Modern Marvels: Environmental Tech
Yesterday, Feb. 25th, on the History Channel, was a show called “Modern Marvels: Environmental Tech”. This show discussed many different ”green technologies” that are being developed in the North America to help combat the effects of global warming.
The first technology that they featured was at an oil field in Saskatchewan, Canada. This oil field produces about 515 million barrels of oil in a day. What is interesting about these oil deposits is that they are not stored in just liquid form, but stored in the pores of the surrounding rock material (kind of like a oil in a sponge you could say). The company use to pump water into the ground to help get the surface pores taken care of, but what they soon found out was that their production was decreasing at a steady rate per month. What they decided to adopt was a method of pumping pressurized CO2 (which then acts like a liquid) into the ground, thus the CO2 bonds with the oil making one cohesive liquid that can then be pumped out of the ground. The company, which I didn’t catch the name of while watching the show, gets its CO2 from a coal company in North Dakota. The company burns the coal, captures the CO2, and then pumps it to the Canadian company. Originally, it was thought that the company would only be able to produce oil until 2015, but because of this new method of extraction, it is possible that the company will still be able to produce oil well after the year 2045.
Next, the show featured the Redhawk Generating Plant in Tucson, Arizona. What is great about this company is that it produces cattle feed, bio fuel, and ethanol fuel from natural gas, but does not harm the atmosphere one bit. How is this done? Well, the company pipes in natural gas…thus creating CO2 and water. The company then created storage tanks for the CO2 that contained non other then algae. Yes, you read it correctly…ALGAE!!! The algae actually eat the CO2 and then multiply to eat more CO2; the only bi-product being O2 or oxygen that is then pumped back into the air. The extra contents of algae are then used to create the ethanol, bio fuel, etc.
Following the Redhawk Generating Plant was the piece on green homes and buildings, even skyscrapers. First off was a house in Santa Monica, California. The house uses steel framing; does not use formaldehydes; costs $250 per Sq.ft. but can quickly pay for itself through the years as the owners save on their electricity bills, water bills, etc; first house to use LED lights, lots of windows, which cool the house during the summer (cross ventilation) and heats it during the winter (like it gets that cold in L.A.), and uses water to heat the home…through the floors which can be more energy efficient if done properly. Next up was the Solaire building and the Hearst Tower. The Solaire uses 55% less water then most buildings. This is done through the implementation of a “green-roof”. This green-roof actually captures rainwater, and then turns around to use it for the cooling system of their air conditioning units, for water features, for drinking, restrooms, etc. The wate is filtered through a 4 layers that contain recycled products as well as actual organisms (one the first two layers). The same is done at the Hearst Tower in New York City, but the only difference is the tower does not contain a green-roof. It to captures the rainwater which is then stored in one 14,000 gallon tank. The tower reused materials from the original Hearst building which saved on money and new materials used. One unique feature of the Hearst Tower is the use of its triangular framing. The triangular framing allows for less steel to be used in the whole tower and allows for the most sunlight into the building–>this alone will use about 10% less electricity thean a normal building.
**Some fun facts from the show**
1) If every American would change 1 incondescent light bulb with a flourescent, that would be like removing 800,000 cars from American highways.
2) A landfill in Florida is using plasma blasting technology to burn the garbage at 10,000 degrees fahrenheit. The amount of garbage burned will then be used to power 36,000 homes and businesses.
More information on the Hearst Tower…watch the movie below!!!
Right on! I would like to get more information about this building and pass it onto others. We must start acting now to save this planet.