Comments solarkismet has made
- To add another layer to the discussion on implementing personal projects around the house, the dollars invested per carbon saved is important. An example of replacing the water heater to save CO2: - Switching from an electric water heater (if you are primarily in a coal electricity area) to a natural gas one saves carbon and requires no miracle technology in the course of normal replacement cycles - Adding a solar water heater if you have a natural gas water heater might not be as carbon beneficial as replacing an electric appliance and saving coal based electricity - Adding a solar water heater and switching to an electric back-up (I've seen it suggested by a solar installer) is still carbon beneficial but you're throwing some of the benefit out the window by changing the back-up source There's also relativity of the impacts: * Gasoline has about 20 lbs CO2/gallon * Electricity has varying amounts of carbon per kwh (depends on where you live) but let's say 125 lbs CO2 per 100 kWh * Natural gas has 12 lbs per therm So for an average American in a year: * 500 gallons of is 10,000 lbs CO2 * 10,000 kWh is 12,500 lbs CO2 * 200 therms is 2400 lbs CO2 Clearly there are regional and user specific differences, but offsetting natural gas should not be your primary target (exceptions being where coal is less predominant). Drive less and use less electricity as your focus.On Ask Umbra on offsetting work trips posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago 3 Responses
- I agree on the cap and trade question. Once a cap is put in place, any reduction I make either isn't monetized (because I'm too small and there aren't methods for capturing small personal changes without significant transaction costs) or if it can be monetized, perhaps I'm actually making the price of reductions lower because I'm adding to the reduction supply. The cap is the cap - more wind turbines, less driving or whatever, doesn't necessarily reduce it faster.On No Impact Man talks about making an impact posted 2 months ago 3 Responses
I'm not sure "nasty" is synonomous with receptivity to your thoughts; more likely the delete key.
On Coal coloring book teaches kids all about dirty energy posted 3 months, 1 week ago 8 ResponsesThe State of Illinois sponsors a coal calendar and essay contest for kids every year:
http://www.commerce.state.il.us/dceo/Bureaus/Coal/Education/coal+calendar+contest.htm
Winning Posters:
Winning Essays:
On Coal coloring book teaches kids all about dirty energy posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago 8 ResponsesOpt out of credit card offers permanently:
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi
I email customer service of every single piece of junk mail or catalog I get when I move to a new home. It works...slowly.
On 365 days of junk mail posted 4 months ago 11 ResponsesYou can't talk about being off-grid without referencing Home Power Magazine.
On Ask Umbra on living off the grid posted 7 months ago 17 ResponsesReally not new; at all.
There an entire organization that is dedicated to solar cookers and working to implement them in communities across the world:
Solar Cookers International
On Kyoto stove wins $75,000 FT climate change innovation competition posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responsesnot technically "organic"
I wonder how much of the net gain/loss of organic farms is either:
a) Small organic farms find established local buyers and purchase sources and don't need to keep up organic certification on an official basis?
b) Small organic farms that never get certified but are essentially organic?On If organic food is so popular, why are so few farms transitioning their land? posted 2 years, 8 months ago 21 Responses
redoing the math
Ala the last bit of data...1 ton of plastic saves 685 gallons of oil. For the non-math types, this would translate into 3 lbs of plastic to save about 1 gallon of oil.On Umbra on oil and plastic posted 2 years, 8 months ago 4 Responses
CFLs are bright
This comment is idiotic:
"not quite bright enough, so sometimes when I'm looking for something that's dropped on the carpet I have a bit of a problem"It's not the CFL, it's the kind you bought. Buy a 60 watt CFL equivalent and you'll get lower light. Buy a 100 watt and you'll get more. You'd have the same problem with a regular bulb.
The cheapest CFL is probably the lowest light amount...you get what you pay attention to...On A Little Light Music posted 2 years, 8 months ago 3 Responses
Nice Idea but Poor Execution
There are a million reasons this won't work and a low chance it will. Maybe it's a scam - there's no way to tell and we're running out of bandwidth talking about it. More than likely, it's a good idea without much direction...
I wrote a three part series on CitizenRE, available here:
On Anybody heard about this too-good-to-be-true solar company? posted 2 years, 8 months ago 29 ResponsesGreen Pricing comparison
I did a quick analysis comparing my old electric utility's green pricing program to buying Terrapass offsets. At 2 cents/kWh for wind energy, Xcel Energy was slightly more expensive on an equivalent basis than Terrapass. But utility green pricing programs are generally more "local" than national carbon offset options.On A guide to offsetting your carbon emissions posted 3 years, 1 month ago 7 Responses
Links to Studies
Science Link:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/311/5760/506The report, model, and supporting materials:
http://rael.berkeley.edu/EBAMM/From the paper on the negative ethanol studies:
"Two of the studies stand out from the others
because they report negative net energy values
and imply relatively high GHG emissions and
petroleum inputs (11, 12). The close evaluation
required to replicate the net energy results showed that these two studies also stand apart from the others by incorrectly assuming that ethanol coproducts (materials inevitably generated when ethanol is made, such as dried distiller grains with solubles, corn gluten feed, and corn oil) should not be credited with any of the input energy and by including some input data that are old and unrepresentative of current processes, or so poorly documented that their quality cannot be evaluated (tables S2 and S3)."
www.organic-blue.com
On Science says: Ethanol good on energy, not so much on environment posted 3 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses