Clare Conservation District

Your Gateway to Natural Resources

This year the Board of Directors posed a question to Clare County High School Graduating Seniors, “Because of all the current issues that face our state and our nation with the usage of oil and other fossil fuels, we would like you to explain, in your own words: Conservation’s Power—Fuels for the Future”.  We received several great essays and it was a hard choice on which essay would receive the award.

To let you know of our process, when the essay and application forms are received at the office, we do a word count.  Each essay must be at least 500 words.  Then we cover all the personal information and give the essay a number.  The Board members are then give a copy of the essay with the number and then vote on which essay they thought was the best.  As I said above, there were several great essays from Clare High School, Farwell High School and Harrison High School.

 

                                            Our winner this year is Sylvia Labrie from Clare High                                                   School.  She received her award on May 16th at the Clare

                                            Honors Awards Ceremony.  Below is her essay.

 

                                 What do you think of when you think about the world?

                                       Do you see the smog filled cities, the jammed traffic

                                       and the high gas prices?  As you look at that gas price

                                       you feel there is no way out.  We will always be

                                       dependent on foreign oil and fossil fuels alone.  That

                                       is where you are wrong.  There are things around us that we see everyday that can be used to fuel our homes, our cars, and everything else in our lives.  The sun, wind and water are just a few of the alternative power sources that can all be used in various ways to create energy.

Electricity runs most of the appliances in our everyday lives.  If we create electricity using hydroelectric, solar and wind power, we could power our homes efficiently without wasting our precious natural resources.  Electric/gas hybrid automobiles are already on the market and are shown to save large amounts of gasoline as well as reduce pollution.  Electricity can be produced anywhere in the world easing our dependence on foreign oil.

A beam of light going millions of miles an hour strikes a slowly spinning blue planet.  This light has hit the earth for millions of years in an inexhaustible, continuous stream.  It has no by-products and no pollution, just pure energy.  The sun, which has sat unchanged for centuries, is our virtually untapped fuel for the future.  Cars and buildings could be made with solar cells and collection grids.  It would use the energy from the sun and power our vehicles as well as provide power for our homes and businesses.  When it is cloudy we will have stored energy to continue life.  If you have ever flown in an airplane, you know that the sky is clear above the cloud cover.  We could have some sort of satellite system to relay the energy from the sun down to earth.  If the sun isn’t out for a period of time, cars will be fitted with an electrical system to compensate for it.

What can’t be seen unless it is full of just?  What is it?  It’s the wind.  It’s an invisible resource but it is an alternative source of energy just the same.  The wind has been with us since creation but has only recently been tapped for power.  Imagine if every home had a windmill or two on its roof to create power.  This power can be produce anywhere in the world.  Homeowners would no longer worry about the rising utility prices because they would already have all the power they need.

Water covers 75% of our world.  Sadly, it is largely an untapped resource.  Imagine the power you could produce if you used collected rainwater, rivers, oceans or waterfalls to power our cities.  What if we could use the oceans tides to produce hydroelectric power?  We could place small packages of solar cells out in the ocean that could collect the kinetic energy of current and transmit it back to a station on shore.  It could be a renewable resource with widely untapped potential.

             You’re driving down a long country road in the middle of July and what are you likely to see?  You may see cornfields for miles and miles, I see ethanol.  The new, potential solution for alternative fuel in the automobile industry just may be growing in our backyard.  Some American automakers have already started creating ethanol powered vehicles.  Since corn can be grown in many parts of the world this would ease our dependence on foreign oil.

How about hydrogen?  Hydrogen is the most abundant of all elements in the universe and is an increasing factor in our automobile industry as a new fuel source.  Hydrogen powers the car and water comes out the exhaust pipe.  That’s a lot better than dirty exhaust fumes.  If we could replace all our vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, we could cut pollution production in half.  Hydrogen has the potential to erase our dependence on foreign oil completely.  Located in remote regions, power plants would electrolyze seawater; the hydrogen produced would travel to distant cities by pipelines.  Pollution-free hydrogen could replace natural gas and gasoline and it could also be used to convert trash into methane.  Perhaps someday our cars will run on garbage and eliminate another menacing problem for the world in reducing landfill waste.

Whenever you hear the word nuclear, you may think of weapons and the possible catastrophic death of millions.  Nuclear power has its pros and cons, but it also has the potential to be safe, clean and dependable.  If we could find a way to eliminate the nuclear waste left behind, we could have an incredibly powerful energy source.

The biggest challenge we face is how to pay for the research and development of alternative fuels.  Conservation is the key to our survival.  If we can learn to harness the natural elements around us and use them responsible we will save the planet and our future generations to come.

 

 

Congratulations Sylvia and Great things await you in the future.