Here Comes the Sun
By JOHN GATHRIGHT
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陽が昇ってきた
陽が昇ってきた
筆者は現在、環境にやさしい住居に住んでいるが
まだエネルギーの無駄使いは多いと考えている。
新しいエネルギー利用法が次々と開発されている
今こそ、美しい地球を守る努力をしよう。
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As far as I know we are the only family in the world to live in a miso barrel treehouse. Sitting on top of 200 recycled telephone poles, we live in nine
ancient miso barrels meters above the forest floor. Rather than felling
trees to build our home, we decided to adapt our home to the forest. Our
family goal is to live as earth-friendly a lifestyle as possible, but we are
still a long way from achieving our goal. It is easy to feel rather smug with our environmentally conscious home, but we still use energy selfishly.
Our ancestors worshiped the warmth of the sun but would have frozen in
their caves if it hadn't been for firewood at night. Soon they discovered
charcoal, and heating became less of a chore. Next, coal led them into
the Industrial Age, and the 20th century brought massive dependency on
fossil fuels, for homes, transportation and electricity.
Guy Dauncey, an author of ecology books, calls this the progress of
intelligence and technology, surrounded by a massive ignorance of ecology.
"How were we to know that burning fossil fuels would heat the world's atmosphere, warming the oceans, melting the glaciers, driving the salmon from
their rivers and whipping up tremendous storms?" he asked.
Now, the world is in dire need. We must free ourselves from fossil fuels
and make an intelligent leap into the new energies of the future. Nuclear
energy, once dubbed the safe, clean energy source of the future, is not the
right or responsible choice either.
I fully believe that the future is in solar and wind energy. Wind and
solar energy have made great leaps in the past few years, with efficiency
skyrocketing and costs falling. It is said that 10 percent of Arizona's
deserts would supply enough solar energy to meet U.S. electricity needs.
Even wet and rainy Britain could meet two-thirds of its energy needs from
solar roofs and solar window films alone. Using wind and solar energy,
Japan could free itself from fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Combine wind and
solar energy with hydrogen energy, and the nation could be a major energy
exporter.
Almost daily, breakthroughs in efficiency are being made. Full-spectrum
solar energy systems are said to boost solar efficiency threefold by
dividing the sun's light into visual and infrared components. Light is distributed into a building by optical fibers, while the infrared rays are
converted into electricity. This new technology is fantastic, and the time is now.
Wind turbines are progressing at great speeds as well. The sun and wind
can be used to produce hydrogen, to power fuel cells.
Some scientists prophesy that by 2020 we might see the end of the oil and
fossil fuel industry. The only things holding back wind and solar energy
are consumer demand and the reluctance of governments and companies to
sacrifice short-term profits for a healthier Earth.
I am so grateful to live at a time when we still have forests, when
pollution and global warming haven't yet devastated our Earth. The Earth
is like a huge piggy bank and we are quickly depleting its resources.
Unless we start living responsibly, like an empty piggy bank the Earth will be
nothing but a shell.
Shukan ST: March 3, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
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