Over the past few weeks, we have been focusing on the amount and types of fossil fuels that we currently use as a society. As we read the various articles by Kunstler, Hartmann, and Goodell, we came to notice that they all agree that we need to change the ways in which we are generating energy. The fossil fuels of coal and oil that we are using are harming our environment. These fossil fuels will not last us forever and something needs to be done immediately. As a society we should be looking at incorporating more forms of alternative energy into our everyday lives. Certain companies such as GM and Wal-Mart are starting to incorporate alternative energy into their products and stores.
Just this past Saturday, Millennium Reign Energy LLC, an alternative energy company, demonstrated to General Motors the ability to use hydrogen as a transportation fuel. Over the past couple of years, this company has been working on a self-contained, fully automatic hydrogen generating station. They hope that this generator will become standard in every home some day, instead of our houses being powered through coal and gas. Through the process of retaining energy through solar panels and wind panels and combining it with water, hydrogen and oxygen are made. This hydrogen is what will be used to run the future hydrogen powered fuel cell car. This will increase efficiency as well as reduce cost and negative impacts on the environment.
Wal-Mart is also pursuing using forms of alternative energy. Wal-Mart is starting to use solar energy as well as wind energy to power its stores. The company is starting to put up wind turbines in the parking lot to help with Wal-Mart’s energy. They will also be putting up solar panels on top of their roofs to collect energy. These solar panels will be controlled by a device behind the store that will move them in the direction that the sun is currently facing. It is estimated that the solar project may account for up to 70 percent of Wal-Mart’s energy. This would greatly reduce the amount of fossil fuels that the company uses to power its stores around the country. Wal-Mart and General Motors are great examples of large corporations moving towards more sustainable practices when it comes to energy. Other large corporations should follow the practices of these companies and become more sustainable in their energy consumption.
It’s always nice to hear that U.S. companies are promoting the use of alternative energy, but I often think this is nothing more than business propaganda. For example, we watched several ExxonMobil commercials in class that featured many sustainability “experts” endorsing the oil company as a leader in alternative energy. I found it interesting that ExxonMobil (here is the link to one video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfVycbnaBc) disabled the “comment” feature on these YouTube videos. I view this as the organization’s way of promoting their product without allowing their consumer the chance to voice his or her opinion on the matter.
ReplyDeleteIn your post, you mentioned how General Motors was following an energy company’s lead in developing alternative fuels for their vehicles. I find it ironic that General Motors was itself a leader in killing the electric car, which we talked about a few weeks ago in class. In my opinion, these companies have postponed exploring alternative energy sources until the general public was up in arms about the current environmental issues we are dealing with.
Sam, I agree a lot with what you're saying. However, I do think there is some movement by the bigger organizations to, shall we say, "go green". Sure, I do think a lot of what they do is just to please the public and they don't really care that only about 1% of their company is using solar panels, or using wind turbines, but hey, at least it is a start.
ReplyDeleteThese large companies are going to need to start setting examples for the rest of the nation, and hopefully some sort of government policies can be brought up when both wind turbines, solar energy, and any alternate energy sources are discovered for running large corporations. Once the effectiveness is completely there, and there are laws/policies that make these companies per say use 20-30% solar or alternate energy sources, I feel our nation and our nation's large corporate countries will start to make the change. Heck, they need to or we are in trouble.
Not letting viewers comment on Youtube is extremely interesting too, but a lot of what is put on the Youtube blog isn't very credible so why let people post when they don't fully understand what they are talking about. It would probably just turn in to people arguing with one another. But interesting observation.
It was great to read in Mike's articles that GM and Walmart are both beginning to think of using coal and oil energy alternatives but I think it is correct of Bryan and Sam to be hesitant to believe this will be a catalyst for a complete change to more energy efficient production for all major US companies.
ReplyDeleteI do feel optimistic that these actions by GM and Walmart, while they may be only to improve public relations, show that US companies are beginning to feel pressure from the public to change their energy consumptions habits. These companies have demonstrated in the past that they will respond to consumer demands. If enough consumers start to demand that major companies develop more energy efficient habits, new companies that promise higher levels of energy efficient will prosper. Maybe this will signal the beginning of major US companies reacting to more environmentally-minded consumers.