From 60e08117e10057b43c3f1ab3ad6c775453d6d9f7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Naoki Pross Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 23:31:07 +0100 Subject: moved everything to version control --- docs/tex/introduzione.tex | 203 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 203 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/tex/introduzione.tex (limited to 'docs/tex/introduzione.tex') diff --git a/docs/tex/introduzione.tex b/docs/tex/introduzione.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f967ffe --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/tex/introduzione.tex @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ +\chapter{Introduction} + +\section{History and culture of Canada} + +% [nao] +\subsection{Foundation} +Canada is one of the largest countries on the planet, in fact, it is the fourth +largest country by land area with approximately 9 million square kilometers +\cite{statscan:statarea}. Located in the northern hemisphere of the American +continent, was first discovered by Europeans in 1497 with the expedition of +John Cabot. The name ``Canada'' seems to have appeared first in the 16th century +when Jacques Cartier, during his 3 voyages to the new world, heard a groups of +natives speaking the Iroquoian language referring to a village as +``Kanada''\cite{history}. During the following centuries both French and British +colonies were established which led to numerous conflicts the two between +empires and the natives. The government of Canada was created with the +proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1867, but the present the nationals +were enstablished only in 1999 because after since its first foundation the +dominion had expanded multiple times. + +\subsection{The Flag of Canada} +\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{.4\textwidth} + \centering + \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/flag_of_canada.pdf} + \caption{Current flag of Canada} +\end{wrapfigure} +The current flag of Canada was created in 1964, when the government had an +all-party parliamentary committee that prepare multiple designs. Before then +Canada didn't have its own official flag but instead used either the English +Union Jack or the Canadian Red Ensign, a red flag with a smaller Union Jack on +the top left and an ensign on the right side. +\begin{figure} + \centering + \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/canadian_red_ensign.pdf} + \caption{Canadia Red Ensign used before the introduction of the modern + design} +\end{figure} + +The simplest design was chosen by the parliament and the current flag was +adopted the 15 December 1964, just in time for the centennial celebration of +the confederation 3 years later. + +\section{Canadian Natives} +Before the arrival of the Europens the northern American continent was +populated by various groups of indigeouns peoples which today are referred as +First Nations or Premières Nations (in French). There were 6 major tribes and +each one of them lived in a particular area of the continent, but they all +shared a similar culture and environment. First Nations lived off mostly from +hunting with an advanced social sistem around it that defined territories +for each tribe. There was also a system of social orders +% tribes: +% iroquian south fertile, for agricolture +% woodland east boreal forest +% plains ??? grassland, prairies +% plateau south/north semi-desert, mountains, forest(north) +% pacific coast west abundant salmon and shellfish, gigantic red cedar +% for building huge houses +% Mackenzie and Yukon River Basins ??? harsh environmnent, dark forests, +% barren lands, swampy + + +\subsection{Modern Canada} +Today Canada is a powerful country with its own currency, the Canadian Dollar +(CAD), As 2016 one Canadian Dollar equals +\href{http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=CAD&To=CHF}{ +0.76 Swiss Francs}. Canada's GDP (as Q2 2015) is more than twice ours +(Switzerland)\cite{swisseconomy} with a market price at 1'996'804 millions of +Canadian dollars \cite{statscan:ecoimpexps}. Its major economic trade partners +are USA, UK and Germany. + + +\section{Natural resources} + +% [nao] +Canada's huge land area makes it one of richest countries from a natural +resources standpoint. Indeed Canada has the third largest reserve of crude oil +in the world and it is the second production of Uranium +\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. But Canada is also a leader in renewable energy +production with a 18.9\% of total energy supply coming just from renewables +\cite{nrcan:renewables}. Even if most of the energy produced can be considered +eco-friendly Canada still relies heavily on non-renewable energy source as we +will see in the next paragraphs. + +\subsection{Non-renewable energy sources} + +\subsubsection{Crude Oil} + +% [nao] +Oil has become has been increasingly become a valuable resource, since the +discovery of oil sands extraction technology. The desire for oil +independence from the USA and many other NATO states has given a lot of funds +for the development of this technology. +But for the environment this is not a good, according to a study conducted in +2014 \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}, GHGs (Greenhouse Gases) emissions caused by +oil extraction industries have increased by 63.5 millions of tonnes in the last +20 years. + +\subsubsection{Natural Gas} + +% [nao] +Natural gas is the biggest energy source in Canada, mostly produced in Alta is +also a major cause of Nitrogen and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) pollution. +Even though its extractions and refinement technologies are getting better, the +level of pollution has not gone down since 2010. In 2014 56.6 mega tonnes of GHGs +were released on the atmosphere. Combined with the oil extraction this economic +sector accounts for 26\% of total nation emissions \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}. + +\subsubsection{Coal} + +% [nao] +Despite it makes up half of the world's energy source (mostly in China) and +there's an abundance of it, coal represents a minor element in the national +energy production, and almost half of the final product gets exported to Japan, +China and South Korea. Currently scientists are discouraging its usage because +of its high level of pollution and $CO_2$ emissions. Nonetheless the research in +the field of coal refinement, to produce what is called ``Clean Coal'', is still +being supported by the government in order to use the enormous quantity lying +beneath the Canadian surface. + +\subsection{Renewable energy sources} + +% [nao] +Substantially the main energy source of Canada is from natural gas, followed +by crude oil, while hydroelectric and the other renewables represent only a +smaller percentage of the overall production. But recent political and economic +trends have encouraged the Canadian government to support the development of +these new technologies in order to increase and optimize the production per unit +to use more efficiently every resource nature offers. + +\subsubsection{Wind Energy} + +% [alan] +Canada's geography makes it a perfect place for ``wind farms'', or groups of +wind turbines, to generate a lot of electricity which can be used to reduce +reliance on energy generated from non renewable resources and, for communities +that are not connected to the electricity grid. This method can achieve lower +costs and greater independence. The advantage of increasing the deployment of +wind energy include reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air contaminants. +However, incorporating a large amount of wind energy requires continued +innovation to improve efficiencies, extend turbine lifetimes, and mitigate +interconnection problems. + +\subsubsection{Solar Photovoltaic} + +% [alan] +Photovoltaic energy has become a favoured form of renewable energy, since the +need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deregulation, and the restructuring of +electric power generating companies. Canada is very into photovoltaic researches +both nationally and internationally, their strategy is to accelerate the +deployment of solar generated energy. +% [nao] +But unfortunately the geographical northern location of Canada does not allow to +achieve the maximum efficiency. For this reason the amount of electricity +produced by photovoltaic is only a very small percentage. But in the extreme +north there are places in which a day lasts for months because of the tilt of +the earths rotation, if technological advancement will be able to access to +these areas there is a huge potential to generate solar powered +electricity. + +\subsubsection{Hydroelectric} + +% [alan] +Canada is the world's second producer of hydroelectricity in the world, behind +only to China\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. The large amount of rivers flowing +through Canada are an optimal location for building dams for energy production. +Hydroelectric stations have been developed where the environment was favourable, +particularly in Quebec and N.L (Newfoundland and Labrador). + +\subsubsection{Solar Thermal} + +% [alan] edit by [nao] +70\% of the energy used in the residential and commercial/institutional +buildings sector is used for heating. Therefore the use of solar thermal +technology could drastically improve the consumption level of energy nationwide. +Like with photovoltaic panels, the light from the sun hits the earth with a +higher slope than on souther regions. For this reason this technology is rarely +used. + +\subsubsection{Marine Energy} + +% [alan] edit by [nao] +Canada with large coastal and inland waters has the ideal environment for using +the potential of the waves. This kind of energy is produced by the kinetic +energy contained on tides, waves and river current. Tidal current energy is +produced by the rise and fall of tides from the gravitational influence of the +sun and moon. In Canada there are 190 tidal power sites across it's coasts with +a total estimated capacity of 42 GW. Wave energy is generated by waves formed +by the heat of the sun. The motion of these waves can be used to power +turbines. But as powerful as this technology is more than double of current +electricity demand the harsh ocean environment, power conversion losses and +costs make this resources mostly not available. + +\subsection{Nuclear energy} + +Whether nuclear-powered energy production is a sustainable method is a +controversial debate. In recent years the idea of abandoning this technology has +become popular in many countries, but renewables in the current state will never +be able to fulfill the huge energy demand that we need every day. +Because of this we may need to have a different take on view of nuclear +power plants. A strong argument against anti-nuclear is technological +advancement, many people speculate that a new type of reactor can be less +dangerous. This argument will be covered in more depth in its own dedicated +section \ref{nuclear}. -- cgit v1.2.1