Bio-fuel in Transportation

With increasing energy scarcity all of the world, a new kind of energy resource---biofuel becomes a most popular research topic to replace the fossil fuel. According to the report by GlobalData Company, the biofuel accounts for about 41.9% of total diesel market in the first decade from 21^st century. As there are many cars in the urban areas, it can easily reduce the greenhouse emission generation. However, the sharply increasing of biofuel also brings many negative impacts on some areas at the same time. Because biofuel is produced by crops, the large demands of crops make the food price increase. In this article, it will focus on the challenges which biofuel faced. And it also will show the advantages of biofuel.

There are many challenges for biofuel. First of all, the field for growing crops to produce biofuel will occupy a large area. And in some regions and counties, farmers may damage the forest to get the cropland. It has a huge negative impact on the local environment. Moreover, food shortage may become an issue with biofuel product.

Because the valuable cropland is limited, the increasing demand for biofuel may have an impact on the cost of food, even cause the food shortage. In addition, although biofuel is a renewable energy, the water use for irrigation may strain local water resources. These challenges cannot deny, but many researchers do much effort to study this field to solve these problems.

Besides these challenges and problems, there are also many advantages of biofuel. Firstly, the price of biofuel is significantly cheaper than fossil fuel. This is because of the fossil fuel shortage, and the source of biofuel is renewable. Secondly, biofuel can be produced locally. This character makes the biofuel become popular in some counties which do not have many resources of fossil fuel. Thirdly, with the rising number of cars in many cities, using biofuel can significantly reduce the greenhouse emission generation. If a city can reduce greenhouse emission generation, the problem of urban heat island effect can be solved. Finally, the biofuel market can supply thousands employment opportunity which is good for society. In addition, the increasing demand for biofuel also will raise that of crops. It can provide economic stimulation to the agriculture industry.

In conclusion, I believe that biofuel will bring us a lot of benefits. Although there are many challenges of biofuel, the advantages are more than disadvantages. Because of the energy shortage, especially the fossil fuel, biofuel can replace it. And its performance is better than fossil fuel. In light of these reasons, the biofuel should be encouraged to develop in the world. On the other hand, the scientists should find a better technology to produce biofuel so that the impact on environment can be reduced.

Reference:

[1] Dawson C, Vincent JFV, Jeronimidis G, Rice G, Forshaws P. Heat transfer through Penguin feathers. Journal of Theoretical Biology 1999;0959:291–5.

Rubbish Bin Classification

In the past, most counties and regions only use a kind of bin to collect all the waste. Because of it, the method to dispose the waste is to put all into landfill. But there are many poisons and polluted rubbish will contaminate the soil. As a result, it will be a serious environment problem which may even impact on human health. In addition, many materials and useful things cannot be recycled by this system. It is not sustainable and wastes a lot of resources. As the concern about this problem, many cities build a rubbish bin classification system to guide residents to put different kinds of waste into specific bins. It is a great way to collect rubbish, because the waste treatment plant can choose suitable method or technology to dispose different kinds of waste. In his blog, it will focus on the benefits of using rubbish bin classification system. Moreover, it also will show that how this system works.

 There are many advantages of using rubbish bin classification system. Firstly, it can reduce the occupied area of landfill. According to the information from Residential Waste and Recycling Guidelines in 2010, it can save about 50% land use in landfill because there are many kinds of waste are reused or recycled. Secondly, the classification of rubbish bin can reduce the impact on environment. For instance, battery contains many kinds of heavy metals and poisons. If throw it away or put it with other wastes, it will damage the environment including soil and water ecosystem. In addition, the plastic also have a huge impact on the environment if it is not classified well. Finally, the classification of rubbish bin system also can generate substantial profit because many wastes can be recycled or reused. For example, the waste plastic occupies about 4-7% in total waste. These plastic can be recycled to produce diesel----------about 600 kg diesel per 1 ton plastic. Furthermore, to recycle 1500 ton waste paper equals to save 1200 ton wood to produce new paper. There about 30%-40% of total waste can be recycled. Thus, to collect different kinds of waste in different rubbish is important for whole society.

After talking about the benefits of classification of rubbish bins, it will illustrate how this system works. Because I am living in Sydney, so that I will show this system in Sydney as an example. There are three kinds of rubbish bins used in Sydney. The table below shows the different colors and its waste category.

Table 1

The rubbish bins in Sydney are divided into three parts. The blue lid bin is for garbage/ general waste. The yellow lid bin is for recycling waste. And the lime green or plain lid bin is for organics. Furthermore, the size of each bin is different.

Figure 2

The picture above shows the different sizes of different bins. The size range of rubbish bin is from 80 liter to 660 liter. Each size has its specific use for different dwellings. After residents put the waste into right bins, the waste collection vehicle will collect these rubbishes and then deliver to different waste treatment plant or landfill. This system works well in Sydney and makes the environment in a great level.

