"If everyone consumed as much energy as the average Singaporean and U.S. resident, the world's oil reserves would be depleted in 9 years!"
This was a particularly sobering statistic because being a small country like Singapore, one could hardly imagine that we could contribute to world usage of energy to such a large extent. Also, it was a poignant reminder that even though we think that we may not have a large impact due to our size, our actions and habits could be so harmful to the extent that it could have a severe and wide-ranging effect on the world, something that we would then quickly escalate out of control. This is a poignant reminder that even as we go about our daily lives we should be aware of the harm that we are causing and try our best to alleviate it or limit it.
Interesting Observations/Ideas
Firstly, I must put it out here that the sun actually provides more energy to the Earth in one hour than humankind currently uses in an entire year! This is important in showing that solar energy is definitely the way forward for renewable energies and we should focus on thinking of new and sustainable ways of obtaining solar energy.
The second interesting idea that was raised this session in my opinion was an extension of the application of the first idea, that photovoltaics is the type of renewable energy that can produce the highest amount of electricity as compared to other forms of renewable energies. This may affect whether we choose to use this method of obtaining renewable energies moving forward and if we should prioritise land use for this method of obtaining renewable energies compare to that of other methods.
Key Takeaways
A key takeaway I had from this session was that of the different policy tools that can be used for facilitating change to a green economy. These included that of education campaigns, subsidies, investments, tax credits, taxation, voluntary industry agreements and compulsory standards.
Another key takeaway I had was that solar panels is not the only possible way of obtaining solar energy was through solar panels. There is also a possibility of obtaining it through algae that photosynthesizes using the solar energy and converts it to electricity.
The third key takeaway I had was that there is currently being developed a method of obtaining energy for the poor such as that of biomass stoves and solar refrigerators. These are good because they help to alleviate inequality and provide the poor with energy especially in this critical time of the rising energy costs. If these methods of obtaining energy are useful, energy saving and sustainable, it may be the new way forward for renewable energies.
Issues for discussion
One issue that I thought could be raised for discussion would be how we as the population and a collective whole could come together and using the forces of consumer demand pressurise the corporations and governments into agreeing to move towards more renewable energy as the energy that we used is largely provided by one utilities board and by cutting down on energy usage, it would not directly lead to the government changing the current sources of energy to that of renewable energy.
Another issue that I felt could be raised for discussion would be how we could manage our spaces to make more room for renewable energies that may take up more space. For example, if we were to have wind turbines or solar panels or even biofuel, this will all be competing land uses especially for agriculture and I would like to know how we as a country would like to apportion our space and prioritise the competing land uses to achieve the best possible composition of land use. Already in Singapore, it has been suggested to use the top of the HDB flats to grow algae which can be used to produce energy during their photosynthesis where they absorb solar energy.
Responses to the presentations
One of the rather thought-provoking questions that my classmate asked in the presentation was whether we would want to increase Singapore's waste-to-energy ratio. I think that this is a very viable solution as a small country we would need find ways of processing our waste as we would have limited land space to contain the waste and converting it to energy seems a win-win solution.
Personal ratings for the session
Previously, I only knew the most basic of renewable energies such as that of solar power, wind energy and biofuel but I found out through this lesson that there were so many other types of renewable energy in different states of development which could substantially rival the capacities of the preliminary ideas of renewable energy that I knew about. This certainly piqued my interest and the idea that there could be so many more possibilities to renewable energy made me interested to delve into the topic further! The idea that solar power could substantially change the provision of energy really made me curious to see how this will develop and will be watching the future of such energies closely.
I would give this lesson a rating of 8/10.
Next week, we will be looking at various types of future technology. I am writing on the topic of underwater cities for my Individual Topical Review Paper and I am finding the insights and knowledge that I gain from my research to be nothing short of mindblowing and I constantly tend to say "Wow!" when I find a new idea or prototype of underwater city that has be proposed or is being suggested. As such, I am very excited to see the types of new technologies that will be introduced next week and plan on being amazed by the interesting future technologies that will be touched on in the next lesson.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
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