Summary
As the era of “Peak Oil” is being reached, many people are looking for alternative fuel supplies. One fuel is another fossil fuel called natural gas. Natural gas is located in multiple places, but a large reserve is found nearby in the Marcellus shale that extends from New York to Tennessee. But to obtain this gas, companies need to drill in local areas. A large debate is being held over whether the drilling should be allowed in the region. The anti-drilling argument is strongly against the use of the new drilling technique of hydraulic-fracturing, or “fracking.” The process requires sending mass quantities of water carrying hazardous chemicals into the ground, causing fractures in the shale so that the gas can be pumped up. A reason people do not want this to occur is because the chemicals could taint the local water supply, many of the chemicals may be left in the ground and spread unchecked. Also, no one knows to what extend the fractures spread, so more than just the shale could be cracked. Pro-drilling arguments center on stating that the other side of the debate has wrong facts. “Fracking” is actually safe and the drilling has been conducted for many years. Plus, the “fracking” occurs below the water table, so none of the water supply will be affected. Mostly, the pro-drilling argument holds up past examples and throws facts out to support the potentially new economic boom that would occur from the drilling.
Answers:
The main concerns for the anti-drilling group is that the hydraulic-fracturing drilling process will cause hazardous and irreversible environmental pollution to the water supply and bedrock foundations that are underneath people’s feet. Plus, they do not want harmful chemicals released into the earth in any amount, let along unregulated amounts.
The main concern for the pro-drilling group is that drilling in the region has been successfully accomplished for many years and hydraulic-fracturing has been deemed safe by the EPA. Plus, if the drilling is allowed it would be a great economic boost to New York and provide more financial security to the people in the region.
Questions:
1-Is there any way to pump the chemicals out and into a filter that will only attract the chemical residue found in the water used to collect the gas from the hydraulic-fracturing?
2-Has there been any research into a less hazardous form of drilling that could effectively recover the gas without the use of “fracking?”
3-Has there been any cases of the “fracking” causing sink holes from too many cracks in the underground rock foundation, and if so, what are the chances of more sink holes appearing and could they hurt the economy more than the gas profits?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Summary
The world is close to reaching, or has reached, its Peak Oil. After Peak Oil, prices will climb and our fossil fuel dependent culture will become increasingly more difficult to sustain. One nation that has already passed their “Peak Oil” is Cuba. Cuba received much of its oil from the former Soviet Union, but once that collapsed, Cuba had to find a way to successfully live with reduced oil consumption. Since 1990, Cuba has accomplished a life with little oil. Even though it is a poor country, Cuba is a leader in the medical world, with great health education, free health care, good diets, and a prevent first method that has created the same life expectancy as the United States. Doctors live in the community and go to the people that need treatment, saving the sources needed to bring patients to hospital. Doctors of Cuba treat medicine as a “vocation, not a job.” Cuba also has an established education system. While not many people go to college, they all attend school for 12 years. At school, they also learn skills like farming, auto repair, and sewing, becoming self-reliant. A large part of Cuba’s success is their ride sharing. The “Camel” a 300 person bus and a strong commitment to car-pooling have helped to decrease the oil used. Some “taxis” and “buses” are mule drawn wagons, again saving oil. Plus, Cuban homes are smaller than the average American home, needing less energy to maintain upkeep. Cubans also live several generations together, saving space for others. Along with smaller homes, many people are moving back to rural areas. Instead of crowding the cities, they live off their own land, because they have learned how. Even under a heavy US embargo, Cuba has created a sustainable society that exists with little oil reliance, a skill that will be needed around the world sooner than later.
Answers:
Ways Cuba was able to sustain their society after the loss of fossil fuel imports were by establishing a strong health care program that lets the population live higher quality lives, learning practical skills at a young age, car-pooling and mass public transportation to reduce oil use, smaller housing, and migrating out of cities and back to the country.
