Energy and Waste Energy

in #energy7 years ago

Energy

is one of the most important elements in human life, from the early discovery of fire to the current day. It can not be dispensed with in any way, especially in the times we live, and the technological developments that have taken place have led to total dependence on energy and its sources, but humanity suffers from scarcity and lack of energy, the result of years in the lack of rationalization in its use, resulting in the waste of large quantities of resources. This lack of conservation of our energy resources is also a direct major contributor to global warming, and loss of natural resources.

Energy Sources:


There are many sources of energy natural and manufactured :

Hydro powered.Nuclear powered.
Solar powered.Petroleum powered.
Wind powered.Coal powered.
GeoThermal powered.Natural gas powered.

Ways to conserve energy:

Because we can not take one step in life without energy, we must preserve it in all possible ways and means. There are many steps that must be taken to conserve energy sources, many think this is a job to be left to governments, the reality is energy conservation starts at home.

If the air conditioner is turned on in the summer, avoid running the air conditioner at a temperature higher than or below the ideal temperature. Close the curtains, blocking direct sunlight in the summer reduces your energy consumption.

It is preferable to wear warm clothing indoors come wintertime and to close all doors and windows in order to reduce the need to consume excessive amounts of energy.

While shopping choose material that is lightweight and lightly packaged. Most people fail to realise that heavy and heavily packaged material cost a lot more energy to produce and transport, also produces more waste.

Choose material that does not use plastic packaging, or at least uses the least amount of it. Opt in for paper packaging whenever you are offered that option, you will not kill trees if you use paper products as most of us think, paper products are 100% recyclable vs 10% that of plastic.

Plastic is produced from oil and its derivatives, and takes 500 to 1000 years for the material to break down in nature. It is the main cause of death for many natural resources both in land and in the sea. Plastic is a main contributor to global warming as well. Although we cannot completely get rid of plastic, we can severely limit its use. Recently some countries banned the use plastic bags and set laws and fines for its manufacture and use. Los Angeles was the first city in the US to ban the use of plastic bags.

What to do if you have no other choice other than using plastic bags? avoid throwing them in the trash after first use, wash them and reuse them.

Batteries are another major problem we face today with the widespread use of electronic products. When batteries are needed for a variety of purposes, purchase rechargeable batteries, and avoid buying a non-rechargeable battery, which is disposed of after exhaustion.

Avoid using electric ovens for heating food, because they consume large amounts of energy, use a microwave oven for light cooking and heating of food.

The trend is to use all energy saving devices. Nowadays, they are available in the market, they have a lot of demand, and they are offered at competitive prices. Do not purchase unnecessary equipment and be redundant, close all devices after completing the work they are used for.

The biggest energy consumption devices in an average home are air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, water heaters, washing and drying machines, light bulbs. Many of these have went through various energy improvements over the years from energy saving light bulbs to energy saving water heaters, but the main savings come from the way you use these devices vs how much power they consume. It is true replacing an old water heater with a new energy saving one saves you a lot of money on your annual energy bill, but it's how much hot water you let go to waste per day that contributes the most to any meaningful long term savings and energy conservation.

Create awareness and educate your kids on the importance of preserving energy sources from depletion and rationalizing its use in all areas of life. Yes washing one piece of clothing consumes as much energy as washing a full load, it's all about habits. That early development of good habits starts at home, it does not and should not come to us in the form of a government law.

Last but not least, the growth of blockchain assets secured by mining is a new form of energy consumption. POS and DPOS blockchains consume a lot less energy to secure and maintain. Such as the Steem blockchain which uses DPOS, an energy saving blockchain you might call it, Ethereum is planning a move to POS at a certain point. Recent projects using or going to use energy saving blockchains are Qtum(POS), EOS(DPOS), Tezos(DPOS)...

sources and credits:
1- http://www.morganhilltimes.com cartoon image

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Energy consumption is a hot topic these days, right up there with Global Warming. The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere has been warming since its creation. If this were not true, the ancient civilizations would not have been able to expand. That said, we are doing more than our fair share to accelerate the process through our relentless use of fossil fuels and landfill waste. To reduce my footprint, I use electricity sparingly, I have 1,060 red wigglers that eat a good portion of my paper/food waste; we recycle, skip on plastics as often as possible (hello, petroleum) and I drive far fewer miles than I have in the past.
Thank you for sharing this with us, @joseph! Upvoted!
Mo
Edited to send a HUGE THANKS for your upvote on my latest post! ;)

We are living in dangerous situation becouse of global warming. We have to prevent our world to have enough energy.

well not really, supposedly we caused it, personally I don't want to be a part of it so I'm like 10% user of the resources, others in comparison are greedy shellfish that don't mind looking at gooey plastic crap allover the place and consume 1000% more than well me in comparison. I'm not going to get into business and government, they might make me look like a dust in the universe. a spec on a random planet :D

That s right..

