WEEK 3: Energy

Last week, Mayor Michael Nutter announced that a solar energy power plant will be built in the Philadelphia Navy Yard and should generate enough power to sustain about 200 homes. While this is a step forward, it also filled me with a small sense of dread. That’s a very small percentage of the Philadelphia population. Would it be enough to really make an impact? So for the next two weeks, we’re going to discuss something we’ve only mentioned briefly in previous postings: Energy. We can't really think about food, transportation, materials and waste without thinking about what makes all of these systems function.

We’ll start off with Energy Vampirism, consumer products that slowly sap out energy without you knowing, and give you some tips on how to best combat the problem. We’ll also go more in-depth on energy sources and give you the scoop, both pro and con, on solar, wind, nuclear, etc. We’ll finish up the discussion next week with a discussion on bio-fuels, such as switch grass and ethanol, and see if they really live up to the hype.

Also this week we're going to be joined by Karyn Gerred, a Philadelphia environmentalist and scenic artist. She will be regularly contributing news on green happenings in the film industry among other pertinent environmental facts. To start things off, she's gathered more recycling information, so look for an updated FAQs tomorrow!