New Ways To Protect Our Planet For The Future
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
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Earthlings, have hope! For there are many ways in slowing down the global warming/boiling, reducing carbon emissions, and transitioning into the renewable future. Let’s take a look at the ingenious ways we earthlings have been trying globally to improve human life.
People working outdoors are among the most likely to suffer the consequences during heat waves. President Biden announced the Department of Labor will develop an alert to signal to employers and employees when heat is dangerous. Florida is one state that requires no protections for outdoor workers, but one county is hoping to change that. William Brangham discussed more with Nikolas Rivero, in the video published on July 27, 2023, by PBS NewsHour, as “Florida county urges state to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat“, below:
More than ever, humanity is dependent on fossil fuels, with world consumption of petroleum, natural gas, and coal rising a little every year. Inevitably, reserves are going to give out, and humanity isn’t ready. But scientists are already working to find substitutes, in the video published on July 13, 2020, by Spark, as “What Substitutes Can We Use Instead Of Fossil Fuels?|Avoiding Apocalypse| Spark“, below:
There are many possible alternatives/substitutes that would help to reduce carbon emission, reduce pollution, wean us away from fossil fuel, below:
- solar energy
- wind energy
- electric vehicles
- biofuel
- geothermal energy
- nuclear fusion energy
- hydrogen fuel (energy carrier) using fuel cell
A lot speaks for solar energy. It’s clean, renewable – and now even cheaper than energy from fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. Sounds pretty great, right? But it only makes up a tiny bit of global electricity production. Why don’t we use a lot more of it yet? We’re destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we’ll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess, in the video published on Jan 15, 2021, by DW Planet A, as “How solar energy got so cheap, and why it’s not everywhere (yet)“, below:
When you imagine the energy of the future, solar power is probably in the picture – but in recent years, less than 2% of the world’s electricity has come from solar power. Here are 5 new inventions that are likely to change that, in the video published on May 24, 2020, by SciShow, as “5 Inventions Showing Us the Future of Solar Energy“, below:
- Agrivoltaics & Floatovoltaics: Agrivoltaics (solar panels over crop field have higher efficiency) & Floatovoltaics ( solar panels floating over water have higher efficiency due to cooling by water)
- PV trackers changing angles of the PV panels throughout the day to boost efficiency
- Solar windows: light organic solar cells (polymers and dyes that absorb light and turn it into electricity) embedded in the window (or glass), designed to mainly absorb infrared light, letting visible light pass through
- Solar fabrics: solar panels are embedded into yarn woven into clothing, awning, canopies, etc.
- Solar thermal fuels: rechargeable battery made of chemicals that absorb sun’s energy, store it in chemical bonds, and then release it as heat at a later time, doing it on command.
Tremendous progress had been made in solar energy industry, transitioning our dependence on fossil fuel into renewable future, reducing carbon emission, and slowing down climate change/global warming. What are the Countries that Generate the Most Solar Energy in the World? Source: bp Statistical Review of World Energy June 2022, in the video published on July 20, 2022, by VGraphs, as “The Countries that Generate the Most Solar Energy in the World“, below:
Much of the world’s energy is sourced from fossil fuels. However, there are several individuals and companies who have developed inventions to help get the world off of non-renewable energy. Watch the video above to see these inventions in action, in the video published on Aug 23, 2019, by Inside Tech, as “16 Inventions Getting Us Off Fossil Fuels“, below:
16 Inventions mentioned in the video above:
- Whirlpool Turbine
- Waterotor Turbine
- SmartFlower-Giant Flower made of solar panels with a tracking system
- HomeBiogas 2.0-turns food scraps into gas, converting waste into cooking gas and fertilizzer
- floating solar panels/farm
- Pavegen Tiles-floor tiles use footsteps to generate electricity
- GoSun Grill-grill powered using sunlight
- Solar farm
- Wind Turbine
- Ecocapsule-capsule that can house 2, running on solar, wind, and collects rainwater
- Saphonian-bladeless wind turbine imitating bird’s wings
- Hydralight lantern-alternative to traditional gas-lit lanterns, running on salt water and energy cell
- Floating wind farm
- Concerting sewage into biodiesel
- Tyer Wind Converter-uses flapping motion instead of rotating blades, ideal for populated areas
- Eli-Home charges itself and can be used as an electric grid. It’s a battery that can make, supply, and store its own energy. Solar panels gather and store energy, easily removable and portable.