To sum up, the classification of rubbish bin system is a helpful system which can reduce pollution and save resources. It is not only benefit the environment, but also good for residents. It is recommended that the government should encourage and guide people to throw waste into right rubbish bins. In addition, the counties or regions which still haven’t built this system should make it quicker. 

reference: 

[1] Willoughby J. Using thermal mass to save energy. Journal of The Institution of Structural Engineer 2002;80(12):10–3.

Cellphone Pollution

In 2012, 1.75 billion mobile phones were sold all over the world (Tech Review—Motorola a ringer in cellphone sales). This is just the number in 2012. And it is not hard to image that the total number of cellphone sales in 2014 will be a huge number. The table below shows the worldwide smartphone sales to end users by Vendor in 2014 (Thousands of Units).

Table 1

Source: Gartner (March 2015), Results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola.

With the development of cellphone technology, most consumers bought a new one to replace the old one. Thus, the substituted cellphone become a serious problem to the environment. These electronic wastes consist of many heavy metals and plastic. It will have great impact on environment such as soil pollution, water pollution. Due to this situation, it is necessary to do something to solve this problem.

  There are many ways that mobile phone may generate contamination. The first is in the process of produce mobile phone. And the main contaminations are PCB and the battery. Secondly, the main problem is the waste battery. A battery in one cellphone will pollute more than 60,000 liter fresh water. In addition, circuit board also has huge impact on the environment. Because there are many kinds of corrosion and poisonous materials in the circuit board, it is hard to recycle or degrade. Moreover, with the development of smartphone technology, the contamination shows some different characters in this decade.

1. Because smartphone becomes much smaller than before, so that it will be easily thrown into household waste rubbish bin. After the process of incineration, it will impact on the air environment.

2. If the mobile phone waste is put into landfill, then the landfill leachate will influence the soil. This will be a series of problems which finally affect the human health.

  Although there are many problems are caused by mobile phone waste, it cannot stop consumers to buy new one. Thus, to recycle and reuse these electronic waste become an important method. Firstly, to recycle the heavy metal in the electronic waste can generate a handsome profit. These kinds of heavy metal can be reused in other product. Secondly, the mobile phone shell also can be recycled. Thirdly, the most important part is battery. The nickel, copper, cobalt, neodymium, lithium, aluminum and iron can be recycled from mobile phone battery. Thus, recycling the mobile phone battery not only can obtain environment benefits, but also can get great profit in business.

  To sum up, because of the potential damage to the environment caused by mobile phone waste, it is necessary to build a specific recycle system to recycle this kind of waste. Due to the current recycle system and factories cannot meet the increasing mobile phone waste, the government should encourage companies to build more recycle factories. In addition, the policy also need to be set up as well. 

Reference:

[1] Sereda PJ. CBD-115. Performance of building materials. Canadian Building Digest, National Research Council Canada, 1969.

[2] Hutcheon NB. CBD-48 Requirements for exterior walls. Canadian Building Digest, Canada Research Council, 1963.

The Energy Saving Buildings

As the dawn of the twenty-first century approaches, the current pattern of unsustainable, inequitable and unstable asymmetric demographic and economic growth has forced many segments of society to think about the problem: how can we meet our demand in the future with the limited resources. The answer is to be sustainable. In the past, we always focus on the field of energy. But with the development of technology, we extend the range to buildings.

According to the information from data basis, urbanization increased rapidly in this decade. In this background, more and more buildings are put up in the urban areas. But those buildings almost are not the sustainable buildings. Because of this situation, they may waste a lot of energy and generate many environment problems. Thus, it is necessary to design sustainable buildings.

When we talk about sustainable buildings, we may have many imagines about it. However, what is the actually define for sustainable buildings?  According to the OECD project, sustainable buildings can be defined as those building that minimum adverse impact on the built a natural environment, in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate surroundings and the broader regional and global settings (G. John, Derek, 2005). The OECD project identified five objectives for sustainable buildings:

1. Resource efficiency

2. Energy efficiency (including greenhouse gas emissions reduction)

3. Pollution prevention (including indoor air quality and noise abatement)

4. Harmonization with environment

5. Integrated and systemic approaches

These five objectives involve the whole life of building. The building includes indoor and outdoor spaces. Both parts should be designed sustainable respectively. It contains exterior walls, the roof, floors, windows and doors. For the aim to be sustainable, there are many great design for the buildings. For example, the wall must protect the enclose space and also can be as a temperature moderator. Therefore, the temperature will keep in a stable level which can reduce the electricity consumption by using air condition. In addition, I saw another wonderful design in our campus---- the building Tyree. In this building, the energy rate is five stars which mean that it is a great sustainable building. And the design for outdoor wall impress on me. The outdoor wall in this building is like a window. The wall is combined with many tiny windows which can move. When the temperature increases, the window will close to keep out sunshine. If not, the window will open again to absorb quantity of heat. Because there are many other sustainable design in this building, so that the energy cost is in a very low level. If almost buildings can be designed like this one, I believe that the environment problem which caused by large amount of buildings won’t appear anymore.

To sum up, although some opponents argue that the cost for sustainable buildings is expensive, the benefits which we get cannot be ignored. The sustainable building design is a tendency in the future because of the limited resources and increasing concern about environment. 