Relocalization is a reasonable response to reduced energy because it would create a sustainable community without the large need for outside supplies that would cost high energy amounts to produce, transport, and store. Relocalization has the merits of every community making their own food and other products around their home, saving money and keeping spent money in the local economy, but it has the drawback of not every resource needed can be obtained in the community, also life-styles would decrease as creature comforts decline and more emphasis is placed on hard work on the land to grow food or make hand crafts.
Questions:
1-Cuba’s health care contains doctors that work for little money incentive because they live in a society that allows poorer living standards. Can a materialistic culture make it possible for doctors to achieve the doctor title by lowering medical school costs, living costs, and other high prices found in society?
2-The lower oil needed and slower transportation works in a smaller island nation but how effective would that method be in a nation like the United States with a lot more land?
3-How does the communist regime of Cuba effect the mandatory schools and skills taught at those schools?
The world is close to reaching, or has reached, its Peak Oil. After Peak Oil, prices will climb and our fossil fuel dependent culture will become increasingly more difficult to sustain. One nation that has already passed their “Peak Oil” is Cuba. Cuba received much of its oil from the former Soviet Union, but once that collapsed, Cuba had to find a way to successfully live with reduced oil consumption. Since 1990, Cuba has accomplished a life with little oil. Even though it is a poor country, Cuba is a leader in the medical world, with great health education, free health care, good diets, and a prevent first method that has created the same life expectancy as the United States. Doctors live in the community and go to the people that need treatment, saving the sources needed to bring patients to hospital. Doctors of Cuba treat medicine as a “vocation, not a job.” Cuba also has an established education system. While not many people go to college, they all attend school for 12 years. At school, they also learn skills like farming, auto repair, and sewing, becoming self-reliant. A large part of Cuba’s success is their ride sharing. The “Camel” a 300 person bus and a strong commitment to car-pooling have helped to decrease the oil used. Some “taxis” and “buses” are mule drawn wagons, again saving oil. Plus, Cuban homes are smaller than the average American home, needing less energy to maintain upkeep. Cubans also live several generations together, saving space for others. Along with smaller homes, many people are moving back to rural areas. Instead of crowding the cities, they live off their own land, because they have learned how. Even under a heavy US embargo, Cuba has created a sustainable society that exists with little oil reliance, a skill that will be needed around the world sooner than later.
Answers:
Ways Cuba was able to sustain their society after the loss of fossil fuel imports were by establishing a strong health care program that lets the population live higher quality lives, learning practical skills at a young age, car-pooling and mass public transportation to reduce oil use, smaller housing, and migrating out of cities and back to the country.
Relocalization is a reasonable response to reduced energy because it would create a sustainable community without the large need for outside supplies that would cost high energy amounts to produce, transport, and store. Relocalization has the merits of every community making their own food and other products around their home, saving money and keeping spent money in the local economy, but it has the drawback of not every resource needed can be obtained in the community, also life-styles would decrease as creature comforts decline and more emphasis is placed on hard work on the land to grow food or make hand crafts.
Questions:
1-Cuba’s health care contains doctors that work for little money incentive because they live in a society that allows poorer living standards. Can a materialistic culture make it possible for doctors to achieve the doctor title by lowering medical school costs, living costs, and other high prices found in society?
2-The lower oil needed and slower transportation works in a smaller island nation but how effective would that method be in a nation like the United States with a lot more land?
3-How does the communist regime of Cuba effect the mandatory schools and skills taught at those schools?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Summary 2
Hydrocarbons are the basis of modern society. Just about every daily used object is made from hydrocarbons. Our culture is founded on hydrocarbons. Oil, particularly, is the biggest hydrocarbon used today. The problem with such a strong dependence on oil is that it is not a renewable source. Over the decades of extensive use, oil reserves have begun to deplete. M. King Hubbert predicted that Peak Oil would strike around present time. Peak Oil is when the energy used to retrieve oil is higher than the energy used to from the oil. As an oil well is tapped and the pressure drops, the cost to drill the oil climbed above the profits from selling the oil. Already the US and Russia have passed their Peak Oil and soon around 2010 the world’s Peak Oil will be reached. Besides oil, natural gas, another hydrocarbon, is being used as a fuel source. While drilling for natural gas is usually cheaper than oil drilling, there is not enough natural gas to cover national energy needs. Natural gas is less dense than oil, so much more is needed for the same energy levels, but there is just not enough gas to be obtained.
