Category Archives: cool sites

Life Styles Of The Off The Gridders – Gentle to the Earth

Posted on by
Reply

This article speaks for itself.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/living-off-the-grid4.htm

How Living Off the Grid Works

by

Off-the-grid Lifestyle

You’re excited about going off the grid now, right? You’re set to get your solar panels and septic tank. You have the well driller booked and you’re ready to say no to utility bills. Before you follow through on all these moves, you need to think about the lifestyle changes that come with going off the grid.

Even with solar and wind power, you’ll still need to limit your use of electricity. Most people interested in living off the grid do so at least in part to live a greener life, so conserving power goes hand-in-hand with this decision. With adequate solar and wind systems, you should be able to operate most of your electric appliances and gadgets, but not necessarily at the same time. If you’re using a hair dryer, avoid using the microwave. If you fire up the blender, unplug your space heater. Major electricity users like washing machines should be operated at night, when your other power needs are minimal. True disciples of the back-to-land movement wouldn’t use a washer and dryer anyway. Washing clothes by hand and using a clothesline is a rustic alternative.

The same goes for your water use. With a cistern system, in periods of little rain you might need to let the dishes pile up for a couple of days or limit your toilet flushes. Some people go so far as to turn off the shower water while they lather or wash their hair. Collecting additional non-potable water in rain barrels is a great way to water plants, wash dishes and keep your pets hydrated without dipping into your well or cistern.

Energy Star appliances are the most efficient on the market and a good way to save money on your bills. Look for the yellow stickers on the appliances when you buy them and compare the ratings. In addition to saving energy, the government offers rebates on Energy Star appliances, so you’ll be saving money as well. You should­ also switch your light bulbs to the energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Going Off The Grid Used To Be Hard – And many times ugly

Posted on by
Reply

I mean this for the average Joe. Going off the grid for rich people was always easy. You buy a solar designed house and attach generation too it. Done. But for anybody without an open checkbook, especially in the 70s and early 80s, you had to kinda make it up. And it almost always involved burning some sort of wood. Even in the southwestern part of the US it can get cold sometimes. Now there is a whole cottage industry dedicated to the stuff. Here is a part of a piece from one of those websites.

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/01/30/so-is-it-global-warming-or-an-approaching-mini-ice-age-some-scientist-say-the-sun-will-have-the-last-word/

Global Warming or Approaching Ice Age? Scientists Say the Sun Will have the Last Word

Jan 30th, 2012 | By Tim George

LONDON – Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit recently released data from 30,000 measuring stations that reveal there has been no global warming in the last 15 years. In fact, the findings suggest the earth might be headed for a mini ice age similar to one in the 17th century.

Several leading climate scientists told the UK Mail that the sun is transitioning from the unusually high levels of energy seen throughout the 20th century toward a “grand minimum” in solar energy output. Such a minimum promises colder summers, extended bitter winter, and shortened crop seasons.

The sun is entering the peak of another 11-year solar cycle. Termed ‘Cycle 24’ by solar scientists, this cycle continues a trend of lessening sunspots since a high in the 20th century. Experts at the University of Arizona and NASA have been studying magnetic-field measurements from 120,000 miles beneath the sun’s surface and predict ‘Cycle 25’ will peak in 2022 even lower than the current cycle.

Europe experienced such a lowered cycle of solar output from 1645 to 1715. The coldest part of that period, known as the “Maunder minimum,” came to be known as the “Little Ice Age”. This period causes severe disruption of crop growing seasons and occasional famines.

:}

I know, I know the article has nothing to do with going off the grid, but going off the grid does not mean losing touch with what goes on in the rest of the world.

:}

Go there and read a bunch. More tomorrow,

:}

Climate Change Professor’s New Book Shows The World The Length That Deniers Will Stoop To, To Smear Someone Speaking The Truth

Posted on by
Reply

While this book is interesting in its presentation of the Climatological Facts, I think the most telling details are how viciously the deniers attack people through the web.

http://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Long live the hockey stick! Climate science fights back.

Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy.

Repeat something a sufficient number of times and, eventually, people will believe it, no matter whether it is true or not. It is one of the most effective tricks of propaganda and it has been used more than once against science, for instance in the demonization of the “Limits to Growth” study. During the past few years, it has been applied repeatedly, even obsessively, against the “hockey stick,” the reconstruction of past temperatures on which Michael Mann and coworkers had been working from the 1990s.

