Ryan: China's green movement efforts
JIm: Efforts to clean-up the Ganges in India
Eric: Geo-thermal systems as alternative energy in Europe
Steve: Best global examples of green-roofing
Tylie: Current efforts to control clear cutting in Central and South America
6 comments:
The city of Varanasi, in India, has begun many groups to help clear up the river and make it clean to bath in once again. The foundation gives awareness on the need to protect the Ganges River. The plan involves a 4-mile pipeline to intercept all the sewage that would normally flow in to the Ganges from the Varanasi area. The pipeline would then extend another 4 miles to an elevated sandbar in the Ganges where a series of ponds would cleanse the waste using microorganisms to destroy the bacteria. The government has already spent about $33 million to build a plant that would help with the huge sewage problem. There are many problems. The major problem with this new idea of using a pipeline to clean the water is the fact that it used electric-powered pumps to pump the water through to clean it. When the power goes out the town would regain all the polluted water right back, and would get even more than there was before. JWH
The green construction industry has grown tremendously in recent years. As a result new roofing, insulation materials, and reusable materials that have been recycled are all being utilized to build houses which have less impacts. Using less wasteful products with similar results to standard building materials is a huge benefit, and roofing is no different.Photovoltaic Cells (more commonly known as solar panels) have become a very effective method of selling back extra energy from the roof of the consumers home. Although several "Eco-friendly" options may confront the consumer, many are costly and pray on the trend of becoming more green. Several positive developments within the roofing industry have been between 30 and 50 percent of the product consisting of recycled materials, and the roof itself being recyclable at the end of its lifespan. Shingle material is also key in the green roofing industry. Petroleum shingles release chemicals when installed, and asphalt shingles have the shortest life span out of most roofing materials. Metal roofs and shingles last twice as long as other materials, but if they are not from recycled materials than they are just as harmful to the environment. Energy intensive processes are needed to create metal roofs from un-recycled materials. Clay tiles are also thought to provide good insulation, low environmental impact, and an extremely long lifespan.
The term "green roof" refers literally to a house with living vegetation on the top. Although it may sound proposterous and out of this world, it absorbs rain water and sunlight, fulfilling the many purposes of a conventional roof. Synthetic slate is extremely effective and made from recycled materials, and is way better than alternatives such as synthetic fibers or reinforced synthetics
steve wrote the one about roofing...dammit i always forget to put my name
According to wikipedia, clearcutting is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in a harvest area are cut down.Clearcutting has left many areas in Central and South America eroded, air polluted, and caused the climate to fluctuate. It has also left threatening watersheds and created a windfall for disease bearing rodents.However, despite the destructive problem of clear cutting, there are many efforts to control it. In Costa Rica, people started projects to promote ecotourism to achieve a sustainable developement. Ecotourim is a purposeful travel that create an understanding of the natural history about the place as well as generating a foreign exchange for the economy. This method is very effective because it's one of the fastest growing sectors in Latin America and it's a win win situation for the local inhabitants, environment and the economy. Another method to control clear cutting is public aawareness. Environmental groups began to target their efforts toward developing sustainable and effective uses of the rain forests. They work together to encourage local inhabitants to practice effective stewardship to the environment. This method is a win win situation because the environment prospers because there's no more clear cutting and the people get to use the environment to their economic advantage. These two methods to control clear cutting are shown to be very effective and not only are they harmless to the environment, they are developed in a way that everybody benefits from it.
~ Tylie~
As Americans, we are lucky we live in a democratic nation and have the ability to speak freely about issues, which are regulated by the government. In some countries such as communist China, if the citizens where to speak out, they might as well consider themselves dead. One problem China has which we here in the Hudson valleys don’t have to deal with is air pollution. In some places in china the air quality is so bad most Americans would consider it unlivable. Over time however Chinas SEPA has been working in favor of the citizens and is creating programs to help combat the air pollution problem.
With all of the industry and factories currently located in china it should be no surprise that so many people are getting sick and dying due to problems caused by air pollution. Although it's bad now it is indeed getting better. Back in 2004 there where only 300 members of the SEPA now there are nearly 6000, showing that there are clearly more people interested. Currently there are several NGOs (non government organizations) working with American agencies to help educate the Chinese citizens about the effects of the pollution and ways to help. They are doing this by means of TV because it's not only inexpensive but it also reaches a large number of people at once. In addition to educating the public with the TV, there are also several NGOs, which are helping china become greener. One of these non-government organizations is the MEP(Ministry of Environmental Protection), and it is mission is to "prevent and control environmental pollution< protect nature and ecology, supervise nuclear safety, safeguard public health and environmental safety, and promote harmony between man and nature". A major way China is becoming greener is by slowly limiting there population by limiting the amount of children each couple is allowed to have. Although this law was temporarily revoked because a recent natural disaster had a major impact on the population, I believe the law will greatly affect the population crisis as the year’s progress.
Ryan P.
Geothermal power is the use of the heat of the Earth in order to generate energy, generally by boiling water to create steam to drive turbines. While this energy has taken off in America, with the largest geothermal plant in the world located in California, Europe has also become extremely invested in the energy source, even going so far as to create a European Geothermal Energy Council. This Council, headed by top scientists, supports research and development, as well as proliferation of this technology. One of the more pressing concerns of the EGEC is to press governments to make geothermal energy more cost effective, in order to help it compete with more conventional forms of energy. The EGEC also wants to make it easier for geothermal heating systems to be installed in houses, as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Through this process, water is sent underground to pick up geothermal heat, carrying it throughout the house, heating it with no other alternative energy sources. Geothermal can also be used to cool houses in the summer, as the water, heated instead by the air, is sent underground to cool down, as the ground is generally much cooler than the air during the summertime. Should the EGEC successfully implement geothermal energy in modern European homes, the entire continent could serve as an example for the rest of the world, spreading a much cleaner form of energy throughout the globe.
Sorry I'm kinda late with this post, it's been awhile since it was assigned and i kinda forgot lol.
-Eric
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