Meteor & Manusia yang Salah Arah

Sebuah meteor jatuh di Chelyabinsk, Rusia dengan kecepatan 18,6 mil   per detik pada hari Jum'at. Mereka beruntung karena meteor itu hancur di atmosfer, padahal ukurannya sama besar dengan  gedung berlantai 15!

Apakah mungkin ada pihak-pihak yang  memang mengharapkan peristiwa ini terjadi? Kita dibesarkan dengan film-film  sci-fi yang tidak begitu paham dengan meteor. Sehingga yang kita pikirkan hanya seperti dalam film Amageddon dan Deep Impact.  Ketika hari Sabtu tiba, ada sekelompok orang yang merasa begitu senang karena telah selamat dari hantaman meteor itu.   Sementara yang lain terkejut karena menyadari bahwa sistem pertahanan rudal canggih kita terbukti tidak berguna sama sekali.  (Ternyata peledakan meteor di luar angkasa  hanya ada dalam film-film Hollywood. Padahal, sudah triliunan dolar telah  dihabiskan untuk industri pertahanan).

Sebenarnya orang cenderung menganggap diri mereka sebagai makhluk yang kuat dan berkuasa. Dalam film-film, para pahlawan selalu berotot dan memiliki akses ke peralatan berteknologi tinggi paling anyar. Mereka tidak pernah tertembak. Selalu punya kekasih. Dan pada akhirnya, tepat sebelum tiba di bagian akhir, film entah bagaimana mereka dapat menyelamatkan dunia.

Tapi ini adalah sebuah fantasi! Manusia adalah makhluk bodoh dan egois yang jarang menggunakan teknologi untuk kebaikan; dan lebih suka menggunakannya  untuk saling membunuh. Prestasi terbesar umat manusia, sampai saat ini adalah dapat bertahan hidup selama ribuan tahun, meskipun sifat nyata genetik kita adalah haus darah. Tentu saja, manusia telah menemukan berbagai hal besar. Dari internet sampai kapitalisme. Dari Java hingga bisbol. Tetapi apakah inovasi-inovasi tersebut membantu kita untuk maju, atau malah menenggelamkan kita lebih dalam ke jurang kekecewaan?

Pahlawan-pahlwan Hollywood itu tidak ada. Bruce Willis tidak menunggu untuk lepas landas dalam pesawat ruang angkasa demi menanamkan nuklir ke meteor, dan (beberan) menyelamatkan bumi dari kehancuran termakan api. Sepertinya kita sudah banyak belajar, tapi sebenarnya kita tidak belajar apa-apa. Kita takut untuk menghadapi kenyataan bahwa manusia bukanlah  pahlawan. Kita bodoh berpikir  bahwa kita dapat menaklukkan apa pun yang kita sudah kita tetapkan sebagai tujuan kita. Bumi. Luar Angkasa. Tidak ada yang luput dari kekuasaan manusia.

Oleh karena itu, ketika kita berbicara tentang masalah ekonomi, perubahan iklim, dan kemajuan teknologi baru, mari kita ingatkan diri kita bahwa kita tak ada bedanya dengan sebuah meteor raksasa yang akan punah dari bumi ini, sama seperti mamut dan dinosaurus. Puf…hilang begitu saja!

Diterjemahkan dari Bahasa Inggris. Artikel asli diterbitkan pada 19 Februari 2013 di http://nrglabjohnwish.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/meteors-misguided-men/

[  nrglab sh-box, nrglab pte ltd, nrglab asia, nrglab, nrglab ana shell, meteor rusia, ana shell, cheap electricity, Energy Policy ]

So smoggy in Singapore: air pollution hits decade high

Forest fires originating from Indonesia's Sumatra Island has laid a blanket of smog over Singapore, sending most citizens scampering to buy protective masks and inhalers.

Singapore's air quality has teetered on "unhealthy" classification for some time now, but with the recent smog, air pollution has swollen to its highest levels in over a decade. A reading of 155 on the Pollutant Standards Index was taken Monday, while readings general fall between 104 and 123. (101 in considered “unhealthy,” if you were wondering.)

The smog is a reoccurring problem, beginning around midyear when Indonesian farmers clear brush by lighting fires. It’s begun to strain diplomatic relations. The Singaporean government is fed up with Indonesia’s inability to enact political sanctions on farmers caught illegally maintaining their fields.

The dry summer months have added to the problem, sparking spontaneous fires on a semi-regular basis. Firefighters are working over-time, in extreme conditions – and making little progress.

So far, neighboring countries like Malaysia have only been slightly affected. Pollution levels have yet to exceed the “unhealthy” limit. (But it’s only a matter of time…)

Sumarto Suharno, spokesperson for Indonesia’s Forest Ministry, claims the government is striving to educate farmers about agricultural alternatives to traditional ‘slash-and-burn’ techniques. “We have been able to reduce the regional haze problem significantly for years with help from local communities and will continue to undertake all efforts to prevent it from spreading," he said.

