Amelia+S.+-+EN+-+SP12

updated 11:35 AM EST, Wed February 22, 2012 | ||
 * Hacking the city for a greener future **
 * || By **Teo Kermeliotis**, for CNN


 * Summary: ** MIT’s SENSEable City Lab has created a smartphone app called CO2GO which detects whether the owner is traveling by rail, car, or bus and calculates the emissions using an advanced algorithm. The sensors collect information about how people use cities. The data collected allows citizens to make better decisions and be greener. The data consists of figures on energy use, mobility, food, and water consumption. The planners can use this information to deal with problems like mass urbanization, aging infrastructure, and carbon emissions. The algorithm is used to figure out how many people, per square foot, per resource would be most beneficial to achieve the best quality of life. A group in India has been holding gaming workshops with a simulation to help decision makers and users understand the impact of their energy choices. The goal is to figure out what energy needs India will have in the coming years. Making these plans early on will help city planners to find solutions to different urban problems. It also aims to make citizens more aware of pollution levels. In Madrid, Spain, researchers for the “In The Air” project want to put large digital screens on the outside of buildings to show the level of pollution, or perhaps make small gadgets that show the pollution level nearby


 * Relevance: ** This new app is the latest method designed for pollution awareness. Over the years there have been several attempts to reduce pollution and make people aware of the dangers of pollution. In 1990, “The Pollution Prevention Act established the national policy that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible” (Laws). This act not only helped to reduce pollution, but also greatly reduced costs previously used for waste management and cleanup. The idea there is that it would be easier to eliminate the pollution before it is made, rather than try to get rid of it after the fact (Pollution Prevention). More recently, Barack Obama signed the order, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.” This order states that it is the duty of U.S Federal agencies to make efforts to increase energy, measure various emissions, and conserve by reusing and recycling. It is an order of specified goals in order to eliminate any unnecessary waste in our environment. During their presidencies both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton signed orders relating to this topic as well (Laws). There are many people that don’t agree with large efforts to protect the environment and the amount of money that the government spends on environmental issues. However it is evident the impact of pollution on people, and that it is a serious issue. “Water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries” (Pollution). While these dramatic effects are not seen as much in the U.S., it is most definitely a problem around the world. There are many forms of pollution and the steps that have been taken by the government and other organizations of helped to create awareness and reduce pollution in our environment.


 * Evaluation: ** “Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem” (Pollution). Just by reading the definition it’s obvious that the topic of pollution goes hand in hand with the topic of environment. Not only does pollution exist in the environment, but it is an issue that is widely debated and talked about in today’s times. In order to keep our environment stabilized and healthy it is essential to make changes to the amount of pollution emitted, which is obvious through the many laws and organizations that have been created to do so. The goal of the CO2GO app is mainly to create a general awareness through using technology that could change the way that people live and the choices that they make in an urban environment. It’s just another idea in the large amount of efforts made to reduce pollution in cities, which is where pollution is more prevalent. With the introduction of new technologies there is a high potential to make a significant impact on our environment.


 * Questions: **
 * 1) Will people actually use this app and make changes to their lives based on the results?
 * 2) Will people be surprised at results of their daily lives or will they not care about the damage they are doing to the environment?
 * 3) Does the app take into account the number of people in the vehicle?
 * 4) Are these apps and various awareness tactics going to be implemented only in large cities or all throughout the country?
 * 5) What other new technologies will be created that help pollution prevention?
 * 6) Will the average American be able to understand the results given by the app? Will they know what a large amount of pollution is?

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Works Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Kermeliotis, Teo. "Hacking the City for a Greener Future." //CNN//. Cable News Network, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/tech/technology-cities-data-algorithms/index.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Laws and Policy." //EPA//. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.epa.gov/p2/pubs/laws.htm>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Pollution Prevention Takes Center Stage." //EPA//. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/history/topics/ppa/01.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Pollution." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution>.