Week 9: CO2

This blog will likely be a little shorter and with less humor than some of the regular blogs that I have posted.

Week 9

1/3) List some of the indirect ways in which you contribute to global warming? What are some of the ways you contribute to air pollution?

I impact global warming through chemical impacts, such as I learned today (4 december) in class that water pollution is related to air pollution in some ways. Anyway,

• I use plastics, the production of which goes into the atmosphere
• Use paper, let me explain-I believe that some trees are harvested for paper, thenthat releases CO2; and also the machines that cuts them also puts CO2 into the atmosphere
• I use energy and fuel for driving, heat...etc. Some of this energy comes from coal, which can also contribute to global warming.
• Obviously, I drive a car which contributes to Global warming
• Chemicals can also contribute to CO2, such as sulphourous acid which creates acid rain
• Burning wood/or biomass products

2/3) How could you realistically reduce your contributions of greenhouse gases? How could you reduce your impact?

This is a seemingly hard question (at least for me). Anyway...the most obvious, and I may have written a dozen times about driving a car which puts CO2 emissions into the air...

• is to reduce driving, and either walk or take a bus and save fuel. Walking to a grocery store is hard here because they can be at least 20 minutes away up hill. Whereas in Thame, England where couple of my relatives live, you can easily walk into stores in the town. Most everything (except the mall) is there, this is what I like about some cities in Europe, where transportation by train and buses are sometimes more reliable than cars and where you can walk.
• Reduce chemical use. Hence if I wanted to use pesticides (which I never use), I would have to think twice. Could these toxic chemicals be released into the atmosphere even if you sprayed plants with them? Maybe most likely.
• Use less fuel/energy. Burning biomass can release carbon emissions as well
• Use less paper-which would actually be hard, but I could use more e-mail, since trees are harvested, and they release CO2.

3) What could Seattle/Bellevue do to reduce air pollution?

They could do a number of things. I think this is one of Mayor Nickel's goal, which is to reduce Global warming. These things could be:

• Improve transportation, such as providing a better train system or bus system (keep in mind, I don't take the trains or busses)
• Develop better and safer bicycle route

These two are to lessen cars, and encourage more people to walk, cycle or take a transportation

• Reduce pesticide/chemical use. Lawns don't always need to have heavy doses of chemicals to be kept green, although I guess cities want to make their cities welcoming
• Maybe reduce industries, since they also emit dangerous toxins into the atmosphere
• Planting more trees
• Careful planning with developments

These are some of the suggestions.

I wasn't sure whether question number 3 was related to questions number 1 and 2, since I thought they were similar to one another. Anyway, if I think of anymore answers I may write more.

Week 7/8: Fueled up and water wise (part I /IIcontinued)

I have found where the energy I use come from. This is the second question:

Week 7:

2) Where does the energy you use come from? What impact does your energy use have on the environment?

I called they Puget Sound Energy company line, and understandingly they were busy because there were power outages, with the wind and what not. Anyway they directed me to their website, which had quite a lot of information about where their energy came from. I also got the percentages of the power supply which PSE uses. Source http://www.pse.com/
Coal 34%
Hydro 45%
Natural gas 17%
Nuclear 1%
Other 1%
Wind 2%
Total 100%
I was surprised to find that some of the energy that I use also came from hydroelectricity, wind power and nuclear. Also on their website they listed the sources of their power source.

Hydro electricity:
They seem to have a couple more hydroelectricity projects coming along, one of them included Snoqualmie Falls. Anyway, their hydro power comes from Baker River Hydroelectricity Project, which has two dams and both are located on the Skagit River

Thermal:
According to PSE's website, they said their largest share of total power supply is electricity, natural and coal-fired plants comes from East Montana's Colstrip Power Plant, which provides 700 megawatts. I was surprised to hear that PSE's thermal energy came from as far away as Montana...

Wind
PSE's first wind farm was Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility in Columbia County
Their second (one having a nice name) Wild Horse Wind Facility in Kittitas County

Natural Gas
Surprisingly, the gas comes from both Western U.S. and Canada.
PSE buys most of their gas during the summer monthes when the prices are lower, and store it in an underground reservoir. However, during the winter when most of their customers use it (not surprising due to the freezing weather) PSE taps it from the reservoir.
The underground facility is in Jackson Prairie Southwestern Washington state, which is a natural gas storage facility.

There are many environmental impacts. Most of the problems are related to CO2 emissions being put into the atmosphere. Espcially when 34% of the power supply is coal, this is especially related to Global warming and the limited resources due to demands. The other is the number of resources being used, since gas is a natural resource-and hence I could be impacting the environment by using too much of it. Also, the impacts of hydroelectricity is uncertain (at least for me) because dams are an either 'take it or leave it' power supply. They can either have an impact on the environment, due to water shortages and ipacts on species, or drive communities out due to building the dams or they can be just as helpful, providing communities with energy supply. Fortunately, PSE uses a combination of power sources instead of focusing on just one power source.

Week 8

Before I go start answering the questions, I have to rant about the rain in Pacific Northwest. There are quite a lot of flooding-maybe due to the surface material and the angle (steep) of the roads and hills-thus rain and snow runsoff. Could this be an impact of Global Warming/Climate Change? Is it the Pineapple Express? Who knows.
Anyway,number 1 question is on another blog posting.

