Category Archives: residential energy efficiency

Saving The World By Starting A Garden – Think about the advantages of getting your hands dirty

Posted on by
Reply

To sum up and add some odd thoughts that do not fit well anywhere else. The reason that eating locally beginning with growing your own vegetables is that the corporate farms ship food around the world. Raspberries from Chile, Peppers to China, and Bananas from Central America…Not to mention coffee from everywhere. All this takes incredible amounts of energy, to the point where we are literally drinking oil. This is just wrong. I could go on about how, it is good for you and tons of other stuff but this column’s about energy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/business/worldbusiness/26food.html

Environmental Cost of

Shipping Groceries Around the World

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Published: April 26, 2008

Correction Appended

Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of Europe’s peas are grown and packaged in Kenya.

In the United States, FreshDirect proclaims kiwi season has expanded to “All year!” now that Italy has become the world’s leading supplier of New Zealand’s national fruit, taking over in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.

Food has moved around the world since Europeans brought tea from China, but never at the speed or in the amounts it has over the last few years. Consumers in not only the richest nations but, increasingly, the developing world expect food whenever they crave it, with no concession to season or geography.

http://www.iptv.org/mtom/story.cfm?Lid=358

The Cost Of Food Transportation

The creation and implementation of the Department of Homeland Security has intensified the quest to make the nation’s food supply more secure.

That effort along with consumer demand is encouraging the development of an alternative agricultural economy, one that is less dependent upon imports.

Advocates of the local food movement argue that sourcing food grown closer to home would avoid the potential of terrorist contamination.

They also note a more intensive local food economy would conserve much of the massive amount of energy that is currently expended to transport food.

A visit to the local Midwest grocery store which sells tangerines from South Africa, apples from New Zealand, boxes of bananas from Costa Rica and asparagus from Mexico confirms it is truly a global marketplace.

Even for grapes grown in the U.S., the produce can still be trucked hundreds of miles to Midwest or East Coast markets.

:}

If you have extra produce donate it to the local foodbank:

 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/10/08/extra-produce/

Extra Garden Produce? Bank It and Make a Difference

Posted October 8th, 2008 by Dori Fritzinger

We have all been there. Our little garden produces great big yields, more than we can use. You have canned all your

pantry (and you) can handle, and


 

given away enough that your family and neighbors hide when you come to their door with vegetables. Do not let that last fresh produce spoil! Donate it to your local food bank!

 

Call your local food bank and ask if it takes fresh produce donations. If so, find out on what days and times. If not, ask if they have the number of a local charity that does. Times are hard all over, with prices rising like they are, and we can each do a little to help. Believe it or not, it adds up and can truly make a great difference in someone’s life.

 

Pick your produce fresh the day you plan to deliver it. Wash it well. Pick through and discard spoiled pieces or parts. Place your produce in containers that will be easy to lift and carry. If you can leave the containers, it will save time for the charity volunteers and you. With a permanent magic marker write your name, address, and phone number on the bottom to identify your baskets. Many food banks will hold onto your containers and give them back empty when you stop in again.

 

:}

If you have extra produce, sell it or barter it at a local Farmer’s Market:

 http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/jul/110301.htm

Should You Sell Your Extra Produce at a Farmers’ Market?

7/2/2008

By Andy Larson
Small Farms Specialist
Iowa State University Extension

 

We are approaching that time of year when Iowa home gardeners have more tomatoes, green beans and zucchini than they can use. The recent buzz about local foods makes you wonder, “Could I make a few bucks selling my extra produce at a farmers’ market?”

 

The answer may not be as simple as you think…

The number of farmers’ markets has skyrocketed, but few markets are so loosely organized that they allow anyone with a vehicle and a table to sell food. Most markets are administered by a market association with a market master who can provide rules as well as a vendor application.

 

Market documents should detail

  • hours and season of operation,

  • what kind of vendors may sell and whether they may sell only products they produce,

  • what types of products may be sold,
    necessary permits or licenses required, and

  • the schedule of fees.

Guidelines are established with the safety of the customer and the character of the farmers’ market in mind.

Occasional selling at farmers’ market
Some markets have daily vendor rates. There are a few things to consider before spending six or seven hours of your weekend trying to sell excess produce.

 

:}

Give it or sell it to a local grocery store.

 

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/588162

Grocery stores that sell local produce in NYC?

I try to get to GreenMarket a couple times a week, but since I mostly only have nights free I don’t get to the farmer’s markets nearly as often as I’d like. I’m new to the city and am wondering if anyone knows of grocery stores (preferably in the East Village area, but not necessary) where I can buy local, organic produce and meats. The only local produce Whole Foods on 14th has right now is onions… Thanks for the help.