The Future of Solid State Wind Energy – No More Blades. Go to http://brilliant.org/Undecided to sign up for free. And also, the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium membership. Wind power is one of the fastest-growing renewable sources that works well at scale, but it isn’t perfect. What if we could scale down wind turbine power to something that could fit on your roof? And be self-contained with smaller moving parts … or maybe no blades or moving parts at all? Let’s look at some future alternatives for harnessing wind power, in the video published on May 18, 2021, by Undecided with Matt Ferrell, as “The Future of Solid State Wind Energy – No More Blades“, below:
Wind power is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies. Usage is on the rise worldwide, in part because costs are falling. Global installed wind-generation capacity onshore and offshore has increased by a factor of almost 75 in the past two decades, jumping from 7.5 gigawatts (GW) in 1997 to some 564 GW by 2018, according to IRENA’s latest data. Production of wind electricity doubled between 2009 and 2013, and in 2016 wind energy accounted for 16% of the electricity generated by renewables. Many parts of the world have strong wind speeds, but the best locations for generating wind power are sometimes remote ones. Offshore wind power offers tremendous potential. Wind turbines first emerged more than a century ago. Following the invention of the electric generator in the 1830s, engineers started attempting to harness wind energy to produce electricity. Wind power generation took place in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1887 and 1888, but modern wind power is considered to have been first developed in Denmark, where horizontal-axis wind turbines were built in 1891 and a 22.8-metre wind turbine began operation in 1897. Wind is used to produce electricity using the kinetic energy created by air in motion. This is transformed into electrical energy using wind turbines or wind energy conversion systems. Wind first hits a turbine’s blades, causing them to rotate and turn the turbine connected to them. That changes the kinetic energy to rotational energy, by moving a shaft which is connected to a generator, and thereby producing electrical energy through electromagnetism. The amount of power that can be harvested from wind depends on the size of the turbine and the length of its blades. The output is proportional to the dimensions of the rotor and to the cube of the wind speed. Theoretically, when wind speed doubles, wind power potential increases by a factor of eight. Wind-turbine capacity has increased over time. In 1985, typical turbines had a rated capacity of 0.05 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 15 metres. Today’s new wind power projects have turbine capacities of about 2 MW onshore and 3–5 MW offshore. Commercially available wind turbines have reached 8 MW capacity, with rotor diameters of up to 164 metres. The average capacity of wind turbines increased from 1.6 MW in 2009 to 2 MW in 2014, in the video published on Aug 15, 2021, by THE MACHINIST TV, as “Wind Energy| Future of Renewable Energy| Full Documentary“, below:
Is Geothermal Heating and Cooling Worth the Cost? Heat pumps Explained. Go to http://brilliant.org/Undecided to sign up for free. And also, the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium membership. When building a house, homeowners have several ways to power their heating and cooling systems, like oil, natural gas, or electricity. But there’s another option right below our feet. You can install geothermal heating and cooling in your home, but is it worth the cost? And how does it hold up? In the video published on March 9, 2021, by Undecided with Matt Ferrell, as “Is Geothermal Heating and Cooling Worth the Cost? Heat Pumps Explained“, below:
Heat waves kill more people than any other extreme weather event: more than tornados, hurricanes, and even floods. That’s why scientists are coming up with novel, new designs to help keep temperatures down in Singapore, in the video published on March 17, 2021, by Bloomberg Originals, as “How Singapore Uses Science to Stay Cool“, below:
Will the cities of the future be climate neutral? Might they also be able to actively filter carbon dioxide out of the air? Futurologist Vincente Guallarte thinks so. In fact, he says, our cities will soon be able to absorb CO2, just like trees do. To accomplish this, Guallarte wants to bring sustainable industries and agriculture to our urban centers, with greenhouses atop every building. But in order for Guallarte’s proposal to work, he says, cities will have learn to submit to the laws and principles of nature. Urban planners also have big plans for our energy supply. In the future, countries like Germany could become energy producers. In Esslingen am Neckar, residents are working on producing green hydrogen in homes, to be used as fuel for trucks. It’s a