But will it be enough?

How many children will be diagnosed with chronic asthma before we get serious about the poisons we’re pumping into the atmosphere?

Pollution isn’t a regional issue. It can’t be tackled by any one government. Winds disperse carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases evenly throughout the atmosphere. It’s going to take cooperation. It’s going to take years of study, expert debate, and a willingness to work towards a unified goal: an end to global warming!

加州的排放限额与交易计划：拿我们的未来做交易

又到周末了，让我们来看看下周将要发生的大事。2月19日，加利福尼亚州将依照美国的排放限额与交易计划，举办一场温室气体排放拍卖会。排放限额与交易计划被誉为是对经济和环境都有利的政策，致力于控制碳排放，但实际上，该计划让公司把处理气候变化这一问题变成了一场大富翁游戏。

与其他公司相比，一些公司能更轻松地减少污染。如果一家公司运转良好，排放量低于预定限额，他们并不只满足于做了正确的事，而是可以把自己额外的排放量拍卖给预期将超过限额的违规公司。这些额外的排放量被称为“许可证”。每份许可证等于一吨二氧化碳。从本质上说，这些碳排放许可证创建了一个买卖有毒气体的竞争性市场。虽然排放限额与交易计划不会让全球变暖的情况恶化，但可以肯定的是，它在纠正这个问题方面也没有足够努力。与其他污染物不同而的是，碳排放的影响不会限制在局部地区；相反，它们会进入高层大气，并在那里得以传播。因此，污染是来自纽约还是新几内亚并不重要——包围着他们的空气也是您呼吸的空气，反之亦然。控制全球变暖不能局限在一个地区，或以公司为基础。我们应该从全球的角度出发，着手处理该问题。采用跨政府的方法，积极合作。说到底，这是我们共同的星球。

在下周的拍卖会上，以及将在今年5月16日、8月16日和11月19日举办的拍卖会上，5 680万份许可证有待拍卖。那可是5 680万吨二氧化碳，它们将被合法地排放到我们的大气中！而加州仅仅是实施此项计划的第一个州。其他州在采纳该项立法之前，都在期待着排放限额与交易计划的交易情况。也就是说，潜在有49个州将向空气中排放另外5 000万吨温室气体。我甚至都不在乎对此进行的计算了。（因为那太让人沮丧）

是时候采取严厉措施，彻底远离碳排放了。与其允许公司将限额空间当做货币使用，为什么不能提高税务罚款，实施联邦基金清洁能源激励政策呢？让我们后退的原因在于，用临时解决方案解决长期问题。我们需要开始奖励那些致力于找到真正的解决方案的公司——类似NRGLab的公司。我们需要在能源政策方面更加积极。积极应对那些认为污染我们的空气也没关系的公司。因为，这不是大富翁游戏。这是真真切切的世界，它要求真正的领导力。NRGLab在可替代能源运动中已走在前列。我们希望这项运动将尽快地变成政治行动。

问题不应该是排放限额与交易计划的交易情况；而是，您的肺是否能够应对它？

从英文版翻译而来。原文于2013 2月16日，http://officialnrglab.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/californias-cap-and-trade-program-bargaining-with-our-future/

New York green energy independent with the help of NRGLab?

A study recently published in the online journal Energy Policy claims that the state of New York – home to the city that never sleeps – could run completely on clean electricity by mid-century. Is this for real?

Thirteen environmental experts collaborated on the study, which analyzed the economic and engineering practicality of meeting the state's energy demands entirely with renewable sources. They agreed that transitioning towards green energy would not only increase overall efficiency, it would decrease consumptions rates and level energy price points.

Oh, yeah – and it’s the environmentally responsible thing to do! The level of carbon in our atmosphere has exceeded 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. More cases of asthma are being reported than ever before. Our water wells are being tainted by acid rainfall. Where does it end? With our extinction, like the dinosaurs?

Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and one of the authors on the study, spent over two years hammering out the details, which proposed wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy as preferable alternatives to fossil fuels and nuclear power. Biofuels would be used as a temporary power source during the transition, and then eventually phased out.

“Look at South Dakota,” says Jacobson. “In 2011, 22% of all their electricity was produced from wind power. Can you believe that? If you look at where they started from, maybe five years before that, it was ZERO. Suddenly it’s 22.3%. That's even more than Denmark! And the price of electricity in South Dakota went up only 2 cents per kWh from 2003 to 2011, whereas the average in the U.S. went up 3.6 cents per kWh. So it wasn't more expensive, that's for sure.”

3.6 cents per kWh?? NRGLab can do much, much better! With the SH-Box, a light-weight generator that produces electricity from geothermal heat, you could be paying as little as 3 cents per kWh TOTAL. Sure, that might not sound like a huge difference at first, but when you run your television, refrigerator, and computer all throughout the day – IT ADDS UP TO SAVINGS!

So do the right thing, and make the switch to an all-natural source of renewable energy. Visit nrglab.asia for more information on the SH-Box and our various other green energy projects.