With the fall of oil, the fall of agriculture will follow quickly. At the moment, only two nations are major exporters of grain, the US and Canada. Higher population and decreased oil fuel could cause at least the US to stop exporting grain, hurting the economy and possibly starving millions of people to death. The agriculture system needs to undergo changes to prevent such a catastrophe. Changes like renewable energy sources, environmentally friendly methods, and population control need to be considered to save the world from a major disaster. North Korea is an example of what type of disaster is waiting for the rest of the world. With little oil resources and poor soil, North Korea was dependent on imports from the Soviet Union. After the Soviet collapse, North Korea’s oil supplies dwindled and could not support their agriculture and industry infrastructure fell apart. Soon people were out of work and starving and North Korea has to rely heavily on outside help. The whole world could suffer the same collapse and there is no outside help for the rest of the world.
Answers:
Fossil Fuels have added to the dangerously vulnerable state of modern agriculture by the mass production of the crops that feed the present day giant populations are only possible by using machines that only run by fossil fuels. Agriculture production is run by fossil fuels, so when they fail, agriculture fails.
Lessons the US can learn from North Korea’s collapse is that over reliance on oil and poor treatment of soil can and will lead to crop failure, starvation, and economic pains because with an inefficient oil supply and poor soil, a present day agriculture cannot produce enough crops to fuel the population
4-Will passing the Peak Oil mark speed up the possible crash of the national agriculture infrastructure so that it is too late to save?
5-How did North Korea’s communist policies directly affect how oil was used in North Korea’s economy?
6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?
Hydrocarbons are the basis of modern society. Just about every daily used object is made from hydrocarbons. Our culture is founded on hydrocarbons. Oil, particularly, is the biggest hydrocarbon used today. The problem with such a strong dependence on oil is that it is not a renewable source. Over the decades of extensive use, oil reserves have begun to deplete. M. King Hubbert predicted that Peak Oil would strike around present time. Peak Oil is when the energy used to retrieve oil is higher than the energy used to from the oil. As an oil well is tapped and the pressure drops, the cost to drill the oil climbed above the profits from selling the oil. Already the US and Russia have passed their Peak Oil and soon around 2010 the world’s Peak Oil will be reached. Besides oil, natural gas, another hydrocarbon, is being used as a fuel source. While drilling for natural gas is usually cheaper than oil drilling, there is not enough natural gas to cover national energy needs. Natural gas is less dense than oil, so much more is needed for the same energy levels, but there is just not enough gas to be obtained.
With the fall of oil, the fall of agriculture will follow quickly. At the moment, only two nations are major exporters of grain, the US and Canada. Higher population and decreased oil fuel could cause at least the US to stop exporting grain, hurting the economy and possibly starving millions of people to death. The agriculture system needs to undergo changes to prevent such a catastrophe. Changes like renewable energy sources, environmentally friendly methods, and population control need to be considered to save the world from a major disaster. North Korea is an example of what type of disaster is waiting for the rest of the world. With little oil resources and poor soil, North Korea was dependent on imports from the Soviet Union. After the Soviet collapse, North Korea’s oil supplies dwindled and could not support their agriculture and industry infrastructure fell apart. Soon people were out of work and starving and North Korea has to rely heavily on outside help. The whole world could suffer the same collapse and there is no outside help for the rest of the world.
Answers:
Fossil Fuels have added to the dangerously vulnerable state of modern agriculture by the mass production of the crops that feed the present day giant populations are only possible by using machines that only run by fossil fuels. Agriculture production is run by fossil fuels, so when they fail, agriculture fails.
