Solution Fluency

Define:

        How can we make environmentally friendly power sources more accessible and common?

Discover:

• What are some example of environmentally friendly power sources. How do each function?
• How expensive are these alternatives?
• Can you implement these sources at your own home?
• Where can you purchase these alternatives
• Why are these sources not more popular?
• What are some benefits of using environmentally friendly power sources?

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Dream

Some ways we can make environmentally friendly power sources more accessible and commonly used.

1. Inform other’s that eco-friendly power sources exist. Some people may just not know that these eco-friendly sources exist.
2. Raise awareness about pollution. We can raise awareness about the harmful alternatives that are commonly used such as fossil fuels .
3. Teach about the expenses. Although we may not be able to lower the costs of the product itself we can inform other’s that the cost of implementing these sources into your homes is not as scary as they believed.
4. Make these power sources more accessible by sharing where they can be purchased.

 

Design/Deliver

We decided that we could accomplish most of our possible solutions by simply writing a blog about eco-friendly alternatives. Using our edublogs, we are capable of sharing our research on the types of power sources and how each function, benefits, cost, accessibility and more. We decided that sharing our research using a digital device and online will make it accessible to people all around the world and the more people we can inform about eco-friendly power sources the larger the impact. Raising awareness about the importance of these power sources can be very beneficial to our planet and even our own health. If these environmentally friendly power sources are made more popular and accessible, it can create a huge environmental impact by lessening the need for fossil fuel powered sources. Fossil fuels have become extremely harmful to our planet from the chemicals it releases into our air, causing 7 million human deaths a year, to oil spills that cause fatalities to thousands of creatures. We hope that raising awareness and sharing our research about the harms of Fossil fuels and the benefits of eco-friendly power sources will increase the amount of people discussing and using these sources, creating a cleaner, safer world.

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Debrief

This was an extremely interesting project to work on and we really enjoyed learning about the different kinds of ecofriendly power resources. I think we did a good job on this project; however, I do think there was a few things we could have tried to slightly improve our plan overall. I think a great thing we did was post on our edublog about this issue, however I think we need to go bigger…viral. I think the biggest way of spreading news fast is through social media. People tend to bandwagon off others when trends begin, so what if we made this a trend? I believe that if people were more informed about these energy sources and their benefits, they would be so much more inclined to purchase them. Social media is an amazing way of spreading this message and teaching people about it. Social media is also a way of speaking to the companies. We previously talked about how expenses are a huge deal when purchasing these alternatives, so how could we lower the price? Simply by speaking to these companies, I know many won’t listen, but this is where social media comes in. If enough people are talking about these alternatives but how they can’t afford them these companies will need to listen and here’s why. Companies will base their products to a demographic of people, when those people are on social media talking to other people in this demographic these companies reputation are being affected, if these people are angry with the company for not lowering its prices it will then have a bad reputation, which equals less consumers, which equals less money as a whole. In conclusion I believe that we could try and improve our plan by adding some viral social media aspects such as an Instagram account, hashtag and more, this could help raise awareness of how our energy sources effect our planet and get people talking!

 

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Our Research

 

What are some example of environmentally friendly power sources. How do each function?

• Solar Energy. Solar energy is the most accessible and popular alternative of an environmentally friendly power source. It collects energy from the sun using solar panels and converts it into electricity. Although the cost of setting up this system in your own home may be high, it can significantly lower costs of one’s electrical expenses.

• Wind Energy. Wind energy creates electricity using wind turbines and windmills. Each blow of the wind pushes the blades on wind turbines and windmills which then creates movement, thus creating energy.

 

• Hydropower uses natural currents from rivers or dams which pushes a turbine to create energy, similar to a wind turbine. It is widely used but can only be implemented, of course, from a water source that creates movement.

• Geothermal Power. Geothermal uses the energy and heat created naturally under the earth’s surface. People drill holes into the earth’s surface which then pipes steam or hot water to the surface. The steam and hot water powers a turbine which creates electricity.

 

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Can you implement these sources at your own property?

Solar energy is popularly used at people’s homes. Solar panels are put on family’s roofs to generate electricity for a person’s home. It is fairly small, unseen if put on someone’s roof and does not create any disturbance.

Small wind turbines can be implemented onto people’s properties however, the lot has to be considerably big. They are not often used at people’s homes as the noise they create can be a disturbance and it is not something you can easily hide.

Hydropower can be used on someone’s property but there must be access to a nearby water source that creates movement. If a river is on your property you can set up a small turbine to generate electricity.

