Zachary Pelletier

Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is a renewable energy that is created by the earth's natural heat and can be used in certain processes to replace the use of coal, gas, or oil. This geothermal energy/heat is often used in heating buildings rather than heating with natural gas. The method to turn geothermal heat into usable energy requires a special type of powerplant that uses the properties of heat transfer to convert heat into work(making things move), usually by boiling water much like how a steam engine works by boiling water using coal. Currently, geothermal energy still emits quite a lot of greenhouse gases, sometimes overtaking coal power plants, but there has been a large amount of headway done in the last few years to create zero emission plants.

Tidal Energy
Tidal energy is a sustainable energy source that is derived from the movement of the tides during the day. The energy is created by turning turbines whenever the tides or any other current moves in its vicinity. So far, tidal energy is not very feasible as a large scale energy source since it creates very little usable energy and requires very specific and rare conditions to work properly. The largest facility where tidal energy is currently being produced is the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea but the first one to ever be built is located in La Rance, France.
Tidal energy is not the only method to use sea currents to create energy. The most common method of using currents to create energy is the hydroelectric dam, which uses the flow of water down streams of water(ex: rivers) to turn turbines. Also, Deep sea currents can also be used to create energy but these types of facilities are quite rare.

Replacement of our windows
My family has decided to replace many of the windows inn my house with newer and better ones. Changing to newer windows will have 3 main effects. The first effect is that these windows are better insulated than our current windows so we will hopefully need to use less heating and/or AC to keep our house at a comfortable temperature. The second effect is that we will be able to replace the broken window lever which stops us from opening and closing the windows. The final effect is the improvement to the aesthetic of our house which I don't care much about but the rest of my family does.
We have decided to do this because there is currently a government subsidy that pays a part of any renovation that helps with living a more sustainable life(ex: new windows insulate better than old ones).

The first video talks about the difference between ecological footprint and biocapacity(footprint a measure of required resources while biocapacity is the ability to offset a footprint) and how the richer a country is, the worst their ratio of footprint to biocapacity. The second video talks more in depth about our footprint, more specifically our carbon footprint which is the relative amount of noxious byproducts(greenhouse gases) we create in our day to day lives. Also, the video talks about how to decrease our carbon footprint in various ways such as carbon offsets or using more sustainable methods when interacting with the world. The 3rd video is about the concept of degrowth which states that the world should decrease its economic activity in most fields to return to a point of equilibrium with our planet's capacity to provide for us. The video also talks about the current state of human consumption (ex: agriculture) and how this situation is tied to the unique disposition of humans to think logically and with forethought. The final video is about inequality on the international stage. Specifically, the man who talks in this video tries to argue that inequality between countries has much less of an effect on quality of life then inequalities within one country and that the larger the inequality, the worst life gets for the poorest people. The general idea that I got from these videos is that they mostly focus on sustainability on the level of nations and how different metrics (ex: footprint and inequality) are closely tied to certain outcomes and that we should strive to better these metrics as much as possible and as fast as possible.

There are a few things that I am grateful for in this world but I think one of the most relevant things in this situation is that Quebec has a very large amount of water across its territory. I'm grateful for this because I find lakes beautiful and I love to go fishing on said lakes so having so many is truly a gift.

Apart from saving the world and many other ecological advantages, degrowth doesn't seem to have many advantages that could improve my life.

Mass demonstrations are, in theory, a way for the general populace to protest about issues in a very visible way. In general, I like the concept as it gives a very large amount of power to the people and has been successful in the past but I also have one issues with them. These marches can turn violent and chaotic quite quickly, especially if the police and the protesters start butting heads. For example, just a few days ago, the pro-Palestine march ended with numerous incidents of vandalism. The reason that I think that these marches are more susceptible to violent actions is that there is a group mentality that forms when there is such a large gathering and this group mentality pushes people to commit actions they usually would not even think about. For this reason, I prefer other forms of protest like petitions since they incite change without risk of getting pepper sprayed.


