For the sake of a healthy urban ecology, the use of renewable energy - wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, etc - have a growing list of advantages over the energy that powers the urban environment today!
While the sustainability movement has encouraged less dependence on carbon based fuel the growing use of natural gas has revealing some unexpected downsides. Natural gas that leaks into the atmosphere from aging pipes is 20 times more effective at trapping heat than the carbon dioxide created from carbon based fuel. The benefit of using natural gas only occurs when it’s burned; if it leaks it creates big problems, explosions being one of them!
A recent
Detroit Free Press article detailed the natural gas leakage problem in Michigan with this statement:
“DTE Gas leak surveys, showed average hazardous leak counts quadrupled to 1,248 from 2006 to 2010. More than a quarter of the leaks in that average were caused by corrosion”
Nationwide the total loss of natural gas into the atmosphere is
“equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 30 coal plants.” according to the article entitled
The Environmental Scandal Thats Happening Right Beneath Your Feet.
A new philosophy is being adopted in the sustainability movement and it is simply this – Reduce then Produce! Reduce our dependence on the old energy model and produce more using the new renewable model. It will be exciting to see how renewable energy is embraced in the urban setting.
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