A11TeamCacti
Last modified by Holger Dick on 2010/11/17 14:34
A11TeamCacti
To-Do
Step 1:- Try to find some relevant information (anywhere on the web) related to YOUR problem or topic.
- Can you locate any relevant information about YOUR problem in OpenEI? Describe what you find there.
- What it would take for you to contribute information (which you may have found in step 1) to this site and what would motivate you to do so!
- 1. Describe the energy-related problem or topic your group selected.
- Does the energy involved in creation of "sustainable" products outweigh the energy saved with their use? The idea for this topic came about when our group was discussing the example topic "should I buy a Prius?". We had heard that the energy that went into producing the Prius's fancy sustainable batteries costs drastically more than any savings it could offset during its lifetime. We realized this might be a problem with many of the seemingly "green" or "energy-conscious" products on shelves today. Do LEDs have a huge cost in energy for their production over less efficient light sources?
- 2. Describe any Web resources you found about that problem or topic.
The Prius Bad for the Environment?
This may or may not come as some shock to you, but many scientists are saying that Toyota's best-selling hybrid, the Prius, is actually bad for the environment. Some are even asserting that it has a worse impact on our world than the widely-hated Hummer. (pulled from http://hubpages.com/hub/Prius)
After seeing this article, it got us all thinking about how our perception of "green" could be very off. It is important for us to remember that there is also an overhead cost to production that may far outweigh any regular benefit. This currently would fall on the consumer to do some background research to make sure they are actually doing the best thing for the environment.
Solar: Does it really offer a golden opportunity?
Solar: Does it really offer a golden opportunity? After reading this article I got that renewables were definitely worth whatever you put into them. Thus the problem of initial costs being through the roof. These large investments seem to pay off so far for the longer term. Many of the new "sustainables" haven't been around long enough to be proven to be sustainable for as long as they say they can produce sustainable reliable energy.
Investment: Does investment in renewables stack up This article discusses the extreme cost of energy sustainability. from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/
Sustainability : The Modern Feng Shui Designers studying in colleges and universities today are
learning more about sustainability and how the cost, products and benefits are all to be calculated together from the beginning of the project to see how the long term benefits out weigh the initial cost.- 3. Describe any related OpenEI resources you found.
- Open EI really discusses the benefits of renewables, not really the cost associated in their production. This makes sense seeing as other sources speak to the fact that the benefits that are associated with renewable energy far out weigh the cost associated with their production.
- 4. Discuss what it would take for you to contribute information (such as what you may have found in step 1) to the OpenEI site and what would motivate you to do so.
- The contribution of information to OpenEI site would not be very difficult at all. "Open Energy Information is an open, collaborative platform based on the same MediaWiki software that drives the world's largest online reference, Wikipedia (OpenEI)." All you have to do is register, then mouse-over "Contribute" and then click on "Create a New Page" and presto you have just created a new page. So, in the end contributing information is very simple, but what would motivate us to do so? This would all depend on whether we have valuable information and the drive to share and update this information so that our fellow people can see the truth about whether creation of "sustainable" products outweigh the energy saved with their use. But, our motivation would not be the only reason. See, if we have the drive to create a page other people with insight could also add to it. So, it all boils down to whether we want to start a page about this and see what information we can add and what information other people can add or whether we feel its not important enough to create a page.