Lessons the US can learn from North Korea’s collapse is that over reliance on oil and poor treatment of soil can and will lead to crop failure, starvation, and economic pains because with an inefficient oil supply and poor soil, a present day agriculture cannot produce enough crops to fuel the population
4-Will passing the Peak Oil mark speed up the possible crash of the national agriculture infrastructure so that it is too late to save?
5-How did North Korea’s communist policies directly affect how oil was used in North Korea’s economy?
6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Summary 1
The invention of the car helped to shape our culture into what it is today. With a personal automobile, the nation became open to the public like never before. When Henry Ford created the assembly line and began to mass produce cars, like the Model T, he turned the car from a rich man’s leisure activity into mainstream mode of transportation. Automobiles were seen as the future by almost everyone. Car companies began to buy and kill public transit like electric trolleys and trains. Plus, the government created funds for highways and gave loans to car makers, but not to public transit. Throughout the early twentieth century cars began to dominate. Also, they helped to mechanized farms, which would lead to rapid overproduction and ultimately the death of many farms. Then, after the Great Depression hit, the building craze of highways through Long Island by Robert Moses helped to cement the car’s reign over culture. Moses was able to gain large loans to use as he wanted to create the roads he wanted and turn areas into “parking lots.” He also refused to include any future public transit plans into his work. Along with highways, the government and banks gave post war loans to private homes just outside of the cities. It was more cost effective to buy a house in the suburb than rent. Massive suburbs spread across the landscape, and the only way to travel between work and home was a car. These factors helped to establish the car as the dominant figure in society. Consequently, with such a dependence on cars, society’s backbone was made by oil, the lifeblood of cars.
Summary 2
Hydrocarbons are the basis of modern society. Just about every daily used object is made from hydrocarbons. Our culture is founded on hydrocarbons. Oil, particularly, is the biggest hydrocarbon used today. The problem with such a strong dependence on oil is that it is not a renewable source. Over the decades of extensive use, oil reserves have begun to deplete. M. King Hubbert predicted that Peak Oil would strike around present time. Peak Oil is when the energy used to retrieve oil is higher than the energy used to from the oil. As an oil well is tapped and the pressure drops, the cost to drill the oil climbed above the profits from selling the oil. Already the US and Russia have passed their Peak Oil and soon around 2010 the world’s Peak Oil will be reached. Besides oil, natural gas, another hydrocarbon, is being used as a fuel source. While drilling for natural gas is usually cheaper than oil drilling, there is not enough natural gas to cover national energy needs. Natural gas is less dense than oil, so much more is needed for the same energy levels, but there is just not enough gas to be obtained.
With the fall of oil, the fall of agriculture will follow quickly. At the moment, only two nations are major exporters of grain, the US and Canada. Higher population and decreased oil fuel could cause at least the US to stop exporting grain, hurting the economy and possibly starving millions of people to death. The agriculture system needs to undergo changes to prevent such a catastrophe. Changes like renewable energy sources, environmentally friendly methods, and population control need to be considered to save the world from a major disaster. North Korea is an example of what type of disaster is waiting for the rest of the world. With little oil resources and poor soil, North Korea was dependent on imports from the Soviet Union. After the Soviet collapse, North Korea’s oil supplies dwindled and could not support their agriculture and industry infrastructure fell apart. Soon people were out of work and starving and North Korea has to rely heavily on outside help. The whole world could suffer the same collapse and there is no outside help for the rest of the world.
Answers:
The car/tractor craze helped to shape American culture by allowing people to “escape” from the rest of their lives, allowing rapid mass production of agriculture products, it gave the ability to see the country and to live further away from their work, helping to produce the suburbs, and killed public transit, creating the oil backbone that is still present today.
Energy contributed to the post war housing boom and development by allowing for effective way to heat and run houses and appliances, creating the ability to live in a private home and by fueling cars, allowing people to live outside cities because they could now commute to work over distances.
