Energy

Energy is everywhere and is in everything! We, humans, and all the other organisms, use energy to carry out complex tasks in our systems, and most of the energy in the world is processed from the sun, that works as a powerhouse. The plants which are the basis of the food web also use the sun, to transform light energy into chemical energy, an elemental part of the photosynthetic process. Energy is fundamental for our lifestyle as we can’t live without it in our homes and with the electronic equipment attached to us: (smart) watches, mobile phones, bike-lights, computers, etc). In the energy lab the student will have the opportunity to dive in this ever-growing discipline, from the basic to more complex ways of harvesting energy from their surroundings and the environment.

The rise in the demand to power the post-industrial, digital society, made us aware that the conventional natural resources that are used to power these industries are in limited supply. While they do occur naturally, it can take hundreds of thousands of years to replenish the “stores”. While some places in the globe have the initiative to harvest energy from environment-friendly resources, some environmental accidents are happening on the other side of the planet, sometimes combined with the undervaluation of energy harvesting from minework, that are issues which ask awareness and action. To give an example think about these data centers and how much energy does these places expend to keep the ‘cloud’ working (the energy cost for being online).  

All the Living Stations are still under construction.

background image: Kristof Kintera, We’ve Got the Power, 2003.