Sunday, October 31, 2010

Week 11

Executive summary

Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution

Interesting observations and ideas

Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.


Key Takeaways:

Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption

Issues for further discussion

I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.


Personal ratings

I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Week 10 Emerging technologies

Executive summary

Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.

Interesting observations and ideas

The most interesting observation about today was Siemens Ecar. What is so interesting about the Ecar is that it functions solely on electricity and not on petrol or diesel. To me, the total electrification of the car will make enable us to make headway in two of our most important ventures in today’s time, namely gains on energy conservation and the expansion of the electrical and electronics industry.

Our car-based society is one which is highly inefficient. Due to the high emphasis on sole ownership of cars, cars are utilized less than 4% of their useful lifetime! This means that precious resources such as landscape is being wasted when the car is parked. Cars also consume large amounts of energy and it accounts for up to 40% of Americas total energy output! They are one of the major cause of air pollution and environmental degradation.

With these Ecars, the electrical and electronics industry will also have a massive upheaval. There will be increased jobs and greater RnD into the electrical and electronics sector. This will lead to greater conservation of natural resources as electrical energy do not depend on natural resources. Air pollution and the extent of environmental degradation will also be massively reduced!

Key Takeaways:

In one of the readings : Reading 4, the author talked about augmented reality. Augmentd reality is currently still underdeveloped and its full potential are still not able to be conceived at this point of time due to the lack of research and investment in it. However the reality is that the potential of augmented reality is one of Hollywood proportions. With just a small computer that one can carry on his or her body, the computer is able to recognize the environment that the user is in, analyse the data and finally transmit the most meaningful and useful data to the user.

This gives the user a more wholesome experience of the environment. Why do I say so. Remember when you were young, you were so curious about the environment and sometimes your parents were not able to provide you with a satisfactory answer to your inquisitive question about the environment. With this devise, one would be able to learn more and know more about the environment and things around them. This technology is applicable to people of any age group, be it teenager, adults or the elderly people. With this, education knows no boundaries as it can happen anytime and anywhere and we can finally say that learning never stops.

Ratings

I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Today we had quite a number of interesting presentations and they were really quit interesting

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Session 8 : Past present and future of energy and world change

Executive summary

Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution

Interesting observations and ideas

Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.


Key Takeaways:

Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption

Issues for further discussion

I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.


Personal ratings

I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Week 7

Executive summary

Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.

Interesting observations and ideas

Never have it occurred to me that there will be such a need to ensure the security and stability of food as it is something which I use to wrongly perceive as to be inexhaustible. In fact, in this current times of environmental degradation and overpopulation, more emphasis have to be placed on ensuring that the process of creating food is sustainable enough for the environment to feed the growing demands of the population.

The current level of pervasiveness of genetically modified food particularly takes me aback. It is shown in class that GM food is everywhere. Why do I say so? Take MacDonald for example, all the food on that tray, the fries, the chili, the burger, the nuggets and even the drinks possess some degree of genetic modifications in their make up. This makes it especially difficult for those who are against eating Genetically Modified food as it is practically everywhere. The labeling of the food is not a viable solution and is also one that is not being implemented at the present. This is an example of one negative aspect of GM food which needs to be addressed before it blows out of proportion.


Key Takeaways:

Today we talked about rural overcrowding. We are becoming increasingly urbanized and the last century has seen huge amounts of people shifting to llive in urban environments. This creates more pressure on the urban environment as now there are more competition for jobs, and more competition for space. The management of rural overcrowding is especially important as it serves as a hurdle towards the MDG of alleviating poverty in developing countries.

In one of the readings: Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry
The Authour Norman E. Borlaug who is a nobel prize laureate for peace in 1970, strong believes that the biotechnology is the only way to move towards a future of sustainability in terms of food supplies. He believes that biotechnology is currently making headways in many commercial farmers and that it will be the next driving force in the agricultural industry.

However I have some opinions about this rosy scenario. For one, making transgenic corps increase the vulnerability of the corps due to the polarity of their genetic make up. They are more susceptible to a single plague wiping out the entire batch of transgenic corps or maybe even by bio-terrorists who can make use of special bio agents to target these plants.

Secondly, he has also failed to take into considerations the ethical concerns, which might invariably lead, to a backlash or maybe to the scenario of agricultural bio terrorism. The benefits reaped form Transgenic corps tends to also skew towards those who farmers who are educated or wealthy enough to adopt such a practice in their business models. The traditional farmers who do not have the capabilities will end up in a state, which is worse of then what they are in now.



Issues for further discussion

I would like prof to talk more about the comparison of the degeree of modification which nature’s has done in the case of nature plague’s to the degree of modification of man initiated process such as genetic engineering. It would have really been interesting to hear prof break down the whole comparison, especially so when prof is someone who has extensive knowledge on medical sciences.
Personal ratings

I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Some of the points covered in lesson were really relevant and interesting, especially the one when prof mentioned that genetic engineering is noting compared to the plagues in which nature has created as well as the farmer and the farmist!