Willkommen!

As part of the Leadership course “Leadership in Biology”*, this here blog is my Service Learning Project. Through about ten posts I will guide readers through the world of alternative energies, detailing the major ones (solar, wind) but also giving some lesser known technologies a little exposure.

While this blog is intended for all, in theory it targets non-biology students and even more specifically those students majoring in English, who need to be on top of their game to remain competitive in the literary realm. Sci-fi aficionados, take note. In the name of targeting the studenti inglesi, we might also see a short story, or a nice discursive poetic piece. This is, of course, if I feel up to it.

This “bio-blog” will at some point directly address material covered in the course, namely the need for alternative energies in response to pollution and global warming. While I do not wish to use to fear as a motivator, especially in light of recent events (see here, a good NY Times summary, an opinion piece w/ juicy quotes, and also interesting), global warming, anthropogenic or not, is undoubtedly occurring to some degree and anything to check it (and pollution) is worthy of awareness.

One of the links I included suggested that if global warming was not a danger as supposed, then there is little place for alternative energies. To this I argue that there are other very strong and equally valid reasons to develop and seek out such technologies. I’ll cover three.

For one, efficiency. With the oil crises of the 1970s we saw an uptick in more efficient, high-mileage vehicles, but as gas prices decreased gas-guzzlers began to reappear. In the last decade there have been the hybrids, but to date they have been expensive and most importantly are still dependent on gasoline, and thus foreign oil. (Not to mention concerns that such vehicles are dangerously quiet — literally.) Efficiency saves money (green=green), and while some technologies are certainly not as efficient as oil-driven engines, they have not yet been developed to their full potential and still hold promise as viable sources of energy.

A second reason in favor of alternative energies is their relative friendliness to the environment. It is no secret that burning fossil fuels releases pollutants into the air every day, and while progress has been it is still undoubtably an issue. (While, again, it may be debatable how significantly manmade pollution contributes to global warming, pollution is still pollution, and who wants that? See Los Angeles.) Solar power and wind power, for example, have their disadvantages but pollution is not one of them.

A third reason in favor of alternative energies is renewability. In my opinion, this is probably the strongest reason we as a people have to invest in alternative energies; investing in such technologies is effectively investing in our future. The world’s supply of oil is not indefinite. At some point we will run out, and with it our economy will collapse.  Our supply of alternative energies such as solar, wind, and wave power, on the other hand, is virtually endless.

(Granted, I highly doubt the oil companies will let themselves die off so easily. I have a sneaky suspicion they will have some other product up their sleeves soon enough. For example, hydrogen fuel cells which require the purchase of hydrogen tanks, or electric cars the advent of which will probably cause a rise in “recharge stops”.)

Anyhow, I think alternative energies are cool, and so should you.

*Officially  ”Leadership in Biological Issues & Inquiry”.