Session 8, week 9

Hello everyone, back again. Recess week was not that refreshing! haha, and this week was my twc individual oral presentation! oh wells, this week's lesson was about energy, past present and future. After doing the readings, it was pretty clear that fossil fuels would one day be depleted. And also that it was crucial for us, if we do not want to live in an energy-less world, that we would have to somehow find alternative sources of energy to fuel our need for power. Prof also echoed this sentiment that "the days for fossil fuels are numbered, renewable energy will fuel the next industrial revolution.

The lesson went through some different types of renewable fuels and some of the measures that governments are taking to address the problem of the depletion of fossil fuels and how they are hurting the environment. Energy today is being traded as a commodity, and energy sources such as oil are often priced too low, because they usually rely on human sentiment and also because we do not take into account what externalities we give out to the environment, thus people are compelled to consume more, especially developed countries, because they can afford the costs of this "cheap" energy. That is reason enough to see why that the average american consumes up to 60 times more energy than the normal man in China or India.

Because most developing countries' goals is for better economic growth, oil rich developing nations like nigeria would hence be willing to sell their oil for a cheaper price than the developed nations like UAE and Saudi Arabia. The energy security for the buyer country can thus be fulfilled, without spending too much, this too is another reason why there is the perception that energy is trading below its real costs. With 95% of their economy dominated by this oil trade, countries like nigeria, trying to develop and fund its infrastructure as much as possible, before their oil runs out is entirely probable because, as history has shown, when oil prices rise, the world would always then turn to other forms of greener energy and research, hence this is another reason why we are facing the crisis that we are seeing today.

However, on my personal opinion, I do feel that this fossil fuel fight is over-rated in some sense. This is because, understandably, fossil fuels have been the main source powering our world for industrialisation. The world has too many other problems to solve rather than fighting for each others fossil fuels. This is supported by the fact that there are many projects that try to cut down on the use of fossil fuels and in fact replace them fully, just that we humans have been to comfortable with the usage of fossil fuels as our main source of energy. Examples of these renewable energy resources would be the bioethenol/biofuels project in south america, and the solar energy mega project that is happening in munich, germany, where people are getting paid to provide clean solar energy to others. In fact, Prof mentioned that of the 3.85 M EJ the sun provides a year for the earth, only 0.00015% of it is needed to sustain our energy needs. The problems we should be focusing on, in terms of energy consumption would be to provide energy for the rural and the poor. Efficient energy is usually not available in such areas. They use primitive methods to make energy, such as using biomass to cook. These methods are really dirty, and in fact on their micro level in relativity is actually alot more harmful than just burning fossil fuels. Providing them with new tools, such as solar panels to harness the sun's energy would be alot better, being more efficient and cleaner.

The point of solving the world's energy needs in my opinion is not a large hurdle to cross, it is just because that we have become too reliant on fossil fuels providing us with energy that we have become worried because of the lack of it. But humans, having adapted on the earth for so many thousands of years, surely we have the ingenuity to come up with different replacements for fossil fuels that is cleaner and better? And thats what people have been doing. The presentations this week show exactly that. From harnessing osmosis power to algae power and nuclear power, it is obvious that we will solve our energy needs without fossil fuels. For a cleaner and greener world, fossil fuels is not the way to go. Let us embrace this mentality, and march forward to the day when we will have renewable and sustainable energy for all. The days for fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will fuel the next industrial revolution. And with our ever increasing ingenuity, that day is inevitably drawing closer...