Category Archives: economics

I Am Buying A Stairway To Heaven – Low Heat Geothermal Extraction

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Could give us pollution free energy! And you thought I was going to use that on jam band Friday well nooooo.

But then what does the phrase mean? Some take it in its Christian or religious context. The idea is that people try to buy their way into heaven. Some people take it to mean that the lady was on the way to buy drugs and the stairway is the high feeling. A young friend of mine reports that Jimmy Paige wrote the song under the influence of a scottish demon..in a castle they had just bought…I do not know myself but for a lively discussion please add a comment to:

http://www.captaincynic.com/thread/40522/what-does-buying-the-stairway-to-heaven-mean.htm

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Maybe it’s true that heaven can wait, but this development is pretty cool:

http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.asp?id=383

Release date: July 15, 2009

Contact: Geoffrey Harvey, (509) 372-6083

New geothermal heat extraction process to deliver clean power generation

PNNL’s advanced heat recovery method makes most of low-temp ‘hot rock’ resources

PNNL’s introduction of a metal-organic heat carrier, or MOHC, in the biphasic fluid may help improve thermodynamic efficiency of the heat recovery process. This image represents the molecular makeup of one of several MOHCs.
(Original high-resolution image.)

RICHLAND, Wash. – A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating virtually pollution-free electrical energy. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will determine if their innovative approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources.

The goal is to enable power generation from low-temperature geothermal resources at an economical cost. In addition to being a clean energy source without any greenhouse gas emissions, geothermal is also a steady and dependable source of power.

“By the end of the calendar year, we plan to have a functioning bench-top prototype generating electricity,” predicts PNNL Laboratory Fellow Pete McGrail. “If successful, enhanced geothermal systems like this could become an important energy source.” A technical and economic analysis conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that enhanced geothermal systems could provide 10 percent of the nation’s overall electrical generating capacity by 2050.

Click to watch PNNL’s Pete McGrail describe the process.

PNNL’s conversion system will take advantage of the rapid expansion and contraction capabilities of a new liquid developed by PNNL researchers called biphasic fluid. When exposed to heat brought to the surface from water circulating in moderately hot, underground rock, the thermal-cycling of the biphasic fluid will power a turbine to generate electricity.

To aid in efficiency, scientists have added nanostructured metal-organic heat carriers, or MOHCs, which boost the power generation capacity to near that of a conventional steam cycle. McGrail cited PNNL’s nanotechnology and molecular engineering expertise as an important factor in the development, noting that the advancement was an outgrowth of research already underway at the lab.

EMSL, The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Follow PNNL on Facebook(Offsite link), Linked In(Offsite link) and Twitter(Offsite link).

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For another take on it:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/buying-a-stairway-to-heaven/

29 May 2006

Buying a stairway to heaven?

Filed under:

— david @ 8:33 am

Just in the last year or so, a new type of scheme for reducing personal carbon emissions has appeared, the remarkably painless purchasing of “carbon offsets”. Carbonfund.org claims to neutralize a person’s CO2 footprint on the Earth for the low, low price of $99 per year, plus if you act now they will throw in an extra 5 tons for free! And you get a pen! Prices listed here range from $5-30 per ton of CO2 from a variety of similar organizations around the world. The average U.S. citizen is responsible for about 20 tons of CO2 release per year.

Compliance with Kyoto, a mere 5% reduction in carbon emissions, was forecast by Nordhaus [2001] to cost a few percent of GDP globally. The cost to stop emission completely and immediately may not even be calculable. Carbonfund.org promises zero net emissions, for a fraction of 1% of the average U.S. income. Can this possibly be real, or are we talking indulgences and snake oil?

The idea behind carbon offsets is built upon the foundation of carbon emissions trading established by the Kyoto Protocol, a scheme called cap and trade. Carbon emissions for industries are capped at some level by regulatory permits to emit CO2. If a company is able to cut its emissions below that level, it can sell its emission permits to another company. The cuts in emissions are thereby steered, by the invisible hand of the market, to the cheapest and most efficient means. Cap-and-trade has worked well for reduction of sulfur emissions in the U.S., that are responsible for acid rain. CO2 emission is intrinsically even better suited for cap-and-trade, because it is a truly global pollutant, so it matters not where the CO2 is emitted.