:}

Give it directly to the poor themselves. That’s right find a poor family and give it to them. OR go to a social service agency and have them match you up to a family.

ODDs and INS

Do not burn your YARD WASTE, including garden clutter! Please pretty please…

Seeds from last year – toss them in the river or by the roadside. Give them a chance to grow. I toss sunflower seeds in my compost pile and they go nuts all summer long.

Buy a good juicer and use it. No cooking and very little prep-time. Health. It is a no brainer.

Don’t forget the herbs. Open your pantry door and take out all of that rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, parsley, cilantro, dumb garlic products, and many other herbs. Throw them on the compost pile. Fresh is BEST.

:}

Energy Saving Gardening – What a lot of work

Posted on by
Reply

Here is where we separate the real gardeners from those with a passing interest. This one word scares the bejesus out of most people who are unfamiliar with the process. CANNING. But modern appliances and some shortcuts have made it a lot easier to do.

http://www.homecanning.com/

www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm

foodsafety.psu.edu/canningguide.html

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general.html

There are BOATLOADS of places that push canning and other cooking methods of food prep for long term storage. This takes energy, and your bills will reflect it. But when you add up those bills and compare them to what you save on your food bills, you will save a ton of money. Plus you are not drinking oil. IT’s healthy. But it is hot and it is a lot of work.

:}

 

 

General Canning Information

How Canning Preserves Foods

The high percentage of water in most fresh foods makes them very perishable. They spoil or lose their quality for several reasons:

  • growth of undesirable microorganisms-bacteria, molds, and yeasts,
  • activity of food enzymes,
  • reactions with oxygen,
  • moisture loss.

Microorganisms live and multiply quickly on the surfaces of fresh food and on the inside of bruised, insect-damaged, and diseased food. Oxygen and enzymes are present throughout fresh food tissues.

Proper canning practices include:

  • carefully selecting and washing fresh food,
  • peeling some fresh foods,
  • hot packing many foods,
  • adding acids (lemon juice or vinegar) to some foods,
  • using acceptable jars and self-sealing lids,
  • processing jars in a boiling-water or pressure canner for the correct period of time.

Collectively, these practices remove oxygen; destroy enzymes; prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria, yeasts, and molds; and help form a high vacuum in jars. Good vacuums form tight seals which keep liquid in and air and microorganisms out.

OK, I need a canner?  Why types are there?

Equipment for heat-processing home-canned food is of two main types–boiling-water canners and pressure canners. There are many other types which are NOT recommended by the authorities (see this page for more about obsolete and unsafe canning methods)

Most are designed to hold seven quart jars or eight to nine pints. Small pressure canners hold four quart jars; some large pressure canners hold 18 pint jars in two layers, but hold only seven quart jars. Pressure saucepans with smaller volume capacities are not recommended for use in canning. Small capacity pressure canners are treated in a similar manner as standard larger canners, and should be vented using the typical venting procedures.

Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks.  This is because botulism-producing bacteria produce spores that can survive boiling water temperatures, but are destroyed using a pressure canner with the appropriate time and pressure, which reaches temperatures between 240 and 250 degrees F.  Low-acid foods include meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, all vegetables (except tomatoes) and many fruits (notably figs).  Be sure to see this page for a detailed list of the  Acid content of common fruits and vegetables.

 Higher acid foods (and those which have been acidified and tested) that may be safely canned in a boiling water bath canner include jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, apple butter, peaches, peach butter, pears, pear butter, spaghetti sauce without meat, tomatoes, ketchup and tomatoes.

Which Type of Canner Should I Get

There are advantages and disadvantages of Pressure and Boiling Water Bath Canners.  Which is best for you depends upon what you want to can and your budget.

Water bath canners are faster for higher acid foods

Although pressure canners may also be used for processing higher acid foods, boiling-water canners are recommended for this purpose because they are faster. A pressure canner would require from 55 to 100 minutes to process a load of jars; while the total time for processing most acid foods in boiling water varies from 25 to 60 minutes. A boiling-water canner loaded with filled jars requires about 20 to 30 minutes of heating before its water begins to boil.

A loaded pressure canner requires about

  • 12 to 15 minutes of heating before it begins to vent;
  • another 10 minutes to vent the canner;
  • another 5 minutes to pressurize the canner;
  • another 8 to 10 minutes to process the acid food; and, finally,
  • another 20 to 60 minutes to cool the canner before removing jars.

