Vancouver Set to Eliminate All Fossil Fuel Use

 

Several years ago, Vancouver decided to set a goal; the city would completely eliminate use of fossil fuels. Other major cities, including Stockholm and Copenhagen soon followed suit. Now the question is exactly how and when the city will be able to meet its goal.

While already achieving about 98% renewable electricity, the city wants to eliminate every use of fossil fuels within the city, including cars and public transportation. “Vehicles will be a major challenge—converting to electric vehicles and other greenhouse gas-free forms of mobility will likely be the greatest challenge,” says Sadhu Johnston, Vancouver’s deputy city manager.

“The city is starting to build new infrastructure like separated bike lanes, dense neighborhoods next to transit stations, and EV charging at 20% of new parking spaces.” (Peters).

Vancouver will have a complete plan and outline in preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference later this year. While the city is perfecting its plans, it is also working toward a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, as a member of a new group of cities called the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, “which is a new collaboration of international cities committed to achieving aggressive long-term carbon reduction goals.”(USDN). (A majority of these cities are actually located in the US including; Boston, Boulder, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C.)

Making aggressive changes within the community you live in is bound to bring around various positive changes regarding the environment. Being that the CNCA was formally launched in March of this year, hopefully we will continue to see other large, impactful cities around the world joining in on their efforts to better our planet.

For more information about the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance:

http://usdn.org/public/Carbon-Neutral-Cities.html

Working toward a Greener Future: Floating Solar Panels

 

With our non-renewable energy sources depleting at an alarming rate, many people have been looking into new energy and new sources for renewable energy. A new possible solution is the implementation of large, floating solar panels being developed by Ciel and Terre. “Their innovative Hydrelio Floating PV System allows standard PV panels to be installed on large bodies of water such as: drinking reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals, remediation and tailing ponds, and hydroelectric dam reservoirs.” An issue that many people find with solar panels installed on land is that they disrupt the immediate and surrounding landscape around them. Installing these panels on water still allows for companies to extract energy from the panels and still allows for the respective bodies of water to be utilized for their own separate purposes. “According to Ciel and Terre, the system is easy to install and dismantle, can be adapted to any electrical configuration, is scalable from low to high power generation, and requires no tools or heavy equipment. It is also eco-friendly, fully recyclable, has low environmental impact and its cost effective. To date the system has been installed in the UK, and a Japanese system will be installed by March 2016.” The installation of floating solar panels could potentially provide insight into the largely untapped possibilities of renewable energy sources. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.

Find more information at:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/floating-solar-panels/

Easy Tips for Saving Energy

We waste a lot of energy in our daily use. Energy is consumed at an enormous rate and needs to be conserved not only to cut personal costs but also as a preemptive measure to help preserve resources for future use. It’s possible to save electricity and money without having to give up traditional comforts by making conscious choices to lower your energy use. Below are a few tips to help you lower your energy expenditure.  

1.      Save Energy At Home

-          Unplug seldom used appliances, such as your toaster or blender. Unplug any chargers for electronics that you are not currently using. Lastly use power strips to switch off TVs or radios when you are not using them.

-          Set your thermostat in winter to slightly lower degrees than normal- 68 degrees during the day and 55 degrees at night. During the summer thermostats should be increased to about 78 degrees. Make the most of sunlight, open blinds to let in heat on sunny days, but be sure to close them at night to minimize any heat loss.

-          Don’t forget to turn off the lights. Remember this in any seldom used rooms. Maximize work in sunlight as much as possible.

2.      Save Energy as You Drive

-          Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool, or use public transportation.

-          The faster you drive, the more gasoline your car uses. Slowing down saves on gas money and also creates a safer driving experience for you and others on the road.

-          Use your air conditioner sparingly. Instead cruise around with the windows/ car top rolled down.

-          Try to avoid your engine idling for long periods of time.

-          Lastly, look for a car that gets good gas mileage.

3.      Save Energy as You Shop

-          Look for locally grown foods! Buying locally produced food has numerous energy and environmental benefits—it means less fuel burned during the transportation of the foods from production site to store, less packaging and, often times less exposure to pesticides and chemicals. (energy4me.org)

-          Buy products with minimal packaging—this means less waste will go into landfills.

-          Choose reusable products rather than disposable ones—and remember to REduce, REuse, and REcyle!

Hopefully you have learned a few helpful new tips that you can incorporate into your own daily routine.  Every little change is a step in the right direction. Let me know in the comments below which tips you already use or which ones you might start using!

Further reading:

http://energy4me.org/all-about-energy/sustainability/energy-conservation/

http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/genergy.asp

Everything You Wanted to Know about the Keystone Pipeline--and more!

The Keystone Pipeline is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States. The pipeline system runs from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada to oil refineries in Illinois and Texas and also to oil tank farms and oil pipeline distribution center in Oklahoma.

To Renew or Not To Renew

This week I wanted to shed some light on the different forms of energy sources the government utilizes that are then converted into electricity—a driving force of our country. There are three main types of energy sources: nuclear energy, fossil energy (fossil fuels) and renewable energy.

The End is Inevitable

When thinking about the Anthropocene, it is impossible to consider without mentioning humans—the Anthropos of the Anthropocene if you will. Our short time on Earth has had a huge, albeit largely negative impact on the environment that could possibly have unforeseen repercussions for the next millennia.

Stop! Collaborate and Listen

For my blog project, I wanted to focus my blog on the interactions between large corporations, or governments and the local populations and implications these interactions held in regards to the environment.

Should we be concerned about the environment?

For my first post on this blog, I wanted to talk a little bit about why we as humans should be concerned with how much our actions affect nature and the surrounding environment in which we live. While most people are generally concerned about the effects our actions are having on the planet, few choose to really participate in creating changes that could benefit not only their local environment, but the environment as a whole.