The lesson was about energy and world change, how the need for energy is changing our world and the various breakthroughs currently happening in the sector. We discussed about some drivers of global energy change, such as rising energy consumption and need for economic development, as well as the new technologies and approaches that surface. In particular, the rising energy consumption has proven to be a very pressing issue to urge change to happen, China is currently using 25% of oil compared to US, but consumption is growing rapidly, the country used to be known as a net coal exporter but it is now a net coal importer.
Suprisingly, despite all the talk about rising energy consumption, last year was the first time that there was a reduction in primary energy consumption, largely due to the economic downturn last year.
We also talked about the important factors that needed to be considered before changes can be implemented, such as energy security and biotechnology. We have to increase efficiency of current energy sources including fuel, in addition, we have to diversify our energy sources, rather than focusing on one, we have to look at other sources like solar and wind energy. As for biotechnology, it has been said that it is the sector with the biggest potential of possibly being the next big energy source, but the only concern pertinent is the health issue, prolonged exposure to biowaste may lead to the an increased tendency to fall ill.
Interesting Observations/Ideas
From reading 2, it states that up to 2050, known technologies can be readied to achieve deep cuts in CO2 but more fundamental changes in energy technologies will be required beyond that. This means that we must start thinking up of more radical ways to alter our usage of energy rather than just doing minor modifications on the surface. Perhaps as one of the videos shown mentioned, we can build solar plants in the middle of deserts such as the Sahara, where sunlight is abundant through majority of the day. Thus, we can turn something which is supposedly of a hassle to us (the desert) instead to something which is invaluable to us. The reading also states the possible routes that the transport system can take in the future, whereby vehicles can run on electricity or hydrogen or even very-low-emission biofuels. This is something which may very likely happen in the extremely near future, hybrid cars are already partially running on electricity, the hydrogen fuel cell is commonly used on spaceships while the biotechnology industry is known to be one of the most booming industries at the moment.
As Ren Liang had mentioned in his presentation, which was about using osmosis to generate an energy source, this idea has the potential to become a huge success in Singapore by using fresh seawater and processed saltier water in desalination plants. Given that Singapore is an island surrounded by seawater and the fact that we have desalination plants here, this idea is simply waiting to be set into place here, with the only potential roadblock being the cost involved. There might be substantial cost involved to incorporate the two together, as well as the fact that currently the partially permeable membranes have to be replaced periodically due to the salt and dirt particles that accumulate. Although this may be the case, but Singapore is one of the leading countries for developing such membranes, in the future there may be a new type of membrane that can be cleaned and hence the cost required for replacing it will be non-existent.
Currently, 95% of Nigeria's GDP comes from the petroleum industry, but this is not going to last forever. They are trying to use the wealth that they generated from the petroleum industry to build research institutions and industries to develop alternative energy sources. This is because countries such as those in OPEC understand that when the oil runs out, they will need to find other forms of income and what better way to do it than energy sources, the sector which they are already in. The effectiveness of such initiatives, are limited to a certain extent due to the corruption that exist within the countries.
Key Takeaways
Every year, 3.85 million EJ of solar energy falls onto the earth. Wind and Biomass energy constitutes 2,250EJ and 3,000EJ respectively. If we can trap such energies efficiently, we will have enough energy to meet all of our needs. However, only 487EJ is for primary energy use and 56.7EJ is converted to electricity as of 2005. We need to devise of new approaches that can enable us to capture such energies effeciently, and not just relying on the efficiency of the devices used. For far too long have researchers been too focused on getting solar panels to absorb and convert more solar energy into electrical energy without thinking of how best to capture the rest of the solar energy which is not captured and wasted daily. As stated earlier, placing solar plants in the desert is one way, wind turbines have also been placed in the middle of oceans which I felt was a good idea as well.
Germany is not the hottest place in the world, the country has four seasons which means that it does not receive that much sunlight during winter, but yet so much has been invested into solar energy. Due to the success of solar energy there, they can even attain the achievement of having renewable resources of energy constituting 30% of energy supplied by 2020, surpassing the 20% mark set by the EU themselves. Given that Singapore does not even have four seasons and thus potentially has more sunlight annually compared to Germany, why are we not adopting such an approach and instead standing idly by and choosing to be dependent on others.
In order to get countries who are choosing to stand idly by to join the cause, activist may have to come up with a feasible model and framework that can ensure that choosing to adopt the approach of using more renewable energy will be successful. Germany's framework can be seen as an ideal model as it adopts the tactic that the world is very receptive to, which is through monetary means by giving monetary incentives to ensure that the public at large instead makes more money from installing the solar panels and thereafter selling the energy to the government. Singapore can also adopt such a tactic for private houses, and even for HDB flats where the entire building can be installed with solar panels and the residents there can receive a monthly income for selling the energy to the government. It seems as though the reason for why some governments choose to stand idly by is because they are unwilling to sacrifice a portion of their budget for something which is not gauranteed to succeed. However, if the governments can convince the people to install it on their own accord as they themselves would benefit from it, then no budget will have to be sacrificed.
Issues for Further Discussion
The pertinent issue of health concern from usage of biotechnology was briefly discussed, but what are some of the ways instead that we could adopt to resolve this issue? I felt that this was important given that biotechnology is currently touted as the next big energy source.
Personal Ratings
I rate this lesson a 9 as I really learnt plenty of interesting facts and took home some useful information which was closely related to Singapore as well, in addition to the fact that renewable energy has never failed to pique my interest.
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