1

Cynthia Griffin

Dr.Lynch

College Writing I Honors

December 6, 2020

From the beginning of time until now, the Earth has played a central role in our lives--it

has sustained us, provided for us, allowed us as humans to evolve far beyond our ancestors’

dreams. But this Earth, this beautiful planet, is dying--every day it moves closer to its end. The

temperatures are rising, the ozone layer is depleting, forests are being destroyed, many species

are on the brink of extinction, and the air pollution has increased dramatically in the past couple

of centuries alone. At the center of all of this havoc on the environment are world superpowers,

countries like China and the United States who have played a major part in the destruction of this

planet’s ecosystem through the use of fossil fuel and other hazardous methods of sustainability.

The U.S., having played a central role in both fossil fuel emission and the overall pollution of the

environment should accordingly be a leader in the development of clean and efficient energy

alternatives such as solar power, wind and water-powered technology, and biofuel.

The Earth is a planet capable of cultivating and housing millions of different species. One

of these species is Homo sapiens, better known as humans. Having been around for millions of

years, humans have had impacts on this planet’s ecosystem. Throughout the millenniums, mother

nature has provided us with all we need to survive: water, food, shelter, oxygen, sunlight, and so

much more. But we as a species have failed to provide the same care and nurturing that the Earth

has graciously gifted to us. We have decimated forests, killed thousands of species, depleted

resources, and polluted through the use of fossil fuel--we have destroyed many of the things we
 2

take for granted. Now it is our turn to repay her kindness, to make an effort to help restore the

forests, protect endangered species, and finally replace fossil fuel with a more sustainable

resource for energy.

In the introduction of the paper “Application of Integrated Membrane Bioreactors in

Renewable Energy Industry”, scientist Nurdaulet Kalassov and his colleagues--observing the

harmful environmental aspects of fossil fuel--explore the creation of biofuel using biotechnology

as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel. Realizing that fossil fuels are the main source of CO2

emission in the environment--with electricity alone being a third of the total emissions--and with

global warming becoming a more pertinent issue, Kalassov and many other scientists in the field

began exploring biofuel as an alternative energy source. While pointing out that these emissions

per-unit have gone down from the past, Professor B. Abdullah et al. noted that fossil fuels are

still responsible for 80% of the energy production in the world [Kalassov]. The authors’ main

point is the integration of a renewable energy source, like biofuel, as a way to be more energy

efficient and limit the overall use of fossil fuel in the world. Not only does Kalassov et al. point

out the harmful effects of fossil fuels--like petroleum, diesel, natural gas, and coal--but they also

establish the fact that since fossil fuels are not a renewable resource there is a limited supply that

will eventually have to be replaced with a new system of generating energy anyway. This is a

stark fact for even those not in support of the replacement of fossil fuels because it points out the

fact that whether or not we replace fossil fuels now or in the future, it will eventually be pertinent

and therefore should start to be looked into now.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for assessing

the science and technology related to climate change [ICCP], deemed CO2 as a pertinent cause

for global warming and prioritized the development of a more efficient and renewable energy
 3

source to replace fossil fuels. As a result, many scientists--including Kalassov--began

researching alternative resources like biofuel as a replacement. The authors specifically mention

two environmental and renewable fuels--ethanol and biohydrogen--that could be an alternative to

fossil fuels, both obtained through renewable material like agriculture, municipal and forestry

waste [Kalassov]. Their introduction all leads to one solution, the use of integrated membrane

bioreactors to solve the issue of efficiently producing these sustainable alternative fuels for the

economy as a way to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, one major part of a larger

movement to stop global warming.

There have been many different integrated membrane bioreactors that have been

proposed to counteract disadvantages to membrane technology--issues such as membrane

fouling, high cost and energy usage, and concentration polarization [Kalassov]. Membrane

fouling refers to the decrease of a membrane’s ability to transfer materials due to particles being

deposited onto the membrane’s surface [Meng] and concentration polarization is the presence of

gradients at the membrane resulting from the membrane being able to transport certain species

through more readily than others[Guiver]. The development of an integrated system of

membranes connected with a bioreactor allows the harnessing of this systems energy for fuel,

according to Katalin Belafi-Bako, being able to be used in both aerobic--in combination with

pressure-controlled membrane methods--and anaerobic--in combination with membrane gas

separation--systems [Kalassov]. Very porous and dense membranes are used in the production of

these alternative fuels--bioethanol, biodiesel, methane, and biohydrogen--because they make the

transfer of materials and the flow of energy smoother.