But Water Bath Canners cannot be used for meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, vegetables and many fruits.

And the food quality and storage time is better with a pressure canner.  Because they get hotter (240F vs 180F-212F) pressure canners result in a better flavor and the ability for to store for a longer time.

A pressure canner can be used as a boiling water bath canner, just remove the gauge and weight.  That way you have 2 canners in one!

Conclusion: Pressure canners cost more to buy, but ultimately, you can “can” more foods in them, store the foods longer, and use the same canner as a pressure canner or without sealing the lid, as a boiling water bath canner.

See this page for a selection of pressure canners at excellent prices, and this link for boiling water bath canners

You can also find free information about canners from the USDA in this PDF file (it will take a while to load!) about selecting and using canners here!

:}

One of the few get to it guides:

http://www-podunk.com/home-canning-guide.html

Sugar and Salt

Sugar helps retain the color, shape and texture of canned fruits. Sugar is usually added as a syrup. To make syrup, pour 4 cups of water into a saucepan and add:

  • 2 cups of sugar to make 5 cups of thin syrup or
  • 3 cups of sugar to make 5 ý cups of medium syrup or
  • 4 1/4 cups of sugar to make 6 ý cups of heavy syrup.

    •

Heat until the sugar dissolves. Make 1 to 1 ý cups of syrup for each quart of fruit. Up to half the sugar used in making syrup can be replaced with light corn syrup or mild-flavored honey. Fruits also can be safely canned without sugar. Pack the fruit in extracted juice, in juice from another fruit (such as bottled apple juice, pineapple juice, or white grape juice) or in water.Salt may be added to vegetables and tomatoes before canning. Since its only function is flavor, it can safely be omitted. Canning fruits and vegetables without adding sugar or salt does not affect processing times or microbiological safety.

Packing Instructions

The two methods of packing, food into canning jars are raw pack and hot pack. Raw pack is packing raw, prepared food into clean, hot jars and then adding hot liquid. Fruits and most vegetables need to be packed tightly because they will shrink during processing. However, raw corn, lima beans, and peas should be packed loosely, as they will expand. For hot pack, heat prepared food to boiling, or partially cook it. It should be packed loosely boiling, hot into clean, hot jars. Hot pack takes more time but has been found to result in higher quality canned foods. For either packing, method, pack acid foods including tomatoes and acidified figs to within ý-inch of the top of the jar. Low acid foods to within 1 inch of the top of the jar. After food is packed into jars, wipe the jar rims clean. Put on the lid with the sealing compound next to the jar rim. Screw the band down firmly so that it is hand-tight. Do not use a far wrench to tighten screw bands. There must be enough “give” for air to escape from the jars during, processing. Process food promptly after packing it into jars and adjusting lids. Processing times are given for pints and quarts. If you are using half pint jars, use processing times for pints. For one-and-one-half pint jars, use processing times for quarts. Fruit juices are the only product that may be canned in half gallon jars.

Processing in a Water-Bath Canner

Use a water bath canner to process acidified tomatoes, acidified figs and all other fruits. A pressure canner can be used to process acid foods but the quality will not be as good.

  1. Fill the canner half full with water; then cover and heat. For raw-packed food, have the water hot but not boiling. For hot-packed food, have the water boiling
  2. Using a far lifter, place jars filled with food on the rack in the canner. If necessary, add boiling water to brine, water 1 to 2 inches over the tops of the jars. Do not pour boiling, water directly on jars. Cover.
  3. When water comes to a rolling boil, start counting the processing time. Keep water at a boil for the entire processing time. Add more boiling water to keep water I to 2 inches above jars.
  4. As soon as the processing time is up, use a jar lifter to remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of the jars during processing, do not open them to add more. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.

    5.

Processing in a Pressure Canner

If you live at an altitude of 0-1000 feet you can process foods in a weighted gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure. If you are using, a dial gauge pressure canner, use 11 pounds pressure. If you live at an altitude more than 2,000 feet you need to increase the pounds pressure at which you process foods. These increases are not given in this bulletin. Contact your county extension center to get this information. If tomato products are acidified, they can be safely processed in a water bath canner. If not, they must be processed in a pressure canner.