Questions:
1-How exactly was Robert Moses able to gather so much capital and stay outside the government’s check system to make southern New York into his own image of the future? Also, did he have any oil company connections?
2-Why did the government decide cars were the future of America? Was there outside pressure from political contributors with oil ties?
3-Were there any government interference, from progressives, on car companies gaining such a control on transportation in the society?
4-Will passing the Peak Oil mark speed up the possible crash of the national agriculture infrastructure so that it is too late to save?
5-How did North Korea’s communist policies directly affect how oil was used in North Korea’s economy?
6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?
The invention of the car helped to shape our culture into what it is today. With a personal automobile, the nation became open to the public like never before. When Henry Ford created the assembly line and began to mass produce cars, like the Model T, he turned the car from a rich man’s leisure activity into mainstream mode of transportation. Automobiles were seen as the future by almost everyone. Car companies began to buy and kill public transit like electric trolleys and trains. Plus, the government created funds for highways and gave loans to car makers, but not to public transit. Throughout the early twentieth century cars began to dominate. Also, they helped to mechanized farms, which would lead to rapid overproduction and ultimately the death of many farms. Then, after the Great Depression hit, the building craze of highways through Long Island by Robert Moses helped to cement the car’s reign over culture. Moses was able to gain large loans to use as he wanted to create the roads he wanted and turn areas into “parking lots.” He also refused to include any future public transit plans into his work. Along with highways, the government and banks gave post war loans to private homes just outside of the cities. It was more cost effective to buy a house in the suburb than rent. Massive suburbs spread across the landscape, and the only way to travel between work and home was a car. These factors helped to establish the car as the dominant figure in society. Consequently, with such a dependence on cars, society’s backbone was made by oil, the lifeblood of cars.
Summary 2
Hydrocarbons are the basis of modern society. Just about every daily used object is made from hydrocarbons. Our culture is founded on hydrocarbons. Oil, particularly, is the biggest hydrocarbon used today. The problem with such a strong dependence on oil is that it is not a renewable source. Over the decades of extensive use, oil reserves have begun to deplete. M. King Hubbert predicted that Peak Oil would strike around present time. Peak Oil is when the energy used to retrieve oil is higher than the energy used to from the oil. As an oil well is tapped and the pressure drops, the cost to drill the oil climbed above the profits from selling the oil. Already the US and Russia have passed their Peak Oil and soon around 2010 the world’s Peak Oil will be reached. Besides oil, natural gas, another hydrocarbon, is being used as a fuel source. While drilling for natural gas is usually cheaper than oil drilling, there is not enough natural gas to cover national energy needs. Natural gas is less dense than oil, so much more is needed for the same energy levels, but there is just not enough gas to be obtained.
With the fall of oil, the fall of agriculture will follow quickly. At the moment, only two nations are major exporters of grain, the US and Canada. Higher population and decreased oil fuel could cause at least the US to stop exporting grain, hurting the economy and possibly starving millions of people to death. The agriculture system needs to undergo changes to prevent such a catastrophe. Changes like renewable energy sources, environmentally friendly methods, and population control need to be considered to save the world from a major disaster. North Korea is an example of what type of disaster is waiting for the rest of the world. With little oil resources and poor soil, North Korea was dependent on imports from the Soviet Union. After the Soviet collapse, North Korea’s oil supplies dwindled and could not support their agriculture and industry infrastructure fell apart. Soon people were out of work and starving and North Korea has to rely heavily on outside help. The whole world could suffer the same collapse and there is no outside help for the rest of the world.
Answers:
The car/tractor craze helped to shape American culture by allowing people to “escape” from the rest of their lives, allowing rapid mass production of agriculture products, it gave the ability to see the country and to live further away from their work, helping to produce the suburbs, and killed public transit, creating the oil backbone that is still present today.
Energy contributed to the post war housing boom and development by allowing for effective way to heat and run houses and appliances, creating the ability to live in a private home and by fueling cars, allowing people to live outside cities because they could now commute to work over distances.
