Energy = Garbage?

When I took the newspaper in Sunday morning I read a headline that caught my attention right away, the headline said “It is being analyzed how to create electric energy with garbage” , a little below it said also that Sonora needs 500,000 tons of sweepings each year to convert them into electricity. Recently we have seen the alternative ways of getting energy, such alternatives include windmills, solar panels and cells, geothermic machines and nuclear power as some options to get energy, but now that I see sweepings as other way to get electricity I’m very impressed. It is said also that the advantages and disadvantages are being studied. In Germany and United States this technology is already being used, so I think if Sonora starts using this way of obtaining energy it will totally launch us to next level of using technology because this can bring many more studies that allow us to get other types of technology in order to help our society. As a curious note it is said that in Sonora a total of 870,000 tons of sweepings are produced every year, good enough to produce a good amount of electricity. In the note it is also said that every town in Sonora will have a say in the decision: if this plants to generate electricity are constructed or not. Now that a new technology like this one can be installed here in our state, there is a good chance to find other forms of getting energy, as I commented before, it would be good if someone brought wind turbines to get energy from the wind or if the solar cells become every day more common it will definitely be a big step into a new Sonora full of technology and new ways of obtaining energy, something that should concern us more than it actually does.

A gift from a star

In the book Our Choice comes a quote from Albert Einstein that got my attention. “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until coil and oil run out before we tackle that.” The sun is a star which provides great amounts of heat to our planet Earth and is necessary for the living organisms’ life. With the intelligence of humans, they have noticed that the heat can be transformed to use it as energy, and then electricity. This would reduce the amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere and that could be a way to solve global warming.
With the quote I realized that people have had this idea of using the sun since a very long time ago, but still, a small amount of people use this alternative. Why are we not using it, if it is “free” as a gift?

I think that it is because this source of energy is very expensive: the equipment and installation, but after this is all the energy received from the sun is free. You don’t have to pay for it, and it can be used for a long period of time. So it will be a benefit to the owners. I think that if all the people or at least some countries start implementing this, the price will lower, and more people will be able to obtain it (price-demand). And less pollution will be produced.
Also I think that another way of taking advantage of the sun is that the houses should have the ceilings of window. As in the United States, some of the buildings have plants in the highest floor so they can receive solar energy. With this type of ceiling not only plants can be in there, but also people could use that solar energy instead of light bulbs. Or maybe it can also be stored and used.

We must be responsible for our home. The sun will always be there while we are living, so why don’t we are a little selfish and start using it for our and Earth’s benefit? Let’s start using it!!

"India Goes Solar"

India currently has a huge defficit in electricity; while mayor cities have normal electrical services, most of its villages have no electricity or potable water. The solution to the electricity problem has been given by a private company who sells solar panels at only $150 us dllrs.
Because India has a sunny clime all the year, this seems like the perfect solution; villagers are specially grateful with this service, because, although they had to pay the banc who financed the solar lamps, once they are through with the debts, they will have free light virtually forever.
I think it would be interesting to bring this company to Sonora, or ither create a similar one, since we also have sunlight the whole year an is very cheap.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/02/28/kapur.inda.solar.lights.cnn

Too Early for Hidrogen

One day I was making a drawing about the future in which I drew an image about getting energy from hidrogen.My mother saw what I was drawing and told me something interesting.

Long ago she had a friend whose father was an extremely great inventor. He was so intelligent that he founded a way to make cars function with water (hidrogen). He sold his invention to great company cars and then they captured the whole family. My mother then told me that they captured them becuase if somebody knew about this invention then all companies that uses oil for energy like car companies, would crash and get bankrupted.

This made me wonder if there are posible inventions that are "too early" for people or companies to accept them. like cloning and robots, or maybe that companies don't make the correct and more pollution-free things becuase if they did some of the richest companies will collapse.