It is rare in the history of science that a single piece of experimental evidence has been the object of so many attempts of demolition. Yet, all the serious reviews of the original data have basically confirmed the initial results. Being unsuccessful in demolishing the science, the attacks have moved against the scientist, Michael Mann himself, who has been subjected to an unbelievable denigration campaign, defamed, insulted, and even physically threatened. Recently, the campaign against Mann has targeted his new book, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars”, with a large number of negative reviews and derogatory remarks which appeared in the reviews of the book on the Amazon site. Most of these seem to be the work of web identities created expressly for this purpose, i.e. “sock puppets“.

:}

Go there and read. The interview after the text is excellent. More tomorrow.

:}

Changing The Environment By Changing The Culture – How to classify this

Posted on by
Reply

I have no idea how to classify this but I found it interesting nonetheless. She is kinda cute no matter what.

 

http://www.blueplanetgreenliving.com/2009/01/30/culture-change-drives-environmental-improvement/

Culture Change Drives Environmental Improvement

“What I’m doing is socially engineering organizations by working with employees so they can shift their company culture and drive business performance — and even personal performance,” says Elizabeth Frisch, president of Culture Technologies, Inc. and director of development for A Nurtured World.“

Elizabeth Frisch of Culture Technologies and A Nurtured World
Elizabeth Frisch of Culture Technologies and A Nurtured World

 

One of the things we’re committed to is inspiring people, enrolling them, and getting them connected with their passions in the workplace. This is just like we do on the consumer side with A Nurtured World, getting people to commit to green living in their home, so that being environmental is not about suffering, deprivation, and “something else that is on my To-Do list.” Instead, you create space around it, so that it’s this open frontier. There’s all this possibility!”

Culture Technologies is working with the Dallas Cowboys to green their new Cowboy Stadium, a topic you’ll read about in tomorrow’s post. Today, we talk with Elizabeth about how Culture Technologies helps businesses become more environmentally responsible through culture change. We spoke with Frisch from her office in Austin, Texas.

:}

Go there and read the really long interview. More tomorrow.

:}

Durban Climate Summit A Success – They get a new climate observatory

Posted on by
Reply

See this is what happens when you do open ended searches. I am sure that you thought I would be ranting here about what a dismal conference it was. Or maybe how everything that they agreed to was a drop in the atmospheric bucket considering how much and how many different types of toxins we spew. And I may do that tomorrow, but today South Africa is smiling because nobody was killed and they got a new observatory out of the deal. From Monaco no less.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201112131459.html

SouthAfrica.info (Johannesburg)

South Africa: Climate Change Observatory for the Country

13 December 2011

A unique climate change observatory, the first of its kind in the world, focusing on bringing scientific information from around the globe to the public, is to be built in Cape Town by the International Polar Foundation.

The announcement, first reported by the SABC on Friday, was made last week at a function attended by Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, who were in Durban for the UN climate change summit (COP 17).

Prince Albert is a patron of the Belgium-based International Polar Foundation (IPF), a non-profit organisation established in 2002 with the aim of “providing a novel interface between science and society”. The IPF’s last major project, completed in 2009, was the construction of a new research station – the world’s first zero-emission research station – in Antarctica.

Interface between science and society

Its next major project is the Polaris Climate Change Observatory, which will be built in the heart of Cape Town’s famous V&A Waterfront, on a jetty that will be specially developed, the IPF says on its website, “to offer visitors of all ages a striking experience as a path to sustainability.

“Featuring permanent and temporary exhibitions, outreach and education activities, spectacular ways of presenting climate facts and figures, highlighting new science and innovations, the Polaris Climate Change Observatory will confirm Cape Town and South Africa as world landmarks for climate action.”

According to the IPF, Cape Town is the perfect location for this “new breed of science centre”, and not only because of the city’s geographical location as a gateway to the Southern Pole.

Scheduled to open in 2014, the first Polaris Climate Change Observatory will bring together “the ingenuity of one of Africa’s premier cities with a revolutionary concept which will change the way visitors understand the world, the changing climate and ways in which humanity can take responsibility and make decisions for the future”.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Morocco’s Bid To Become The New Saudi Arabia – Transmission losses will be killer

Posted on by
Reply

While solar projects in general are a good idea, location is everything.  Morocco is close to Europe. Well it is close to Spain and Southern France but the line losses with current technology will be huge. I suppose it would help to electrify Northwest Africa, but I doubt if that is the market.