Questions:
1-How exactly was Robert Moses able to gather so much capital and stay outside the government’s check system to make southern New York into his own image of the future? Also, did he have any oil company connections?
2-Why did the government decide cars were the future of America? Was there outside pressure from political contributors with oil ties?
3-Were there any government interference, from progressives, on car companies gaining such a control on transportation in the society?
4-Will passing the Peak Oil mark speed up the possible crash of the national agriculture infrastructure so that it is too late to save?
5-How did North Korea’s communist policies directly affect how oil was used in North Korea’s economy?
6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?6-Have the use of hydrocarbons become the downfall of the world as the heavy reliance cannot be easily switched off and the hydrocarbon source cannot last?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Summary 1:
English economist William Stanley Jevons made the observation in 1865 that as people became more efficient at using an energy source, the demand for that resource would raise. Better machinery would allow more people to use the fuel and utilize the source to new areas. More people and more machines like engines in use would increase the overall fuel consumption. William Jevons’ example was coal, and he was able to predict the “peak coal” of Britain. As coal was used more efficiently, more coal was mined, and quickly the energy and cost to mine deeper coal reserves was higher than the energy and profit from using the coal. The observation of William Jevons is unofficially a societal law called Jevons’ law. Luckily, at the time oil was soon used to replace coal. Now, though, oil use is in the same predicament as to drill and harvest oil is causing higher demands than profit from selling and using oil. Modern society economies are completely based on oil, though, and if a sense of emergency is not gained by the public, then a “catastrophic” collapse will happen.
Summary 2:
As the earth pushes into the future a new type of economy is going to be needed to prevent an economic “crash.” The new economy would be a “steady-state economy.” A “steady-state economy” is different from a failed growth economy by the fact that it is not meant to grow, but hover. With the comparison between a plane and a helicopter, the “steady-state economy” is the helicopter. By focusing on maintenance and service, not production, the economy can begin to move towards the SSE. Instead of taxing goods, taxes would be placed on production waste, or pollution. Taxes would be on the “bad” part of industry and not on the labor or capital. The unregulated global free trade would have to follow stricter rules, keeping services in the country of origin for the businesses, increasing employment. Plus, the income difference would be minimized by smaller incentives based on production and a minimum and maximum limit for wages for everyone, a set income range. The GDP needs to be separated into two accounts. These two accounts would be profits from growth and the cost of the economic growth. The economy should observe how the constant growth is actually weakening the economy, or causing the plane to stall and hover, which it is not capable of doing. Such changes may not fully stop the potential economic “crash” in the future, but could slow it down and also be good guidelines for the economy after the “crash.”
Answers:
The problem Jevons was worried about was that the more efficient burning of coal would lead to higher mining that would force people to mine deeper for coal and the cost of the new mines would be greater than the profits made by selling and using the coal.
The comparison means that the plane is the current economy in that it is constantly going forward, or growing, but the helicopter is the “steady-state economy” where it is built for hovering, not continuously going forward, the two economic systems are two different methods and should not be treated as the same.
Questions:
1-Is there any economical way to mine for the deeper coal while maintaining higher profits, possibly by using the more efficient machines or coal alternatives? Would it be worth investigating?
2-The “steady-state economy” does have a good argument, but would the part about limiting free trade and making a wage range be gravitating towards communism?
3-Both articles seem to make the point that economic growth with fossil fuels will fail, but do not mention alternative fuels in any depth. Can reusable fuel support society in the next hundred years while at least maintaining the economic level of present times?
English economist William Stanley Jevons made the observation in 1865 that as people became more efficient at using an energy source, the demand for that resource would raise. Better machinery would allow more people to use the fuel and utilize the source to new areas. More people and more machines like engines in use would increase the overall fuel consumption. William Jevons’ example was coal, and he was able to predict the “peak coal” of Britain. As coal was used more efficiently, more coal was mined, and quickly the energy and cost to mine deeper coal reserves was higher than the energy and profit from using the coal. The observation of William Jevons is unofficially a societal law called Jevons’ law. Luckily, at the time oil was soon used to replace coal. Now, though, oil use is in the same predicament as to drill and harvest oil is causing higher demands than profit from selling and using oil. Modern society economies are completely based on oil, though, and if a sense of emergency is not gained by the public, then a “catastrophic” collapse will happen.
