TWC Session 8 (Week 9)

Figure 1. Off-shore Wind Turbines
Reproduced from Emerald Freight. (29 November, 2011)

Brief Overview/Summary

Back from recess week!!! Our focus today is on the topic, Energy & World Change : Past, Present & Future. We focus on his because the next big industrial revolution will be a shift from tapping on unsustainable fossil fuels to a renewable and sustainable clean and green energy. Through a video we learnt that, we must start to renew, otherwise we will be in a deep trouble as we cannot solely depend on fossil fuels. Renewing ourselves,  such as beginning to change our habits to taking more public transports; research and tapping on new technologies such as an idea of harnessing the heat from the sun to run water heaters.
Then, we discussed on the drivers or catalysts of global energy change and key considerations for energy change. We also touch on statistics of the global primary energy consumption, the renewable energy the world is currently using. Research also shows that Sun produces most energy to the earth, therefore Sun could be a potential renewable and sustainable energy. This is also supported with another research on photovoltaic (a type of technology which harnesses solar energy) being the highest energy to be generated per square km of land.
Videos also shown that EU is the biggest player in renewable energy covering 20% of total energy demand.
Lastly, to invest for the future, we delved into a scenario whether it is possible to achieve 100% renewable energy in 2050. To do so we should emphasise on the link between energy, environment and policies to facilitate a green economy.
We also see that Singapore is not very conservative in the energy sustainability country index and index rankings.
Finally, 6 readings were also discussed related to this topic before the start of the individual presentations.

Interesting Observation and Ideas

Regarding, Sam's presentation on a new approach of changing the toilet bowl and harvesting human waste to be used as a renewable energy. Personally, I think it is a very simple and practical idea and it is a cost effective and convenient approach for Singapore, because there are many high rise buildings and shopping centres. Ultimately, I think this idea can drive the country to begin using renewable energy and achieving a status of 100% self sustainable on energy. I think this is possible if you compare it with the New Water case, whereby Singapore wants a to be independent with self sustainable source of water, instead of depending on other countries.

Key Takeaways

From this session, I learnt that from the intense use of limited fossil fuels for economic development, we see the consequence of our energy security being threaten and hence there is an importance to switch to renewable energy as it is clean and sustainable, and to be able to bring about this revolution, I personally believe, this should be a multi-prong approach, beginning from us (showing that we want a change through research and emphasis on renewable energy) then finally till the authorities where they can have a reason to enforce certain policies.

Issues for Further Discussion



Personal Rating

I rate this session 10/10 as the lesson is very informative and helpful towards our group project and the presenters provided engaging topics to be discussed.