In a box advantages and disadvantages

Shale:
Advantage:
- Large domestic reserves
- Existing oil infrastructure can be used
- Easy to transport as solid or oil

Disadvantage:
- Low net energy because of energy and water required to separate oil from work
- High disturbance of land similar to coal mining
- CO2, NO2, SO2, emitted when shale oil is burned


Tar sand:
Advantages:
- Very large potential reserves
- Current oil infrastructure can be utilized
- Tar sand can be easy to transport

Disadvantages:
- Very low energy to extract bitumen
- Large volumes of water are used in process of extracting bitumen
- High land disruption, which leads to habitat loss from surface mining of tar sand
-CO2, NO2, SO2 is emitted into the atmosphere


Oil:
Advantages:
- High net energy
- Although supply is declining, there is still ample supply for the immediate future
- Infrastructure is already in place
- Domestically available
- Little land disruption in mining process

Disadvantages:
- CO2, NO2, SO2 is emitted when burned
- US is dependent on oil imports
- Potential oil spills
- Net energy decreases as energy invested increases


Natural gases:
Advantages:
- Larger reserves remain
- Less air pollution
- High net energy compared to other fossil fuels

Disadvantages:
- Low net energy when converted to LNG
- Releases CO2 when burned
- Difficulty and costly to transport
- Pipeline infrastructure is underdeveloped

Shale Gas (fracking) assignment

Based on Yale Climate Connections, fracking has many pros and cons,but I agree with the cons side of fracking. As I read about fracking and how it damages the Earth, I realized that even though there are benefits to fracking, the consequences over power them. For example, water contamination is a concern because fracking contaminates water sources with methane and with unknown chemicals, which in some cases have caught on fire. I agree with the Yale Climate Connections that fracking is very dangerous, not just for us, but also for the Earth. Also stated in the Yale Climate Connections, it mentions how fracking releases greenhouse gases. I agree with this and also why renewable energy should be used instead. In the video, the narrator talks about how some of the fracking pipes can leak and have toxic exhaust. This is very dangerous for the people living near a fracking station and for our environment. Also I agree with the facts that water contamination is vital and can cause many animals and humans to die. The video showed a lot of caws dieing because they drank out of contaminated water. Although fracking reduces carbon dioxide emissions, there are other chemicals and greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. People need to be aware that fracking is not the most sustainable way of getting natural gases. Also when people take shortcuts in this industry, it causes a lot of damage to the people in the nearby area and the animals living close by too. In the end, fracking is dangerous for people, animals, and our environment.

Food Scavenger Hunt Total score

Product farthest away: 5
Chicken produced by Tyson: 10
Most unusual meat; Goat: 10
Bycatch/Dolphin safe: 5
Product with high fructose corn syrup: 2
Overly packaged food vs. similar food in less packaging: 5
Different Milks: 10
Coffee labels: 10
Babyfood labels: 10
Food survey; 28 people: 30

Total: 97 points

Food Scavenger Hunt #10

Baby Food

"Natural" is supposed to mean that it is not as processed as others. Organic means that it is everything-that-is-bad-for-a-person free.

One of my items is from Illinois, and the other is from New York.

It is baby-safe packaged. Each type of packing is eay to open for adults, but harder for children, which is good. One disadvantage is that it uses a lot of materials to pack these kinds of food.

Food Scavenger Hunt #9

Coffee

Some environmental issues were deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Some societal problems are low wages and forced to do overtime without pay.

Food Scavenger Hunt #8

Milk

Soy and almond milk are not produced using animals. Soybean cultivation threatens biodiversity, endangered species, and local people. Growing almond trees cause farmers to dig up a lot of aquifers, which could result in an increase of earthquakes. It takes a lot of electricty to make milk and cows that make milk release methane.

The healthiest depends on which nutrients a person needs, whether it be calcium or vitamin D.

Food Scavenger Hunt #7

Pros: Convenient, Durability, Advertises the company
Cons: Unhealthy, Expensive, Time consuming

Food Scavenger Hunt #6

The debate about high fructose corn syrup are the effects on human health. 

Pro: It is cheaper than real sugar. 

Con: People gain more weight, which can contribute to diabetes and heart disease

Food Scavenger Hunt #5

Bycatch: the unwanted fish and other marine creatures caught during commercial fishing for a different species.

Food Scavenger Hunt #4

This package of chiken is produced by Tyson. This product used 60 kg of water, 30 m2 of land, and 1 kg of energy.

Food Scavenger Hunt #3

This is a graph of all the responses for my survey about if meat is bad for the environment or not.