Yes, we have to prevent our world to have enough CLEAN energy .

We should be aware of our energy-use and abuse, and we sure as hell should quit polluting the world. But one thing is for sure, the "global warming" - story as it is presented by mainstream media is a hoax. Research for yourself, look at @corbettreport etc... There is a whole lobby behind the global warming hoax, don't be fooled!

Who gives a crap about global warming???

Let's talk about the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico the size of New Hampshire, the plastic island floating in the pacific, the fact that half the World's animals are gone since I was a kid, how 5,000 acres of rain forest is burned every day, how the Pacific is radioactive from fukushima, What BP oil did to the Gulf of Mexico, how there will soon be no topsoil left in the Midwest, how song birds are disappearing, how we'll die without honey bees, or how the great barrier reef is dying... Then and ONLY THEN.... Let's debate Global Warming!!!

I am not arguing with that... I just hate all that global warming bullshit. You have a big point there, and something must me done about it!

Thank you for the information. I work in the recycling of harzardest waste. What are your thoughts on how the United States handels disposal of said materials?
Great post on mercury as well. Have a wonderdul day.

Eating homegrown, nutritionally dense foods is one of the best ways to improve energy efficiency and health simultaneously! :)

Good knowledge 👍

It is all about consciusness and education, hydroelectrical generation is nowadays not the same thing it used to be, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150610-blue-energy-how-mixing-water-can-create-electricity the chemical natural reaction when a river touch the sea(salty water) is a huge source of energy and super clean process.
There will always be the human insterests that slow down these initiatives, but knowledge is power, and if we have in our hand to teach, at least those around us, we will be contribuiting to a healthier enviroment and we will be surrounded by responsable people.

free energy has existed for 100 years... we still pay for energy, so I wouldnt be so optimistic.
Have you heard about sonoluminescence?

If there is little or no profits, corporations are not interested. Simple, That is why earthly destruction is pretty advanced as we speak. I blog about it quite much.

There is no such thing as "free" energy. It all comes from somewhere. Even if we were to pull a Tesla and grab energy from the ionosphere, it would still not be free. It would have to be harvested, stored/transported etc...

these are great tips for our energy, we are in dire need of energy at all times, you also explain how to use the energy concerned with AC.
it is beneficial to me.

technology that could free us already exists but... it wont... follow the money

let's take care of the earth, by doing small things like reducing the causes of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, reducing the use of plastics, using electricity economically and wisely in using energy, all we can do. and specifically in my country, our government has banned forest encroachment, because our forests are able to absorb carbon dioxide, thereby reducing global warming, your posting is in line with my post about flooding and saving the earth.... you want see...click here... and let's save the earth

Good, I have started the Earth Custodians Movement... but earth custodians are aware of this: http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/category/geoengineering/

This is great advice but we have the biggest and cheapest energy battery we can use; The Sun. So let's start educating and promoting the use of that as house energy, promote auto consumption and exchange retail markets to sell that energy and the first world citizens will start saving it as the third world does.

Your idea is good, @santigs, i like you and upvote

Energy revolution will sure to come as fossil fuel era slowly comes to an end eventually. To have energy consumption awareness is as important as having the food nutrient consumption in the future, food and energy will be two great revolution.

Energy revolution will sure to come as fossil fuel era slowly comes to an end eventually.

fossil fuel? Do you remember the so-called peek oil in the late 90's? It never happened. There is plenty of oil, they keep finding it because it is not "fossil". However, fossil or not, the oil monopoly is too big to fail. It will take us down with it the day it unravels anyway. So why waiting?

Haven't heard of peek oil (will do some digging). The economy of most of the countries are still dependent on oil. Without it, everything rupture. For instance like my country, the transition to clean energy will take a lot of time and money to achieve. To be sustainable is too costly for the people to pursue while government has yet to have a clear plan for the people to go for. There's some solar clean energy startup though. I guess gonna start small here. How about your country?

Not just "Peak oil", but think of it as Peak Cheap oil. There's enough oil left for hundreds of years, but at what price? Another thing to look into is "E-R-O-E-I" How much energy is expended to drill or dig compared to what you get. When this gets to 1 to 1, the game is over.

True, and thus is not wise to keep on depending on oil anymore. Leave the comfort zone and adopt new alternatives. The price to pay is the increase of cost which many still can't afford it. Unfortunately, if now can't afford, in future it will be even worse.