Summary 2:
As the earth pushes into the future a new type of economy is going to be needed to prevent an economic “crash.” The new economy would be a “steady-state economy.” A “steady-state economy” is different from a failed growth economy by the fact that it is not meant to grow, but hover. With the comparison between a plane and a helicopter, the “steady-state economy” is the helicopter. By focusing on maintenance and service, not production, the economy can begin to move towards the SSE. Instead of taxing goods, taxes would be placed on production waste, or pollution. Taxes would be on the “bad” part of industry and not on the labor or capital. The unregulated global free trade would have to follow stricter rules, keeping services in the country of origin for the businesses, increasing employment. Plus, the income difference would be minimized by smaller incentives based on production and a minimum and maximum limit for wages for everyone, a set income range. The GDP needs to be separated into two accounts. These two accounts would be profits from growth and the cost of the economic growth. The economy should observe how the constant growth is actually weakening the economy, or causing the plane to stall and hover, which it is not capable of doing. Such changes may not fully stop the potential economic “crash” in the future, but could slow it down and also be good guidelines for the economy after the “crash.”
Answers:
The problem Jevons was worried about was that the more efficient burning of coal would lead to higher mining that would force people to mine deeper for coal and the cost of the new mines would be greater than the profits made by selling and using the coal.
The comparison means that the plane is the current economy in that it is constantly going forward, or growing, but the helicopter is the “steady-state economy” where it is built for hovering, not continuously going forward, the two economic systems are two different methods and should not be treated as the same.
Questions:
1-Is there any economical way to mine for the deeper coal while maintaining higher profits, possibly by using the more efficient machines or coal alternatives? Would it be worth investigating?
2-The “steady-state economy” does have a good argument, but would the part about limiting free trade and making a wage range be gravitating towards communism?
3-Both articles seem to make the point that economic growth with fossil fuels will fail, but do not mention alternative fuels in any depth. Can reusable fuel support society in the next hundred years while at least maintaining the economic level of present times?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
As fuel source efficiencies improved, so too did transportation and information advances. Before fossil fuel advancements, the main way to carry products was by horse drawn carriage or barge. With steam engines and steam turbines, trains became the best way to transport products over land as the train’s engine could produce more power to haul more goods. Also, the railroad tracks combined with the new engines allowed for faster transport, times. Then with time the train engines saw many improvements like the electric trains of today that carry mostly people in urban areas at high speeds of around 200 kilometers an hour. Other forms of transportation also saw advancements. Boats had steam engines and turbines placed on them allowing for much faster travel over water, like a six day trip across the Atlantic. Cars with the gas combustion engine allowed for easier, faster, and efficient personal travel. Gas engines, though produced much air pollution, but the cost of maintaining a car created a greater work force and more economic development. Then airplanes appeared and advanced to intercontinental travel in rapid trips. Plus, pipelines to move oil from wells to refineries allowed more gas engines to be used across the globe as more oil was brought to the refineries. Along with faster transportation, information could travel faster with telephones, cell phones, with the invention of the microchip, computers became efficient at immediate information sharing and the internet was developed. With greater rates of travel and information sharing, businesses could transport more goods to necessary locations quicker, creating a more efficient economy.
Answers:
Better transport allowed for more efficient economy by allowing greater amount of products to be carried over greater distances at faster rates. By using more advanced methods of transportation, businesses could move their resources anywhere for cheap prices rapidly, creating greater profit margins.
More efficient information communication could reduce fuel use by allowing people to send important information over distances by the internet or phone and not need to run an engine to carry themselves to the other person. Plus, if orders are sent by internet, then they could be gathered by nearby areas, if possible, rather than sending the product from a different location and using energy fuels.
