#8

11 October 2011

Lesson 8

This week's focus was on energy and we had a sit-in guest again! His work deals with the use of wind energy and it was really good having him as a guest because of the interesting perspectives and alternative views that he gave. It really enriched our learning on the whole!

We talked about renewable energy and how there is a need for a shift towards the use of renewable energy like solar energy and wind energy. It was alarming to find out that Singapore's energy consumption was similar to that of America's. This really highlighted a need for us to move towards renewable sources of energy as our current sources of energy are fast being depleted.

I found this lesson's presentations really fascinating, especially the presentations on tornado energy and energy coming from the collision of anti-matter. These are really non-conventional forms of energy, and it would be cool if one day we would be able to harness energy from these two sources safely and efficiently. Safety is of course a concern that cannot be neglected when dealing with non-conventional sources of energy. Like what was brought up in class, it would be terrifying if man-made tornadoes ran amok, or if the energy from collision of anti-matter was not harnessed properly and we end up annihilating the human race :/ I guess the question is, do we dare to take this risk and should we? I think it is perhaps a good idea to continue research in these areas, so that we will have alternative sources of energy to rely on and need not have to depend on the energy that we can find "below the ground" and "above the ground".

On a side note, i found the anti-matter presentation really interesting, imagine, a whole new periodic table of anti-matter! It would really take our knowledge of science to a whole new level and science textbooks would have to be edited to fit in all these new knowledge. I guess when it comes to science textbooks, it will always be evolving with newer editions as we make new scientific discoveries (like how Pluto was no longer acknowledged as a planet).

Anyway back to the topic at hand, I think that the video Prof showed us regarding Germany's solar energy plan was really eye-opening. I believe that solar energy is indeed a viable alternative source of energy and Germany's cash incentive plan seems like a good example that other countries wishing to pursue solar energy could follow. After all, people need motivation and most of the time it comes in the form of financial motivation. Some reckon that this may not be a good idea because this may result in higher taxes. But, if by providing some cash incentive, people can be encourage to adopt solar energy, a form of renewable energy, I don't see any harm in it at all. Especially since there are high costs involving the implementation of renewable sources of energy. The use of solar and/or wind energy currently appears to work only in countries with large land space available because of the need to build solar panels and wind turbines. It would be interesting if Singapore could work towards integrating solar panels into buildings, be it commercial or residential.

I rate this lesson a 9.5/10! Really interesting presentations and the varied opinions regarding energy was also enlightening!