Thursday, May 04, 2006

What does sustainability mean to you?


If you live in NSW and have an opinion that you can express in 50 words or less, go here and win some quite cool prizes.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Darn! I really wish I was back in Sydney for this. Would have been nice to give it a shot.

Oh well. Might just write a pretend one on my blog just for the heck of it.

Anonymous said...

Super color scheme, I like it! Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing this wonderful site with us.
»

Anonymous said...

Very best site. Keep working. Will return in the near future.
»

Anonymous said...

I say briefly: Best! Useful information. Good job guys.
»

Anonymous said...

Super color scheme, I like it! Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing this wonderful site with us.
»

Anonymous said...

Do you find giant windmills to be an eyesore, or beautiful? I find them to be a

wonderful solution to our growing energy needs. Not to mention the fact that they are

pollution free. Consider this, if nuclear power plant has a major problem, the

repercussions will be evident world wide for hundreds of years. If a windmill has a

catastrophic malfunction, the long term effects will be over as soon as it hits the ground.

Everyone agrees that the world has some pollution problems. Just how much of a

problem depends on who you ask. Some people deny it, while others think we are all

doomed. Personally, I rank somewhere in the middle. Wind turbines will never

completely solve our pollution problem. But they could be a large help in supplemental

energy that could get us out of the red. If every house in the world had a moderate sized

turbine, I predict that the American West would not be going through it’s energy crisis

Every summer. Nor would every family be feeling such a financial pinch.

Now, think of the pollution that would not exist. With all those families saving

money and saving the environment. All the nuclear waste that doesn’t need disposal. And

all the coal that didn’t have to be burned. That could really be a big help in the

environment. It could slow the effects of global warming and reduce the increasing

severity and frequency of hurricanes. Wind power could also help the world stop

contaminating what little clean water we have left.

Regardless of your position on the world's pollution status, the world needs to

develop new technologies, to curb Earths rising pollution problem. This is where the

controversies start. How much change do we need to make and how soon. Many of us

might think that Green Energy is a good idea, but don't know how to get started. There is

a high start up cost of equipment and not many people that know how to properly install

it. Or even know how it works. It is also difficult to estimate where on a property to place

a windmill to achieve maximum results. Plus there will be days that the wind just won't

blow. The major complaint however, is the noise. The large wind turbines with 100 ft.

rotors, spin at 200 mph. At the tips. The result is a whooshing sound that can be herd

from quit a distance. This is the major complaint. But I do have to state that nuclear, and

coal facilities, are not silent either. There are ways to get around these problems, and

achieve success. This technology dose have a lot of potential.

Unfortunately there is a good number of people that don't see the benefits to this

and think of windmills as an eyesore, or complain that they are too noisy. Well, I disagree

with them. I have not found one credible source of information that tells of a wind turbine

causing pollution, or leaving a negative impact in it's surrounding area. Compare this with

the problems we are having with Chernobyl in Russia. Also, even is it is a safe facility;

there is still nuclear waste to dispose of. Would you rather have that in your backyard?

That's apparently what a lot of people are saying.

This is largely due to the fact that we haven't had any real disasters in the United

States. The general population is happy to drive their Hummers blindly until we run out

of petroleum and are forced to change. We don't see the huge affect this has on the

environment. Is it fair to do this to the next generations? No, we should be doing more to

curb the problem now. One of the best ways we can start is to lift all bans and restrictions

on ways of producing green energy. This way, home innovators could be free to innovate

and develop ways to make it more friendly. Or maybe propose wind turbine areas

that are restriction free. Such as a housing development that has a one small turbine per

household. I think this would be a fair compromise.

There is a also a controversy over the fact that they are so large, and tend to be

seen as unsightly in comparison to the natural environment. Yes, they are large, but I

don’t think they are any worse than a power plant. Obviously we should no be putting

them in state parks, but I do feel that they should have a place in our country, due to their

befits. Also, they don't have to all be so large. Wind turbines come in a variety of shapes

and sizes. If a neiboring community has a problem with your community erecting a very

large turbine tower to produce power. You could instead put individual turbines on each

house. That would take care of the eyesore problem , and also help to reduce the noise.

In fact I am quite surprised that there is such a controversy in the first place. The

activists that say that they want to see the natural environment untainted, complaining

that they don’t want to look at the solution. I expected to find more support from a

community that is supposedly trying to help the environment. For shame! That like

saying, I want to stop being sick, but I don’t like the taste of the medicine. So I will just

keep on being sick. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. What I think it all comes down to is

people doing the work. Excel energy has a good thing going for them and see no reason to

stop because we all keep on buying what they offer. I am guilty of this myself. But we all

need to innovate and compromise to achieve the end goal of a pollution free Earth. Or at

the very least. Be Free to put up a few wind turbines, and not be hassled by the man.