Here are some pointers for using a pressure canner:

  1. Pour 2 or 3 inches of water in the bottom of the canner and heat to boiling.
  2. Set jars on the rack in the canner. If you have two layers of jars in the canner, use a rack between them and stagger the second layer.
  3. Fasten the canner cover securely so steam cannot escape except through the vent.
  4. Once steam pours steadily from vent, let it escape for 10 minutes to drive all air from the canner. During, processing, the canner must be filled with steam, not air, since it is steam that reaches the desired temperature of 240’F.
  5. If the canner has a weighted gauge, start counting the processing time when it jiggles or rocks. The target pressure for this type of canner is 10 pounds pressure. Adjust heat so that gauge jiggles 2 or 3 times a minute or maintains a slow, steady , rocking motion.
  6. If the canner has a dial gauge, bring pressure up quickly to 8 pounds, then adjust the heat to maintain 11 pounds pressure. Start counting the processing times when the gauge registers 11 pounds pressure.
  7. When the processing time is up, turn off the burner. (If you are using, a coal or wood stove, remove canner from heat.) Let the pressure in the canner drop to zero by itself. This may take 45 minutes in a 16-quart canner filled with jars and almost an hour in a 22-quart canner. If the vent is opened before the pressure drops to zero or if the cooling is rushed by running, cold water over the canner, liquid will be lost from the jars.
  8. When the pressure has dropped to zero, open the vent or remove the weighted gauge. (With a weighted gauge canner, pressure is completely reduced if no steam escapes when the gauge is nudged or tilted. If steam spurts out, pressure is not yet down.)
  9. Remove canner cover carefully, tilting it away from your face so that the rising steam cannot burn your face or hands.
  10. Remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of jars during processing, do not open jars to add more liquid. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.
  11. Place hot jars upright to cool on a towel or rack. Leave space between them so air can circulate. Keep jars our of drafts.

Check Seals

Vacuum seals form as the jars cool. When jars are cool (12 to 24 hours after processing), check the seals. If the lid is depressed or concave and will not move when pressed, it is sealed. If sealed, carefully remove screw bands. If a band sticks, loosen it by covering, it for a moment with a hot, damp cloth. Bands left on jars during storage may rust, making later removal difficult. If you find an unsealed jar, do one of the following:

  • Refrigerate the food and use it within 2 to 3 days.
  • Freeze the food. (Drain vegetables before freezing.)
  • Reprocess the food. Remove lids, empty the contents in to a pan, heat to boiling, pack into clean, hot jars, and put on new lids. Process again for the full time. The eating quality of twice-processed food may be poor. If more than 24 hours have gone by since processing, throw out the food. It might be unsafe to eat.

    •

:}

I live in growing zone 5 which will not mean much to nongardeners. Draw a line from New Jersey to Central California. Draw another line from Georgia to Somewhere in mid Salinas Valley California and you just about have it. I bring this up because corporate foodies will say that when the garden harvest comes in, it comes in at the same time. So you will have thousands of canners firing up at the same time. This is a waste and they can do it “au masse” cheaper, faster and more efficiently. Of course then they have to transport it….AHHH they don’t really have an answer for that because shipping is not their cost. It is an externallity. Which is why corporate america should be kept away from our food supply. Very Far From Our Food Supply.

:}

What Is The Most Environmental Thing You Can Do Right Now – It saves energy as well

Posted on by
Reply

Plant a garden. You think I am kidding right. BUT if everyone on the planet who does not have a vegetable garden planted one, the world would change. Most products that you buy in the grocery store in America travel 1,500 miles…That’s a lot of gasoline products. All the produce, herbs and flowers you grow soak up carbon dioxide, especially sweet corn. Plus if you compost your garden waste you put that carbon directly into the soil where it will not be released. Plant a tree while you are at it. If all 7 billion people in the world planted a tree our problems would temporarily be over. Young trees soak up an incredible amount of carbon as they grow. Not to mention the health and well being benefits from working out doors and being away from modern stress inducers. Or the health benefits of eating good nutritious food. If you have kids teach them how to do it (it is no longer innate) and you will have passed along a valuable skill. Invest in an efficient refrigerator and a small efficient freezer to store your valuable products. This saves bunches too. If you are really adventurous invest in a dehydrator and a solar cooker or make your own. You save even more. By the time you are done heck you wlll amaze yourself at how much you have done. Seem impossible? NOPE, it starts with the first seed you plant. So lets get agrowing.

Getting Started:

Some of you are lucky to have year round growing conditions. As the world warms more of you will enjoy that perk. But where I live in Illinois it’s pretty much a 3 season affair. Today is March 6th and I plan on planting a row of peas and some lettuce and spinach. That will be dicey though and if we have an ice storm in April or early May it will be a wipe out. Such is life. If I get lucky I will be freezing sweet peas by the end of May. Here are some great sources for getting in the groove.

http://www.finegardening.com/

Planning Your First Vegetable Garden

March 5th, 2009 in Grow It, Live It

Ruth Ruth Dobsevage, editor

So you’ve decided to grow some veggies this year? Welcome to the club. Before you decide on what to grow or pick up a spade, you need to make some basic decisions about your garden’s location, size, and shape. Here are some things to consider.