In the introduction to Steven Cohen’s article “What is Stopping the Renewable Energy

Transformation and What can the U.S. Government Do?”, he emphasizes America’s role in the
 4

pollution of a planet with a population of over 7 billion people and their responsibility as a nation

to lead the transition to a renewable-resource-based economy. The world's reliance on this one-

time use of fuel on a planet with a finite amount of resources and an exponentially growing

population makes the development and implementation of sustainable energy that much more

dire, so why has this transition not happened yet? Cohen points out three specific reasons for this

lack of transition: technologies that still need further development, improperly designed

infrastructure, and complicated political polarization that limits the country and the world's

ability to make the much needed transition. The author closes the introduction by emphasizing

the importance of policy making in the transition to a more sustainable energy-based economy,

saying that the role that politicians and the public opinion as a whole has on this transition is

immeasurable [Cohen].

As the population of the planet continues to grow and societies reliance on energy to fuel

every aspect of their lives creates an enormous need for the creation of a sustainable and

renewable energy source that can help power the planet in the twenty-first century. Cohen

discusses one specific tactic used by climate change activists in the push to transition away from

fossil fuels, the use of taxes to raise the prices of fossil fuels as a way to deter the use of it by the

people. This plan, while seemingly good on paper, does not realistically deter many from the use

of fossil fuels--especially in a society so reliant on the energy it produces [Cohen]. And in a

country like America where multiple companies can sell fossil fuels at different rates it is

difficult to have a forceful transition away from the use of fossil fuels, although it may be

possible in other countries like Russia or China. The two main tasks of America is to create this

transition to a renewable energy source while the consumption of energy throughout the country

(and the world) continues to grow and convince companies that have assets in the existing
 5

energy industry and are against the transition to start investing in renewable energy instead

[Cohen]. These are not simple tasks, they will require the full effort of the public and

government in order to come to fruition.

On top of the effects that fossil fuel has on the environment--both in the underground

extraction process and the emissions of CO2 and other harmful gases--the fact that it is finite

means that even before fossil fuels run out completely, the limited supply of fossil fuels

combined with the added difficulty of extracting it will cause the expenses of it to be to great for

the general public to use anyway [Cohen]. With fossil fuels moving towards the more expensive

end of the industry market and countries all across the world--from America to China to India to

developing countries in Africa--having massive energy needs, the sooner we as a society move

off of fossil fuels, the better. The U.S. needs to take the lead in developing a “...cheaper, less

capital-intensive, more reliable, decentralized, and less polluting..”[Cohen] energy source than

fossil fuel. According to the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory

(NREL), every state in America is capable of having at least one form of renewable energy with

the potential of supplying all of the energy needed. In fact, the NREL found that renewable

energy had the potential to generate over 100 times the U.S. total energy consumption from 2011

[Cohen]. And this capacity is estimated to triple by 2035, being able to supply relatively one-

third of the total energy needed worldwide [Cohen]. With the help of effective public policy,

Cohen believes that renewable energy can be a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels.

Admittedly, there are still some things that need to be considered before transitioning to

renewable energy. Cohen and others, including the National Research Council, are clear in that

they don’t believe the technology is quite where it needs to be yet. Breakthroughs in things like

nanotechnology can greatly increase the convenience of solar technology and large
 6

implementation of these technologies in the community can aid in its growth for personal use,

but we as a society are simply not there yet [Cohen]. In order for scientists to make these

advancements, they would need public support and huge investments--but these investments

would have enormous economic and environmental benefits for the future. Another thing Cohen

and the National Research Council brought to light is the need for better infrastructure and grid

systems--including a transmission of energy in a more efficient and decentralized system. The

author points out that simply focusing on the technology behind renewable energy--including

solar cells and biotechnology--is not enough, there needs to be a huge emphasis on infrastructure

that allows this sort of technology to be used on a large scale [Cohen]. Many private companies

own portions of the power grids, making it difficult to have one seamless flow of energy--

especially over long distances. The last aspect that Cohen rises as a barrier in the way of the

conversion to renewable energy is the huge sway the public and politics has on the issue.

Because sustainable energy technology is more complex and riskier for investors than traditional

energy investments like fossil fuel [Cohen]--the sway to renewable energy has been an arduous

process, one that is causing the environment more devastation every day. Overall, the switch to

renewable energy will not be an easy one; there will be many challenges that the public and

scientific community will have to face in order for a new energy system to gain its bearings. But

this struggle will be worth it, if not for the environmental benefit, then for the more reliable and

sustainable energy that will come from an infinite source of power.