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You know I couldn’t resist it:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXN3OLgoqs

or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p3Ue3ncH3g&feature=related

be a rock and let it roll

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Run Like Hell The Pollution In The Atmosphere Will Kill Us – But there is no place to run

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and the people who are doing the pollution are lying to keep on doing it. As you know this week I have (it’s) been examining phrases with (jam) hell in them to avoid thinking about how (band) bad things are about to get here on Planet Earth. Now it appears that even if we stop today the oceans will continue to acidify for years (friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySO-gryuO-c) and that means a huge loss of food.

http://www.what-the-hell-is-hell.com/Hellphrases.htm

Run like Hell seems to imply really really fast. Like you can run from hell? Or as the song says “get out of hell before they know you are there”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBcY9HGqehE&feature=related

But there is also something in the phrase that implies that you not look back,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntm1YfehK7U&feature=related

And you you do not stop running until you can run no more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRcQZ2tnWeg&feature=related

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

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Yet the Energy Industry continues to lie through its teeth about our real choices:

 http://www.alternet.org/water/141202/energy_industry_threatens_water_quality,_sways_congress_with_misleading_data/

Energy Industry Threatens Water Quality, Sways Congress With Misleading Data

By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica. Posted July 9, 2009.

The industry is misleading the public into a false choice between the economy and the environment.

The two key arguments that the oil and gas industry is using to fight federal regulation of the natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing — that the costs would cripple their business and that state regulations are already strong — are challenged by the same data and reports the industry is using to bolster its position.

One widely-referenced study (PDF) estimated that complying with regulations would cost the oil and gas industry more than $100,000 per gas well. But the figures are based on 10-year-old estimates and list expensive procedures that aren’t mentioned in the proposed regulations.

Another report (PDF) concluded that state regulations for drilling, including fracturing, “are adequately designed to directly protect water.” But the report reveals that only four states require regulatory approval before hydraulic fracturing begins. It also outlines how requirements for encasing wells in cement — a practice the author has said is critical to containing hydraulic fracturing fluids and protecting water — varies from state to state.

One recommendation in that report flies in face of industry’s assertion that its processes are safe: hydraulic fracturing needs more study and should be banned in certain cases near sensitive water supplies.

Hydraulic fracturing — where water and sand laced with chemicals is injected underground to break up rock — is considered essential to harvesting deeply buried gas reserves that some predict could meet U.S. demand for 116 years.

In 2005 hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act, based on assurances that the process was safe. But a series of ProPublica reports has identified a number of cases in which water has been contaminated in drilling areas across the country, and EPA scientists say they can’t fully investigate them because of the exemption.

Now, Congress is considering legislation to restore the Environmental Protection Agency’s oversight of the process. And industry — leveraging its money and political connections — is using the recent reports to fight back.

Since January at least five studies have been published making the case that state laws (PDF) are adequate and that new regulations could hamper exploration (PDF), raise fuel prices and eliminate jobs. Three of the studies were paid for by the Department of Energy and produced by consulting firms that also work with the industry. One of the DOE reports (PDF) was written by the same person who authored a study for the Independent Petroleum Association of America (PDF)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx3DtXyEqrE

If you are in England you might want to give these folks a try:

http://www.souththamesgas.co.uk

http://www.allaspectsltd.co.uk/services/plumbing-services/

Dave Stern likes them.

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Our Atmosphere Is A Highway To Hell – And the heat is melting the Polar Caps

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This week we have been exploring all the ways to get to purgatory, the netherworld, the valley of the gods, or the bad place where bad people go. I think the highway metaphor implies in no small way that you are driving yourself there. It implies free will if nothing else because of course you could turn around if you like.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1178

All this can carry a tune I suppose:

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/6058/

But it all just makes you forget that we have used the atmosphere as an open sewer for so long:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqwFfGgLPzM

While we melt the Polar Caps away:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17436-warming-arctic-could-teem-with-life-by-2030.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change

Warming Arctic could teem with life by 2030

“Teeming with life” may not be the description that springs to mind when thinking of the Arctic Ocean, but that could soon change as global warming removes the region’s icy lid.

A study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.

Alan Kemp of the UK National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and colleagues used powerful microscopes to inspect cores of mud extracted from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. They found successive layers of tiny algae called diatoms. The pattern of the layers and the distribution of the diatoms provides strong evidence that the Arctic was free of ice during the summer and, contrary to recent studies, frequently covered in ice during the winter.

Hot summer

Ice-free summers and icy winters are precisely what glaciologists fear could happen in the Arctic within decades. Over the past few years, wind pattern and warm temperatures have been gradually thinning Arctic sea ice, making it less and less likely to survive the summer. Some believe the Arctic could be ice-free during the summer as soon as 2030.

