admin answers:

In short, no it isn’t. It requires radioactive fuel rods that last for years but when they’re done they’re done. The reason some ppl push for nuclear energy is the lack of pollution. …or at least lack of pollution that contributes to global warming.

Just look up sources pertaining to the fuel rods and the dangers of how spent fuel rods are currently being treated.

admin answers:

You can be one of those people that collect money to adopt animals and protect the rainforest and split the money 50/50… 1 half for yourself and the other to go to wherever you want.

Yeah… Sorry if that didn’t help ya’, but i’m not old enough to really know about that kinda’ stuff.

admin answers:

If you can dig up enough unobtanium, you’ll be all set to change the world.

admin answers:

Hey Samantha, your question touches on a common theme today, but to see how it will play out, take a quick look at retirement. A couple today might live comfotably on say $75,000 USD annual income, but they are concerned whether their savings will be able to replace their work income when they retire. It doesn’t matter how many calculators you visited online, the day they walk out the door from work for the last time, they simply retire on whatever they have. In short order they will get their house in order to function on the lot that is available to them. Energy is no different. Because we use 5.5 gazillion kilowatthours of electricity today does not mean we need that much tomorrow. As oil gets harder and harder to find and recover, the price goes up, which adds value to renewable sources, which makes them more commonplace, and they slowyly replace the fossil based energy anyway. This does not mean there is no advantage to preparing for the change now, but different people see the situation differently, just like retirement.

Brazil is a good case in point. Several years ago they operated the second largest offshore oil platform in the world, until it caught fire one day, fell over and sank into the ocean. That one well represented 50% of thier countries domestic oil production, nothing short of a catastrophe. Yet today, they have a growing economy and use more energy than they did back then. They run their vehicles on 90% ethanol, based on their rich sugan cane industry, and make so much fuel with it today that they have to ship their excess to the United States. In this change in energy that we are currently experiencing, there are as many opportunities as there are problems, but most people don’t see them because they don’t have to.

Here is what we have done: About 11 years ago we embarked on a project to convert our home to wind and solar power. Now our home makes 90% of its own electricity and our electric bills come in at about $5 per month. We have replaced both of our vehicles over time with more efficient ones and altered out driving habits slightly. Now we use less than 900 gallons of gas each year instead of the 1150 we used to. Our next vehicle will be a plug in hybrid of some kind, and we are already in the process of expanding the solar array to provide at least part of the additional electric power we’ll need to run that car when it arrives. Half of our hot water comes from our solar water heater, and our primary source of heat is now wood and passive solar. I talk to people all the time about energy and they ask, “What can we do about it?” The answer is, “Plenty.” But again, it comes down to perception and an individuals willingness to make changes. We can wait until retirement to see how it looks then, or get ready for it now. Collectively, we’ll probably end up someplace in the middle. As for the carrying capacity of the earth, what has probably gotten us into these situations in the first place is our population. We can always alter our lifestyle to accomodate more people, but that makes overall life here less convenient no matter how it’s done since we all end up with less in the end. As far as nuclear power being the answer, yes, Illinois does have 11 plants, and the second highest utility rates in North America. Nuclear is one of the answers, but the economics of it have never made sense historically regardless of what your postiion is on nuclear waste.

Renewable energy is up to the task, but most of us won’t be until we have to. For those of us getting ahead of the change, we would love to have you join us and help. I’ll list some websites below you might find interesting. Good luck Samantha, and take care, Rudydoo

admin answers:

Sounds to me like you are taking a biased course in UN Agenda 21 politics. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21
Clearly the answer you teacher is looking for is “your Carbon Footprint”. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint
While this has much to do with UN politics as determined by the Copenhagen Climate Council, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Climate_Council#Unlocking_the_Climate_Code:_Innovation_in_Climate_and_Energy
it has nothing to do with the definition of “sustainability”:

“Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.” — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability

Production of CO2 is actually part of the natural cycle of life. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_biological_carbon_cycle
CO2 production is also part of a much greater inorganic cycle that dwarfs the biological one. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CO2_pump_hg.svg
The political notion that a carbon footprint has something to do with sustainability [1] is due to the pseudo scientific [2] notion that additional CO2 would be a major climate driver. Http://members.shaw.ca/sch25/FOS/Climate_Change_Science.html#Greenhouse
This is why the UN promotes afforestation to combat global warming [3] even though it is evident that trees cause global warming. [4] Given the track record of these pseudo scientists, [5] the misguided effort to make CO2 abatement the corner stone of government policy [6] should come as no surprise. [7]

admin answers:

In design, sustainability means an object’s ability to last a log time using very little energy. If your chair had a motor assisted lever mechanism, it would be more sustainable if the motor was somehow recharged by the person sitting in the chair or operating a pump. If your lamp needed a Burt’s of energy every time you turned it on, it would not be very sustainable.

admin answers:

G’day,

Please be advised that as an international student, you can only work for a maximum of 20hrs/week during study period, and full-time during holiday period. Therefore you should not depend on the part-time job that you can do while you are an international student in Australia.

Some of the jobs that may be able to earn you good income is admin or data entry jobs.

You can check the Department of Immigration website to confirm this information.

Hope this helps. Good luck for your study and welcome to Australia.

admin answers:

It’s been thought of before- look in older National Geographic magazines.

The ocean is a rough place for any equipment and a very expensive place to work in.