Blog Presentation

Dear Blog Viewer:

Throughout this school year, I’ve been writing in this blog for my English class. Around In this blog, I posted and blogged on a variety of different issues with energy efficiency. I wrote posts in different styles in order to attract people that like to read certain types of writing styles. After writing week after week, I believe I have improved my reading and writing abilities.

When I started writing my blog, I was just making posts with little, if any, detail. “Why Energy Efficiency” was my first post on the blog because it serves as an informative post for the viewer. I would like the viewer to see why I chose energy efficiency as my topic. I don’t want them to believe that I was assigned this topic. I want them to know that I chose this blog because I believe Energy Efficiency is important. I would also like them to understand the meaning of energy efficiency.

Next, I started to write about ways the viewers could benefit from becoming energy efficient.In “3 Great Reasons for Becoming Energy Efficient”, I tried to persuade the viewer into becoming energy efficient. I showed three reasons why they should become energy efficient. I started using more details in my writing when I made this post. The 3 reasons I gave are that you spend less money, you improve the economy, and you create less pollution.

I started doing some research for my posts later on. I had to research a current event on energy efficiency and wrote “Incandescent Light Bulbs are now Illegal in the USA”. In this post I had to research and analyze an article I found interesting on the internet. Unlike the previous posts, I wrote more and gave facts that I read in the article. “LED Light Bulbs” is another post that shows improvement in my writing. I gave details and facts here as well as pictures to help prove some things.

“Economics” is the one of the last post’s I made on my blog. I believe this post may be the best one if not the best posts I wrote. In this post we had to tie our topic to another topic. So i decided to show the connection between energy efficiency and the economy. I also used a good amount of details, examples, facts, I had to do some research, and I used quotes. This is way more complex than my first post.

I’ve come to a conclusion that creating this blog has made me a stronger reader and writer.

Sincerely,

Cristian Garcia

SSR: House Passes Energy Efficiency Bill for Commercial Buildings

This week i'll be responding to the article,House Passes Energy Efficiency Bill for Commercial Buildings.
"The House passed legislation March 4 that aims to boost the energy efficiency of commercial buildings leased to tenants on a strong 375-36 vote." I'm glad the house voted to pass this bill. This bill is just another improvement towards becoming energy efficient. I don't understand why some people are opposed to this, it's going to help improve health, improve the environment, and save people money in the long run. 
By using green technology, you stop using fossil fuels. By stopping the use of fossil fuels, you don't emit any chemicals which can lead to several health problems. Fossil fuels aren't just bad for us, they are bad for the environment. They release green house gases into the atmosphere which causes the global temperature to rise. When the temperature rises, it leads to many global problems such as sea level rise, destruction of coral reefs, droughts, and hurricanes. In the long run it also saves you money. You will stop relying on the electricity company to supply you for electricity. You will get the energy from the environment which is free and after some years pass by, you end up saving money.
I agree with Upton, who said, “I hope a strong vote this afternoon would send a pretty good message to the Senate that they can embrace these bills,” on the House floor. I also like the Vermont democrat stated that, "Energy efficiency is an approach that really makes sense and we can and should do it,”.

Poem

Look Outside, see the trees
Watch the flowers in the breeze
Things won't be like this in a year or two
If polluting is all we do
Seize the night
Seize the day
Things won't always be ..........

by Josie Greveling

Haiku

Fossil fuels are bad
They are making nature mad
Destruction is near

Joke

Why did the farmer put a light bulb in the ground?
-He wanted to grow a power plant!
...you can laugh now.

Chevy Volt

Our Guest blogger this week is Josh Iloff

The Chevy volt has a rechargeable energy storage system comprising multiple linked modules. The Chevy volt has 149 HP (horse power). The top speed is around 100 mph. the distance you can go on just the battery power is 38 miles, the overall distance is 380 miles. The designer of the car is Bob Boniface. The car is front wheel drive. The years 2011 and 2012 the Chevy volt only on electricity could go 35 miles in 2013 it could travel up to 38 miles and in 2014 it can now travel up to 83 miles on electricity only that’s not including gas mileages. As of January 2014 the Chevy volt is the most fuel efficient car with a gasoline engine sold in the United States. The charge times vary between 10 to 12 hours. The brakes is power four-wheel vented disc with ABS; electro-hydraulic; fully regenerative to maximize energy capture; dynamic rear brake proportioning.  The generator cooling is 7.3 liters. The battery pack cooling is 7.0 liters. The gas tank is only 9.3 gallons. The oil system plus the filter can hold up to 3.5 liters. 

