Post 3 - Main Points of each lecturer presented

In this post, I will be summarizing on the main points each lecturer presented and write about what I found interesting and why.

The first lecturer presented yesterday was Prof. Andrew Palmer. He talked about carbon dioxide capture and storage in terms of technology and politics. He mentioned that Global Warming causes climate change and in order to overcome climate change, we need to focus on actions that could be taken now by making use of existing technology. Furthermore, these actions have to be scale large enough to be significant. In his entire presentation, he focuses on carbon dioxide capture and storage. The main purpose of capturing and storing carbon dioxide is to make sure that it is not dumped into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide can be stored in places like depleted oil, gas field or ocean. However, storing carbon dioxide in the ocean can make the ocean more acidic with several biological effects. So, he suggested storing carbon dioxide into the ocean using a membrane. The carbon dioxide can be captured in power station and send to the membrane in the ocean through pipeline. He also mentioned some of the roles that the Government can play in reducing Global Warming, such as introduce petrol tax. As for individuals, they can give up owning cars or buy economical cars. Lastly, he also questioned whether is it possible to capture and store carbon dioxide because the atmosphere is well-mixed, therefore reducing carbon dioxide is a global and not local problem. However, he said it is possible if all countries are willing to cooperate.

The second lecturer is Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool and he speaked about using Science and Technology System (STS) to address energy (and Technological) problems. He mentioned that STS looks at contingency, social and political ordering, invisibility and failure. Two case studies that Dr Sovacool talked about are on renewable power and electric vehicles. Some of the constraints of using renewable power are market failures and barriers, political and regulatory obstacles, and cultural and behavioral challenges. In the past, people travelled in electric vehicles and it is produce less pollutants. Due to the technical challenges and batteries, charging stations problems, electric vehicle gradually become extinct. Lastly, he mentioned that failure and acceptance of technology have nothing to do with technical feasibility but more to do with social factors.

The last lecturer is Dr. Rajasekhar Bala and he touched on climate change in terms of assessment and mitigation. He mentioned that the earth's atmosphere is warming because of human activities. Some of the greenhouse gases that trap heat are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Without these gases, the earth will not be so warm. He also mentioned signs that suggest Global Warming is occurring, possible consequences of Global Warming and possible effect of warmer earth. The rate of climate change can be slowed down by increasing energy efficiency, use renewable energy resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The government can tax on greenhouse gas emissions, subsidize energy efficiency and cooperate internationally. Some basic approaches that Dr Bala mentioned in dealing climate change are drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and develop strategies to reduce its harmful effects. Finally, he mentioned that there is a climate change conference held in Denmark next month is an opportunity for all countries to learn from each other.

To conclude, I find that what all three lecturer have speaked about are interesting. However, what I found most interesting is the use of membrane to store carbon dioxide because it is first time that I heard of this method. After attending the lecture yesterday, I have gained better knowledge on Global Warming.

Post 2 - Roles of environmental and special interest groups in solving Global Warming

Global Warming is an issue that had been discussed by many in the past few years. Some of the causes of Global Warming include emission of carbon dioxide, deforestation and industrialization. Most of these cause the Earth to get heated up. As a result, ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, and agriculture yields are changing. Global Warming has become a threat to our lives and the Earth will be vanishing soon. People are now trying to save our Earth by practising the 3Rs that is Recycle, Reuse Reduce. There are also organizations that are contributing and solving Global warming. In this entry, I will be discussing the existing and possible roles of environmental and special interest groups in contributing to or solving Global Warming.

Firstly, private organizations such as NTUC Fairprice, SMRT schools are helping to solve Global Warming by encouraging the public to practise the 3Rs. For example, NTUC Fairprice sets every Wednesday to be Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) to encourage customers to bring their own bag to put their grocery. It is to reduce the use of plastic bags. Cans are also placed at every cashiers for customers to donate ten cents if they want plastic bags. SMRT had also organized a "Go Green with SMRT" event to encourage the public to take public transport. It also changes its buses in order to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. Schools are also encouraging their students to save the Earth by getting them to recycle those recyclable things such as aluminum cans, plastic bottle and paper. Stickers with ticks are also pasted on electronic appliances. If there are many ticks on the stickers, it means that the appliances consume less electricity. Therefore, with these private organizations, the public are encourage to adopt eco-friendly practices to save the Earth.

Secondly, the government is also encouraging the public to reduce Global Warming. More Electronic Road Price (ERP) gantries are built to discourage people from driving. By reducing the number of vehicles on the road, it helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to the environment. Brochures are also placed in the letterbox of every household to educate the residents on solving Global Warming. Hence, the public will become more aware of Global Warming.


Lastly, I feel that environmental and special interest groups can do more to solve Global Warming. For instance, they can organize monthly or yearly events in every areas of Singapore to create more awareness on Global Warming.

In conclusion, I feel that saving the Earth is like a group work. Having organizations helping to solve global warming is not enough; everyone has to play their part too. So, for the sake of our lives, let us all do our part in saving our Earth!

Post 1 - "The Expanding World of Engineers"

Prof Ramakrishna states that "an engineer's training helps to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic (systematic) approach in designing solutions" in his article, “The Expanding World of Engineers". How an engineer accomplishes this?

First of all, an engineer is trained to analyze and solve complex information during his/her tertiary education. During his/her tertiary education, he/she is taught a step-by-step approach to analyze and solve complex problems. For example, he/she is given a circuit diagram and asked to solve for a particular value. He/She will need to analyze the diagram step-by-step before he/she reach to an answer. In addition, he/she is also given a problem and asked to write a program. He/She will need to apply a systematically approach to write the program, such as defining the problem statement first, followed by defining the input, output and computation to be done, followed by writing the program and testing the program, and finally debugging the program if there are errors. Furthermore, through project work, he/she needs to go through the process of designing, developing and troubleshooting. If his/her project is not functioning, he/she will have to analyze his/her project to find out where went wrong in order to troubleshoot it. Hence, through practices and project works, an engineer is able to systematically analyze complicated information and apply a holistic approach in providing the solutions.

Secondly, an engineer has to expand his/her horizon in order to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic approach in designing solutions. An engineer needs to constantly expand his/her knowledge so that he/she will not lag behind other engineers. An engineer will have gone through industrial attachment during his/her tertiary education. During his/her attachment, he/she will be exposed to different kinds of problem. He/She will also be able to learn from experienced staff in the company. Furthermore, by going for overseas training, an engineer can also learn from people overseas, such as how things work in other countries and gain lots of experiences.

Lastly, one needs to have a clear mind in order to systematically analyze and solve problems. For instance, if an engineer is feeling lethargic, he/she may not be able to analyze the problem effectively and come up with a good solution. Therefore, having a clear mind is important in doing things.

To conclude, I feel that an engineer's education and analytical skills had enabled them to be employed in many industries.