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=14771

World Bank backs Morocco concentrating solar power megaproject

november 18, 2011

Ouarzazate is only the first part of Morocco’s ambitious plan of developing 2000 megawatts in solar energy capacity by 2020. The first stage is a concentrated solar thermal power design, using parabolic trough mirrors.

World Bank backs Morocco concentrating solar power megaproject

The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, taking a historic step toward realizing one of the first large-scale plants of this kind in North Africa to exploit the region’s vast solar energy resources.

With this approval from the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, Morocco takes the lead with the first project in the low-carbon development plan under the ambitious Middle East and North Africa Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Scale-up Program. A $200 million loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the part of the Bank that lends to developing country governments, and another $97 million loan will come from the Clean Technology Fund.

“The World Bank is proud to provide the financing needed to make this large-scale renewable energy investment possible,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “Ouarzazate demonstrates Morocco’s commitment to low-carbon growth and could demonstrate the enormous potential of solar power in the Middle East and North Africa. During a time of transformation in North Africa, this solar project could advance the potential of the technology, create many new jobs across the region, assist the European Union to meet its low-carbon energy targets, and deepen economic and energy integration in the Mediterranean. That’s a multiple winner.”

The 500 megawatt (MW) Ouarzazate solar complex, as the first power site, will be among the largest CSP plants in the world and is an important step in Morocco’s national plan to deploy 2000 MW of solar power generation capacity by 2020.

The World Bank has supported Morocco’s national Solar Power Plan since it was launched in 2009 and is now making this significant loan to co-finance the development and construction of the Ouarzazate Project Phase 1 parabolic trough plant through a Public Private Partnership between the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and a private partner. Ouarzazate Phase 1 will involve the first 160 MW and will help Morocco avoid 240,000 tons of CO2 equivalent a year.

:}

More next week.

:}

Halloween Spoof – Thanks to Compare Electricity Rates

Posted on by
Reply

This is a guest post from a group that has done it before. Thanks for the holiday gift.

http://compareelectricityrates.com/blog/2011/why-i-dont-care-how-much-my-electric-bill-is-right-now/

Scrooge-like is the usual manner in which which I handle the power in my little palace, but sometimes that approach doesn’t quite work. There are certain special situations in which even a penurious Scotsman  might open up the wallet as well as the heart. This cavalier attitude toward a fast-spinning electric meter wouldn’t be an everyday occurrence, but it could happen. Some of the situations, like just being cold, would have to be pretty extreme, and the missus might have to threaten physical violence, but other potential instances, like the arrival Of Mick Jagger & Co., would be no-brainers. Here are a few of the possible candidates to render the electric bill meaningless.

Brrr! – When the thermometer is broken, or at least it seems that way, and the temperature reading is a constant 10 degrees below zero (inside), it is time to break the piggy bank and crank up an Amish heater in every room in the house.

I’m Melting – The same thermometer, turned upside down, could convince me that 110 degrees is uncomfortable enough to turn on the AC, and I might even be swayed to set the thermostat below 85.

Work, Work, Work – If my boss doesn’t care how much power I use to get a job done, then that’s the time I don’t get to care, either.

:}

This is so funny. I love the Rolling Stones one. Go there and read the rest. More tomorrow.

:}

The Ultimate Frontier – Composting at work

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday I posted about corporate recycling and how they have to have plastic containers with labels on them to actually do it. Well here is a thought. Take a felt tipped marker and cross out paper and write organics. That way you are composting at work. If you have no organics other than food scraps you may have to mix in some shredded paper or go out side and collect some leaves. You will need a a tight lid and you may need to store it outside, but everything is possible.

http://bubbler.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/composting-at-work/

 

 

Composting at Work

I’ve started a composting process of the food waste at my workplace using a bin that is passively aerated. It’s kind of a prototype, as I am figuring out what kind of mix of inputs will work, how much moisture it needs, etc. During the summer, our kitchen produces a huge amount of food scraps which gets bagged up, thrown into a room, then later heaved up by staff onto our dump truck, driven into town, dumped at the refuse center, where it is then sorted and transported out of the county to a landfill 70 miles away. It’s a ridiculously inefficient process of dealing with waste that generates yet more waste.

The small bin I have currently set up will fill up within a week, so obviously it isn’t anywhere near cutting much waste out. However, once I’ve demonstrated that it works and have figured out the proper mix and all that, I’m hoping that we can expand the operation to cut out a more significant chunk of waste.