This is a poster I found on the internet which has a witty and recognizable source as well as advocating for positive change in the form of ditching coal.

Week 5 update: To reduce the amount of single use plastics I consume every week I have started bringing my own lunch rather than eating subway or any other school lunch. I have also stopped eating lunch on days where I don't stay on campus for most of the day. This means that I usually eat only 2 lunches at school and the other 5 are eaten at home. Finally, I have restarted bringing my reusable water bottle to school to avoid having to use an empty bottle that I would get after buying and drinking a beverage at the cafeteria.

This week, I decided to learn about biomass and explain it in as much detail as I can. Biomass, in simple terms, refers to materials that come from living organisms(plants and animals mostly) and that can be converted into energy. The energy usually takes the form of some type of fuel(ex: firewood or biogas) which is renewable and less detrimental the the atmosphere and the climate. In 2023, biomass provided 5% of the total energy that was consumed in the US. The largest consumer of biomass in the US is the industrial sector with 45% of the total usage which mostly goes to heating buildings and powering certain power plants. Even though the US is a large user of biomass, it is actually classified as an exporter. This inadvertently means that the US prefers mining and using coal and oil rather than using its excess of biomass to meet its energy consumption. If coal, oil, and natural gas were to be completely replaced by biomass, by 2050, we could avoid between 2.62 gigatons and 3.59 gigatons of CO2 being sent into the atmosphere and could save between $218.83 billion and $287.99 billion.

Hello, My name is Zachary Pelletier. I'm currently studying science in the Pure and Applied science program. I am an avid reader of novels and comic books and like to play video games with my friends. I don't currently have any concrete ideas regarding the sustainability project but will soon start seriously brainstorming ideas. For this semester, I am very interested in the EcoChallenge which asks that you take a walk. This may seem like a very simple challenge but to me, who is not in the best physical condition, this challenge is an opportunity to gain a more active lifestyle.

VANIER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
I think that, for a school's sustainability plan, this is quite good. It contains a wide variety of ideas, all tackling different aspects of sustainability. I also think that if Vanier follows through with these plans, it will be a great step towards a more sustainable school. There is always going to be more possible plans but, for now, this set should be worked towards for the foreseeable future. The only problem that I have with these goals is that many of the goals, particularly in the education sections, are a little vague or lack a concrete way to measure success.
I think many of the initiatives proposed in the document are being put in place(ex: compost) or are already in effect(ex: electric car chargers) which is quite the achievement itself. Though, some of the completed initiatives, such as the ride sharing app, are not talked about enough which makes it so that the student body may not be aware of its existence.

Questions:
-Are there any plans to have a campus wide project including departments outside of the sustainability ones like some sort of large tree planting day.
-At what stage is the implementation of a Sustainability Officer Position described in your sustainability workplan.

initiatives:
-"Help develop a campaign about responsible consumerism: buying less, buying ethically, and re-using goods" (section 4.5). I have an interest in consumption and spending habits. Making a campaign about these subjects would, I think, be fun.
-" Increase awareness around issues related to food such as food security, health, and packaging" (section 4.7). I currently have a very unhealthy relationship with food and in helping to raise awareness about the problems with our food, I hope to also consume food with more awareness.
-" To recommend installing electric car charging stations on campus"(section 3.3). If a greater number of electric charging ports were to be installed around the campus I may be able to haggle my way into using may parents' electric car rather than my current gas car which would significantly decrease my carbon footprint

MY CURRENT COMMUTE
My current daily commute involves me driving from my home to the school and back. I drive to Vanier on my own but I often drive my friends back to their house when our schedules align. I could defiantly us public transit rather than my car but doing so would likely double my daily commute as I currently spend between 1h00 and 1h30 driving everyday but using public transit would mean spending around 2h30 in transit everyday. For this reason I am not planning to change my commuting habits much unless necessary.