Week 9-- Energy and World Change

There are several types of energy which we can tap on to provide us alternatives to the over reliant on fossil fuel. They comprise of hydroelectric power, solar power, geothermal energy, wind energy, bio fuel and lastly, nuclear energy. All the above energy are believe to allow humans to shift towards more renewable form as fossil fuel are limited and at the rate we are using them, it will be a few decades down the road where it will be completely depleted.

Among all these renewable energy, solar energy is the most feasible. Since this form of energy is being obtain from the sun, there are abundant of them shining onto earth everyday day. It was estimated that the earth receives about 274 million gigawatt-years of solar energy, which translates to an astonishing 8.2 million “quads” of Btu energy per year.The entire human race currently uses about 400 quads of energy (in all forms) per year. Put another way, the solar energy hitting the earth exceeds the total energy consumed by humanity by a factor of over 20,000 times. Therefore, this source of energy is allow to provide us with the the amount of energy we require forever. However, the problem lies in how are we going to convert all this solar energy into usable energy in a cost efficient manner. Prof Shahi had mentioned in his lecture specifically that biotechnology will also be another field where new breakthrough would lead us to the discovery of more renewable source of energy. One example is the algae project that focus on using algae to produce hydrocarbon that could be a substitute to fossil fuel.

In one of the video, it shows that reducing the usage of fossil fuel would decrease the depletion of the forest and also reduce the slavery in the world. Furthermore, another video shows about how Germany is taking a huge step towards promoting renewable energy. The government uses the cash incentives method to entice companies or people to use solar energy through purchasing solar panels. For every kilowatt they provide for the electrical plant, they would get 50 cents and for the charge for electricity per kilowatt is 20 cents. This meant that there will be a profit of 30 cents earn. Hence, this method not only allow the country to reduce the usage of fossil fuel but also generating income for their people.

Throughout the lesson, there was this hot topic which was raise up that is " Why Singapore government does not want to encourage singaporeans to change to cleaner technologies and also providing them to households?" Many arguments were stating that Singapore does not have the space to build infrastructure for renewable energies, the demand was not there for the government to provide and many others. However, i went to check out on this issue and realize that in actual  fact Singapore government is not in favour of subsidies. This is a code by Mr David Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of the energy market authority: "

We do not subsidise energy. We believe in the right pricing of energy because by pricing energy correctly, that would drive certain behaviour in consumers. As a result of that behaviour, we believe consumers will learn to conserve energy. The government has no plans to implement feed-in tariffs."

Currently, electricity and water supply are all by the government. We do not have a choice in what kind of sources we want to use. I do not agree with what the government actually mentions. Looking and using renewable energy is different from conserving energy. We can definitely still conserve energy while using energy from wind, water or the sun. It does not make any sense when we have so many other better options available to us and we still choose to stick with the burning of petroleum to provide us with electricity. One of my classmates introduced the osmosis system which i find it very applicable in Singapore. Not only does it provide an alternative source of energy, it is quite useful in our region where there are abundant pressence of salt water.

I would rate this lesson 9/10 because i have witnessed and gain immerse knowledge on the possible substitution ideas for fossil fuel which makes me feel that there is still hope for us to save the earth. To allow our next generation to enjoy what we have now, building a sustainable environment and world for them to live in .