Location
Walk around your property as you try to decide on a location for your garden-to-be.

Vegetables do best in full sun. You will get decent results with less than that, but in general strive for a site that gets at least six hours a day during the summer. Remember that sun patterns change dramatically with the seasons; a site that looks good in April may be too shady when the leaves come out.

Another factor to consider is proximity to your kitchen. You are more likely to check out your garden frequently if it is close to the house. My garden is maybe 30 feet from the kitchen door. When I need some parsley or mint, or maybe a few more tomatoes for a salad, it’s not a big deal to go out and get them.

If you have a choice, a flat area is better than a hilly one. A gently sloped site can work well, especially one that faces south or west.

What about water? You will most likely want a source close by, be it an outside tap, a rain barrel, or even a stream or pond.

Don’t despair if your lot is is very small. Even if you don’t see a way to create a separate garden area, you can probably tuck a couple of vegetable plants in somewhere: near the house or by the garage, perhaps. Or on the deck in containers.

Size and shape
For a garden of moderate size, aim for 400 square feet (20×20) to 625 square feet (25×25). You’ll have enough space to grow several different crops, but not so much that you’ll be overwhelmed. If even that seems daunting, start small. You can always enlarge the space later.

Gardens are generally square or rectangular, but they don’t have to be. You may want a different configuration to take advantage of sun patterns, to work around boulders, or just for artistic reasons. The plants won’t care if they are arranged in straight lines or curves.

:}

Personally I pick any 10 x 20 ft area that is unshaded and jump in. Begginners should start smaller. But if you are going to grow peppers, squash, corn or tomatoes you need a lot of space. Just think, the bigger your garden the less grass to mow.

http://www.organicgardening.com/

The Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

 

 Gardening is not too complex. Almost all of us–probably in grade school–planted a seed in a cup of dirt, watered it, and watched it grow. But creating a garden that produces fresh food and flowers all season is not so elementary, especially to those who did not grow up gardening. So we’ve compiled this guide to the basics of organic gardening and the keys to success we’ve learned over the years. When you’re done reading, look at your thumb–you may see a tint of green that wasn’t there before.

No. 1 Plant Seeds

1. Make your bed. About three weeks before you are ready to plant, after the soil has dried so that it doesn’t clump when you pick up a fistful, sink a fork into the earth. Loosen it down to about 12 inches, add a half-inch layer of compost, and rake the surface of your garden until it has no weeds, dirt clumps, or big stones. Over the next three weeks, pull any weeds that come up. Raking and then letting the soil sit for a few weeks brings out weed seeds that were lurking in the soil.
For more information on garden beds, check out this article about raised beds and this video to see how to build a raised bed, or watch this video to see how to turn your lawn into a garden bed.

 

:}

I am not going to copy all of this stuff. go and read it yourself. If you have never done it before this is essential reading:

 

Garden Design

Horticulture

Garden Design

Country Gardens

Gardening How-To

Herb Quarterly

 Growing Edge

Water Gardening

Garden Compass

:}

Don’t read too long though, that’s what winter or nightfall is for. Get out doors! NOW

:}

When The Wind Blows – The blades go round and round, the blades go round and round

Posted on by
1

The money continues to mount. Think about it. Wind turbines last 25 years at least. If you buy one now the utility companies could be defunct by the time they need maintenance:

http://venteraenergy.com

 

 

Ventera’s 12kW Hybrid Electric System

 

Ventera VT-10 on the Rohn Tower

Ventera VT10 on the Rohn Tower

Run Your Electric Meter Backwards!

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. This new concept in generating your own renewable energy performs much like any large electrical appliance such as a clothes dryer or air conditioner, but instead of taking electrical power FROM an outlet, you put electricity INTO the outlet! If at any time your wind and solar system is producing more energy than you are using, your electric meter will run backwards reducing your electric bill. If your electrical loads are larger than the wind generator and solar production, your meter will slow down reflecting your reduced need to buy electricity at retail from the utility. No batteries are used or required! You get up to 12 kilowatts of hybrid renewable electricity, 10 kilowatts from the new Ventera VT10 wind turbine and 2 kilowatts from solar photovoltaics 100% of which goes directly to reduce your electric bill by means of our exclusive dual input VI12 synchronous inverter.