Geothermal Power cannot be implemented at someone’s property as a geothermal powerplant is invasive when it comes to space. The steam and the noise can create a disturbance as well.

       What are some benefits of using environmentally friendly power sources.

                   There are many benefits to using eco-friendly power sources. The greatest benefit is avoiding the use of alternatives that can be harmful to our planet and our bodies. Fossil fuels are a common way of generating energy and although it may be cheaper and easier to access, the negative effects it has on our planet is much more costly. Burning coal releases sulphur dioxide into the air which makes the air we breathe toxic. Fossil fuel’s also include oil, which is turned into gas which is used to fuel many appliances. However transporting and extracting oil causes massive destruction to our planet if spills occur, which they often do. One example of a catastrophic spill occurred in 2010 into the Gulf of Mexico where 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 tons of methane were spilled. This spill harmed and killed more than 82,000 birds, 25,900 marine animals, and many other creatures that could not be counted such as fish, clams and coral. Even around 9 years later, there are still some ongoing and serious impacts from the spill. Another benefit of using an environmentally friendly power source as opposed to a harmful alternative is that it is renewable. Fossil fuels are estimated to run out by around 2060 but none of the eco-friendly power sources are limited. The current from waves and rivers, the wind, the energy from the sun and geothermal heat are all unlimited sources for as long as human’s are alive. Lastly, having an eco-friendly power source on your own property can be very beneficial when it comes to cost. Although buying and setting up power sources such as solar panels at your own home may be expensive at first, they will cut your electricity bill and even gas bill if your home is mainly run using electricity. From avoided polluted air and waters, saving our lives and other creatures, and even expenses, the long term effects of using environmentally friendly power sources are very beneficial.

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How expensive are these alternatives?

• Solar Panels: An average installation of solar panels can range from 11,214$ to 14,406$ after tax and with installation
• Wind turbines: Wind turbines have an extremely wide cost range. Home turbines will usually cost around 3,000$ to 8,000$, however commercial wind turbines can range from 3-4 million dollars.
• Geothermal Plants: Small geothermal plants can range from 3,000$ to 5,000$, however larger plants can range from 10.5 to 50 million dollars going up in price.
• Hydropower Systems: Hydropower systems for homes can cost around 2,000$ to 5,000$ without installation.

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Where can you purchase these alternatives?

These alternatives may be easier to find then you think. These alternatives can be found many places such as, Canadian Tire, Home Depo and Home Hardware. They can also be found online at stores like Amazon and EBay. Solar panels are the most popular alternative, so they are much easier to find. Most hardware stores sell majority of these alternatives and can even provide services that can set up your chosen product for you! This can be extremely helpful but can also be quite costly.

Why are these power sources not more popular?

Though these alternatives are great for our environment, they aren’t always the most reliable and can be very expensive. These energy sources will rely on things like wind, sun and water to produce energy, however when these things aren’t there to create energy there is no power. Power will usually be stored when these elements are unable to make more but storing units only add on to the cost. These power sources can also be extremely expensive; if you are looking to power your whole house with solar panels or wind turbines you are looking and a huge bill. Setting up these energy sources can also be a huge hassle and very time consuming, most people applying these resources to their home will hire someone to set up the systems, once again this will create a large bill. I think people are intimidated by the amount of money and time that go into setting up these energy sources and that is why they opt out of applying them to their home. I believe if we show people new simple ways to apply these into our energy systems even in the slightest why we could have a Jurassic improvement to our environment. I also believe that lowering the cost would make a lot more people choose these renewable resources of any other. I think they would make better profit if more people bought the products at a lower price then less people with a high price.

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Cites

“ A Deadly Toll” https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/gulf_oil_spill/a_deadly_toll.html.

“Green Energy.” Midcounties Co-Operative Energy, https://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/customer-service/frequently-asked-questions/green-energy/green-energy-faqs/when-will-fossil-fuels-run-out/.

“Nine Years Later: What’s Ahead for the Gulf.” Environmental Defense Fund, https://www.edf.org/ecosystems/whats-ahead-gulf.

Rinkesh. “What Are 10 Different Sources of Energy?” Conserve Energy Future, 25 Oct. 2017, https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/different-energy-sources.php.

Rinkesh. “Various Types and Effects of Pollution.” Conserve Energy Future, 14 Apr. 2019, https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pollutiontypes.php.

“Types of Eco-Friendly Energy Sources.” Ecoview, 23 June 2017, https://ecoviewhomes.com/types-of-eco-friendly-energy-sources/.