The next article I will be addressing is the article “CO2e emissions from HVAC

equipment and lifetime operation for common U.S. building tests” by Aik Jong Tan and Darin

W. Nutter, both members of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-

conditioning Engineers. In their paper, Jong and Nutter run multiple experiments to observe the
 7

amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the heating and cooling equipment of ten common

commercial building types. Past studies have been done on the greenhouse gas emissions not

only coming from fossil fuel-run electricity, but also from the material production (like steel,

wood, and concrete) and the construction process of these buildings--but none have been done

extensively into the heating and cooling equipment in the buildings, something that could be

disregarded in the public eye as something that contributes to air pollution. The authors used four

different sources as the main data points for this experiment, the DEO Commercial Building

Benchmark Model, 2002 RSMeans Mechanical Cost Data, DEO Net Zero Energy Commercial

Building Initiative Models, and Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment Model. Tan and

Nutter observed that HVAC equipment was affected by multiple variables; the ones included in

the study involving “...local climate, building type, building size, HVAC equipment capacity,

geographical location, and on-site emissions”(Aik, pg.416).

According to ASHRAE, every part of the U.S. has been divided into 8 different climate

regions, each zone having moist, dry, and marine areas [Aik, Figure 1, pg.417]. These regions

are all connected through the three main energy grids in America, the Eastern Interconnection,

Western Interconnection, and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT); the Eastern

Interconnection covering from the Atlantic cost to the eastern border of the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Interconnection covering most of the Rocky Mountains over to the Pacific Ocean,

and the ERCOT covering mainly Texas [Aik, Figure 2, pg.418]. All of these grids are overseen

by the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC) , its three main grids have

little to no connection with little to no energy transfer [Aik]. All of these complicated grids with

relatively independent systems makes the transfer of intercontinental energy that much more

challenging. This divided system of energy feeds into the greater emissions of greenhouse gases,
 8

a lot of energy being lost in these large grids during the transmission process. The three main

regions have different greenhouse gas emissions because they all vary in some of the factors

discussed earlier--including climate and geographical location. With over 70% of the U.S. total

energy per year being produced through fossil fuels--like coal and oil--and with the use of energy

and production of greenhouse gases through the extraction, transportation, processing, and

purification of these fossil fuels [Aik], it’s clear to the authors and many other professionals that

fossil fuel has devastating effects on the environment. The results of Tan and Nutter’s

experiment showed that the largest part of emissions was from the operation process behind the

electricity of HVAC equipment, having about an average of 54% emission. It was concluded that

“...the operation of HVAC generates the majority of GHG [(greenhouse gas)] emissions”(Aik,

pg.421). It was also observed that identical buildings in colder climates had higher emissions

from energy consumption than the same building in warmer climates. Although these different

factors, like temperature and location, can vary the emissions of greenhouse gases slightly there

is still a clear conclusion--that using fossil fuels as an energy source emits exponential amounts

of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, severely damaging our environment in the process.

In chapter 4 of the book Hope for a Heated Planet: How Americans are Fighting Global

Warming and Building a Better Future, Robert K. Musil discusses the foundations of global

warming and the lengths scientists and environmentalists will have to go to in order to take on

carbon lobbies that are downplaying the harmful effects of fossil fuels and disregarding the need

to transfer to a more sustainable and renewable energy source. Just like Cohen, Musil

emphasizes the importance of politics in the role of the fight for sustainable energy and climate

change--claiming that in order for real change to be made the average citizen needs to get

involved and elect representatives that will support policies in favor of the environment. As
 9

Musil points out, “...how the dangers and solutions are defined and discussed shapes how the

problem is perceived”(Musil). The media and public opinions can greatly sway an issue in favor

of one side over the other, when carbon lobbies and environmentalists go head-to-head in the

public eye it becomes a messy and uncivilized fight as opposed to a civilized discussion about

the change this planet needs. Musil does also discuss the failure on the side of environmentalists,

pointing out their aggressive and ill-prepared “solutions” to climate change--many environmental

groups trying to implement completely new infrastructure instead of working with systems

already put in place. The author emphasizes all the good that these systems have already done

“...for human health, community well-being, moral values, national security, and positive, far-

reaching energy solutions”(Musil), claiming that we as a community should not simply throw

away these systems completely, but rather implement changes to these pre-existing systems to

help the environment more. Now although many environmentalists might argue that this is not

good enough action, people must realize that change cannot happen overnight--it cannot be

forced on society, it takes hard work and consistency. And no system is perfect--although some

may be more flawed than others--so instead of proclaiming the current one as insufferable, we as

a community should work together to salvage the good parts of this system to build upon and

change the bad parts to better fit this twenty first century world.

