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Week 10 [8.01-14.01.2018] Renewable energy


Every year, the world is using more and more energy. This massive scale of fossil fuel dependence pollutes the earth. On the other hand, we have abundant sun, water and wind, which are all renewable energy sources. So why don’t we exchange our fossil fuel dependence for an existence based only on renewables? 



1. Do you think we need energy from other sources than those used so far?
2. Will people ever use only energy from renewable sources?

3. What can we do to contribute to the use of renewable energy?

Comments

Unknown said…
I think that we should look for other sourses. Some of those used currenlty may end, or maybe there is better one.
I think that it is possible, that people will use energy only from renewable sources. But it will take time. First of all, people are more aware about enviorment, sources and their limits. No one wants to be surprised by dry source of energy, and renewable ones seem to be safe.
I think that best what we can do to contribute to use renewable energy sources is to educate - this is one thing that will spread itself and has got a constant impact. You can't take knowledge away.
Yeah, I agree with you. I think that one of the best countries (maybe even the best) in using renewable energy is New Zealand. Of course it's impossible for countries like Poland to produce same amount of energy from sun as country mentioned before, still it's really important to focus on building infrastructure that allows using renewable energy best possibly way. There is a hope for us as there is a trend to use electric cars or bikes, be eco etc. Time will show how it will end.
Marcin Mróz said…
I think the biggest problem in using renewable energy sources nowadays is that you have to invest a lot of money and after all the results may not be as good as you expected. But of course, we have to do that, at least try. Someday we may reach the point when the current sources will be gone and we must prepare for it as good as we can and start doing that now. Of course in some cases it is impossible to use renewable energy sources and we need to discover better solutions, but I believe that we can adapt already existing ideas with good effect for our environment and economy. Obviously, it takes some money, but I guess it will pay up in the future.
Unknown said…
Guys, thank you for your opinion.

Paulina, I’m glad you said about education. It seems to be essential to develop an environmentally sustainable world.

Andrzej, I feel that there have been huge advances made in architects’ awareness about eco-design and I’ve heard that they are, or they are supposed to be obliged by a kind of European laws which allows them only to create sustainable buildings. So as you said - there is a hope for us.
Unknown said…
I agree that it is absolutely worth trying. The lack of non-renewable sources is not going to happen in our lifetime but our mission is to help next generations to be prepared for that.
Unknown said…
I want to dish up the same example that I already presented a couple of times. In Sweden over 80% of electricity used comes from water (turbines placed on rivers). The costs of the investment are higher than e.g. coal plants, and maintenance is slightly higher, but the energy is actually free (as opposed to coal which you have to mine) and 100% green. We need more of this around the world. Norway produces approx. 130% of electricity it needs from renewable sources. It is doable and I believe we can do it. Only then will for example electric cars make any sense whatsoever.
Unknown said…
Yes we need energy from other sources. I think that big oil companies have other energy source. Oil is ending but people use it as long as it is there. Everyone knows why? - money. I think that in the future people will use energy from renewable sources but we don't know when. I think that it will happen when all sources end. In my opinion some energy sources iare very bad and require amendments for example wind turbines. They look very bad and they are very noisy. People should invent diffrent way with wind.
