Howdy,
So today I'm talking about renewing. Renewing things is a bit more difficult than the other 5Rs. It's tough for one of us (average Joes and Janes) to renew things. However, it's a bit easier to use things that are renewable (i.e. wind, sun etc). But, depending on your situation such things might not be readily available. I'll do my best to give you a little understanding on renewable resources.
Oil and Coal
Are great examples of NON-renewable resources. It takes like a gagillion (there's my fake number again) years for oil and coal to be made. And there is only so much oil and coal in our planet and we are burning it up at a frighteningly fast pace. Just think of all the cars in the world, the jets, the motorcycles, tanks etc etc. We are burning oil like there's no tomorrow. Folks, there is no tomorrow for oil and coal; once we use it up, it's gone for a very very long time (forever probably).
There's more things than our cars that rely on oil, "What things?" you ask. My answer "Darn near everything." You know how when gas prices go up so does everything else? Well gas prices go up because the price of crude oil went up (and gas comes from oil in case you've been living under a rock your whole life) and everything else goes up too. This is because the manufacture of many things is depended on oil in some way, shape or form. Plastics for example, others are lipstick (yeah I know), even paraffin wax. I don't know how many of you use paraffin wax on a daily basis (my girlfriend and I already had this discussion and it was hilarious, you should have been there), but it's a by product from the processing of crude oil. We seriously need to cut back on oil consumption and start using renewable energy like wind and solar energy.
Wind Energy
Comes from these huge @$ turbines that spin in the wind. As the wind makes the turbines spin some magic things happen and there's cheap electricity. It's more complicated than that but this isn't an engineering blog. The thing about using wind is that it's very clean, we don't hurt it's feelings, and as long as there's a planet Earth there's going to be wind here. Problem though is that as of now they are pretty expensive to put up, and you need to live somewhere where there's enough wind.
Solar Energy
You know how the sun comes up every single day? Well it's been doing that for over a gagillion years and will continue to do so for another gagillion. And using the awesome power of the sun doesn't hurt it one bit. Solar energy is cool. Someday I hope I can power my home with it. Now how solar energy works is the solar panels absorb solar energy and somehow electrons get all excited and just like with wind energy cheap electricity is magically created. Solar panels are becoming increasingly simple to install and inexpensive. I've even read an article where some company is making roll on solar panels that you can just roll on the roof of your house. Now that, that's just cool.
Bio Fuel
Bio fuel is cool too. It's made from things like corn that can be grown over and over again. Lot's of gas stations are switching the E85 which gets its name because its 85% Ethanol (made mostly from corn). That's good and all but we can do better, I know we can, I've seen it with my own eyes. Try going to Google and run a search for alternative fuel; you'll find neat things. I haven't seen many gas stations with E85 pumps (I think my count is between 0-1). But word on the the street is that they are becoming more popular since more and more vehicles are able to use it these days. E85 is way cheaper (pricewise I mean) than regular gas. So I know that if you are able to use it you will so I won't even ask.
This is just a very brief discussion about renewable resources. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. I just wanted to plant the seed of it into your brain. I'll come back to these things in more depth in the future.
The cool thing about wind and solar energy is that if you have your own windmill or solar panels you can plug them not only into your house but the main power lines as well (I think you have to in some places, I don't know, check with you local power companies and see). If you make a surplus of energy (as in more than your home needs) the extra power gets sold to the power company and you can conceivably make money from the power companies (by that I mean you will get a monthly check from them). Holy cow that's cool! Just something for you to think about. Don't forget: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
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