project that‘s breaking new ground, says investor Manfred Norbert. Our future cities will be all about redefining a new normal. Architects and urban planners are expecting to see entirely new approaches to communal living, as well as new urban concepts for autonomous supply chains. The repurposing of old buildings, and the generation of food as well as energy, are other important topics. The architect Arno Brandhuber thinks the current building stock available, and the possibilities it offers, have been underestimated. His spectacular business headquarters are located in an old silo in Berlin’s Lichtenberg district. His most provocative project, something he calls his “Anti-villa,” is a repurposed East German factory for cotton knitwear. It‘s a prime example of sustainable design, in the video published on Nov 13, 2022, by DW Documentary, as “Future cities: Urban planners get creative | DW Documentary“, below:
Cities turning themselves into sponges? See how cities like Berlin are leading the trend. With Future Explored host, Tom Carroll, in the video published on April 28, 2022, by Freethink, as “Sponge cities: a solarpunk future by 2030| Future Explored by Freethink“, below:
Blow, are efforts in solving these problems associated with global boiling. In its battle against the floods, China is upgrading cities so they welcome water, rather than hold it back, in the video published on August 17, 2021, by Tomorrow’s Build, as “China is Building Sponge Cities to Fix Its Flood Problem“, below:
China is facing a host of water-related problems, especially in rapidly growing urban areas. But an innovative new concept known as the Sponge City is trying to tackle the issue. By carefully managing rain and wastewater, it aims to fight water pollution, scarcity, and flooding. China has chosen 30 key trial locations, including Haikou and Jinhua. But is it really possible to meet the water demands of megacities like Shenzhen? And, if so, could Sponge Cities be the future of urban water management? There are alternative ways to manage scarce water resources, including techniques like desalination, in the video published on March 11, 2022, by Terra Mater, as “How China’s Flood-Proof Mega Cities Work | Earth Explained!“, below:
As climate change worsens, wildfires around the globe are becoming bigger and more frequent. In Germany a research group called PYROPHOB are looking at how burned forests can recover and what it takes to make forests more resilient in the future, in the video published on July 22, 2022, by DW News, as “What causes forest fires and how best to prevent them | DW News“, below:
Welcome to Ola Adventures! Join us as we explore the most incredible future cities being built worldwide. From the visionary Smart Forest City in Mexico to the sustainable marvel of Telosa in the USA, these cities are pushing the boundaries of urban living. Discover The Line, a high-tech linear city in Saudi Arabia, and the innovative Maldives Floating City designed to combat rising sea levels. Get inspired by the architectural wonder of Chengdu Sky Valley in China and the eco-friendly BiodiverCity in Malaysia. Explore the cutting-edge Orbit in Canada and Egypt’s ambitious New Administrative Capital. Watch now to witness the future of urbanization unfold! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more exciting content from Ola Adventures, in the video published on July 12, 2023, by Ola Adventures, as “8 AMAZING Future Cities Currently Being Built | Top 8 Future Cities Being Built RIght Now“, below:
In this video, we go over some of the World’s Future Smart City Megaprojects including Elon musk’s Starbase City, Toyota Woven City Japan, Neom City Saudi Arabia and Oceanix City South Korea. For more Construction & Megaproject content be sure to subscribe to Billion Dollar Builds, in the video published on July 6, 2022, by Billion Dollar Builds, as “World’s Future Megaprojects By 2035 (Smart Cities)“, below:
With the world’s population ballooning at a rapid pace, traditional and aging city designs are beginning to struggle to support everyone that relies on them. And this means planners are going back to the drawing board to develop urban spaces of the future. By incorporating the latest technologies, and reducing the overall environmental impact. Development is already underway on a number of them so, in this video, we’ll be taking a look at 7 incredible futuristic cities that are planned by 2050, in the video published on July 15, 2021, by Most Extreme Innovation, as “Future Smart Cities Planned By 2050“, below:
The least we can do, at this juncture, is: to go solar, to go wind, acquire battery system, and drive or ride electrical vehicles or use mass transportation, reduce, reuse, recycle, and vote for political candidates who will be paying attention and will be formulating policies to address climate issues.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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