Your Questions About Renewable Energy Definition

Robert asks…

What are some difficulties in achieving sustainable development?

Definition: Sustainable development is a pattern of economic growth in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.

Why is it difficult for humans to achieve sustainable development?

And why?

admin answers:

You clearly haven’t bothered thinking about this at all:

– we don’t recycle 100% of all metals, so any metals you use will not be available for future generations to use. So, by your own definition, you can’t use any metals.

– once coal, oil, or natural gas is burned, it can’t be recycled, so any coal, oil, or natural gas you use to make anything, to transport what you make, or to transport the materials will not be available for future generations. So, by your own definition, you can’t use energy that comes from coal, oil, or natural gas.

You can argue that energy comes from the sun, from wind, or from water is O.K., but you still have to build the power plants to use those energy sources and that isn’t O.K.

Etc.

– there are resources that are theoretically renewable, but we are already cutting down trees faster than they grow back, so wood, lumber, etc. May be theoretically sustainable, but in practice, using them is not sustainable.

The bottom line is that we have too many people using any and all resources at far too great a rate to be sustainable, so anything additional you do is by your own definition, not sustainable.

Http://dieoff.org/page110.htm
http://home.windstream.net/bsundquist1/
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/agriculture-and-food-systems-unsustainable/

Now you can cheat in many ways: change the definition of sustainable so that it becomes feasible; pretend that advancing technology means that in the future people will be able to do anything with whatever they happen to have left over (isn’t magic wonderful?) so it doesn’t matter what we leave for future generations; etc. Or you can admit that sustainable development is an oxymoron and work toward other goals.

Sandy asks…

What is the definition of Visual Pollution and give some examples on how to prevent it…..?

I’ve been looking for a definition of this for hours!

thank you.

admin answers:

As the saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Visual pollution is going to have different meanings to different people. Most people would agree that excessive billboards are unattractive, but some may see skyscrapers as ‘visual pollution’ (spoiling the once natural landscape), while others may love viewing their architecture. Wind Farms (large areas covered by many wind mills) would be another example of visual pollution to most people. But then we are faced with the question ‘is it worth it for the renewable energy?’

How to prevent it? Stop building. But that’s just my opinion; some people may not like the looks of trees and fields and prefer building and signs.

Here’s some info. From Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_pollution

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