Questions:
1-As new transportation advancements were made, what made gas combustion engines in cars so good that the steady progress of improvements was brought to a halt?
2-If pipelines were so good at transporting oil over a large distance, why have people not looked at tube transport for other things like people? (inspired by cartoon versions of the future and reading)
3-What is the environmental impact of the modern bullet trains and what is the possibility of spreading their use outside of urban regions? Would it be cost effective?
Answers:
Better transport allowed for more efficient economy by allowing greater amount of products to be carried over greater distances at faster rates. By using more advanced methods of transportation, businesses could move their resources anywhere for cheap prices rapidly, creating greater profit margins.
More efficient information communication could reduce fuel use by allowing people to send important information over distances by the internet or phone and not need to run an engine to carry themselves to the other person. Plus, if orders are sent by internet, then they could be gathered by nearby areas, if possible, rather than sending the product from a different location and using energy fuels.
Questions:
1-As new transportation advancements were made, what made gas combustion engines in cars so good that the steady progress of improvements was brought to a halt?
2-If pipelines were so good at transporting oil over a large distance, why have people not looked at tube transport for other things like people? (inspired by cartoon versions of the future and reading)
3-What is the environmental impact of the modern bullet trains and what is the possibility of spreading their use outside of urban regions? Would it be cost effective?
Monday, January 18, 2010
As societies grew, so did the need for fuel sources with a higher energy output. The need for the higher energy output lead to the invention and dominance of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels like coal, the first fossil fuel source truly harvested were burned by people to generate kinetic energy. A main form of the produced kinetic energy was electricity. The electricity was formed by burning coal to produce high temperatures to boil water in a steam engine. The steam would spin a turbine, transforming potential energy into transmission capable and usable kinetic energy. Then, as the search for more efficient energy continued, the steam turbine was invented. Fossil fuels could be used in a smaller engine and produce even more kinetic energy in the form of electricity. With more effective engines, like the steam turbine and later the combustion engine, more fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and more coal were used more to create greater amounts of electricity. More electricity, combined with the better ways to burn fossil fuels lead to lights and more efficient ways to shape and use metals from the ground. The higher quality metals allowed for more technological advanced that opened the doorway for fission and fusion energy, or nuclear energy. The high energy output from nuclear energy was aimed to help reduce the use of fossil fuels, but health problems have helped to hold back nuclear dominance as an energy source.
Answers:
The other energy sources are in the fossil fuel society chapter because some were created to better harvest the potential energy fossil fuels, like the hydro steam engines and turbines, and some were created to ease the reliance of fossil fuels during the search for even greater energy sources in the twentieth century.
The thermal efficiency tends to dramatically increase over time as new energy sources or technology can produce higher and higher temperatures from burning fossil fuels or using nuclear fission.
Questions:
1-Breifly nuclear fusion was mentioned but not described in any detail. What would the energy ratio or thermal production of fusion energy compared to fission energy?
2-Were combustion engines ever used to provide electrical energy to housing like steam turbines were, or were combustion engines utilized only for smaller vehicle transportation.3-Why was there such a higher efficiency of AC electrical power over DC electricity?
Answers:
The other energy sources are in the fossil fuel society chapter because some were created to better harvest the potential energy fossil fuels, like the hydro steam engines and turbines, and some were created to ease the reliance of fossil fuels during the search for even greater energy sources in the twentieth century.
The thermal efficiency tends to dramatically increase over time as new energy sources or technology can produce higher and higher temperatures from burning fossil fuels or using nuclear fission.
Questions:
1-Breifly nuclear fusion was mentioned but not described in any detail. What would the energy ratio or thermal production of fusion energy compared to fission energy?
2-Were combustion engines ever used to provide electrical energy to housing like steam turbines were, or were combustion engines utilized only for smaller vehicle transportation.3-Why was there such a higher efficiency of AC electrical power over DC electricity?
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