25 New TechnologiesAfter reading through the whole index, the first thing came up in my mind was energy, so I decided to write some thoughts about section 25 which is in the 5th chapter of the book, global warming. Talking about new technologies, this section is not really exploring what kind of technology we are going to have in the future. It focuses more on the new sources of energy that can replace fossil fuels which are being used heavily by the current society.
Because of the carbon emission, we seriously cannot damage our atmosphere anymore, or the strong radiation released by sun is going to burn everything down. The new energies mentioned by the book are quite interesting for me to consider, but I still think I will not choose to use nuclear powers a lot even it’s already “safe.” Pebble bed reactor, the new approach described in the book, is feasible. However, the only thing I need to remember is the Chernobyl event. If I were president, I would not take a single chance to risk my people’s lives even though the nuclear power is a high-return project. Last quarter, I wrote a research paper about electric cars vs. hydrogen cars, and that’s also a big part of the reason why I chose to read the 25th section. From what I’ve learned, solar energy, biofuels, and all kinds of natural renewable energy on earth all are the most precious gifts given by sun.
Biofuels, mostly vegetation, are fed by sun through the Photosynthesis. Solar energy, which is a direct transformation of sun’s light energy. Natural renewable energies, are created by gravitational forces and uneven heating of sun like tidal energy and wind energy. So, basically, sun is feeding everything on earth by itself alone.
For the carbon credits and clean coal, I will keep my opinion as I previously stated: I don’t like anything that would have a risk since carbon dioxide is the main issue we have to solve now. In general, I think we will use a lot of electrical energy in the future because it’s inexhaustible if we take advantages of all the ways to produce it. Also, it has no carbon emission which is great for our atmosphere.
