The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy

            The book I chose to read was The Great Transition:  Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy, by Lester R. Brown. What drew me to read this specific book was because I have such a fascination about alternate forms of energy. As you can tell from the title of this book majority of the topics revolve around the more recent solar and wind energy markets.

            The beginning of the book started off quite similar to Bill McKibben’s Eaarth, and it also has the same feel in regards to having a large number of statistics thrown at you all at once. Though this is where things changed completely from Eaarth. As most of you who are reading this know, McKibben’s book is quite depressing, going on and on about the almost infinitive reasons on how we are destroying our planet. This book how ever put a smile on my face quite quickly. The statistics in this book really show that us humans are actually trying to make stride to step away from fossil fuels in a positive way.

            Right away on the first page of the first chapter Brown states, “The worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way.” (Page 16) Then goes on to give a very powerful statistic saying, “We can now see this new economy starting to take shape. We saw it in 2013, when Denmark generated 34 percent of its electricity from the wind. In January 2014, wind supplied a whopping 62 percent of that country’s electricity. Portugal and Spain each got over 20 percent from wind in 2013, and Ireland, 17 percent.” (Pages 16-17) These statements really do show that first world countries, who are the leading causes to climate change are making large strides in renewable energy.

            The book goes into detail about many different topics like nuclear power, fossil fuels and how they affect the economy. Also about how large companies like Exxon-Mobil, Shell, and Chevron are trying to keep fossil fuels in the mainstream economy. Some other topics include the price of wind and solar energy and how technology is bringing down the cost so eventually it can be cheap enough for everyone to switch over.

            These are some of the interesting topics in the book thus far! I am excited to see what else has to come, but so far it has been a more positive experience!

Amazon Deforestation

            On our planet there are a few extremely large rainforests that cover our planet. These areas of lush forest are home to millions of species of animals, many being insects. The climate is considered tropical, which is extremely warm and humid. The Amazon rainforest probably being the most well know, is located in northern South American in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

            The issues with deforestation of the Amazon are huge. The Amazon is home to millions of animals that use the land which includes all of the vegetation and the water that runs through the area. The trees that inhabit the land are considered “Carbon Sinks.” This means that the trees withhold carbon dioxide, so that it doesn’t go into the atmosphere. The significance of this is that those trees are trying to stop climate changes to the best of their ability. When that extra carbon gets into the atmosphere we shall see even warmer temperature than we already have. Another product produced by the trees is oxygen, which is created by taking in that carbon in the air.

            Most of the causes of the Amazon deforestation are caused by man. There are a couple of main issues: mostly because of Logging, agriculture, and cattle farming. Most of the trees being logged is done illegally. When the logging is done, and the trees have been extracted, this leaves huge open area of land, open for the other issues. With the cleared space the land is being used by farmers for agriculture and cattle raising. The main plant being farmed is the soy bean. With the soy bean being over farmed the soil becomes infertile. The cattle are probably the biggest problem. The animals that are being raised completely destroy the vegetation that surrounds the areas of these farms. Another way that people have been opening the space and removing trees is by burning large areas. The burning of the trees causes huge amounts of greenhouse gases to enter the air. It is like a double edged sword, by burning all the trees, they put gases into the air that the trees are actually trying to take out of the air.

            These are some of the many issues that arise out of the Amazon deforestation. Hopefully with better ways to inform and regulate the areas of the amazon, things will change positively for the rainforest and its creatures.

This is an image that shows some of the Deforestation that has taken place up to 2006

Here is a link to a National Geographic Page that has some more information about the Amazon Deforestorestation:  http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/

I think there is hope in the distance... but it sure looks far away

In the next chapter of eaarth- High Tide by Bill McKibben, things seemed to start kind of pleasantly! I actually thought to myself that this chapter might actually give me some kind of hope to look forward too. That it did, but just as I started to get excited, things took a turn downwards.

