To begin we must first know exactly what a carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is "the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product" (UK Carbon Trust 2008). Generally it is expressed in terms of carbon dioxide output. The United States carbon dioxide output accounts for nearly 20% of the entire worlds carbon dioxide emissions. Within the U.S 72% of carbon emissions result from electric power production and transportation, while of these emissions 39% coming from electric power. If the U.S. simply focused on "greener" means of electricity production the U.S. could reduced its carbon footprint by nearly half. While these numbers present a gloomy image of America's energy production there are natural resources that can be utilized to drastically diminish America's carbon footprint. The two sources I will focus on within this blog are the power of the sun and the power of water. These resources are able to provide millions of kilowatts of energy daily and the only obstacle is harnessing this energy. "Scientists have estimated that constructing solar thermal power plants on less than 1 percent of the world’s deserts — an area roughly the size of Austria — could meet the entire world’s energy needs." This shows that solar power alone could cut the U.S. carbon footprint in half and coupled with water the U.S. could have ample amounts of energy at no cost to the environment. These resources are abundant and the technology needed to utilize them is readily available. All that is needed now is the initiative to get the ball rolling and America’s carbon footprint can easily be reduced.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2144
http://www.iea.org/co2highlights/CO2highlights.pdf
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I believe that finding alternative to fossil fuels is in the best intrest of our Nation's futre but in the current finacial crisis reform is not possible. Changing all of our nations Infrastuture would be a enormous cost that our bugdet could not handle at this point. Im not against "go green" and alternative engergy sources but you have to be realistic that in a time where our banks are barely suriving, that energy reform can't happen yet.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in this unstable economic climate a complete reform of the nation’s energy production would not be feasible. "Green" technologies do have a high upfront cost that both the nation and consumers cannot afford. However, we do need to start this process now and it is much easier than you may think. As stated in my article above about the solar shingles, there are green technologies that can be implemented by homeowners. If those who can afford green technology starts utilizing it now it will decrease the nation’s overall demand for energy. In my article I gave an example about how the electric company may have to pay homeowners in some scenarios. While the upfront costs of these new technologies are high there are those who can afford them. The government is also offering many tax incentives and rebate programs for green technologies. On a national scale the building of a few "solar islands" in the deserts of the west can provide enough energy to power entire states. While a complete overhaul of the national infrastructure is not possible at this moment there are plenty of people, cities, and states with the resources to begin exploiting these technologies.
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