The whole science and art of composting consists of a proper ratio of carbon to nitrogen, which ideally should be around 30:1. We have a vast amount of cardboard and newspaper on-hand which I will shred to serve as bulk carbon (further reducing the transport of those materials into the recycling center in town), as well as sawdust and, every now and then, pine needles. The food waste supplies the nitrogen, as well as moisture. I will also pick up horse manure from stables down the road and mix that in there as well to provide essential microbes. It remains to be seen what kind of compost such a mixture will produce—it may be somewhat deficient on nutrients as my main sources of carbon are bland.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Sierra Dall And Her Municipal Webinar – This is thoroughly worthwhile

Posted on by
Reply

OK her work’s connection to this blog might seem tenuous at first glance. When not talking about the residential housing market, I am usually attacking the hydrocarbons industry or rapers of the environment. (By the way the Maconda well is leaking again) But she is a really nice lady who actually talks to me on the phone every once in awhile. If you think about it, if your municipality could get you cheap renewable energy wouldn’t you take it.

http://www.EnergyForefront.com/infowebinar

 

Hi,
Would you please put the following Free Webinar on your calendar, in your newsletter or pass it on to interested parties?
Thanks
Sierra Dall.

 

Municipal Financing Options for Renewable Energy
PLUS : How Fowler CO financed its energy projects with NO upfront costs
Date & Time
September 13, 2011 at Noon Eastern
Join us to hear three presenters discuss various methods by which municipalities could finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, either for the municipality or for their citizens & businesses. This webinar is hosted by Energy Forefront and sponsored by the firms listed below. 

Topics include:

  • Multiple Methods that Cities/Towns Could Use to Finance Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects including federal tax benefits, aggregation, securitization of smaller projects, 501c3 non-profit corporations & more presented by Baird Brown, Attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
  • How Various Cities & Towns Structured their Energy Financing presemted by Vincent DeVito, Attorney at Bowditch & Dewey LLP
  • Financing Municipal Renewable Energy Projects with No Upfront Costs: Wayne Snider describes how he procured financing for wind solar, biomass and several other Fowler Colorado projects . . . without any upfront costs for Fowler.
TO LEARN MORE or REGISTER
Click this link or copy and paste it into your browser

NO COST TO ATTEND

Thanks to Our Sponsors-
CleaResult, American Energy Assets, Bob Parkins Renewable Energy Consulting, Arbogast Energy Auditing, Distributed Energy Financial Group, Steffes Corporation – SkyBuilt Power – Bella Energy – Solar Tracking Tree

Who we are
Energy Forefront is a connecting point where cities, towns, counties, universities, facilities, consultants and industry professionals can meet via online events and find the latest resources on energy efficiency, renewable energy and green economic development.

:}

Go there and read. More next week.

:}

Energy Home Team – Pretty informative articles for the homeowner

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t always agree with these folks. Some of their comments on windows for instance leave a little to be desired but still it is a great place to start. Here is a taste.

http://www.homeenergyteam.com/home-energy-efficiency-tips-news.html

Most Popular Articles

 

Home Performance Teams: Working Together to Maximize Energy Efficiency

“No one can be an expert at everything. The best results come from specialists working together for a common goal.”

Industry News

5 Low-Cost, Energy Efficient Home Improvements that Increase the Value of Your Home

August 11th 2011

You want to make your home more energy efficient, but you don’t want to spend a lot on home improvements.

Schell Brothers, LLC Commits to Marketing the HERS Index of all Their Homes – First Delaware Builder to Make Commitment

August 11th 2011

Schell Brothers, LLC, a Rehoboth Beach, Delaware based homebuilder has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds.

Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, Michigan Commits to Marketing the HERS Index of all Their New Homes – First Habitat for Humanity Affiliate to Make Commitment

August 10th 2011

The Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, Michigan has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the organization builds. The intent of the agreement is to raise consumers’ knowledge of new home energy performance by using RESNET’s HERS Index.

Quail Homes Commits to Marketing the HERS Index of all Their Homes Built in Oregon and Washington

August 10th 2011

Quail Homes, a Vancouver, Washington based homebuilder has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds.

Replacing Windows for Energy Efficiency?

August 10th 2011

Think Again. There are better options.

TriState Habitat for Humanity Commits to Marketing the HERS Index of all Their Homes Built In Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio

August 10th 2011

TriState Habitat for Humanity has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds.

Heartland Builders Commits to Marketing the HERS Index of all Their Homes Built in Western Michigan

August 3rd 2011

Heartland Builders, a Grand Rapids, Michigan based homebuilder has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}