Source 20: Image of Masdar City

Masdar City (arabenvironment.net, 2/10/08, Dubai)

Summary:

This is a computer generated rendering of what Masdar City, the world’s first attempt at a completely sustainable and carbon-neutral city, will look like when it is completed.

Topic:

Should the Obama administration allocate large amounts of money ($150 billion) in this time of economic crisis to alternative energy sources?

Category:

Journalistic image- alternative

What is it?

It is an image from an online article that was published in the Financial Times.

Artist:

no artist given

accessed:

2/26/09

Support:

In this artist’s rendering, we can see how Masdar city is expected to look on a ideal day.  The sun is shining into the many solar panels that line the rooftops of the city.  There are no cars or trash anywhere in sight and art and architecture are on display in what looks like a courtyard of the city.  This city looks like a true oasis in the desert of the United Arab Emirates.

Audience and Agenda:

This image is being used to promote the idea of the beauty of a completely energy neutral city.  It was used in an article from the Financial Times.  The Financial Times is a British newspaper.  Its website is viewed by approximately 20,400 people per month.  It has an international circulation of 432,944.  The Masdar City initiative is funded by a joint effort between General Electric’s renewable energy sector and the Abu Dhabi government amongst others.

Usefulness:

This computer-generated image gives an artist’s portrayal of what Masdar City will ideally look like.  It shows a clean and pure city with no waste or pollution.  It is used to promote the project and portray it as what future cities of the world will look like when they are completely powered by alternative energy sources.  The art and architecture add to this futuristic look and make the viewer see an almost utopian vision.  This picture makes the city look like a hub of innovation which its creators hope it will be.  With this image, we are able to see how the creators envision the city which makes it much more tangible and seem like a much more realistic idea than just reading about it.

Works Cited:

about Financial Times:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times

http://www.quantcast.com/financial.com

More info about the Masdar City project:

http://jajackson.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=148

http://jajackson.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=150

Source 19: Image of solar power

Portugal solar power plant (APimages.ap.org, 3/28/07, Serpa Portugal)

Summary:

This is an image of the world’s largest solar power plant in Portugal taken by an Associated Press photographer.

Topic:

Should the Obama administration allocate large amounts of money ($150 billion) in this time of economic crisis to alternative energy sources?

Category:

Journalistic image- mainstream

What is it?

This is a picture from the Associated Press’s photo archive accessed through the University of Oregon’s online library.

Photographer:

Antonio Carrapato

Accessed:

2/26/09

Support:

This image is of the world’s largest power plant in Portugal.   From this picture we can see just how large this power plant is.  The solar panels seem to be endless.  The sky above it is filled with sunlight showing the vast amount of energy that could be absorbed by the panels.  The caption below the pic tells us that this was a $78.5 million project and it was partially funded by General Electric.

Audience and Agenda:

The Associated Press is a non-profit American organization funded by subscriptions from news outlets around the world.  The photo library consist of more than 10,000 images.  AssociatedPress.com has approximately 11,300 hits per month in the US alone.  This image is used to show the huge investment in solar power that is being made through this project in Portugal.

Usefulness:

This picture shows a ideal depiction of solar power.  It could be used to show the beauty that a solar future could provide.  From this picture we can see how expansive this project is and how much land is being used.  It is a good example to show to anyone who might be interested in what a solar power plant looks like.  However, by showing an ideal day, it leaves out a potential problem with solar energy.  If this picture had been taken on an overcast or dreary day, it would not have the same positive impact on the observers view of solar energy.  Taking this picture at night would be a good way to show one of the obstacle of solar power.

Works Cited:

About Associated Press:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press

http://www.quantcast.com/associatedpress.com#traffic