The researchers say that the sheer number of diatoms locked in the mud suggests that when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth the Arctic Ocean was biologically very rich during the summer, on a par with the most productive regions of the Southern Ocean today. Since diatoms are at the very bottom of the food chain, waters rich in diatoms can support a lot of larger life forms as well.

“On the basis of our findings, we can say that it is likely that a future Arctic Ocean free of summer sea ice will also be highly productive,” says Kemp. Arctic fauna today is limited by the region’s harsh conditions. The ocean is home to very few species of fish – such as the Arctic cod – which in turn support seals, whales and polar bears.

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Shouldn’t you be buying beach front property in Alaska?

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Our Atmospere Is A Hell Bound Train – Illinois moves south and eventually ends up with Louisiana’s weather

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I have suddenly become interested in the descent into hell as a metaphor for the descent of humankind from peak activity to tribalism. I am not a big fan of the descent theory either. It seems like commercial activity and traveling are universal and have gone on since the beginning of time. It is true that certain forms of economic organization have come and gone. But it seems to me that it universally accepted education that comes and goes. Mainly that is because the things we know are true are  constantly evolving. Like he said in Men in Black:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJvl5fnB-bU&feature=PlayList&p=41D6FF8997B79F88&index=3

Anyway, the difference between “hell in a hand basket” and “hell bound train” is that the basket metaphor seems almost leisurely and the train seems to move a lot faster. As far as origins:

http://everything2.com/title/The%2520Hell-Bound%2520Train

One long poem or:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlqqeobOJvg

One long song:

http://tomtrumpinski.com/Tom_Trumpinski/Books_&_Stories.html

One long book.

Nonetheless you have to admit that it can’t predate the invention of the actual train itself. Why worry about such things? Because the idea that Illinois shall soon have sub Trobical weather is just simply revolting. But according to this it is happening faster than even the “extremists” thought:

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2166

30 Jun 2009: Analysis

Report Gives Sobering View
Of Warming’s Impact on U.S.

A new U.S. government report paints a disturbing picture of the current and future effects of climate change and offers a glimpse of what the nation’s climate will be like by century’s end

by michael d. lemonick

For anyone wondering whether climate change has already hit the United States, a recent U.S. government report says it has — and in a big way.

Witness these trends: In the northeastern U.S., winter temperatures have increased by 4 degrees F since 1970; in the Pacific Northwest, the depth of the Cascade Mountain snowpack on April 1 has declined by 25 percent over the last half century, while spring runoff from the Cascades now occurs nearly a month earlier than 50 years ago; and in Alaska, winter temperatures have increased a stunning 6.3 degrees F in the last 50 years.

Those are just some of the sobering signs of rapid warming spelled out this month in a new report by a U.S. government body that almost no one has heard of: the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCR), which by law is required to report to Congress every ten years on the causes, effects, and possible responses to climate change in the U.S.

If the changes that the U.S. already has experienced make you uneasy, then perhaps you shouldn’t read the the downloadable document itself: It makes quite clear that if the U.S. and the world do little or nothing to slow greenhouse gas emissions, then the climate in the U.S. will be far hotter — and decidedly unpleasant — by the end of this century.

For those inclined to dismiss the USGCR’s report, it should be noted that the group’s scientific pedigree is impeccable. The study is a joint effort of the departments of Energy, Commerce, Defense, State, Interior, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture — plus the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Science Foundation, and the Agency for International Development.

The report, which includes new material not contained in the 2007 report

Click to Enlarge
climate

U.S. Global Change Research Program

The Warming of Illinois

of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, brings climate change down to the level where people live. For each region of the U.S., the report describes some of the changes that have already been observed, then looks at what’s likely to happen under both a low-emissions scenario (in which emissions of greenhouse gases are cut substantially) and a high-emissions scenario (where the world pretty much stays on the course it’s now following).

Either way, the authors say, significant changes are coming. Substantial emissions cuts are under active debate, but they remain hypothetical so far; the highlights cited here will therefore focus on the business-as-usual scenario — not in order to be alarmist, but to stay in the realm of the concrete.

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I included all that I did just so I could include the cool map of Illinois. Read the rest it is really frightening.

