Geothermal Heating- A Viable Energy Source

Under today's pressure of being earth-friendly and green, many people are being forced to ditch the highly polluting fossil fuels and search for cleaner and more efficient ways to go about their daily lives. A compromise seems eminent; cleaner sources in exchange for certain luxuries of today's living standards. But no... there are already solutions that will keep us happy but also keep our planet healthy. The biggest example of this is a process called geothermal heating. Surprisingly, companies such as Chevron and Shell are pulling a 180˚turn on us and are leading the research in this area of renewable energy. The Geothermal energy recovery begins with finding areas located in the crust of the earth where dormant volcanoes have nearly breached the surface. At these points, groundwater has seeped from the surface into these empty lava chambers where it is heated by the immense pressure and magma floating below. Just as Chevron would drill for oil, they drill a hole into the crust and capture the steam that is released as a result of the water’s exposure to air. The steam is then taken and harnessed into energy. The water on the other hand, is put back into the reservoir to produce more steam. Here is a video clip from the history channel on the subject talking about how Iceland has already moved its energy sourcing in this direction and how geothermal energy can heat our homes.

Bill McKibben: naive idealist or insightful environmentalist?

After hearing Bill McKibben speak, I left feeling rather unsettled. I was quite impressed with his knowledge of the issue---the fact that he could recite such specific scientific details from memory clearly shows that he knows his stuff. And he made several insightful points, particularly when he stressed that individual efforts would not add up to enough, that we need to make much more significant changes in order to meet the coming energy change date of 2012; I'd never heard anyone take this approach before.
But his proposed solutions, particularly his "350" campaign, seemed rather ineffective to me. I think McKibben's stress on the need to return to an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 350 ppm was quite valid. In article written by Stephen Leahy, Jackie Savitz, the senior campaign director for Oceana's Pollution Campaigns (Oceana is an international ocean conservation group) also emphasized the need to return to this level in order to prevent the loss of coral species and that"We need to stop using fossil fuels period. Carbon that's in the ground now should stay there." And McKibben and Savitz are not the only people who support this effort, Leahy mentions that there are many scientists who share the same goal.

So I don't disagree with McKibben's stress on the need to return to 350ppm, as other scientists deem this necessary, but it's his method of solving this problem that seemed rather ineffective to me. McKibben said that if nothing else, he wanted his listeners to remember the number "350." And the way he described his "350" campaign, it sounded as if he intended to simply brand the number "350" into people's minds. This "branding" doesn't seem like an effective solution to me. Isn't it more important that people remember the meaning behind the number instead of the number itself? What do you think: is this number branding an effective solution???

Sustainability Triad

While doing research for my final research paper, I ran across an article called "Develpoing Awareness fo the Sustainablilty Concept" by Irene M. Herremans and Robin E. Reid, that seperated sustainability into three different categories: Economic values, social values, and environmental values....
The explain how each category is a value of its own; however, the sustainability domain is the area in which an organization can operate and still maintain a consistent and suitable harmony among the three main dimensions.
The economic dimension represents a system of producing, distributing, and consuming wealth.
The social deimenstion reprsents a system of living or associating in groups or communities and considers the importance of maintaining and improving human living standards.
The environmental dimension represents a system of providing integrity and prservation of ecosystems, and is concerned with the continued productivity and functioning of ecosystems.

Their main point of the article is the lack of knowledge people have in each category. As they said before, sustainablity is reached when all three values are consistent and harmony among eachother. People need to have knowledge about each category, each value. Today the average person lacks awareness of each category. The majority of the time people only concentrate on one point of the triad. They assume they are helping sustainability when in fact they are causing the triad to be unblanaced.
The authors of this article demonstrate the importance to further knowledge in each category for all people adults and children. If people become more knowledgable about each value, there is a greater chance of finding sustainability. Everything starts with becoming aware of what is going on around us...

Alanis Morissette's Utopia

I saw below there's was a post on The Beach and this video uses scenes from it, the song is "Utopia" performed by Alanis Morissette. Her lyrics reminded me of Ecotopia and the concept of community and sharing they had cherished so much. I think a large part of creating a utopian society involves, as John Lennon said, looking inside ourselves, but also believe it comes from joining together as a community.


