Hey Trina! You might want to check out some of the things on this website. Also, if you are looking for someone to interview, you might want to interview someone from Dunkin' Donuts. A little off the wall, I know, but they waste soooooo much food at the end of each day. My dad and I went in late one night and we saw them throw away a lot of food. It might be interesting for your I-Search. :)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/the_year_in_gre.php

Response 4: Reshaping Solar: Growth Expected Despite Economy

Wow. This article was so informative and captivating for me. In the beginning of the article it sounds like solar energy has a really promising future, but towards the end they do discuss the down- side of the credit crunch. Overall the future of solar heating does sound good though. Also, "19 GW of solar energy from 2009–2016" is a lot of energy to generate, and it's especially awesome that the industry will create an "addition of 440,000 jobs." If people can have solar panels installed and then pay off the cost as their 'monthly electricity bill' then what is stopping people from putting in solar systems?! However the article also states that the "Solar advocates are particularly concerned about the fate of third-party financing" because "the agreements depend upon investors with a strong tax appetite, often large banks." If the agreement is depending upon the large banks then there could obviously be a problem if the banks can't pay for it.
It seems as though there are a few utility companies that dominate the solar game however, and it could potentially hang smaller companies out to dry if they don't catch up sooner rather than later. If "solar hot water can meet 80% of a Florida homeowner’s water heating needs," then solar power can produce a lot of energy, so it wouldn't have to really be used so much with other types of energy. Although the fact that Florida is rather hot also has to be taken into consideration. Where as Maine might use way more hot water during the winter that Floridians ever would. Another thought to consider is what if utility plants could generate the solar electricity at a plant where it would then be sent out to homes, and everyone turned to solar energy?

Article 4: Reshaping Solar: Growth Expected Despite Economy

- Revenue from solar installations was up from "$7 million in 2005", to "$12 million in 2006", and "$30 million in 2007." A possibility of $60- $80 million can be expected in 2008.

- The solar industry seems to be gaining momentum especially after "President Bush signed into law an eight-year extension to the solar investment tax credit (ITC)."

- From 2009-2016 "19 GW of solar energy" is expected to be added to the industry, "equivalent to a $232 billion investment"

- The "Navigant Consulting report" expects an "addition of 440,000 jobs at a time when employment is shrinking"

-"third-party financing, also known as solar power purchase agreements," are when customers can avoid the expensive upfront costs when a solar system is put in by "solar service providers" offering "long term contracts."

- These contracts depend upon large banks that pay the upfront costs of solar and then allow you to repay them in monthly payments, just like a regular electricity bill. This has lead to many new installations.

- The needed "support from state governments" often has a large impact on the amount of renewable energy installations each year, so the credit crunch is greatly effecting many states that are now "facing large financial deficits."
- Independent solar companies may have slowed business due to utilities taking advantage of the tax credit for solar installations.

"There are over 3300 electric utilities in this country," 10 of which have controlled the solar landscape for the most part.

- "Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)", has about "50% of all grid-connected PV systems in the country."

- "The Utility Solar Water Heating Initiative (USH2O)", a combination of the solar industry and utilities "says that solar hot water can meet 80% of a Florida homeowner’s water heating needs."

Jeanette's Response #2

Wow. The amount of wasted materials is incredible! I think that the way you are tying waste and sustainable fuel together works well. If you are needing information and small statistics about the amount of stuff people waste, try going to idealbite.com. It sends daily emails to people about small ways to improve their Eco-friendliness. Go to tip library to find categories that might be of interest to you. Also, have you ever heard of The Green Bus? I read something about it a few years ago, but it still might help you with sustainable fuel. It was a bus that ran on oil and fat instead of gas. This should be a very interesting topic to continue!!

Second blog response by Liam

Katrina, I like how you used many statistics because this makes it easy to understand exactly how much garbage American's produce and how long it takes to dissappear. I also like how you mentioned biofuel from food waste because you are right, it does solve two problems at once. You also mentioned that people who eat fast-food could possibly be the most responsible for litter and for a lack of recyclying. Does this mean if there were less fast-food restaurantes and people ate less food on-the-go, there would be less litter on the road and a greater number of people would recycle?

Katie's second post

Trina, all this is so interesting! It seems like it was a very wise decision to switch from sports technology to this. I love how passionate you are about what you are researching, it shows through in your information and responses, and I'm sure it will in your paper as well. Maybe you could focus on a certain topic within sustainable fuel- the geothermal systems sound fascinating, or you could research ways in which people are trying to promote recycling and the positive effects it has- you seem to be most involved with recycling and waste. For an interview or field experience, I'm sure Mr. Steele-Maley knows a lot about these kinds of things, or you could go to Rising Tide to talk to people, or Chewonki. I think any nature oriented people in the area would know information that could benefit your research.