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Sealing A Continuous Ridge Vent – The method I used was not great

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But it was the best I could come up with off the top of my head. Now that I think about it I probably should have used hardening spray foam from a can. Commonly referred to by the trade name Stuff.

http://building.dow.com/global/greatstuffpro.htm

As you can see from this question:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Roofing-1598/Icynene-Insulation-Sealing-Ridge.htm

Roofing – Icynene Insulation and Sealing Ridge Vents

Expert: Dan Merrill – 7/26/2007Question
I am having a home built and plan to have icynene foam insulation sprayed into the attic (exterior walls and the attic ceiling)as well as exterior walls.   My understanding is that with foam insulation, ridge vents are not needed and in fact defeat the purpose.   The house is now framed and the architectural shingles are being installed this week.   I noticed that the opening for the ridge vent has not been physically closed.    The builder uses a truss design rather than a stick built roof.    The tar paper and shingles are just being laid over the open ridge.Is this a problem?   It seems to me that there should be a more solid barrier at the ridge…like wood, rather than just foam, tar paper, then shingles.Any thoughts?   ThanksAnswer
It should not pose a problem.
The usage of conditioned attic space as you are building is fairly new to the building codes and not in general use.
It is likely that most roofing installers have never seen the specifications before, so they just did as they always do.
The foam will be sprayed under the whole roof deck, so it will act as a vapor barrier. The opening cut for a ridge vent should have no affect.

Dan

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However what I did  was cut a rectangular piece of black 4 mill. plastic:

http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/27-112-polyethylene-film/4-mil-plastic-black-poly-film-637465.aspx

Big enough to cover the exposed vent space between the rafters and allow some “drape” over all of the exposed surfaces, approximately 2 ft. by anywhere from 20 inches to 30 inches. I made a continuous bead of 30 year silicon caulk in a square configuration much smaller than the piece of plastic:

http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_3d_index.asp?page_id=35783013

http://www.onlinetips.org/caulk-types

I pushed this up to the peak of the roof, making sure to make complete contact between all of the wood surfaces and the caulk. I then smoothed the plastic out and popped in  5 or 6 staples with my PowerShot staple gun.

http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Black-Decker-Black-Decker-5700-Powershot-Forward-Action-Stapler

Then I put the insulation back up. I bought a cool new product for cheap; plastic wrapped r-17 insulation for 16 bucks. Kinda like insulation in a tube.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/B54_Fiberglass_-_Newest_Improvements.shtml

And I dragged it across the artificial ceiling studs.

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A reader could rightfully ask, why didn’t you make the roofing company come and fix it?

The answer is 2 fold. One, I ordered the roof and I should have been aware that it came with a continuous ridge vent. It is not up to the roofer to go into the attic to determine if you ordered the right roof before he or she installs it.

Second I always fight the battles I want to fight. I have expertise in this area and though I wish I would have thought of the foam solution earlier, it did not take much longer to fix the problem the way I fixed it. Another homeowner might have thought that this was a fight to take to the roofing company.

It turned out when we finally got around to stripping out the paneling to remodel the attic that they had done the same thing to the dormer…man was it hot up there!

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There Is Something In The Attic And It’s Alive II – Roof Leaks are so much fun

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I ended up where I started off. I started with a badly leaking roof in the big shed. I moved on to a leaky basement. Finally I paid 11,000 $$$ for a leaky roof.

It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_0UXRY_rY

Now a traditional home owner would have been calling their lawyer and loading their shotguns, Cathy is an electrician and I am a carpenter so on the second leak we called Dean our roof guy and expressed our displeasure. In the mean time I had been trying to figure out what was going on. I had to take out a bunch of wet insulation. The more I tracked the water up the roof, the more it veered toward the gable vent that I had assumed was sealed and insulated.

http://www.customcopperdesigns.com/Product_Catgs/Gables/index.html

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yGCHPmfqT0&feature=related

Our 2 eve vents were the  triangular ones listed at the bottom of the page. I got this horrible feeling in my gut. Slowly the horror grew. I had an energy monster living in my attic! Me an energy expert had the equivalent of a 4 x 4 ft. hole in my wall in my attic. I knew I had to kill it but the previous owners of the house (who should be shot) had presented me with serious problems. I tried to take the ceiling panel down to get a quick look and discovered that the panels were all beveled. That is the ceiling panel was trapped by the sloping panel which was trapped by the knee wall panel which was trapped by the carpet tack strips from the old carpet…%$&#@*! Is what I said over and over again..

