The level at which energy is being used in the developing countries is increasingly taking a worrying trend. It is estimated that a family in the United States with one child uses more energy than a family with ten children in India (Manolis, 2008).
In Canada, the situation is not very different from what it is in the United States. The level of energy consumption in Canada remains very high, and this means that a solution must be found in order to bring this unfortunate trend to an end. Standby Power drain still remains a large source of wasted energy in this country.
Many families still switch off their electronic appliances while leaving them unplugged. This means that a lot of energy would go into waste in many families in this country, leading to a higher level of energy wastage in the country.
In order to elaborate on this wastage of energy, we would estimate the amount of energy wasted annually in a Canadian family in this manner. We will assume that such a family has two adults who are the parents, and two teenage children. The table below tries to estimate the amount of standby energy that will be wasted by this family.
Standby Energy Wastage in a Canadian Family with 2 Adults and 2 Teenagers
This standby energy wastage is a serious impediment to improving energy efficiency in the country. As shown in the above table, a Canadian family of two adults and two teenagers would waste 2.2 units of energy on a daily basis. This is a serious energy wastage that can serve a family in developing countries in a day.
In a month, energy wastage in such a family would be 66 units. This family will be wasting 792 units of energy every year. Such an amount of energy can serve such a family for over four months. This is a wastage that adds unnecessary costs not only to the concerned families, but also to the government.
If this energy could be directed to other areas, it would help in the development projects within this country. The most appropriate recommendation to the national committee on the issue of standby power wastage would be to start an awareness creation through mass and social media on the importance of eliminating standby power wastage.
The two adults can easily be reached through mass media such as newspapers, radio and television adverts. The two teenagers would be found easily on the social media such as Facebook and YouTube (McLean-Conner, 2009).
The message should be focused on sensitizing them on the unnecessary costs they incur through this wastage, and the burden this has on the national government.
The Tropical rain forest ecosystem is one of the most common ecosystems in this region. Some of the interactive elements in this ecosystem include plants, sunlight, water, animals, and temperature. These five components play a pivotal role in the energy industry. The primary source of energy is the sun.
It releases this energy in the form of light and heat. This energy is very important to other components of the ecosystem. Trees tap this energy through its leaves to manufacture food in the form of starch. This helps in their survival.
Using high temperatures from the sun, water from various water sources evaporate into the sky, forming rainy clouds. Trees also help in this evaporation through transpiration. This moisture in the atmosphere would condense and later fall as rainfall on various geographic areas, including on high mountains.
This water would then flow in the form of streams and rivers. Hydroelectric power is always generated on such rivers to be used for both commercial and domestic purposes. The water would then flow to large oceans. In these oceans, it is possible to use strong water tides to generate further energy.
Animals, especially human beings, play an important role in creation and consumption of this hydroelectric power. According to Whitehurst (2012), the process of generating hydro-electric power is very complex and it requires a lot of finance and stable environmental conditions.
For instance, hydro-electric power companies heavily rely on mass flow of water. This may be affected when there is a prolonged drought within an ecosystem. It would mean that water, an important aspect of the ecosystem described above, becomes rare.
In such cases, it would mean that the amount of energy that would be generated would be very low. Alternatives may be necessary to supplement the little energy generated from hydro-power.
The best alternative in such instances would be the solar power. Using large solar panels, electric power can be generated. That is enough to meet a percentage of the domestic and commercial demands.
References
Manolis, K. (2008). Energy. Minneapolis: Bellwether Media.
McLean-Conner, P. (2009). Energy efficiency: Principles and practices. Tulsa: PennWell.
Whitehurst, T. (2012). The good energy book: Creating harmony and balance for yourself and your home. Woodbury: Llewellyn Publications.