Designed to Pay for Itself

Few things in this life are free, but you might agree our new Ventera V12 wind and solar system comes pretty close. Designed for at least a 30 year life and minimum maintenance, the Ventera wind turbine on an 80 foot tower can produce $2000 or more worth of electricity per year, electricity you would otherwise have to buy, if your wind regime is 12.5mph-5.5m/s (class III) or better and you pay 8 cents or more for electricity. In not much more than 10 years you’ll have earned back your original investment and in 30 years you could pocket 3 times or more the original investment! If you assume electric rates will go up in the coming years, and many predict they’ll go up faster than the rate of inflation, you’ll earn back your investment even faster. If you can depreciate the wind turbine cost as a farm or business expense, your payback will be even sooner. If your average wind speed is greater than 12.5 mph-5.5m/s, which is true for many sites in the US Midwest, your payback can be sooner yet. And, some states offer tax credits for small wind systems reducing the payback time even further. Careful design of every component and advanced tooling and manufacturing processes bring the initial cost of the Ventera turbine, synchronous inverter and self-supporting tower to historic lows. The frame is an aluminum casting (made from environmentally friendly recycled aluminum), not an expensive weldment. The downwind orientation eliminates the need for a costly and cumbersome tail. The blades are injection molded for low cost and absolute uniformity. The brushless, one-moving-part, large diameter alternator minimizes the use of copper, steel and rare earth magnet material. Our unique synchronous inverter utilizes a common power handling stage with separate wind and solar peak power tracking input stages to bring you hybrid grid connection at an unheard of low price.

:}

These people are actually more for utility companies but if a town banded together they could probably buy one:

 http://www.windenergysolutions.ca

“To bring Wind energy everywhere”

Wind Energy Solutions Canada is a specialized company in technical solutions for energy problems. We as manufacturers together with WES Netherlands are selling the turbine product range from a former famous Dutch Wind Turbine manufacturer.

Many of our customers can be found in the agricultural, commercial businesses and small grid operators. Because WES does not focus on the very large wind parks, but mostly on small projects and distributed generation, our customers can be assured of tailor-made solutions that can help them reduce their electricity bills and enable them to sell to the electricity net.

Our Partners:

Wind Energy Solutions BV (Netherlands): www.windenergysolutions

Is a manufacturer of small and medium size wind turbines.

They supply turbines worldwide ranging from 2.5 kW up to 250 kW. The turbines can be grid connected or they are able to stand alone with a diesel generator.

 

With over 1500 turbines installed, their products are present worldwide and have proven their reliability.

Greely Construction

Leading edge group of companies which provide a suite of services for the design and construction of outside plant infrastructure and distribution networks.
Focusing on the needs of telecommunications and cable operators, public utilities, and municipalities.
Conquering the design/build challenges of state-of-the-art distribution networks

:}

This company could hand make a system for a home owner but it would be expensive. Still they ARE made in the USA:

Wind Turbine Industries Corp. Sole manufacturer of the
Jacobs Wind Systems since 1986.
The Jacobs Wind Systems are on the cutting edge for providing clean, quality, reliable and efficient power in the USA and around the world.In the energy conscious person of today we see a desire to reduce electrical usage or cut the cost paid for energy consumption.  A Jacobs Wind System can provide you a means of offsetting the ever-rising costs of your electrical energy.

MADE IN THE USA

:}

Our Energy Future – What does the omniscient Web say

Posted on by
Reply

The Web, like the Great Oz himself, knows all and sees all. He can give the Scarecrow a brain:

 http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11580723

Energy

The future of energy

Jun 19th 2008
From The Economist print edition

A fundamental change is coming sooner than you might think

Instead of bullying and scaring people, the prophets of energy technology are attempting to seduce them. They promise a world where, at one level, things will have changed beyond recognition, but at another will have stayed comfortably the same, and may even have got better.

This time it’s serious

Alternative energy sounds like a cop-out. Windmills and solar cells hardly seem like ways of producing enough electricity to power a busy, self-interested world, as furnaces and steam-turbines now do. Battery-powered cars, meanwhile, are slightly comic: more like milk-floats than Maseratis. But the proponents of the new alternatives are serious. Though many are interested in environmental benefits, their main motive is money. They are investing their cash in ideas that they think will make them large amounts more. And for the alternatives to do that, they need to be both as cheap as (or cheaper than) and as easy to use as (or easier than) what they are replacing.

For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. The biofuels or batteries that will power cars in the alternative future should beat petrol at today’s prices. Of course, today’s prices are not tomorrow’s. The price of oil may fall; but so will the price of biofuels, as innovation improves crops, manufacturing processes and fuels.