http://mtlcontracting.com/finished_attics.htm

www.hunnewellhomes.com/remodeling.asp

http://s93883215.onlinehome.us/adamjaneiro/2007_09_01_archive.html

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORAvMk-iXec

YOU know exactly what I mean. Everyone has a friend that grew up in the attic. So by the time I basically got 2 whole 4 ft wall and side panels off I was a mixture of pissed, curious and freaked. But it got worse. I made the mistake of pulling the roof panel down with the slope pointing towards me and when I got about half the panel down I was hit in the face with dirt and dust like I had never seen. I let go of the panel and dashed downstairs to wash my face. Then I went out on the front porch, shook my clothes off and brushed my hair out. Now I was nearly out of my mind. I dashed back upstairs to see what in the world had just happened to me. There on the floor were thousands of hornets nests! I looked up at the open unscreened gable vent in disbelief. I mean open to the outside world and only stoppered by an 1/8th inch piece of cheap 1950’s wood paneling. 1953 to be exact. What idiots.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBOGqaiVLUs&feature=related

I got up in the ceiling and looked back the other way. What I saw was a long tunnel formed by the ceiling panels and the roof and ANOTHER unscreened totally open vent at the other end. Then I looked up at a light in the sky – open, though screened continuous ridge vent. I started throwing things around the room, stomped downstairs and called Cathy at work. I screamed for awhile until she got me calmed down. She said, can you fix it? I said yah but I shouldn’t have to. She said, yah right and hung up the phone. The woman has no sense of humor. So then I pulled down the other panel. I scooped up three trash cans full of bees nests.

http://www.virginmedia.com/digital/science/pictures/insect-photography.php?ssid=8

www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/nf/ClipArt/Ima..

http://gardenplotter.com/rospo/blog/2007/03/old-attics.html

At the west end of the house I even found 2 dinner plate sized wasp nests even though my biologist father claims that wasps and hornets will not cohabitate.

http://pestcontrolcanada.com/INSECTS/wasp_and_hornet_control.htm

http://www.aardvark-ie.com/wasps.htm

Then I sealed the vents with black plastic, caulk and staples. I stuffed the space with R-17 insulation and put the wood panels back in place. I have no idea how to seal up a ridge vent that should not be.

Here is how the pro’s do it:

http://www.onthehouse.com/wp/20030929

Since gable vents usually are architectural elements, it generally is best to seal them from the interior with a piece of plywood, thus preserving the architectural integrity of the home and eliminating the need to make a siding patch.

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More on getting rid of the ridge vent Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muyqMrsuLXw&feature=related

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There Is Something In The Attic And It’s Alive – Our metal roof and huge discoveries

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We finally decided to get a metal roof and that was a learning experience in and of itself but it led to many horrifying discoveries. But first the metal roof.

http://www.newenglandmetalroof.com/

http://www.metalroofingwholesalers.com/

We shopped around and it was amazing the difference in contractors. I asked 4 contractors to give us bids on both a metal roof and a standard roof. I also asked if they had installed a metal roof and could I see it. On one end, a contractor who had done work for a couple of my friends that they were happy with showed up at the house. He took no measurements. He did not get on the roof. He said a metal roof would be 15,000 $$$ and 25 year roof in shingles will be 7,000 $$$. Let me know what you decide and left.! I called my friends and said WTF. They said, oh John is such a clown but he does good work…

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61nP-dDSKTL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Another contractor was good with the numbers but vague about experience and two other contractors seemed to have the numbers and the experience. One, Promax from Decatur gave me great references, One metal and one traditional. We decided to do the metal roof with them. I am an ex-roofer. I wish I could say that things went smoothly. They didn’t. I am currently satisfied, but there were problems some of which they couldn’t control.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61nP-dDSKTL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

They ordered the roof. It arrived late and not all the parts came. They had to reorder the parts. It rained every four days so that a job that was supposed be done in 2 weeks in June took 2 months, June and August. Did I mention that it was blazing hot when it wasn’t raining?

chicagoist.com/2008/07/09/watch_pro_volleybal…

Nonetheless two things were apparent when they were done. The valley’s around the dormers had been done “creatively” and we would just have to see how the winter went. Cathy was concerned about falling ice from the garage hitting the house and I was concerned about ice damming. The creativity about the valleys is hard to explain.. They do three feet of flashing in the valley and then cover it with metal roofing. The center of the valley is essentially decorative because the seam is protected by the sealing and the flashing. Well that and the continuously vented ridgecap (much more on that later) and the valley pieces were part of the reordered parts and when they showed up they had to get creative because the roof was pretty much done. They turned the valley pieces upside down and affixed them giving our roof a “distinctive” look.

roofblog.jpg

roofblog1.jpg

As I said, unconventional. I understand. They would have had to unseal almost the whole roof  to insert the metal under the other pieces of roofing for what was a decorative effect. But it scared the living bejesus out of the contractors we asked for bids on the solar space for the back of the house. Anyway to make a longer story much shorter the roof leaked in February and they came back and tinkered. The roof leaked in March and they came back and found the problem. Not however before I discover some real serious problems that horrified me.

