An outlook on our future By Bill Hall James Hastings Mary Piland Daniel Mantalas

1. Anoutlook on our futureByBill HallJames HastingsMary PilandDaniel Mantalas

2. Power Sustainability • Current power sources • Power consumers • Alternatives • What can you do? • What if? • Energy Quotes

3. Current Power Sources in the US

4. Power Consumers

5. Alternatives to Fossil Fuels • Solar • Wind • Hydro • Nuclear • Biomass • Fuel Cells • Geothermal

6. What can I do? • At home: • Solar power and heat • Geothermal heat pumps • Insulate baby, insulate! • In life: • Share what you have learned • Teach your children • Invest in alternatives

7. What if I do nothing? • Then I leave my children and grandchildren a world where ___________.

8. Natural Resource Conservation • Preservation of forests • Preservation of Pollinators • Soil Conservation • Water Conservation Energy Conservation (Will be covered by Bill)

9. Forest • Forest Farming - Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under the protection of a forest canopy that has been modified to provide the correct shade level.  • Windbreaks - Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock, and benefit soil and water conservation.  • Riparian Forest Buffers - Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established streamside forests made up of tree, shrub, and grass plantings. They buffer non-point source pollution of waterways from adjacent land, reduce bank erosion, protect aquatic environments, enhance wildlife, and increase biodiversity.

10. Pollinators • Pollinators – Bee’s and Bat’s are responsible for all of the plant type food you eat. • How Animal Pollination Works - Pollinators visit flowers in their search for food (nectar and pollen). During a flower visit, a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower’s reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from a different flower.  • Pollinators Are in Trouble - Bees are disappearing and bats are dying. These and other animal pollinators face many challenges in the modern world. Habitat loss, disease, parasites, and environmental contaminants have all contributed to the decline of many species of pollinators.

11. Soil Conservation • Plant Trees - We all know that roots of trees firmly hold on to the soil. As trees grow tall, they also keep rooting deeper into the soil. As the roots of trees spread deep into the layers of soil, they hold it tightly, thus preventing soil erosion. Soil under a vegetative cover is saved from erosion due to wind as this cover acts as a wind barrier. • No-till Farming - The process of preparing soil for plowing is known as tilling. No-till farming is a way of growing crops without disturbing it through tillage. The process of tilling is beneficial in mixing fertilizers in the soil, making rows and preparing the surface for sowing. But the tilling activity can lead to compaction of soil, loss of organic matter in the soil and the death of soil organisms. No-till farming is a way to prevent the soil from this harm.

12. Crop Rotation - Some pathogens tend to build up in soil if the same crops are cultivated again and again. Continuous cultivation of the same crop also leads to imbalance in the fertility demands of the soil. To save the soil from these adverse effects, crop rotation is practiced. It is a method of growing a series of dissimilar crops in an area. Crop rotation also helps in the improvement of soil structure and fertility. • Water the Soil - We water plants, we water the crops, but do we water the soil? We seldom do. Watering soil is a good measure of soil conservation. Watering the soil along with plants growing in it is a way to prevent soil erosion caused by wind.

13. Area’s effected by the drought this year • Areas most effected by the drought. • Without knowledge we would have had a “dust bowl affect” like in the 20’s

14. Energy Quotes • “Our children will enjoy in their homes electical energy too cheap to meter.” Lewis Strauss, 1954 • “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology.” George W. Bush, 2006 • “For those who want some proof that physicists are human, the proof is in the idiocy of all the different units which they use to measuring energy.” Richard Feynman

15. U.S. oil consumption • 18.8 million barrels per day • 20% of total world consumption • 11.4 million barrels imported • 2.9 million barrels exported

16. Where does the oil come from? • 55% domestic production • 45% imported • 29% Canada • 14% Saudi Arabia • 11% Venezuela • 10% Nigeria • 8% Mexico • 11% Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE

17. Total U.S. Greenhouse gas Emissions 2010 • Highway vehicles release 1.6 billion metric tons of GHG’s a year • Each gallon of gasoline burned creates 20 pounds of CO2 • 31% of CO2 emissions come from vehicles

18. What We can do • Limit driving • Run, Walk, Bike and Carpool • Get the best fuel economy possible for your vehicle • Never idle your vehicle

19. What the U.S. is doing • Changing fuel economy standards for automakers • Monitoring and regulating greenhouse emissions • Educating the public • Alternative fuels

20. Global efforts for sustainability • Min Geh president of Singapore's Nature Society- feels individuals make difference. • Kyoto protocol-two categories • 1. Developed countries • 2. Developing countries.

21. Denmark shows what government policy can do. • Wind supplies 21% of energy power. • Target is of 30% by 2015. • Private sector imports wind power technology. • 80% of power comes from individuals or cooperatives. • “power is in the hands of the people.”

22. China's local and national sustainability efforts. • Conventional wisdom shows China as one of the greatest pollutants. • China has developed eco-communities. • Communities achieve enviromental improvement along with economic growth. • China suffers from serious air and water pollution, biodiversity losses, land degradation and desertification. • There are increasing efforts at both local and national levels that are being undertaken to deal with enviromental problems.

23. U. S. efforts of sustainability.

24. References • http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html • http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/climate.shtml • http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_imports • http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption • https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html

25. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-ways-to-conserve-soil.html • http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/home