SO I think we can all agree that serious lifestyle changes are in the future of us Americans - with oil prices skyrocketing, driving gas, energy, and food bills through the roof, its easy to believe in a dark, dark, uncertain future. As almost every facet of society is heavily dependent on the black substance, what happens when 'the oil runs out?' The oil's not going to run out. Its just going to become so expensive that its hardly worth getting, unless you're rich. In the meantime, I have full confidence in the ingenuity of scientists and inventors all over the world. However, our comfort and way of life will probably change by other methods than simply 'running out' of oil - the rainforests are smaller than ever, and as a result, Carbon Dioxide and Methane emissions aren't being as efficiently filtered, and are becoming a lot more concentrated in the atmosphere, which of course, leads to warming on a global scale, which could and probably will lead to massive climatic changes and severe/unpredictable weather, if it hasn't already. As everyone rushes to use Ethanol, the conversion of grain fields into ethanol fields hikes up the prices of meat, and the grain they depend on, as well as food for everyone else. So i've been trying to change the way I live to have less of an impact, using less water, mass transit, etc, but I've also been thinking about other methods to solve multiple problems - like the tubes of algae that thrive off of coal plant emissions - basically, rows of clear plastic tubes where the exhaust is rerouted to, that are full of water and a type of algae that filters out the carbon and carbon dioxide. The resulting bacteria can be then rendered down into biodiesel. (There is an display of this at the Boston Museum of Science) I read about how some were experimenting with the use of regular grass on the roof of their house instead of regular tar roofing that has to be replaced every 20 years or so - the grass absorbs heat and disperses it better than tar does, so its easier to maintain a cooler house in the summer, and the sod insulates in the winter. Additionally, since they were not using tar roofing, the petroleum use was cut in half or more. The only thing at the time that I could think would be a drawback for that type of roofing would be the increased cost for the compensation of the roof's weight, and the problem of mowing it ... I feel like this idea could be taken a lot further - in the cities I see row after row of ... rowhouses :p that have flat roofs, some silver (to reflect light) some black (cuz the landlord is poor or lazy) But why put regular grass on the roof? Why not something like Switchgrass? There are acres and acres of land just waiting to be used atop of buildings and numerous houses across the world.
Option 1: Switchgrass - the tall grass that grows quickly and easily and can be reduced into ethanol would help to solve the cooling/heating bill, and the crops could be sold and used for fuel. In addition, the grass would help filter CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Option 2: the forest! - Why leave it with only one species - throw dirt on the flat roofs and let anything that wants to grow, throw acorns and berries and mountain laurel - whatever grows in the area and let it grow out - when the trees get too big, cut 'em down and harvest them for use in paper or lumber. Since trees regulate the temperature on their leaves, not only would this help to cool down cities in the summer (which I think we all know get really really hot) but it would again, help filter the air, and allow space for animals that have been pushed out due to development. And why go to a park that could become a crimespot at night, when you could just climb the stairs and find a woods right above where you live?
The key would be designing a roof or roof conversion that would be relatively inexpensive and efficient, especially for old buildings, so efficient that it would not only be a green thing to do, but also cheaper than having to maintain a tar or shingle roof - this would probably more likely happen with switchgrass than with trees. Its expensive and its more difficult to do right now but its necessary for us as humans to start sooner than later. 2012 can either be the ragnarok that the mayans predicted, or the wide scale mental, sociological, and lifestyle change of the human race.
But can you imagine a city where the business buildings tower over what appears to be a gridded forest? something to paint in the future, for sure.
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