More on Friday.

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Confessions Of An Energy And Environmental Activist – Why a mechanic’s car never works,

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a carpenter’s doors are never square and the wiring in an electricians house is always scary. Because you never do at home what you do at work. I never had this problem in New Orleans or when I moved back from Springfield. We owned our house in New Orleans and I put a lot of easy low cost energy improvements there. In Springfield, I had rentersitis and was working for Planned Parenthood, Lowe’s and the Sara Center and was not focused on energy issues.

When I moved in with Cathy in 2004 you would think I would have thought about maybe doing an energy audit but I was still working for the Sara Center and I was really absorbed by that project. I also assumed that if there were major problems Cathy would have found them by that time. She moved in in 1999 and had actually replaced the furnace with a really efficient one for the time. I guess by the time I got around to helping to start Community Energy Systems in 2007 my mind had been cleared by our fight to save our rather full and large (25 x 12 ft.) shed. That event marked the beginning of not only cursing the previous owner but realizing that there could be real problems with the house. I had never met a roof that I couldn’t get to stop leaking before I met this shed…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quillus/118385662/in/set-539999/

I tried caulk. I tried Plastic Tarps. The Leak just got worse to the point where something really had to be done. It was rotting away. In the interim Cathy and I had been discussing getting a metal roof for the house. I had reservations mainly because Cathy wanted the metal roof because she want a “clean water” cistern system to use in the garden. A conventional roof was about 6,000 $$$ and a metal roof was like 15, 000 $$$. Finally I said to her, look we got to do something about the shed or tear it down which means we are going to have to spend money to hold the line until we get our new roof.

So we tore off the roof and immediately found the problem. There were 3 sets of shingles on the roof. To get ready for the sale to Cathy the previous owners had put a brand new set of shingles over 2 old sets. It was the oldest set that was causing the problem. They were so old that they had become water ABSORBENT! So we had to tear off a perfectly good set of shingles to get at and out of the real problem which had OBVIOUSLY been going on before the sale of the house and the previous owners knew about it. Very nice folks.

www.twincitiesdailyphoto.com/labels/cottage%2…

Scroll down to the post 5/30/2009 and you can see a picture of what the roof looked like under the new shingles. It was nasty. The water damage to the roof and the eves was extensive. Eventually however we got all that repaired and we put on a self adhesive roll roofing which cost about 300 $$$ and the cost of a laborer to help me was about 1,200 $$$. We had a lot of scrap lumber from our new and improved bathroom project. So we got off pretty cheaply.

http://www.cofair.com/peel_seal.aspx
But that got me to thinking. What else could be hiding in the house that had similarly been covered up? The answer to that when I found it was huge. After Cathy’s son moved out of the attic I had torn out the early 1960, very nasty carpet and cut it into strips so Cathy could use it as weed suppressing pathways in her garden.

100_1816.jpg

The other area of the house that we were having trouble with was in the basement. We had a room mate living there for years who had a dog. She bought a house and moved out so I tore the basement apart and cleaned it up. We had water problems, drainage problems and the whole thing was painted putrid green.

So I shut off the HVAC vents, shut the door to the attic and sealed it. What a mistake that was. More tomorrow.

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My 19 Year Old Panasonic Light Capsule Died Today – I am so sad

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7

I can barely post today I am so wracked with grief. 19 years is longer than I have been with anyone. I could tell you stories. When I lived in New Orleans it was our “vacation lamp”. So for 12 years in a row no matter what else it did it was on for two weeks solid in all kinds of weather. It wasn’t even supposed to be an outdoor lamp. But I put it there anyway. It kept watch over my dieing wife in her final days with it’s softwhite light. Lately it has been in the basement in our laundry room. A retirement home of sorts, where it only had to shine once in awhile.

