Homework 14

1) Check out the Leonid shower tonight...
Video 1 Check it out!
Video 2 Check it out!
I wasn't able to actually view the Leonid shower from my apartment, which is smack dab in the middle of Little Rock, mainly since I don't have a very good view of the sky from where I live due to light pollution and the fact that my apartment complex is practically built into a hill. However, I did find a couple of videos that had some impressive Leonid shower displays. The first video shows a time lapse and is definitely worth checking out!

In relation to colonization, it would be quite interesting if we were able to colonize comets. Some cruise around our solar system, while others cruise in to our solar system then leave. To me it would be quite amazing to "ride" one of these comets and to explore the depths of space in more detail (Although colonization would have many challenges.)

Also, you may want to visit this "supporting" link for more information on colonizing our solar system that I found on wikipedia...it was pretty interesting! Click here to view the article. It mainly focuses on the most likely ways of colonizing our outer solar system.

2) Term projects...
My presentation is finished and has already been given to the class. Additionally, I have completed all of the research for my paper and just have the fictional section to complete. The other updated sections have been posted below.
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Biofuel Power
Surprisingly, biofuels have been around for a long time, even preceding petroleum-based fuels, dating back as early as the late 1800s. In fact, ethanol (a biofuel often blended in today’s gasoline) was used to power early cars including Henry Ford’s Model-T (Biofuels Today).
Biofuels are renewable and efficient fuels that come from living organisms, organic waste, or food waste. To be classified as a biofuel, the fuel must contain at least 80 percent renewable materials (Biofuels). Additionally biofuels are clean burning—meaning they don’t contain sulfur—so when they are burned no sulfur dioxide gas is produced as is when burning petroleum-based fuels (Biofuels Today).
With these benefits, why are biofuels such a small part of today’s energy portfolio? The petroleum fuel industry saw the threat of biofuels taking over their market share, so the industry cut their prices, killing off their competition. By the mid-20th century, the use of biofuels stagnated and died out. However, as has been mentioned before, the energy crisis of the 1970s opened up a new door in the future of renewable energy, breathing new life into biofuels (History of Biofuels). Biofuels still supply a small portion of today’s energy resources. It will take another energy crisis like the ones of the mid-1970s to really boost biofuels presence.

Roadmap to the Future: Green Energy Production
What does our energy future look like? How are we going to get there if it is to be greener? What technologies will we see become more widely adopted, and when? These are all important questions, but it is often hard to come to a certain answer when new technologies and techniques rise year after year. However, after performing the research above, many of current key facts were assembled that aids in the projection of a foreseeable green energy future and the technology that could be used.
Our energy future will eventually make a transition into green energy whether we like it or not. Our fossil fuels are running out, as current research suggests that known reserves will last approximately 40 years for oil, 60 years for natural gas, and 120+ years for coal. Additionally, research suggests that biofuel, solar, and wind power will continue to grow making them cheaper and more widely available. Hydro power and geothermal power still have a potential for providing green energy, but will each only provide less than 10% of the total global demand. Nuclear power could still provide greener energy in a transitional period, if the need for energy couldn’t be immediately met by greener sources. Prospects of virus-assembled non-toxic green batteries, the successful zero-emission generation of power from coal, and the possible doubling of coals power generating capacity also provide hope to a greener tomorrow.
What my research fails to answer is that question of when green energy will come to provide a majority of the world’s power—a question which many others besides myself have posed. Although there is no definitive answer yet, it is possible to allude to one possible solution (See
“2109: A Possible Glimpse of the Future,” after Works Cited). Nonetheless, green energy will be an important part of our future when our natural resources have become depleted—the all important question that just can’t be answered is when.

Conclusion
Green energy technologies will most definitely play a vital role in our energy future. As our natural resources continue to deplete, major supplies of green energy will be necessary if we are to continue our traditional way of life when our resources finally do run dry. Biomass, solar, and wind power have the highest potential for growth; and if Harvard research is valid, wind energy may prove to be a key solution.

2109: A Possible Glimpse of the Future
Building up to 2109: A Transitional Phase
-Humans will start to drive plug-in electric hybrids instead of petroleum based cars
-Electric hybrids and electronic devices start to become powered by virus-assembled green batteries
-Coal plants will be retrofitted with zero-emission specifications that also implement the doubling efficiency coal effect
-Biofuels will start to replace petroleum based fuels in late transitioning petrol-car owners
-Electric plants will start to create power from biofuels instead of coal
-Solar panels will be incorporated in new building designs
-Wind turbines will start to dot the landscape more frequently
2100: Defining Point—End of Transitional Period
-Goal has been met—energy now primarily produced from biofuels, solar power, and wind power
-Nuclear, geothermal, and hydro power are still present from transitional periods
-Coal power is still produced but now new plants are being constructed as most are becoming phased out