from yeast and sugar they discussed the
astronomical cost of production and how even a billionaire would not be capable
of affording such a fuel. The same goes for photovoltaic cells, where China is
working around the clock to produce solar cells that will maximum efficiency
and therefore save the consumer money. Briefly they addressed societal effects
stating that people are resistant to “ruining” their backyards with ugly
renewable energies without thinking through the full effect of them not even
having a livable backyard in the future. With re-examining nuclear power plants
both the societal and environmental impacts were assessed. After what happened
in Japan people are scared of the possibility of another reactor exploding
which new plants are aiming to subdue through the use of emergency cooling
systems. Environmentally, how nuclear power waste would be disposed of is a major
setback with this technology and how to safety remove waste was discussed.
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