Electrical energy, meanwhile, will remain cheaper than petrol energy in almost any foreseeable future, and tomorrow’s electric cars will be as easy to fill with juice from a socket as today’s are with petrol from a pump. Unlike cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, of the sort launched by Honda this week, battery cars do not need new pipes to deliver their energy. The existing grid, tweaked and smartened to make better use of its power stations, should be infrastructure enough. What matters is the nature of those power stations.

The price is right

They, too, are more and more likely to be alternative. Wind power is taking on natural gas, which has risen in price in sympathy with oil. Wind is closing in on the price of coal, as well. Solar energy is a few years behind, but the most modern systems already promise wind-like prices. Indeed, both industries are so successful that manufacturers cannot keep up, and supply bottlenecks are forcing prices higher than they otherwise would be. It would help if coal—the cheapest fuel for making electricity—were taxed to pay for the climate-changing effects of the carbon dioxide produced when it burns, but even without such a tax, some ambitious entrepreneurs are already talking of alternatives that are cheaper than coal.

:}

Please read the rest of the article for the pessimism that I cut out. He can also give the Lion courage:

http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/editorsblog/Coalition-and-Partners-Launch-Rebuilding-America

Coalition and Partners Launch Rebuilding America

Submitted by jana on February 2nd, 2009

The Energy Future Coalition, in concert with a diverse cross-section of partners, recently submitted a plan to Congress to use building retrofit programs to put people back to work while reducing the U.S.’s energy footprint.  The building sector consumes 70% of electricity and emits 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  Implementing energy efficiency retrofits presents an opportunity to create good jobs that not only reduce our environmental impact, but also create long-term energy savings for schools, homes, and businesses.

The plan would target retrofitting 4 million homes over the next two years.  Over the long-term, the plan recommends improving the efficiency of 50 million existing structures by 2020, creating 200,000 jobs. Energy efficiency is much cheaper than building new power plants and should be the first option for meeting energy demand.

Learn more >non

News Clip: Efficiency in Troubled Waters, Grist Magazine

:}

Please visit their amazing website. I couldn’t post it all. He can give the Tin Man lubricants that do not contain fossil fuels and a big old thumpin heart:

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/future-energy/

Free Energy Forums

Post New Topic

 

16Feb

Solar Energy “Power Towers” for California

Solar Power Towers California We mostly talk about solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. But we can utilize sunlight by using another technology known as concentrating solar technology. In this technology reflective mirrors are used to concentrate light onto a liquid to make steam. This steam then converts energy into electricity with the help of conventional turbines. Deserts are best places to avail this technology. One important aspect is, its air-cooling process conserves water, an important consideration for desert projects. Concentrating solar technology is to be utilized in California which has a directive to generate 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. 8 Comments

:}

But can he get Dorothy home to Kansas? I think the answer is yes:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

  • Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
  • Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
  • Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
  • Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

  • Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
  • Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

  • Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
  • Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
  • Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
  • Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
  • A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
  • Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

  • Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
  • Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
  • Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
  • Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

  • Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
  • Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.

itsgettinghotinhere.org

kansas.jpg

Actually Kansas…..

(:=}

:}

Valentine’s Day Energy Blogs – Those that talk of the energy of love

Posted on by

Yes youall know that I am a google whore, but heh this year is on a roll. Martin Luther King’s Birthday in the same week that an African American is sworn in as President. Lincoln’s 200th Birthday in the same week as Valentine’s Days 600th Birthday. It’s true Valentine’s Day was invented by Gregory Chaucer 8 years after his likely death. Your first Romantic Blog is all about financial love. Ignore the buff guys name:

http://www.billgross.com/

 

How Electricity Should Be Priced – Proportional to Use

billUncategorizedComments (4)

Here’s a very bold idea on how electricity should be priced that I believe could completely change the world in several positive ways.

It would be the first, global, progressive pricing scheme that would give “life-line” like service to all in need of the freedom and convenience of basic electricity.  Second, it would, at the same time, provide the incentive for renewable energy to blossom, in an extremely fair and global way.

The idea is this – take the lowest possible electricity price anywhere on the planet, about $0.03 per kilolwatt hour, and offer that rate to everyone on the planet, for their first kilowatt hour (per month, per person).  For each doubling of usage, increase the rate $0.01.  So if you use 2 kilowatt hours per month, your rate is $0.04.  For 4 kilowatt hours per month, per person, your rate is $0.05.

