NASA’s US moniter

http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/new-nasa-images-highlight-us-air-quality-improvement/#.VHLE_vl4pcQ

 After ten years, NASA’s satellite which monitors six particularly dangerous pollutants found that people living in big United States cities are breathing nitrogen dioxide (a yellow gas which can cause respiratory problems). The gas is produced during the combustion of gasoline and is a very strong proxy to the overall health of air. Many graphs are depicted which go to show that air pollution in America is decreasing, however in major cities, Nitrogen Dioxide is increasing. This provides a gaping difference between the air quality for those living in rural and suburban areas of America.

The graphs and pictures shown on this website of NASA’s satellite goes to show how air pollution in America as a whole is improving, but the quality of air in big cities is more unhealthy than it has ever been. These pictures give great visual representation as to what exactly is happening in the Unite State’s atmosphere and levels of Nitrogen Dioxide. The purpose of this article was to educate those who live in big cities of their increased medical risks due to this very dangerous pollutant.

NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.22

Almost Half Living in Dangerous Conditions

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-pollution-dangerously-high-for-almost-half-of-us/

A little under 50 percent of Americans are living in unhealthy air conditions. This number has increased five percent from last year, 42 to 47 percent. The five communities with the worst air pollution in the United States were all in the state of California.  Los Angeles-Long Beach had the highest ozone levels, while Fresno-Madera was found to have the most particle pollution. Both of these cities are located in California which is particularly alarming as Californians. This being said, things are not all bad as Salinas California is the least polluted city in the United States.

 This article gave lots of statistics on the health of the air in the United States, particularly the odd trends in California. California has both the five highest rates of air pollution, and the lowest overall rate. This report also goes to scare Americans as over 140 million Americans live in areas with high ozone layers. High ozone layers puts people at risk of premature death, aggravated asthma, difficulty breathing and future cardiovascular problems. This report further goes to show how American cities’ pollution levels have changed throughout the last four years and shows both many promising positives and alarming negatives.

“Air Pollution Dangerously High for Almost Half of U.S., American Lung Association Reports.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

 

 

Nations Air Quality Worsens

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/30/nations-air-quality-worsens/8466889/

 The 2014 state of the air report for the United States came out just a few weeks ago and shows many positives and negatives about the pollution levels here in the United States. The most substantial piece of information given was that 147.6 million people live in areas where air quality remains unhealthy. This number is absurdly high and has increased by 16 million since 2013’s report, despite all the regulations that had been put into place. On the brighter side of the spectrum, of the twenty five cities with the highest air pollution rates, 18 of them have dropped. With this being said, all twenty five still have air which does not meet standards of living.

This article’s purpose was to inform and scare readers living in United States that although air pollution levels are getting better, the country still has a long way to go in terms of having healthy air. With regulations and the issue becoming more prevalent, United States citizens should be alarmed to the increase in millions of people living in unhealthy cities. While individually we cannot do a lot to stop this world-wide issue, each of us can play a role. This report helps educated Americans of a great danger we are still facing as a country.

Bowerman, USATODAY Mary. “Good News/bad News for U.S. Air Quality.”USA Today. Gannett, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Smog Worsening in California

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Heat__Drought_Worsen_Calif__Smog/story.xhtml?story_id=023001AFX3S4#

The extreme drought in California has dramatically slowed down efforts to remove smog from Southern California air. The prolonged dry spells has translated to a layer of heat trapping cooler air lower to the ground. This action causes pollution’s main concentration to occur closer to the ground. The air pollution in southern california is an extreme burden on citizens and also puts them at health risk. Hot conditions have also led to more forest fires, which increase air pollution with the levels of smoke being released into the atmosphere.

This article speaks to how the extreme drought in California has affected the air pollution. With California being in one of it’s worst droughts ever, the temperatures have increased making the smog’s level of concentration to drop significantly and further impacting humans. This is alarming and particularly scary as there is no clear solution. With this being said relief could come as soon as winter with storms and rain stirring up the air.

