Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Blog #13- Industrialization & Water

"In California, solar developers have already been forced to switch to less water-intensive technologies when local officials have refused to turn on the tap. Other big solar projects are mired in disputes with state regulators over water consumption."
-http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/business/energy-environment/30water.html?hp
> The main issue is that people are trying to develop new ways of using energy, but those methods are requiring water for their operations. Solar power plants need to be cooled down with water, etc. Some people are upset that their water reserves would be used to make new energy (what's energy without water?), while others want to progress forward, and thus there is conflict. Industrialization is conflicting with people's needs as human beings.

>The thing missing is whether or not ocean water would be able to be used instead of the water we use to live by. It is also lacking in the fact that there are other ways to cool down things (wind, for one), or simply building structures out of things that do not heat up easily. Might cost more but would save money in the long run.

>The first thing I would do is pick a side- I would have to pick whether or not I wanted to defend the use of water for helping with alternative energy. Then I would state my argument and support my points with other evidence - with the energy made, we could clean out other water we're using to reuse on one side of the argument, and on the other we could find other ways to keep the plants cool and use that energy for other things.

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