Everett Second Response

You clearly have done quite a bit of work on the blog and that shows that you have strong feelings about this topic. I think that statistics and "fun facts" are a good way to get the reader to enjoy your writing. In several of your articles you did this. Nice work. 0personally, my favorite was Article: How Long Does Litter Take To Disintegrate?.

An idea for bacground research, ccheck out the Camden Hills Regional High School, I know that all of their heat is geothermal, and it might be nice to have a little more information on this.

EM

LOTS of excellent information . . .

I am enjoying reading your blog; so many fascinating small facts as well as overall ideas in your articles. Also, your responses are well written. I believe that some new house owners in this area are heating with geothermal systems. Ask the class if they know a builder or energy supplier who is working with these systems; same with wind turbines.

Background Response 1: How Long Does Litter Take To Disintegrate?

These facts are awful. A million years for glass bottles and styrofoam to disintegrate? That is unbelievable. I knew it was a long time, but this is way longer than i thought. People should take this into consideration when they are buying products. Instead of buying styrofoam cups buy ones been made from recycled paper. Also think of how many times you get things in the mail that have styrofoam packaging in with them. I know that it happens a lot and often times half of it isn't even needed. Alternatives to items made of styrofoam might be looked into too. Aluminum takes 200-500 years to disintegrate. While this is not quite a million years it's still a lot and could be avoided by recycling.
The most amount of litter found outdoors is fast food waste. While at first this is surprising, I realized that this actually make sense. Most of the trash by the side of the road is from fast food, which also provokes the question whether its the people who eat fast food are the ones that litter and don't recycle the most. 28% of the trash that is found is aluminum. If the energy saved from recycling one aluminum soda can can power a computer for three hours, as i learned in the last article, then this 28% would have a huge impact on the amount of energy saved. If only people took the time to put those cans into a recycling bin, then we would save just that much more energy, and therefore have use less fuels to create the energy.

Background Article 1: How Long Does Litter Take To Disintegrate?

"Types of Litter Found Outdoors:
Fast food waste (33%)
Paper (29%)
Aluminum (28%)
Glass (6%)
Plastic (2%)
Other (2%) "

"How Long Litter Lasts In The Wild:
Orange peel (2-5 weeks)
Paper bag (1 month)
Cigarette butt (up to 5 years)
Leather shoe (45 years)
Plastic bottle (430 years)
Aluminum can (200-500 years)
Disposable diaper (550 years)
Glass bottle (Approx. 1 million years)
Styrofoam container (1 million years)"

Response 3: American Waste Land

These facts are horrifying for me to hear how much Americans waste. 251 million tons is a lot of garbage! And 30 million tons of food is enough to feed many, many people. I am doing sustainable fuel for my actual isearch, but I also want to look into the amount of waste that is produced not only in the world, but specifically in America. I have personally experienced many times when I've been shocked by the things that people waste. Waste of electricity and recyclable things is not only bad for the environment, but it also has large impacts on the levels of fuels in the world.
The quotes "...the energy conserved from recycling one glass bottle can power a 100-watt light bulb for four hours." and "The energy saved from recycling a single soda can is enough to power a computer for three hours!" are a real eye opener to the amount of energy that can be saved by such a simple act of recycling something. For the most part people don't recycle because they are either too lazy or there isn't a recycling bin available at the moment. This needs to change in America specifically. Only 32.61 percent of all trash produced in America is recycled. That's not very much at all when you think about it. If all this trash keeps building up well have other problems to worry about besides an energy crisis. The point is that we can save not only energy, but in doing that reduce our waste.

Article 3: American Waste Land

- Americans waste around "251 million tons of trash a year."
- Every person generates around "4.6 pounds of garbage" per day. Somewhere around only "1.5 pounds of that makes it into a recycling bin."
- In one year Americans don't recycle a good "41 million tons of paper and paperboard, about 10 million tons of glass, and 30 million tons of food."
- Just by recycling 1 glass bottle a "100-watt light bulb" can run for 4 hours."
- Recycling 1 soda can could save enough energy to "power a computer for 3 hours."
- About "2.5 millions tons of aluminum" will be thrown out by Americans in 1 year. Saving less than 1 percent of that aluminum is akin to saving "36 barrels of oil, or 1,655 gallons of gasoline-- enough to fill the tanks of 72 SUVs."
- In one hour Americans will use and throw out most of the "9.3 million plastic beverage bottles" used.