Who CARES if Michael Jackson’s died? I want my light bulb back! Sob… It just sort of flickered this morning and then it went out…in memorial:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-EFG25E50-Capsule-Collection-Fluorescent/dp/B00008BKXZ

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Panasonic EFG25E50 Capsule Collection 25W Compact Fluorescent Lamp (Globe Shape)

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Panasonic EFG25E50 Capsule Collection 25W Compact Fluorescent Lamp (Globe Shape)

Other products by Panasonic

7 Reviews

5 star: (1)
4 star: (4)
3 star: (2)
2 star: (0)
1 star: (0)

› See all 7 customer reviews…

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3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Technical Details

  • 25-watt bulb replaces standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs
  • Cool, white lighting for bright illumination
  • Up to 10,000 hours of burn time
  • Consumes 70 to 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulb
  • Starting temperature as low as -22 degrees F for reliable outdoor lighting

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
Pansonic Energy Efficient long lasting compact fluorescent lamp suitable for indoor / outdoor operation. Replaces standard incandescent 120V light bulbs. Over 70%-75% saving energy cost compared to standard incandescent bulb and 10,000 hours long life compared to 1,000 hours of standard incandescent bulb. Available in two designer color: Warm Color or Cool Color. Energy Star Standard. Note: Not suitable for use with dimming circuit, sensor, or photocell devices.

From the Manufacturer
This 25-watt, Panasonic fluorescent bulb burns bright indoors and out, replacing standard incandescent 120-volt light bulbs for a 70 to 75-percent energy savings. The bulb offers 10,000 hours of brilliant cool lighting compared to the 1,000 hours you get from standard incandescent bulbs. Available in two designer colors, warm and cool, this bulb is not suitable for use with dimming circuit, sensor, or photocell devices.

Product Details

    • Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 3.8 x 5.3 inches ; 6.4 ounces
    • Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
    • Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
    • ASIN: B00008BKXZ
    • California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
    • Item model number: EFG25E50
    • Average Customer Review:

      7 Reviews

      5 star: (1)
      4 star: (4)
      3 star: (2)
      2 star: (0)
      1 star: (0)

      › See all 7 customer reviews…

      › See all discussions…

      3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

    • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,675 in Home Improvement (See Bestsellers in Home Improvement)
    • Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

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I feel so bad because I bitched about paying 10 $$$ for the little guy when new. That is about 53 cents a year. Cheaper than an incandesent and it paid back in three years…

At the funeral one man said:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Light but…, January 28, 2004

By John Kwong (Los Angeles, CA USA) – See all my reviews

The light from the bulb is excellent, the warm light feels like day light, while the Verilux daylight really feels too strong on the blue spectrum to me, at least I don’t see the same color under the sun light.The Panasonic bulb is great except it takes a while to reach full brightness(like 20 sec. or so). and it starts very dim. The 15w looks like a 20w. incandlescent for the first 5 sec. if you have not turned on the light for a while(10 minutes). which might annoy some people. Yet I don’t have problem with other bulb flourscent light with such a long delay such as Verilux.

:}

Kind of made him sound like a dim bulb but he was brighter than I.

:}

George Will And Robert Murray Defend The Carbon Economy With Lies

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The State Journal Register is just the same old Republican Rag that wants to shine Big Coals boots to stay in business. They ran 3 Right Wing Pundits today and 2 of them Commented on the Green Economy. One who says it won’t work and the other who says that Cap and Trade will destroy the US Economy. The first one, George Will:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032402294.html

Who admits in the very article that the report he cites is the product of,  a right wing radical libertarian economist, was published by a right wing think tank that opposes any change in energy policy besides “Drill here, Drill now” and that has neither been replicated nor peer reviewed. BUT none the less it is TRUE to point out that Spain has an unemployment rate of 18% (which is disputed by many) and that every green electricity production job costs  700,000 to 1.5 million $$$ counting subsidies and green corruption.

The unemployment figures are probably 3 to 4 % lower then he reports and at 12-14 % where the United States will end up by September or October BECAUSE we are in the greatest economic downturn since the GREAT Depression (though no one can tell me what was so great about it) that was caused by rightwing attacks on our financial sector, our housing sector and on labor (car manufacturers). These are his wealthy buddies yah know. He then tosses off another “source”, a report by rightwing Missourian, Kitt Bond who may or may not know anything about economics which comes to a similar conclusion, “Oil good when cheap – Wind and Solar bad” and concludes that a failed policy in EDUCATION will have the same results in ENERGY policy. Did George have a cup of coffee today? It is always tough when your biases show like your butt crack.