“Heat, Drought Worsen Smog in California | Sci-Tech Today.” SciTech Today RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014..

Children With ADD

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/11/06/link-found-between-mothers-exposure-to-air-pollution-and-adhd/

More than eleven percent of children born in the United States have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In a study conducted by Columbia University, children exposed to air pollution during pregnancy were five times as likely to have this disorder by the young age of nine. “During the fetal period and early childhood years, the brain is rapidly developing and vulnerable to neurotoxic insults that may manifest as adverse outcomes in childhood and adulthood.” Previous to this study, air pollution has been linked to other severe issues such as developmental delays, reduced IQ and symptoms of anxiety depression, and even cancer.

This article suggested that air pollution has a direct correlation with children being born or obtaining Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at a young age. This study was conducted using only United States born children living in urban areas whose parents were nonsmokers. These figures are extremely alarming and further goes to show the danger of air pollution in today’s society. With the rate of this disorder being five times as likely to occur for children whose parents work in urban areas in the United States, the effects on Children living in India and China (world pollution leaders) is extremely scary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/11/06/link-found-between-mothers-exposure-to-air-pollution-and-adhd/

New Solar Development

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/tech/innovation/solar-cells-of-the-future/index.html?iref=allsearch#index

To those that say solar is unfeasible as a replacement for current systems, well your wrong. Recently four exiting developments in solar technology have  made a lot of people very exited. First is a new more efficient coating that is rapidly catching up with traditional solar panels called Perovskite. Second is the clear solar panels that have recently been developed, there is still work that needs to be done to make them more efficient but their use will be incredibly versatile once improved. Researchers at Stanford have developed an additional layer of silica spikes that cover the surface of the panel and deflect thermal energy keeping the panels cool efficient and extending their life. MIT students are using the lead in old car batteries as a replacement for newly mined lead in traditional solar panels.

 

All this further serves to emphasize the point that solar energy is going to be on of the most useful and prevalent sources of energy in the coming century. A skylight that reduces the need for lights to be used during the day and generates energy to be used during the night is one small example of the potential. There is a definite need to decentralize our energy supply. If homes and businesses provide most or all of their own energy then suddenly there will be no more fear of sweeping power outages, and our system will be more stable as the centralized power system becomes less important.

Senthilingam, Meera. “A Brighter Future: Five Ideas That Will Change Solar Energy.” CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/tech/innovation/solar-cells-of-the-future/index.html?iref=allsearch#index>.

China solar Vs. USA solar

http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/29/u-s-china-solar-fight-lurches-forward/

Global economics has begun causing problems again for the solar industry. In June the trade law increasing prices on solar panels imported from china were put in place. The situation was caused by Solarworld when they made allegations against multiple solar panel producers in china. The issue was first brought up in 2011 and now that it is in law Solar World is in a position to claim solar energy dominance. Many of the solar panel instillation companies that depend on Chinese solar panels might go out of business now with the market lacking cheep supply.

 

I think that this is little more than a ply to control the solar market by solar world. If the overseas supply is cut off then there is going to be a huge surge in profits for solar world as they become one of the main US suppliers. There is a fear however that China will respond with crushing subsidies to obliterate solar companies in other countries. This would force the world into a subsidy battle just to maintain an even footing in the industry. However this is unlikely to happen as most countries are simply unwilling to dedicate that much money to the issue.

Danko, Pete. “U.S.-China Solar Fight Lurches Forward.” The Great Energy Challenge Blog. National Geographic, 29 July 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/29/u-s-china-solar-fight-lurches-forward/>.

Solar Roadways not a Dream

http://www.emagazine.com/blog/solar-roadways-just-a-dream

 

I am sure that we have all heard of the novel concept of solar roadways but the realities of the cost and scope of this project have made it a distant dream. That said with improvements in technology and more and more funding flowing in there is now a real opportunity for a surge in publicity. The basic idea has always been sound but the implementation of the program has always been a huge hurdle baring the way. However now there is government support of the system, abet more than a little hesitant but still real, and an IndieGoGo campaign has raised 2 million dollars for the project. The only real thing stopping this project from continuing is the mass production of the panels. So far they are being made by hand and have had little chance to be tested because of it. The theory claims that America could meet 75% of its energy needs by using Solar Roads.

