“What are the barriers to the deployment of hydrogen aircraft?”
Aircraft powered by hydrogen fuels could have the potential to be a massive boon for deep decarbonization in aviation. Being able to be powered by a carbon-free energy source that is also mass-dense gives it an immense advantage over battery electric aircraft. Although Hydrogen is one of the most dense substances by mass, it is one of the least dense by volume. This means that it will take up a significant share of an aircraft’s space, hampering flying opportunities. And just like in hydrogen-powered cars, directly burning hydrogen can be incredibly dangerous. These are The Problems with Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft.
The worst problems with aircraft and sustainability is the fact that they are powered by GHG-ridden fuels. This can be offset by creating aircraft powered by electrolysis-basedhydrogen. This results in Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft.
Plastic bottles have become an emblem of recycling. However, how exactly are they be recycled? Well, first they must be collected from their bins and separated from all of the trash and other materials. Afterwards, the bottles must be cleaned of any food or liquid waste inside. The bottles must then be ground up and shredded into flakes, where they are melted down into rice-sized pellets that can be used in other products. Although not everything can be exacted, it still saves more energy and materials then not doing so. This is How Plastic Bottles are Recycled.
“How can you offset your carbon emissions without changing your own operations?”
Some things are extraordinarily difficult to decarbonize. Whether it be air travel or going 100% renewable when the grid itself is based 100% off carbon-emitting resources. But a workaround can be found through Carbon Offsetting. This involves making a purchase of renewable energy or planting a tree that offsets the amount of carbon used. This can be useful for designing policies around technologies whose emissions-free alternatives are still too nascent for commercial use.
How Recycling Urine Can Help Sustainable Agriculture
01/11/19
“How can recycling your urine be sustainable?”
Urine is one of the biggest pieces of waste that humans create. But it can be recycled for various beneficial uses. One thing it can be is decontaminated to provided water to agriculture. This is How Recycling Urine Can Help Sustainable Agriculture.
“What happens when a community lacks sufficient access to energy resources?”
In the developed world, it is hard to imagine not having access to electricity. But in many parts of this the developing world, this is a pure reality. When a community lacks sufficient access to energy, they are said to be in Energy Poverty. Energy poverty can affect all factors of human development, such as emergency medical situations not having enough power or children not being able to do homework at night because of lack of access to lighting.
“How can we classify wastewater without fecal matter?”
Water is used in homes for all sorts of purposes. Whether it be for taking showers, flushing the toilet, or even washing clothes, water is apart of the equation. But can we reuse any of this water once we’re done with it? Well, as long as there are no biohazards such as feces in it, we can recycle it as Greywater for other purposes. Reusing Greywater is one of the most powerful actions a community can take to increase their sustainability.
Net zero energy usage in buildings can mean two things. Either all of the energy consumed by the building is met through self-generation or the building itself uses no energy! The latter is the foundational idea behind Passive Buildings. Passive buildings are edifices that obtain all of their heating and lighting through natural means. This means that such buildings have lots of large windows to let natural sunlight in, are superinsulated, and employ passive solar design. Therefore, these buildings can skip the need for complex lighting and HVAC. Passive buildings are amazing to experience and should be enjoyed by everyone in my opinion.
“How can we measure what percentage of the energy to appliances is provided by solar?”
Household appliances automatically become greener when they are supplied by solar energy. But solar energy may not provide all of the energy to a system. So how can we quantify how much energy an appliance receives from solar? Well, we can simply represent this by the Solar Savings Fraction which gives the ratio of solar in the system. A solar fraction of 1.0 means that the entire system used solar energy while one of 0 means that no solar is present. Energy efficiency measures can increase this fraction by reducing the load required from non-renewable resources.
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