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x998784623/George-Will-Reality-of-green-spending-not-promising 

George Will: Reality of green spending not promising

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Jun 25, 2009 @ 12:02 AM

WASHINGTON — The Spanish professor is puzzled. Why, Gabriel Calzada wonders, is the U.S. president recommending that America emulate the Spanish model for creating “green jobs” in “alternative energy” even though Spain’s unemployment rate is 18.1 percent — more than double the European Union average — partly because of spending on such jobs?Calzada, 36, an economics professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, has produced a report which, if true, is inconvenient for the Obama administration’s green agenda, and for some budget assumptions that are dependent upon it.Calzada says Spain’s torrential spending — no other nation has so aggressively supported production of electricity from renewable sources — on wind farms and other forms of alternative energy has indeed created jobs. But Calzada’s report concludes that they often are temporary and have received $752,000 to $800,000 each in subsidies — wind industry jobs cost even more, $1.4 million each. And each new job entails the loss of 2.2 other jobs that are either lost or not created in other industries because of the political allocation — sub-optimum in terms of economic efficiency — of capital. (European media regularly report “eco-corruption” leaving a “footprint of sleaze” — gaming the subsidy systems, profiteering from land sales for wind farms, etc.) Calzada says the creation of jobs in alternative energy has subtracted about 110,000 jobs from elsewhere in Spain’s economy.:}

Normally I would not even dein this kind of obvious “paid to play” kind of Drivel, because if I wrote a blog for everytime George Will was wrong or lying I would never get anything done, but when the SJ-R follows that with an attack on Cap and Trade (the industries OWN proposed solution) written by known liar and coal mine owner Robert Murray that is just way over the line. Please note their web site:

http://www.murrayenergy.net/ 

These people are proud that they are longwall miners and mountain TOP destroyers and even ash producers. To wit:

Murray is the largest privately owned coal company in America
Murrary Energy CorporationProducing approximately 30 million annual tons of bituminous coal that provides affordable energy to households and businesses across the country. We have eight (8) underground and surface mining operations, plus 40 subsidiary and support companies. Transporting coal via truck, rail and waterways, we operate the second largest fleet of longwall mining units in the country. With a support team of 3,000 hard-working, dedicated, and talented employees in six (6) states, Murray Energy Corporation provides efficient, safe, and affordable high-quality coal to the country’s leading electric producers, domestically and abroad.

Energy, Efficiency, Effective leadership . . .
Celebrating 20 years of building America’s energy future, and utilizing the industry’s most modern mining technologies today to enhance safety, improve productivity and reduce costs. We credit our employees and talents of the team assembled to provide this reliable, low-cost energy source. Murray is transforming America’s most abundant natural energy resource into electricity, powering America’s future. Murray Energy’s team, from the CEO to the coal miner, along with their effective managers use state-of-art technology and engineering principles, all to the production of energy..

Commitment . . .
Is the driving force behind Murray Energy producing and delivering to get the most reliable and affordable energy supplied to our customers. From our leadership and management, to our workforce, commitment is the center of our focus to produce every ton of coal safely, efficiently, and to provide the most affordable energy for the benefit of all Americans and the Country

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And he says:

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x998784635/Robert-Murray-Waxman-Markey-bill-will-destroy-U-S-coal-industry

Robert Murray: Waxman-Markey bill will destroy U.S. coal industry

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Jun 25, 2009 @ 12:04 AM

Perhaps the most destructive legislation in our country’s history will be voted on, maybe as soon as next week, in the U.S. House of Representatives — the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill. It is a misguided attempt to address climate change.It will have adverse and lingering consequences for every American.It will raise the cost of electricity in our homes, the fuel for our cars, and the energy that produces our manufacturing jobs, with little or no environmental benefit.Further, independent experts estimate that it will cost Americans more than $2 trillion in just over eight years. All Americans in the Midwest, South and Rocky Mountain regions will be drastically affected because the climate change legislation will destroy the nation’s coal industry and the low-cost electricity it has provided to these regions for generations. Wealth will be transferred away from almost every state to the West Coast and New England.The most abundant and by far least expensive energy source in our country for generating electricity is coal. America’s coal reserves rival the energy potential of Saudi Arabian oil.

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Nowhere does he cite actual sources or anything else. No one at the SJ-R calls him on it or points out that “Cap and Trade” was very effective at getting rid of sulfur dioxide.  If coal were not such a nasty energy source we would not be getting rid of it. WHAT doesn’t he understand about “Leave it in the ground”?

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