Reference: 

[1] Kloppel L, http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=966); 2001.

[2] McDonough W, Braungart M. Towards a sustaining architecture for the 21st century: the                    promise of cradle-to-cradle design. UNEP Industry and Environment. April–September 2003.              p. 13–6.

Wetland in Urban Cities

In 2015, it is the 41th Anniversary of the world’s first Ramsar site in Australia. In the past, wetland was considered as a huge ecological system which needed large areas of land in wild. However, this notion should be changed. With the demand of better environment in urban cities, wetland is put into center of cities.

Before talking about this new design, let’s know some basic information about wetlands. Firstly, what are wetlands? The answer is that it contains swamps, lakes, saltmarshes, coral reefs and peat lands. There are many other components in wetland. And it can be seen as a complete natural system.

Now we move to this new design that put wetland into urban cities. The rapidly increasing process of urbanization and worse environment make designers create this idea. There is an example about a design for London.

As shown in the picture above, this design combines wetland and life circle. This wetland can absorb a large amount of CO₂ emissions and improve environment. Moreover, the wetland can manage rainfall well. In addition, this wetland-life circle system is environment friendly system.

There are many benefits of wetland-urban cities design. Firstly, wetland can restore habitat and increase biodiversity. Secondly, it can provide flood protection. Thirdly, provide areas for passive recreation and enjoyment in urban. Also, it provides opportunities for environmental education and awareness. Finally, it is good for air quality; improve solid condition and water balance in ground. Living in such environment, residents will feel comfortable. And the great environment is also good for human health.

In conclusion, to put wetland in center of urban cities is a great design because it can bring a lot of benefits. Air quality, solid condition and water balance issue all can be solved or improved. 

Reference:

[1] OECD. Design ofsustaina ble building policies. Paris: OECD; http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/; 2002.

[2] BIONIS, http://www.extra.rdg.ac.uk/eng/BIONIS/; 2004.

[3] Crawford CB. CBD-200. Building technology and its use. Canadian Building Digest, National Research Council Canada, 1978.

Sustainable urban water use

The fresh water resource in the world is limited. And it is threatened by pollution over these decades. Thus, concern about the sustainable of urban water use is the strong motivation to develop the water management system in urbanized cities, especially in the field of water recycling and rainwater collection. Due to the sharply growth of urbanization, the problem of water shortage becomes a realistic issue which occurs in many big cities. Therefore, the achievement of sustainability is required to ensure the water supply. In this part, the city of Tokyo in Japan has a lot of useful information and excellent design which we can learn from it.

1. Water balance in Tokyo

Figure 1. Water balance and recycle in Tokyo (unit: mm/year)

The figure above shows the water balance in Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 1999). According to the data from this figure, the average annual rainfall is 1405 mm in Tokyo. And 29% of total rainfall is evapotranspiration which is 412 mm per year. But the serious problem is that there is 879 mm treated waste water run into the river system which is large flow. It will have significant impact on river environment. Because this situation, the government of Tokyo apply for advanced waste water treatment and try to reuse it as a water resource in urban area.

Figure 2. Proportion of treated sewage in urban river flow at the ordinary water level

2. The different water resources for sustainable water use in Tokyo

Firstly, it is the rainwater use. In Tokyo, the collected rainwater is usually used as toilet flushing or water-cooling. There are many rainwater storage facilities in Tokyo underground which is very large. The table below shows the capacity of each storage facilities in Tokyo.

Table 1

Secondly, the reclaimed wastewater also accounts a big part of total reuse water. By using the treated wastewater, it can reduce the wastewater discharge. And it also can make the water price cheaper compared with the distant water sources. There is an example of a sewage reuse system in Tokyo.

In this building, all the wastewater will be collected into an underground water tank. Then it goes to a sewage treatment plant. After the whole processes of treatment, the wastewater runs to a special tank for the step of disinfection. Finally, the reclaimed water go back to the reuse system for cleaning, cooling and dilution in many buildings and industrial plants. The most important thing is that the reclaimed water standard is also very high. The table below shows the standards.

Table 2

Finally, Tokyo government has built an experimental sewer system to collect infiltration.

Figure 3. Configuration of infiltration facilities in the Experimental sewer system

This is a complex system which can collect the infiltration. If this system works, it can collect almost 80% of total infiltration from rainfall. Because infiltration occupies about 26% of total rainfall, the amount of collected water by this system will be a large number.

To sum up, Tokyo has tried to several methods to meet the sharply increasing demand of water. And these methods really work well over these decades. As a result, rainwater and reclaimed sewage can be used in many aspects if the government develops the water management and the treatment technologies. Besides the city of Tokyo, many other urban cities should learn something from Tokyo and compare with the real situation they faced to build great water reuse and recycle system. I believe that if all the urban cities can improve their water-use efficiency, the city will be more sustainable and residents also will have a lot of benefits. 

Reference ;

1. Clements-Croome D. Intelligent buildings: design, construction and operation. London: Thomas Telford; 2004.

2. Jeronimidis G. Biomimetics: lessons from nature for engineering. The 35th John Player Memorial Lecture, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 22 March, London, 2000.