ENERGY SOURCES Jan. 2014 | Page 4

Letter to readers,

The future of our planet is becoming a more and more controversial topic. Global Warming has become a large-scale issue and even something on a small-scale like the usage of batteries has become a touchy choice of topic. There has been a common misconception of the current weather situation and its relation to global warming. People have begun to believe that global warming is just the media playing its games on us. People only see the immediate present and have created a common belief that if the world can freeze to look like the coral reef, then we are in fact not entering the stages of global warming. If we continue to ignore the blatant truth that these out of control weather changes are a result from our human factors then we can only hope that there will be a future. The average weather in Toronto used to be -6°C mid-January, rather than our -35 (WeatherSpark). So here’s something to think about, if this deep freeze is our winter, what will our summers look like?

Renewable resources are once again proving to the world that society doesn’t need fossil fuels to continue functioning. There is even a chance that without this pollutant there is potential for an even faster pace in development. The costs have lowered drastically since the beginning stages of renewable sources. The hope of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is becoming a much larger possibility. The balance between financial gain and economic growth with our renewable resources is raising our hope for a cleaner future. The technologies that are currently being developed may be creating short term problems such as the amount of energy needed to manufacture the machinery, however in the long term, the amount of time it takes to “bounce back” is much less. This international news report really opened my eyes to see just how close we are as a human race to success.

Biomass energy allows for this “Think Yellow, Go Green” campaign to happen. Taking phone books, something that the current modern day society doesn’t need because of the connection we have through cellphones. Seeing an idea of using something that every home has, and has probably dumped in the corner of their basement is an initiative that brings change possible. It has personally inspired a different way of thinking to me. If we can take what we already have and use it towards renewable resources versus taking what we need from the earth, we will be renewing energy straight from our past.

Innovative ideas are the future to green success. No matter how cliché this sounds, installing solar panels a little here and a little there will ultimately create a massive change. This is a little more than a thought, but a little less than a message. If you want our future generations to experience Mother Nature at its best, take a stand and find better energy alternatives in your life.

Signed,

Sharon Cheng