Month: February 2014 (Page 1 of 4)

We all are aware that trains are among the most sustainable present-day motorized transportation these days. Amtrak has its own page about how it commits to sustainability: http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/01/amtrak-commits-sustainability/

It has received a sustainability score of 85, which is a B. Yes, the sustainability score has a very similar scale as academic grading. As a matter of fact, it remains one of the more environmentally friendly form of transportation, where only 2,435 BTUs are used, compared with 2,826 BTUs per airliner and 3,538 BTUs per car.

Here is a link to the 2012 sustainability report:  http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/883/945/Amtrak%202012%20Environment%20and%20Sustainability%20Summary_Final.pdf

No Impact Man (the movie) came out in 2009. I was curious about what he is up to these days and how many of his sustainable living practices he continues. The most recent article I found was this 2012 NYTimes piece

There is also this no impact project website where you can sign up to do a no impact week.

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/campaigns-moral-sustainability-effective-economic?view=classic

Going along with the our readings and the papers we are writing, this article actually shows that appealing to people’s sense of morality rather than their wallet motivated more action.

The first article below discusses how back in 2010 the Obama administration passed a law requiring all stock production cars to obtain a fuel economy of 35.5 MPG or better.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/01/AR2010040101412.html

This article is an auto blog from last year with the latest in average fuel economy numbers for new cars at 24.9 MPG. Ten below the requirement with only three years left to achieve it.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/12/average-new-car-fuel-economy-record-24-9-mpg/

I found this article online when I was doing research for my semester project and I thought it did a good job of at least touching on each of the three areas – planet, people, profit – associated with the Triple Bottom Line.

Planet – No more plastic bags!

People – Pay $0.10 per recycled paper bag; city plan to hand out 1 million reusable bags in low income areas

Profit – Disincentive to defy bag ban ($500 fine for not complying with the new law)

Bloom Energy “Click Here”

Bloom Energy Servers are highly efficient fuel cells which can convert natural gas, biogas, and other compatible fuels into electricity. Rather than electricity being distributed from one main source such as a coal power plant, around 100 homes or small businesses, and perhaps individual homes in the future, would each have their own individual source of power generation. This increases efficiency by removing all power line transmission losses (since all electricity is produced on site), and the fuel cells themselves are also more efficient than any power plant. The total efficiency ends up being about 50% compared to as much as half of this for a typical power plant. In my opinion, due to the great increase in efficiency and the capability to produce power from cleaner sources, Bloom Energy Servers would make a good stop-gap solution to our energy problems until something such as nuclear fusion comes along and solves everything.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/leveling_appalachia_the_legacy_of_mountaintop_removal_mining/2198/

I watched this video of this documentary of mining in Appalachia. It shows the consequences of mining. Since the mid-1990s, the coal industry used mountaintop removal mining to extract coal. This resulted in over one million acres of forests being destroyed and nearly 2,000 miles of streams. In 2007, an energy company known as AT Massey Energy applied for permits for mining…6,450 acres of Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County, WV. This mining not only destroys the mountains, but also destroys the beautiful scenery, with polluted air contributing to this mess. Locals have been trying their best to join together protest against mining. 7 episodes of flash flooding due to violently fast downstream water and heavy rains have caused damages to tens of thousands of homes. When mining happens, top of mountains explode. What used to be a beautiful landscape now looks dead.

Effects on drinking water: There have even been local concerns about the effects of drinking water. A water sample was taken and it turned out to be acidic, with the pH level of 4.86. Color of water appears black.

Unfortunately, the US Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 did not work out well as mountains were unable to be protected and full-scale mountaintop-removing coal mining were allowed.

Coal cut companies turned out to not care about the environment and the community. They only care about money.

This mining practice is not only contributing to the climate change, but also affecting the lives of future generations.

Great field trip today to Jacobsburg State Park Environmental Education Center!

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/02/18/why-youve-never-measured-your-carbon-footprint

Multiple carbon footprint calculators exist but the results differ greatly. However, new calculators more similar to the Nike FuelBand might change that.

