Summary of lecture 3

This blog is a report on the series of lectures by Professor David Palmer, Dr. Benjamin Sovacool and Associate professor Bala on the 30^th of January.

Professor David Palmer gave a brief lecture on carbon capture and storage. He set off by giving a brief insight into the increasing levels of carbon dioxide and its possible remedies. He then illustrated the two types of carbon capture storage methods namely – oil field dumping and ocean storage. He went on to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both the techniques. He concluded by talking on the feasibility and the barriers involved in implementing carbon capture and storage.

The next speaker Dr. Benjamin Sovacool’s lecture was primarily on science and technology studies. He initiated his lecture by giving a brief introduction to STS and continued to talk about the traditional approach to new technology. He explained the hitches involved in traditional approach to technology. He went on to epitomize this with the help of two case studies on renewable energy and electric cars. He described the political, behavioral, economic, technological and cultural challenges concerned to renewable energy and electric cars. He concluded by emphasizing that STS is a unique and efficient approach to technology.

The last speaker Professor Bala based his talk on global warming and its alleviation. He explained the various effects of green house gases and highlighted ways to regulate the emission of green house gases particularly through Carbon capture and Sequestration. He concluded by briefing on what the government and every individual can do to help mitigate climate change.

I personally liked Dr. Sovalcool’s talk mainly because STS is a very different approach and involves social and cultural factors unlike the traditional approaches. The two case studies were very insightful and the cultural challenges for each of them were something I had never known before.

Role of our government and its policies in reducing global warming

 

Government and its policies play a crucial role in the contribution of a country in tackling the problem of global warming. Policies adopted by governments should focus on reducing energy consumption mainly oil consumption and emission of Green House Gasses. Kyoto is an international agreement that aims at reducing carbon emissions by industrialized nations. The United States having the largest per capita emission of GHG has refused to join this treaty. Unless all nations contribute and agree to try and do their part to reduce global warming, this problem can never be solved. Imposing taxes is another way to keep a check on energy consumption. Policies should also focus on afforestation, waste land development, promotion of renewable resources and abatement of air pollution.  

It is the developing countries whose low emissions have made it possible to sustain high pattern of energy consumptions by industrialized nations in the past, present and also in the future. For example, in India, traditional practices help reduce global warming – for instance, in rural areas which constitute three-fourths of the country’s population, people implement simple practices in their daily lives like drying clothes in the sun, washing utensils and clothes manually, less use of processed and frozen food, less machinery in lifestyle and using biomass as a fuel for cooking purposes contribute to the country’s low emission of green house gasses. The tradition of passing stuff through generations which include household items, clothing and furniture is a means of re-using, recycling and conservation of nature and its resources.

In summary, encouragement of cultural and healthy practices, policies by the government and institutions help reduce global warming. It’s not just the duty of the government to frame policies, to really succeed in this attempt to save our planet, every individual has to realize and help save the earth by not just following one of the above methods but trying to adapt as many practices they can in their daily lives.