Vladlen Kyselov said…
I consider that renewable source of energy does not exist in our world, because everything has it`s beginning and everything has got it`s end. I guess even if we found a new source of energy it won`t be unlimited. Nowadays sources of energy are running out, so I would like to say that we should not try to find thing that does not exist, we should try to limit our energy consumation from currently used sources.
Jakub Lisicki said…
I think it's crazy how much resource we use every year. Somehow, it has to end in the near future or we we would run out of them sooner then we expect. Since our technology is advanced enough to "capture" reusable resources, we should take advantage of that. I know that there are problems of efficiency, but it's better to take care of that now than when we'd be really desperate for the solutions that aren't there already.
I don't think it's possible to exploit only reusable energy, but I really hope that someday reusable energy would become the main source of the power.
I think that the easiest thing we can do is to support fundations, laboratories or even governments which back up such initiatives.
Unknown said…
Those examples are very interesting, I wish Poland had same successes in that field. I think we should learn from those countries and take an example from them.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I suppose you’re right, money is a big part of the energy industry. Just like in many other areas. As long as wind turbines are far away from the inhabitants, there won’t be a big issue, but when people come closer, it will be unbearable.
Unknown said…
I agree with your opinion, that we need limit our usage of energy consumption. But in case that there is no renewable sources I have slightly different opinion, namely I think that nothing in nature is lost and energy is cyclic.
Yevhen Shymko said…
The most interesting energy technology for me is nuclear power. This would practically solve once and for all energy need of humanity. There is already a prototypes that working. They still have a lot of obstacles to beat but the result will definitely worth it! It is estimated that till the year 2030 we will have first prototypes with efficiency equals to 100% that will mean that they create as much energy as they consume and from that milestone nuclear era will rise and shine again.
Marcin Górski said…
Yes, we should look for other sources. I have read some articles that mineral oil is ending in other countries. We shouldn't rely on one of source.
I think that it is possible, that people will use energy only from renewable sources. World is developing very fast and it's only time when people find a way to get as many as possible energy from renewable sources.
What can we do to contribute to the use of renewable energy? I think that not too much. Maybe we should collect litters. We have a lot of engineers whose are thinking about that for us.
Maciej Główka said…
If we want to live happily on our planet, we should start to think seriously about renewable energy. Especially Poland, in which still most energy comes from coal mines. I believe it is possible to use 100% renewable energy and I hope it will happen in my lifetime.
Unknown said…
I have the same fear that we will run out of source of present energy, faster than we expect. I also share your opinion about support institutions that contribute production energy from renewable sources.
Unknown said…
In my opinion nuclear power is worth attention, but I’m afraid that many people had no trust for that source of energy, it causes that the many countries give up construction of these power plants.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
I believe that we will soon switch to renevable energy + nuclear power sources only. Not only we re slowly running out of resources we are also running out of space.