            McKibben gives all of these statistics about the possibilities of new forms of renewable energy. Anything from solar and wind power to the possibility of clean nuclear energy. Then came the issues. All of the new forms of cleaner energy are there to grab but the problem that seems so prevalent is how our economy is set up.

            Moving to these new forms of energy come with a price, quite frankly an enormous price. Our economy has been configured in such a way that it needs fossil fuels and coal to work reliably. With more and more people starting to get informed and educated on climate change, they realize that these costly changes need to be made.

            So why don’t we make this change already!? The problem is money, and it always is. With our economics in the united states, money talks. Let use Exxon Mobil as an example. Our society so heavily depends on fossil fuels that Exxon’s revenue has grown to record levels. McKibben makes this statement about Exxon saying, “Exxon has spent the last decade underwriting an elaborate disinformation campaign to sow doubt about climate change and with reasonable success; 44 percent of Americans believe global warming comes from “long-term planetary trends” and not the pumps at the Exxon station.” (Page 55, eaarth) Money has quite the presence in our society, enough to create false ideas.

            Another powerful element that comes into play that slows change is politics. With the money to have strong lobbyist in government, companies like Exxon, can slow the change that is so desperately needed on our planet. These companies might even know that change is required, but the purpose of a company is to create a product that can be sold to create a profit. That is exactly what they are doing, following the money. If we don't change now, the money that is being gained won't make up what will be lost in the long road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iz0NKA1yuo -Here is a little video about some things that will help the planet, while also saving us some money.

What is Happening with Our Environment?

            The first chapter of earth was very concerning for me. I am a fan of being outside in nature and have noticed some of these changes but not on the scale that the chapter promotes. As I went through the chapter I was demoralized by the one simple fact that, this is all our fault. Plain and simply put, the environment is the way it is because of human beings. The radical changes in such a short period of time have all seem to come from one central principle, the growth of technology.

            Technology and the industrialization of our world is the main beneficiary to the exponential decline to our planet. Humans are incredibly intelligent but seem to overlook our environment in the eye wealth and convince. When it comes to technology, people can make some incredible things that can help feed the world, like artificial fertilizers. Which at the first, when we see the big picture that we could feed the world more efficiently, it seems like a great idea. Though the problem is we as humans can jump to conclusions rather quickly, without seeing the whole picture. Sometimes we don’t think things through the whole way, which in this case, what might be the future outcome of artificial fertilizers. Also sometimes in the wake of profit, the future problems, don’t seems so bad. Yet that is the issue, ignorance created by greed might just be the big issue that pushes us as humans to destroy our planet.

            The scare thought is that even though we have all of these incredible minds that can produce amazing technology to better the world, it might be too late to reverse what has already been done. That is the scary part to me. We as humans must now have to evolve how we live on our planet because of the things we did to it, and there might not be any way to go back to that equilibrium that our planet once was at. It was our doing that put the planet where it is, now its our responsibility to take care of what we did to our one and only home.

Some Background Information About Myself

My name is Thomas White. I currently attend Western Michigan University. This is my second semester at WMU, as I previously attended Macomb Community College for two years before I came to Western. I am a pre-medical student, majoring in Bio-medical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry. It has always been my dream to become a doctor ever since I was a little boy. After being through many things in the medical field, good and bad, I've still never steered away from becoming a physician.

I am from the east side of Michigan, an area that is about forty miles north of Detroit, called Washington. I've lived there my entire life and really do love the area. I have an older sister and a twin brother. My twin brother is younger than me by two minutes and I always seem to hold that above him. Many of my family members attended Western Michigan and loved their time here. I am enjoying my time here as well, and I can't wait to see what the future has to hold! My family has a dog named Oliver! Being away from home makes me miss him so much!

In my free time I like to be with friends and spend time with family. I like to get out and exercise as much as I can during the busy school semester. I play a lot of different sports but my two favorite to play would have to be tennis and golf. I’m also a fan of movies and playing the occasional video game too!

When I am not in school during the summer, I work at a golf course as a cook and a retail graphic design company. I am a super friendly individual and I am very easy to talk too!