Here's a copy of the lyrics if any one wants to read them:

"we'd gather around all in a room fasten our belts engage in dialogue
we'd all slow down rest without guilt not lie
without fear disagree sans judgement

we would stay and respond and expand and
include and allow and forgive and
enjoy and evolve and discern and inquire and
accept and admit and divulge and
open and reach out and speak up

This is utopia this is my utopia
This is my ideal my end in sight
Utopia this is my utopia
This is my nirvana
My ultimate

we'd open our arms we'd all jump in we'd
all coast down into safety nets

we would share and listen and support and
welcome be propelled by passion not
invest in outcomes we would breathe and be
charmed and amused by difference
be gentle and make room for every emotion

we'd provide forums we'd all speak out we'd
all be heard we'd all feel seen

we'd rise post-obstacle more defined more
grateful we would heal be humbled
and be unstoppable we'd hold close and let go
and know when to do which we'd
release and disarm and stand up and feel safe

this is utopia this is my utopia
this is my ideal my end in sight
utopia this is my utopia
this is my nirvana
my ultimate"

The Beach- Utopia/Dystopia

Here's a video clip collage from the 2000 movie The Beach about a man, Richard (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who travels to Thailand in search of the unordinary adventure and stumbles upon a crazy man staying in the hotel room next to him. Before the neighbor commits suicide, he gives Richard a map to and story-tells of an uncharted, secret island where a utopian society has developed and existed for years. The society he describes is made up of a diverse group of self-sustaining and 100% secretive individuals- no one gets out who has gotten in. The man with the map, who goes by the name Daffy, was from the island but had obviously gone mad and escaped. This sparks Richard's curiosity even further causing him and two acquaintances to embark to find this fabled paradise. Upon their arrival, Richard soon discovers that this society is a dystopia rather than a utopia. After being exiled from the community later in the story, Rich soon grows further and further away from the society's values and also goes mad while spending his days on the opposite side of the island by himself. I found the digression of his character throughout the movie perfectly displays the negative sides of even the most perfect utopian societies and their realistic effect on certain individuals ....the movie itself is far better than this clip lets on and I highly recommend renting it. After taking this class, viewing this movie the second time around was much more interesting because it relates so well to the ideas discussed in class..... and the clip does have a couple bad words in it, that I of course DO NOT endorse but had to include due to the lack of comprehensiveness of all the other clips...

Children of Men

Children of Men, for those of you who haven't seen it, is a truly epic movie that deals with a dystopia in the year 2027. It all seems quite probable, the world is in an economic crisis and violence is high. Also, no one can give birth (this perhaps, not as probable. But interesting nonetheless). Without spoiling anything else, I urge you to watch it.

Here is a compilation of future advertisements from the movie that are quite interesting (featuring Bliss: happiness in a pill, Niagra: The Ultimate Climax, and more): www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4lS9poHvpU

I was recently watching the special features and came across a documentary by Alfonso Cuaron, who directed the movie. It is in three parts (27 minutes total) and relates very much to our class as it analyzes current world problems and offers solutions. You could even call this "Imagining Utopia: The Movie." (it's actually called "The Possibility of Hope.")

YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO4aH5ZSb_o

From the documentary:
"[the capitalist economic model] thinks like a drug addict: 'where can I get my next fix?' You make a mistake, you correct it the next time around, but a drug addict feels terrible and says 'I want more.' And unfortunately, we have an economic model that thinks like a crack addict."
- Naomi Klein

Now how does that relate to our current economic situation?

John Lennon

In 1969, John Lennon wrote the song "Give Peace a Chance." In the beginning of this interview he talks about the importance of the individual in spreading peace and making a difference. As he states, "we give the government the power it has," we need to stand up and make a change. It seems that to make a successful utopian society his ideal would be a key component, without the want and know of how to spread peace, the society will not last and certainly not develop into the perfect society. I also found this video interesting because it was done by a 14 year old, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room and convinced him to give this interview. Enjoy :)

V for Vendetta

Here's a clip of the movie V for Vendetta where V is giving his speech. This movie is really similar to 1984 and it show's the turning point of the movie. I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone who didn't see it yet. But I just thought this would be an interesting dystopia to talk about.

Tracy Chapman--A New Beginning

Always a good musician, Tracy Chapman was way ahead of her time when she wrote this song. Here are the lyrics:

The whole world's broke and it ain't worth fixing
It's time to start all over, make a new beginning
There's too much pain, too much suffering
Let's resolve to start all over make a new beginning
Now don't get me wrong I love life and living
But when you wake up and look around at everything that's going down
All wrong
You see we need to change it now, this world with too few happy endings
We can resolve to start all over make a new beginning
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over

The world is broken into fragments and pieces
That once were joined together in a unified whole
But now too many stand alone There's too much separation
We can resolve to come together in the new beginning
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over

We can break the cycle - We can break the chain
We can start all over - In the new beginning
We can learn, we can teach
We can share the myths the dream the prayer
The notion that we can do better
Change our lives and paths
Create a new world

And Start all over
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over

The whole world's broke and it ain't worth fixing
It's time to start all over, make a new beginning
There's too much fighting, too little understanding
It's time to stop and start all over
Make a new beginning

Start all over
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over

We need to make new symbols
Make new signs
Make a new language
With these we'll define the world

And start all over
Start all over
Start all over
Start all over ...