Session 8

After a nice recess week, getting myself to class was really hard. However, what has to be done, must be.
In today's class, we discussed about Energy Technology and Change. Prof believes that the next big industrial revolution will be the shift from the intensive fossil fuel based use of energy to a sustainable and green method of energy usage.
A very important question that has been raised in today's times is: Why do we need to change the way we operate?
The west has thrived and grown on the fossil fuel path, and there is no way developing countries like India and China can follow the same path. It is important to develop a such a method of energy consumption so as to make it sustainable and not cause harm to the environment.
A driver for change in energy consumption is sustainability. Brazil was a leader in this. It used sugarcane to produce gasoline to fuel cars and other automobiles. Brazil is the leader in the innovation of such a green technology.

Another important driver for change is the cost. At the moment, fossil fuels are cheaper sources of energy because the opportunity cost is not taken into consideration. The concept of environmental pricing is developing where people are increasingly realizing that the market price does not reflect the true price, as the cost of production is not taken into consideration. 

We discussed about how modern lifestyle requires us to have access to energy to survive. We need sufficient energy resource to power them and keep them going. Most of the world is still dependent on fossil fuels, some of the countires dependent on renewable sources like solar and water. Some are still dependent on biomass which involves burning of coal and other organic wastes like animal dung and so on.

As we increase the efficiency of our energy utilization, we are going to require lesser energy to be used. In many countries, energy is a major source of income. 98% of Nigeria’s economy is dependent on petrol, as also with the Middle Eastern countries. Many of these countries are trying to diversify their economies as petrol is not a sustainable source of income. These countries are going on a massive industrialization spree to develop alternate sources of income.

 We discussed various sources of energy like solar, wind, geo-thermal energy etc. Prof discussed a very interesting thing. The sun provides more energy to the Earth in an hour than the entire human race currently uses in a year. This just goes to prove that we are ignoring and wasting a very beneficial and sustainable source of energy. It is essential to tap on the benefits of solar energy. It is an easy and cost effective method of sourcing energy and is the answer to all our problems of depleting energy resources. 

China is investing heavily in solar energy because it knows it cannot use too much coal due to the excess generation of pollution. USA is second.

Prof showed us an interesting video, the basic idea of which was to go into the Sahara desert and set up solar farms, harness energy and generate to the world. It is important for the setters of the solar farms to build up administration for the country in which the farm is developed.

Another important question raised was: Is it feasible to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050?

What is important is to have the political support and goals by the government which are enforced on people, to achieve this target. We have all the necessary resources to achieve this goal. It is not impossible.

The class was highly interesting, discussing solutions to a huge problem we are facing today, depletion of non renewable sources of energy and pollution of the environment. I would rate this session an 8 on 10.  :)