Week 8:

2) What are realistic activities you could do to cut back on your water use?

There are many ways I could cut back and I should cut back. These activities include:
-showering for shorter periods of time, instead of 15 minutes maybe 5 minutes
-Using less or no water for cleaning. Instead of cleaning a countertop with water I could alternatively use a dry cloth (like micro-fiber) to wipe. Or I could run water into a bucket, then use that water to wash/clean. However, this could pollute water (more about that later)
-Using less water for washing fruits and vegetables. I don't know how this could apply with using less water, but washing fruits and vegetables is important to get rid of dust...the same goes for rice and legumes, which sometimes need a thorough was until the water runs clear. Sometimes I have used some of the water from this to was pans, then afterwards I would rinse the pans
-Cutting back on wheat grown in the Midwest-and use local wheat grown in Washington or Oregon State. Since the Midwest doesn't have as much water (it's not surrounded by any oceans), then one of the alternatives is to use flour or produces grown in states that have more water resource
-Cut back by washing clothes at least once a week, or when you don't have any clean clothes
To save energy, you can hang them out in the sun to dry (not a job I like doing particularly).
- I have heard that if you want to wash your car, it's ideal to wash it at a car washing facility (ei: Brown Bear) since they use less water
- Buy less bottled water. Use tap water resource instead.

3) What are some of the ways you directly/indirectly contribute to water pollution?

Again, there are many ways I indirectly impact water. These can include:

• I contaminate water by using it for cleaning, dirty water goes into the sink
• Using too much of it, even when I use it for washing produces
• I use lots of shampoos and soaps, which probably drains into bodies of water
• Using energy, some of which comes from coal (34%) which is mined from the ground, not only is it hazardous to water, but humans and the environment; and using Hydroelectricity-dams are built on bodies of water, and could impact species
• Using oil/gas/petroleum for transportation, as a result these resources are transported on cargo ships and can have devastating results if spilled into bodies of water; such is the most recent examples in San Francisco (California) and in Russia. Not only does it impact species of birds, fish...but also water
• Using plastic-again, the result is the same as the examples above. Plastic degrade slowly, if not ever.

Question 4 is not really a question, but a worksheet which will be included along with week 7.

Week 7: Energy (Blog part I)

December started with two days of snow, which created a beautiful winter wonderland. Although I wondered after reading a newspaper heading which said that the snow could create potential runoffs...something along this line. It's not very romantic-but could it be the effect of climate change? Certainly it would create runoffs...Anyway I have questions to answer.
The handout will be turned in. The second question might come later. So it is question number 3 I will start with.

Week 7: Questions

3) In what ways do you indirectly use energy? How could you reduce your indirect use of energy?

I use energy indirectly in several ways. Although in the beginning I was not aware that what I did do use energy, until I learned more about energy use in class. Some of how I use energy indirectly is more for communication, others are imports from other countries and traveling.

A) I send letters, "snail mail" to my family and friends. I like sending letters the slow way since a hand written letter can be personal and heartfelt. I will say that some family friends and relatives don't have computers, hence I have to resort to sending letters 'snail mail.' I could also send e-mails for those who do have e-mail addresses and computers, and it would not only save fuel (from airplanes carrying the mail) but also paper. Like 'killing two birds with one stone," which is a very cruel saying.

B) Go Local. I could buy produces and products specifically from Washington or the Pacific Northwest. There seems to have been a small movement for shoppers to 'go local' and buy products, which come from a certain number of distances. This not only saves energy from importing products from other countries like New Zealand, but supports local companies. I will have to make an exception to certain luxury products, such as chocolates or imported Olive oil, or products which one doesn't find in the Northwest, but only from a specialty store.

C) Traveling, while we all love traveling-we could cut back once in a while. Whether it's by car or air, they use energy and fuel and also puts CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Traveling in the 'friendly skies" once in a while is alright, but not everyday.
As for car transportation, most or some people see cars as a necessity (I'm one of them), but if there is a nearby grocery store, then it could be ideal to walk or bike there. I suppose I could take the bus, but since I don't know the bus route and I'm too lazy to find where the nearest bus stops are, I like to drive the car to BCC.

D) Manufactured goods made in other countries. Manufactured goods take energy and fuel to make, hence we could either stop buying goods made in China and buy goods made in the USA, or cut back on the number of goods we buy. Although I'm not sure the latter is the most reasonable solution. Most of the goods we buy are produced in China, not only that, but they are probably flown into the US afterwards, which uses more fuel from importing goods

E) This is linked to D, but the energy to produce products takes energy. For example the energy in the factory to manufacture bottled water, or running a farm in order to produce goods takes energy from animals, humans and even technology.

F) Energy from food. When we eat the food we have eaten will be fuel. We use this energy to do quite a number of things, such as walking or studying. Enough said.

A lot of what we take for granted takes energy-it seems. I never even thought of all this even when I had last opened bottled water-or eaten an apple grown in New Zealand. This means this computer is using energy, and I'm using the energy to write this blog. I could either cut back the number of time I write blogs, or turn the computer off after I'm done (this is more logical).

Part II will follow up shortly afterwards.