Interesting Lecture

Global warming is one of the most serious problems that the entire human beings are facing today. People finally start to realize those disastrous consequences brought by the global warming, such as rise in sea level, heat waves, hurricanes and floods. As most of us know, the global warming means the temperature on the earth keeps rising. It is caused by the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Hence if we want to relieve the situation, we must try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air.

During the lecture on Friday, Professor Andrew Palmer gave us a brief introduction on a new technology which is called Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) and I found it is quite interesting and effective. He mentioned it is able to store the carbon dioxide in the deep ocean, about 2750m under the surface of the sea. This method is technologically and scientifically feasible. However whether it will be implemented is a very complicated issue. It involves politics and this makes everything more difficult. Carbon dioxide is well mixed in the air, so this implies capture carbon dioxide is not one country’s duty but all. However, many governments still prefer to focus on the short term, such as taxing all use of carbon, rather than the long term like CCS. As the professor said, these governments are irresponsible and selfish. Other than CCS only, we also should improve the fuel efficiency and conservation. We can turn to alternative energy such as solar energy and wind energy. The lesser coal is used, the better our environment will be.

Besides the government, individual should also start to cooperate. We can cycle or walk instead of taking cars. We can categorize our wastes so to make recycle process more efficient. Using lesser plastic bag, save all the scarce resources such as water and electricity, and planting more trees all will help a lot. Everyone must take his or her initiative to join this global event.

Other two speakers’ talks are also quite meaningful. Benjamin K Sovacool used Science and Technology Studies (STS) to tackle the energy problem. He pointed out that STS methods provide a useful lens to evaluate New Technology by identifying different actors and interests involved in the technology. He also talked about the relationship between the technology, society, politics and economy. Rajasekhar Bala just simply mentioned the reasons caused the global warming and what the effective ways to reduce it.