 

Personally I think Solar Roads are just about the coolest thing in the world. Not only do they produce electricity but they also collect water, melt the snow off roads and  provide lighting on poorly lit sections of road. In bad weather conditions they can be programed to sense weight on them and warn people of obstacles and other vehicles that may be in the way. Not mention they have LEDs in them so you can have ultra visible reprogrammable roads. All that pails in comparison to the fact that the panels would provide the bulk of our energy needs as a country, which is something that would help wean us off foreign oil dependency. This is even cooler when you realize that this tech combined with other sustainability innovations may very well provide us with a way to totally decentralize our power grid.

Cools, Ellen. “Solar Roadways: Just a Dream? | EMagazine.com.” E Magazine Print Issue. E Magazine, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.emagazine.com/blog/solar-roadways-just-a-dream>.

Cleaning up the Harbor

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2014/11/25/orig-dh-baltimore-solar-powered-water-wheel-removes-trash.cnn&iref=allsearch&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fsearch%2F%3Fquery%3Dsolar%2520power%2520in%2520the%2520usa%26sortBy%3Drelevance

 

The best part about solar power is its long term effects, all of which are positive. Baltimore has a problem, their harbor is one of the most polluted in the world. Now however that is changing, some bright people in Baltimore have placed a trash collector in their harbor that filters out solid waist from the water. This solar powered device looks a bit like a small Sydney opera house sitting on the water. At first glance it would seem that such a small thing would be unable to make an impact on the large harbor. The statistics say otherwise though, often collecting 40,000 pounds of trash a day, the collector has, in the last four months, collected 100 tones of trash.

 

The best part about this project is that it is completely self powered. The city only needs to man it and it will continue to clean the harbor forever. And therein lies the greatest power of solar with no cost the panels will continue to gather electricity forever. This means that it is a high value long term reward that pays for itself eventually. And if the service that is provided, such as cleaning the river could have been done more cheaply using dirty energy sources, then there is still only the difference in the expense that needs to be made up for by the solar panels. This is a simple logical business decision that I foresee many people making in the near future.

“CNN Video on Facebook – CNN.com Video.” CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2014/11/25/orig-dh-baltimore-solar-powered-water-wheel-removes-trash.cnn&iref=allsearch&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fsearch%2F%3Fquery%3Dsolar%2520power%2520in%2520the%2520usa%26sortBy%3Drelevance>.

Solar Powered Earthships

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/living/earthships-new-mexico/index.html?iref=allsearch

The future is here, Earthships are highly sustainable structures that collect most of their own water, power and a portion of their food in a sustainable way. These incredible structures are a combination of sound ecological construction and clean energy. With a low energy usage these structures have very few needs and what they do need is easily provided by their intelligently designed soar system. Using efficient photovoltaic panels the entire system is regulated and fueled by the sun. This used of green technology is applied intelligently, instead of trying to bulk up the quantity of energy produced by the panels or add more they have set up a system that reduces energy consumption to meet a more reasonable standard.

 

The implications of the Earthship is actually astounding, providing fresh produce, super low energy living, with most if not all of the services that we expect for little or no energy deficit. This has serious implications, it means that if we can amend our construction codes to include a few of these energy saving improvements then we can cut back on our national energy consumption. If it is possible to set every home to be energy self sufficient then our dependence or coal electricity will diminish. However there would still be a large number of plants producing energy, this surplus would cause there to be a drop in energy prices and hopefully our government could stop subsidizing our energy.

Senthilingam, Meera. “Earthships, New Mexico: The Sustainable, Cozy Homes Made with Old Junk.” CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/living/earthships-new-mexico/index.html?iref=allsearch>.