When you read articles describing potential future scenarios with widespread use of electric cars and renewable energy sources, one of the primary obstacles to this seemingly better world is our current battery technology. The world is waiting for a Big Battery Breakthrough that will make these greener alternatives to fossil fuels a no-brainer from economic and convenience standpoints. We’ve had big breakthroughs in the past (steam power, powered flight, penicillin, radio communication) that radically shifted the economy and the way we live our lives. What will a Big Battery Breakthrough look like?

Here are some possibilities:

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/01/organic-mega-flow-battery-promises-breakthrough-for-renewable-energy?utm_source=harvardalumnigazette&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hag_january2014

http://theenergycollective.com/lougrinzo/316306/hydrogen-vaporware-vs-big-battery-breakthrough

Young people (people in my age group and slightly younger) are known to stay up late at night. Not only that it can have potential health-related consequences, it appears unsustainable. Do you know why? The more you are awake during darkness, the more artificial light you will need and the more energy would be used. Since I like to go to bed early and get up early, there are times when I hardly see complete darkness, like in June.

On a piece of paper I get every year about recycling information at my house, not only that it shows the information on when recycling is collected and which recyclables are collected on what day, it reminds people that the town government gets paid whenever people recycle, while our tax dollars pay for garbage collection. As a result, in order to reduce taxes, an increasing number of people have been paying attention to recycling.

If you want to travel from continent to continent, you may not think about it but there is a major concern here. From New York City, it takes 7 hours to fly to Paris, 9 hours to Italy and 14 hours to Seoul, Korea. Unfortunately, that’s the only way to cross the ocean. Actually, there is still a ferry that travels between New York City and Southampton, England but it takes a week to get there. Regardless of the mode of travel, very long distance travel is expensive, nearly unaffordable. Here are some environmental concerns. A one-way flight from JFK to Incheon International Airport (near Seoul, Korea) has an average carbon footprint of 2.5 tons, according to this calculator: http://www.carbonbalanced.org/calculator/flights.asp . This means for a family of four traveling from NY to Seoul together on a round-trip flight would have a carbon footprint of 20 tons. Not only that people are going to Asia and Europe for leisure, they often travel to visit family and even go to business meetings.

Hopefully someone will come up with a more sustainable way of traveling between continents. I want to see my extended family members in Seoul more often but I do not want to pay $2K for an airline ticket and have a very large carbon footprint.

If you see one of the posters right outside Prof. Cohen’s office, you will notice that there is a diagram titled “Eat Smart, Your Food Choices Affect the Climate” that shows each food and consuming 4 oz of certain food has a carbon footprint that is equivalent to a certain number of car miles driven. For example, at the best choice, eating 4 oz of lentils is equivalent to driving about 0.1 miles, while at the worst case scenario, eating lamb would be equivalent to driving about 7 miles.

http://www.earthfirst.net.au/eat-smart-how-your-food-choices-affect-the-climate.html

If you are a young adult, especially if you are pregnant, you should think twice when going to the city or at least being exposed to a lot of emission-spewing vehicles and industrial areas. As air pollutants enter women’s system, it reaches their unborn babies. As a consequence, the babies’ IQ level gets damaged. It was proven that the mothers of children whose IQ test results were lower were exposed to PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), while the mothers of children whose IQ test results were higher were not as much exposed to PAHs. This often results in poor school performance and eventually damages higher-level learning, such as college years and job training.

In my opinion, despite longer commutes, if my job was in the city, I would personally take a longer commute from the suburbs or rural area to reduce my exposure to PAHs.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/air-pollutants-and-childrens-iqs

One thing I notice about Lafayette during the past four years I’ve been here is that the campus is getting greener, prettier and more attractive. There are less roads accessible to vehicles, therefore increasing pedestrian safety. I even remember that the western end of High Street was a dead end right by Watson Hall; however, the stretch of road between the main entrance of AEC and the dead end by Watson Hall was torn down and turned into Anderson Courtyard. I personally think that March Field should turn into a quad. As in more paths and trees to look more attractive. It used to be a football field in the past but these days most people treat it like a quad rather than a sports field.