Hi everyone! To get you more prepared for our topic on Smart Cities, I'd like to reiterate a few reasons why the concept is so important and a few misconceptions surrounding it. The main draw of Smart Cities is their ability to collect user-driven data in order to streamline energy efficiency to fit each citizen's needs. By increasing efficiency, Smart Cities also have a huge potential to increase sustainability. Smart Cities could become more and more popular as our technology and understanding grows, so it is important to discuss their implementation and possible challenges that could arise. The idea of Smart Cities is very complex, so the topic comes with myths and misconceptions. One key misconception about Smart Cities is that with advanced technology usually comes alienation and automation. However, Smart Cities are actually meant to bring communities together and increase the quality of life. Additionally, a major concern is the use of personal data. When pe
Hello Everyone! This week, I'm going to talk about our first topic--efficient energy capture, storage, and transmission. As most of you probably know, human civilization mainly run off of fossil fuels; however, this type of energy source is not only finite, but it also negatively impacts the environment. In our committee, we hope to talk about alternative ways to power human developments, perhaps through biomass, hydropower, wind power, solar energy, or geothermal energy. While all these sources of energy provide interesting alternatives to traditional fossil fuels, they aren't all super efficient, so it's important to keep in mind how your country's natural resources, financial standings, and policies would play into energy development. Often, when people talk about renewable energy, they forget about the potential cons that come along with it. Make sure you think about how switching to alternative energy could affect certain jobs/industries and what demographic of