I think that we will see more use of earths core heat harvesting in the future but thats my speculation only. As for now Solar panels, Wind farms and Waterplants ftw.
Wind farm technology is expensive beyond normal pearsons reach and requires lots of investment beyond actual windmill. But what we can do not only to contribute but also to help ourselves is installign soloar panels on our roofs. With those we can reduce our electric bills and that investment when done right pays off in a longterm (about 2-3 year span)
Unknown said…
I think this issue isn't new and the humandkind has done many things in this direction, however we must say no to nuclear energy, heating plants but today it's impossible. If the Netherlands do it, Pakistan wouldn't.
Nowadays it's not possible even in Europe, not talking about the rest of the world. I think it can happen in 50 years at least.
First of all, we have to save the energy we use. Then, we have to buy less polythene packets etc. You know, there are a lot of ways of saving energy, because this issue is very topical.

I believe that we should constantly develop and look for new energy solutions. The constant growth in demand should also drive the development of new technologies. Renewables are a good direction, but I'm sure there are even better and more efficient solutions that I hope will be invented in the coming years.
Unknown said…
It does not look too good that in some countries mineral oil is going to be run out. I’m very interested in your concept with collecting litters, maybe engineers will resolve two problems at once, with litters and energy.
Emil is kinda right buuuut, we cannot compare countries with different budgets, different topography etc. There are so many differences between Norway and for example Poland. We have less rivers, our terrain is flat, many rivers are still used for transport. So using turbines on rivers can't work. Fans? Who want those? And still fans are not as effective so we would need maaaany of those. Sun? Nope. Sure we could use solar panels on our roofs, for couple of days a year. It is not that easy. I think best possibility is nuclear energy if we get enough courage to use it.
Tomasz Morawski said…
We certainly need to look for new ways to produce energy, since no source we have found so far is endless and cheap at the same time.
I think we will but I believe it will neither be sun nor wind but completely new source. Not in our lifetime, though.
I think we should save as much energy as we can and try to use currently available renewable sources, for example by installing solar panels on our homes.
Wojtek Kania said…
Do you think we need energy from other sources than those used so far?
Yes I think we need energy from other sources than those used so far. In my dream world people draw energy only from the sun, wind and water. We don't need coal, oil or natural gas. I think in 30-40 years people will use only energy from renewable sources. Well we as units can do nothing. I think renewable energy is the next step in human development, and it will change naturally.
Renewable energy is good because it's infinite. Everything gets depleted sooner or later, and even if we still have a lot more to use, at some point of time we'll run out of let's say coal and creating it artificially will be too expensive to consider. I don't think depletion of those natural resources is a huge problem to us anytime soon, but it is a problem that will happen eventually, so it's in our best interest to limit it and be as independent as possible.
Of course people should use more energy from "renewable" resources, but I don't believe it will happen before we extract all the nonrenewable ones from the ground, because that's the way greed works and our species is full of it. There is one thing to remember though, that not everything can be powered solely from electricity. Tractors and planes are a good example of such appliances. I can't remember the exact name of the physics law, but there is a limit to batteries and how much energy we can store in them. It simply won't be feasible to have tractors nor commercial planes run on electricity, simply because you would have to stuff them with so many batteries, that they would take more than half the weight of the vehicle. Another thing to remember is that this so called renewable energy isn't so renewable at all. In order to produce devices, that can accumulate and store energy, you have to use resources, which are not renewable. You also have to remember that there are space constraints. Great, we can have whole world covered with sun panels, but I personally wouldn't like to live not seeing sun at all.
Unknown said…
Its nothing new - we will use some more renewable energy, but that will happen either only after the oil industry collapses, or after the invention of better and cheaper batteries, which in fact will mean end to the oil industry again.
Nowadays, solar panels generate donations from EU, not power, as they are way too expensive to service, generate too little power and the batteries are too clanky and heavy.
If we won't change the financing and politics behind it, it will stick for a long time with being "ah, this ecogadget my neighbor installed in his yard, he paid $15000 for it, and even with 70% covered from EU funds, he doesn't use it, cause of the power plant deal that required him to re-buy his own energy".
Magdalena Popek said…
The very first thing is we should stop using coal as a source of energy. We should switch to renewable sources of energy as the Earth is not a botomless well.
Our current main sources of energy are running out, so it's not so much a question of if but when. At some point we will have to move to renewable energy, so it's a good thing we are already putting so much effort into developing these technologies.

On a local scale, there's actually a lot you can do. The solar panels keep getting cheaper, and the idea of creating self-sufficient building is gaining more and more traction. With the local advancements in creating see-through solar batteries (essentially windows that catch sunlight and turn it into electricity, that we could use for constructing all those glass covered sky-scrapers) and companies adapting to accommodate for local power production, we might get there sooner than we think.
Unknown said…
I strongly believe that renewable sources of energy are not sufficient to sustain a highly developed human civilization. Our hope is fusion power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZsaaturR6E&ab_channel=Kurzgesagt%E2%80%93InaNutshell
1. Do you think we need energy from other sources than those used so far?
Of course we have to save our enviroment as much we need to.
2. Will people ever use only energy from renewable sources?
It might be possible but we have to change many of our habbits and make renawable energy options cheaper.
3. What can we do to contribute to the use of renewable energy.
Make it more in common use - it will be cheaper then.
I think that we definitely need another energy sources, than those we used so far. We eventually need to switch to 100% renewable energy, without that future generations won’t survive. To contribute to the use of renewable energy, we need to educate ourselves and kids that it’s the only good way.
Zygmunt Z said…
Yes, I think that we really need another sources of energy except for those we have used so far. Germany for example have many different energy sources which are usually eco friendly and right now Germans sometimes have negative values on their electricity invoices which would an absurd in Poland. I think that people will have to switch at some point to renewable energy as without it future generations might not survive. What we can do to contribute to the use of renewable energy? I think countries should educate their citizens about the importance of renewable energy and also special education courses at school would be a big advantage

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