Energy Resource Plan

.     Assignment: Energy Resource Plan

You are a board member of your Home Owner’s Association. At your next meeting, your goal is to educate other homeowners about energy conservation.

         Review the following Energy Resource Plan outline:

         Introduction:

         Provide information about why conserving energy is important.

         Renewable versus Nonrenewable

  Briefly distinguish between these two types of energy.

         Methods to conserve and help the environment

  What can each member do, personally, to conserve energy and help the environment at the same time?

  Provide at least three methods.

         Government efforts

  How can the government be involved in conservation efforts?

         Conclusion

  Wrap up the meeting with a brief summary of your main points.

  Provide some motivation for conserving energy with a memorable slogan, statement, or song, for example.

         Conduct either Option 1 or Option 2.

1.     Create a 7- to 10-slide PowerPoint^® that includes all of the elements in the Energy Resource Plan outline. Include speaker notes as appropriate.

2.     Write a 350- to 700-word paper that includes all elements of the Energy Resource Plan outline.

         Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

         Post your paper as an attachment.

Conserving energy is important for not only the environment but our health. By conserving energy we are preserving our way of life. Some nonrenewable energy sources leek harmful gases into the air that destroy our ozone and cause all kinds of health issues for those who live where these gases are denser. Something as simple as turning off lights or appliances that are not in use can lower your electric bill. If everyone conserved just a little, when you add that to the millions of other users doing the same thing, it adds up to be a lot of energy saved.

There is one very distinguishable difference between renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. It is their ability to be reused or not. Nonrenewable sources cannot be used again, once used. Renewable sources, obviously, are able to be used over and over again.

There are several things we can do to help conserve energy in our own lives that will also help the environment. One of the simplest conservation efforts is change all your incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent light bulbs. Not only will this give you up to five years per bulb saving you money, but it will also reduce your energy bill since fluorescent bulbs do not take as much energy to run as incandescent bulbs. Another way of conserving energy while helping the environment is to get involved and participate in Earth Hour every year. Earth hour is one hour every year in which everyone turns off every electrical appliance for a whole hour. This action symbolizes a world wide effort by the World Wildlife Fund to demand action on climate change. Besides the message this sends, everyone around the world turning off every appliance even for just one hour can save millions of watts of energy. Gasoline, being a major contributor to the pollution of the air and breakdown of the ozone, is one energy source you can cut down use of in order to conserve energy and help the environment. You can choose an alternative method of transportation, like a bicycle, carpooling, or take the city bus. You could also buy a hybrid car or other more energy efficient vehicle.

Probably the biggest thing the government can do to help with conservation efforts are to explore other energy methods such as biomass fermentation, use of solar energy, and wind efforts. Biomass fermentation uses the crop leftovers and converts this into gas for vehicles as an alternative to gasoline. Converting roofs into solar panels to run the electricity of the building is great way of using a renewable energy source.

Every one of us can do something to help; even the smallest effort of changing our light bulbs or carpooling to work can prove to be very helpful when combined with all the other people doing the same thing. Join a group such as participating in Earth Hour to tell our governments it is time for a change. If we can employ other energy methods to help us with our day to day lives without destroying our ozone or polluting our air or oceans we would be a healthier people and be able to extend the life of our Earth.

References:

No references were used that could not be considered common knowledge.

.     Assignment: Energy Resource Plan

You are a board member of your Home Owner’s Association. At your next meeting, your goal is to educate other homeowners about energy conservation.

         Review the following Energy Resource Plan outline:

         Introduction:

         Provide information about why conserving energy is important.

         Renewable versus Nonrenewable

  Briefly distinguish between these two types of energy.

         Methods to conserve and help the environment

  What can each member do, personally, to conserve energy and help the environment at the same time?

  Provide at least three methods.

         Government efforts

  How can the government be involved in conservation efforts?

         Conclusion

  Wrap up the meeting with a brief summary of your main points.

  Provide some motivation for conserving energy with a memorable slogan, statement, or song, for example.

         Conduct either Option 1 or Option 2.

1.     Create a 7- to 10-slide PowerPoint^® that includes all of the elements in the Energy Resource Plan outline. Include speaker notes as appropriate.

2.     Write a 350- to 700-word paper that includes all elements of the Energy Resource Plan outline.

         Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

         Post your paper as an attachment.

Energy Resource Challenges

1.     CheckPoint: Energy Resource Challenges

 

         View the Alternative Energy VLR located under the Week Eight Materials section of your student Web page.

         Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following:

 

o    Describe all of the renewable energy alternatives presented in the video.

o    What are some challenges with using and managing these alternative, renewable energy resources?

o    Name at least one other renewable energy resource not presented in the video.

o    Include a response to the following statement: Nonrenewable energy resources include coal, oil, and natural gas.

o    Describe three common challenges with managing nonrenewable energy resources.

The video Alternative Energy VLR described several renewable energy alternatives. One source that was discussed was wind power. One challenge of using wind power is you need wind to power these turbines. Without the wind there is no power. Another source discussed in the video is solar power. There is the same challenge with solar power as wind power. If there is no sun, there is no power. The last renewable energy source discussed in the video is biomass fermentation. Farmers take the leftovers from harvesting their crops and scientists can turn that into ethanol which is added to gas, or can be used as an alternative to gas for automobiles. Ethanol is healthier for the ecosystem that petrol oil gasoline. One challenge of biomass fermentation would be the availability of the crop leftovers. Also this would rely on farmers gathering this material and recycling it to be used as fuel.

Nonrenewable energy resources include coal, oil, and natural gas. Renewable outnumber nonrenewable sources and are better for the environment. One challenge with managing these resources is the availability of the raw materials needed to produce them. Another challenge would be that they help destroy our ecosystem with every use. And a third challenge to managing these sources is the disposal of the waste products from producing these sources.

One renewable resource not mentioned in the video is the hemp plant. This renewable resource can be used to make eco-friendly clothing. A nutritional source, used in medicine, to make paper, building material, cordage and is very healthy for the soil it is grown in. Due to the stigma of being associated with marijuana, this resource has little hope of being used despite its ability to help our environment repair itself.