Economics

Becoming energy efficient is more than just about keeping the environment clean, it's also a huge effect on the economy. The definition of energy efficiency is to use less energy and still get the same services done, so by becoming energy efficient, you reduce the amount of energy consumption.
Reducing the energy consumption means we spend less money on energy and by spending less money, it leaves more money in the pockets of the people. The people can then go out and spend the money they make on other things like food or clothing.
Another way becoming energy efficient does is make jobs. To become energy efficient, we need to get rid of flaws in our energy system, like light bulbs or housing insulation for example. In order to do that, we need to employ people to go out and help solve these problems. Also, it leads to the production of more efficient products making jobs in factories as well.
The last way it effects the US economy is that you can report what you've spent on becoming energy efficient in your tax report to benefit you. According to Judkis from the US News, "You can also take advantage of a number of tax credits for energy-efficient home purchases."
These are just some ways the economy is effected by becoming energy efficient.

LED Light Bulbs

LED is short for light-emitting diode.  The LED light bulb was first made in the mid 1990’s. They are semiconductors that work by passing electrons turn into light. LED light bulbs are a little more efficient than CFL light bulbs because most of the energy is directed to light instead of heat. The LED light bulbs are heat sensitive so the bulbs have a Heat sink plate that moves the heat away from the bulbs, which is made by aluminum. Some of the common uses for LED's are for light bulbs at your home, lights in cars, and light bulbs in cell phones.

LED light bulbs also have a different color of light emitted by the bulb. Unlike the other 2 light bulbs, the LED lights give off a white or cool blue color which is just due to the fact that it’s the color the diodes give off. 

LEDs have also been given more features than just giving off light. A new light bulb that was invented was the lumen TL800 LED Smart bulb. Unlike the light bulbs we are used to, it has special features you can control. With the Lumen TL800 you can change the bulbs color, you can make the bulb brighter or dimmer, and it has a sensor that can make it change it sync to your music. It is Bluetooth so that makes it accessible from your phone.   

Hydrogen the Energy Source of the Future?

Hydrogen powered technology is a contraversial topic right now in technology. There are many good and bad things about having hydrogen become the next main source of energy in the world.
Hydrogen is probably the most ecofriendly fule avalible. Unlike fossil fuels, when cumbusted, hydrogen doesn't release any green house gasses into the atmosphere causing climate change. Instead, it produces water as a "waste". Also, you can get hydrogen by spliting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Finally, Hydrogen is aproximatly 2 times as exxicient as fossil fuels.
Now for the downside. Production of hydrogen is quite expensive. In order to get hydrogen by itself, you need to remove it from a bond with another element, water being the easiest to obtain. Also, you spend more energy making hydrogen than you actually get by using it. Next, Hydrogen has to be kept in a low temperature and under high amout of pressure.
These are the good things and bad things about using hydrogen as a primary source of energy in the future.

My Passion for Energy Efficiency

There are many reasons for me being passionate about energy efficiency. A few of my reasons are due to the fact that I want to keep a few extra dollars in my pocket, I want to keep the environment clean, and I want to major in environmental engineering. Who doesn't like to save money? We all like to get more out of our money and becoming energy efficient is one way to save money. Energy efficiency makes it so that you use less energy, which saves you money, and still get the same results in the end. Another reason why i want to become energy efficient is so that we reduce the amount of pollution that is released into the environment. I've grown up enjoying the outdoors and I would like conserve the environment so people in the future to see the same things I saw growing up. I wouldn't enjoy living in a place that is filled with pollutants in the air. Finally, I want to be an environmental engineer in the future, and energy efficiency is one of the main goals for environmental engineers. This is why I'm passionate for becoming energy efficient.

Incandescent Light Bulbs are now Illegal in the USA

According to USA TODAY, incandescent light bulbs are now no longer manufactured or imported in the USA as of January 1, 2014 to support the use of CLF and LED light bulbs. I'm glad the government has taken action and banned incandescent light bulbs from the USA. You might not think this is a big change but it really is. Approximately 17% of the USA energy is used for lighting. If every light bulb is replaced with CFL and LED light bulbs, we would cut our energy consumption by as much as 13%. That's the energy we lose just as heat because of the design of the incandescent light bulb.
People believe that incandescent light bulbs shouldn't be banned because they like the "warm light" it gives off but there's a solution to that, there are CFL light bulbs that give off the exact same light color as incandescent bulbs.
Another reason people complain about the CFL light bulbs is due to their shape. They think the shape is ugly unlike the incandescent light bulbs but I think that's a foolish reason. I believe it's foolish because you can't really tell the shape of a light bulb when its being used unless you stare at the light bulb, which isn't good for your eyes.
Finally, people buy them because they are cheaper when purchased at the store. These people don't look at the long term cost of the bulbs though. CFL light bulbs last about 5 times longer and use about 1/4 the energy. LED light bulbs last about 10 times linger and use 1/5 the amount of energy.
This is why I'm glad to find out that the incandescent light bulbs have been banned here in the USA now!