In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he describes the suffocating darkness of those who are

ignorant along with the struggle they must go through in order to emerge from the cave and

become enlightened by knowledge. Although this path to enlightenment is a challenge -- more of

a challenge than simply staying ignorant--it is necessary for the development and success of

man. Many argue that we shouldn’t switch over to more sustainable energy sources because they

are unreliable. Others argue that fossil fuels work already so what’s the point of switching --
 10

especially because we don’t know what effects such a change will have on the economy, on the

job market, and on society as a whole. But just like those ignorant men down in that cave, only

by making that choice to emerge out into the light, and by seeing the truth no matter how much it

blinded them, they were able to learn and progress more. Couldn’t we do the same with energy

resources? We don’t know if biofuel will work better than fossil fuels, we don’t know exactly

what effect it will have on the economy or job market, we don’t know what the future may look

like, but we won’t know unless we’re willing to take the leap and try. How do you think fossil

fuels were discovered and harnessed in the first place? Because someone chose to take the leap

and experiment--to innovate. And in doing so they ended up creating the most widely used

energy source ever. So who is to say that we as a species can’t continue to progress? Maybe

wind or water power, solar energy, or biofuel can be our next fossil fuel. We are always evolving

as a species, and we want to make sure that as our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids grow up

on this planet that it will be capable of providing the same nurturing as it has for eons.

Environmental problems have always been present throughout human history--from

scarce resources to wildfires to habitats being destroyed--there has always been a problem that

needed to be addressed. And through all of these times, humans have come together as a

community to solve these problems because they recognized that they not only affected

themselves, but their friends, family, and neighbors too. There are some issues that people face

that can be of no concern to others, people in starving parts of the world don’t affect well-to-do

people living in Manhattan, but the environment affects every living creature on this planet from

the biggest elephant to the smallest microbacteria. From the sun that we see, to the water we

drink, to the very air that we breathe, all of it is affected by pollution from fossil fuel. There is no

telling what the future might bring, but as someone who is planning on having a long life full of
 11

loved ones, I hope there is still a planet left for them once I’m gone. We only get one Earth, I

suggest we start caring for it as such.

Work Cited

“About the IPCC.” IPCC, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United

Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), www.ipcc.ch/about/.

Aik Jong Tan, and Darin W. Nutter. “CO2e Emissions from HVAC Equipment and

Lifetime Operation for Common U.S. Building Types.” International Journal of Energy

& Environment, vol. 2, no. 3, May 2011, pp. 415–426. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=69684498&site=ehost-live.

Cohen, Steven. “What Is Stopping the Renewable Energy Transformation and What Can

the US Government Do?” Social Research, vol. 82, no. 3, Fall 2015, pp. 689–710.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112817925&site=ehost-live.

Guiver, Michael D., et al., Membrane Termanology, Encyclopedia of Membrane Science

and Technology, Vol.3, 2013, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, pp.2219-2228, www.wiley.com/en-

us/Encyclopedia+of+Membrane+Science+and+Technology%2C+3+Volume+Set-p-

9780470906873

Kalassov, Nurdaulet, et al. “Application of Integrated Membrane Bioreactors in

Renewable Energy Industry.” Journal of Chemical Technology & Metallurgy, vol. 55, no.

2, Mar. 2020, pp. 314–323. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=141832361&site=ehost-live.
 12

Meng, Fangang, et al. (February 2008). "A comprehensive study on membrane fouling in

submerged membrane bioreactors operated under different aeration intensities".

Separation and Purification Technology., Vol 59(1), February 2008, pp.91-100,

doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2007.05.040

Musil, Robert K. "Framing and Talking about Global Warming." In Hope for a Heated

Planet: How Americans Are Fighting Global Warming and Building a Better Future, 62-

78. New Brunswick; New Jersey; London: Rutgers University Press, 2009. Accessed

December 7, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hj98v.8.

Plato, “Allegory of the Cave” The Republic, Book VII, Lumen,

Sunyrockland.open.suny.edu,

sunyrockland.open.suny.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?

content_id=_831203_1&displayName=Plato, introduction to the "Allegory of the Cave" -

due

9/15/20&course_id=_21966_1&navItem=content&href=courses.lumenlearning.com/

suny-eng-101-college-writing-i-lynch?

p=40&cR2XilcGYOo=9VPdImJywWDWgzdK8iuki2Gb6hVeirYHOQDV7SEFtIo=.