New York City has developed a new system of renewable energy: human waste. NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection issued this strategy on Wednesday. Heating fuel can be extracted from sludge and butanol, an alternative fuel to gasoline, from the algae generated by wastewater. Sewage treatment plants could sell methane gas to provide power to homes. Such projects represent a more sustainable long-term approach to managing a wastewater treatment process that costs the city about $400 million annually, not including capital investments. “There’s nothing in here that’s pie in the sky,” Caswell F. Holloway, the city’s commissioner of environmental protection, said of the plan. But like other cities around the country looking to reduce both the costs of sewage treatment and disposal and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases emitted in the process, New York is beginning to look at its waste as an untapped resource.
I think it’s interesting that New York City has decided to take on such a innovative and green way of producing energy and that we have waited so long to do so. For one, New York is far from “renewing” anything. Most systems of transport, energy, and layout are at least a century old. But it’s a step forward.
I think this relates to chemistry in that it is chemistry: energy conversion. There are definitely more chemists than plumbers working on this project.
posted for L. Connors
5 comments:
Luke wrote a good article review. He chose an interesting article that applies to us because it took place in New York City. He proposes a good argument that heating fuel can be extracted from things other than gasoline. With the current problems with oil and global warming, this information is very important. I liked how Luke included a quote in his review because it made his argument more believable and backed up his evidence. To make this a better review, I think he could’ve made it longer because it is lacking a few details. He also could have explained more about what this will bring to the future. From Luke’s review, I learned that New York City is beginning to realize the harms of waste and is beginning to take action by replacing gasoline.
I think that Luke did a good job at telling us what this article was about. Also, he explains what we could save by using this type of energy source. Finally he does a very good job at explaining what type of gas could be used for certain places.
He could have given us more information on how it relates to chemistry. Finally, he could have told us a little bit more as to why this is such a good idea.
I was impressed by how this source could save us so much money.
1. I liked how we quoted direct statements that were made in the article. It makes the summary better and more in detail.
2. I liked how he gave a short summary of the ideas from the article and didn’t drown us in information from the article.
3. I also liked how he gave the state of New York’s opinion on the issue.
1. One thing that could have been better is to discuss what can be done to make the situation better in greater detail. The summary explains the problem but doesn’t go into much detail about the solution.
2. Another thing that could be a little better would be to make the summary a little longer and give it more details.
1. I did not know that New York City had thought of such a productive way of producing energy.
I thought the article Luke chose was very interesting and it really caught my eye’s attention when I was looking at our class blog. I thought it was very interesting that New York would be able to use human waste as a form of energy. I really liked how Luke explained that the energy isn’t just there; it has to be extracted from the algae that resides in the wastewater. I also like the fact that he used a quote from Caswell Holloway. It provided a much better feel that although this is a step in the right direction, it is merely a single footprint on the path for a greener tomorrow. Some areas I thought Luke could have improved came from the length of his criticism of the article. Now obviously there isn’t much to criticize as the city is becoming greener. One possible question that could have been brought up would be the cost of installing this new energy infrastructure and how will it affect the hustle and bustle of big city life. Overall I thought Luke did a good job of summarizing what the article had to say and I think that he made it short but sweet.
New York City has developed a new energy source that is innovative and renewable. This source is human waste from the sewers. Heating fuel can be extracted from sludge and butanol from the algae generated by wastewater. I thought the article was relevant to us, as this process was discovered in New York City and could be used by people in Bronxville. Learning that we could save money and help the environment by using this process is gratifying and a good argument for why this process should be used. I liked learning that human waste could be used as a form of energy.
I think that the review could have been a little longer, as it was rather concise. I also would have liked more detail about the process, as it was somewhat vague and not very clear.
This article is important because if this heating process becomes widely used in New York City, it could affect the people of Bronxville as well. I would like to hear more on this story as more details are uncovered.
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