:}

This collection of “alternative energy” was a lot like love, starting fast and quickly dieing down:

 http://www.bioeconomyblog.blogspot.com/

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Launch of the AlternativeEnergyBlogs

AlternativeEnergyBlogs is a gateway to the following Alternative Energy Blogs:

The Bioeconomy Blog
The Bioeconomy Blog is devoted to the promotion of all key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel. It will focus on the economic, environmental, medical, political, and social aspects of bioeconomy initiatives. The Bioeconomy Blog is a companion to the The Bioenergy Blog, which is devoted to the technical aspects and technologies associated with production.
[http://www.bioeconomyblog.blogspot.com/]
Facebook Group
[http://iastate.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2350983131]

The Bioenergy Blog
is devoted to the documentation of key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel. It is focused on the technical aspects and technologies associated with the production of these fuels. The Bioenergy Blog is a companion blog to The Bioeconomy Blog, which is focused on the non-technical aspects of bio-based fuels.
[http://thebioenergyblog.blogspot.com/]
Facebook Group
[http://iastate.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2363348674]

:}

This Blog reminds me of the J. Geils Band’s take on love…but is that Love Stinks or Whammer Jammer baby!

http://enviropundit.blogspot.com/

Bà R?a-V?ng Tàu: ?? lén 20 t?n ch?t th?i nguy h?i ra ??ng ru?ng

L??ng ch?t th?i này d?ng b?t có nhi?u màu xanh, vàng, ??, ?en… khác nhau ???c ?óng trong thùng phuy. Ông Tr?n Ti?n D?ng, chuyên viên Chi c?c B?o v? môi tr??ng t?nh BR-VT, cho bi?t ?ây là lo?i ch?t th?i nguy h?i, có kh? n?ng gây nguy hi?m cho môi tr??ng n??c và không khí xung quanh. Hi?n ??n v? này ?ã l?y m?u g?i xét nghi?m.

Ng??i dân t?i ?ây cho bi?t kho?ng 20 gi? ngày 7-11, có b?n xe ?ông l?nh và m?t ôtô mang bi?n s? TP.HCM ch?y ??n khu v?c này, ?? l?i các thùng phuy này r?i b? ?i. Trên thân nhi?u thùng phuy v?n còn ghi Nhà máy d?t Th?ng L?i TP.HCM. Phòng C?nh sát môi tr??ng Công an t?nh BR-VT ?ã vào cu?c ?? ?i?u tra v? vi?c.

:}

As if you could tell right? Love can be all over the map. Sunny, rainy, warm and cold on the same day. Much like this last Blog for the day:

 http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/

Misplaced Priorities

So the Securities Exchange Commission is said to be probing Apple over accusations that they may have misled the public over the state of Steve Jobs’ health.

Let’s play a word association game:

Pancreatic cancer
+
Corporate executive
=
?Healthy?

One can imagine that if Jobs had cancer in the Islets of Langerhans, the portion of the pancreas responsible for insulin regulation, that yes, he might have some diabetic-like health issues associated with that. Doesn’t the SEC have something better to do? E.g. meanwhile we learn that Merrill-Lynch maneuvered to deliver $3 billion inbonuses before being bought-out by Bank of America. Merrill-Lynch lost over $20 billion in that quarter, and BoA is demanding that it be bailed out by the US taxpayer now for the same amount. This idea that financial companies need to pay out bonuses to retain “top talent” during a period when the financial sector is undergoing a severe contraction is a canard. Where are they going to go work, the construction industry?

:}

Green Links – Something I have not done for awhile

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes I like to just go to cool Energy/Green links just to listen to idle chatter. Here are some places you might like to visit.

Did you know that Earth Day has its own place?

http://network.earthday.net/

Looking for a house? Keep in mind the three rules of real estate: location, location, location.

Good location is typically thought of as a safe community with good public schools. New data, however, confirms that where you live has a direct effect on how long you live.

According to a team from Brigham Young and Harvard universities, reducing air pollution has extended average life expectancy by five months for urban residents in dozens of U.S. cities over the past two decades. Average life expectancy improved 2.72 years (with five months of that increase attributed to cleaner air). However, the improvements were especially high in the District of Columbia, where residents are living roughly three years longer—most likely because of the profound reductions in particulate matter made in the region. This evidence that extensive clean-up efforts are worth the up-front investment can help environmentalists breathe easy.

Though the study represents the first time researchers have documented, conclusively, a link between air quality and longevity, urban air quality is no newcomer to the national stage: Earth Day Network released its own Urban Environment Report in 2007. The Report ranked 72 U.S. cities according to more than 200 environmental, health, and quality of life indicators. It also introduced, for the first time, a “Vulnerable Population Index” (VPI) which factors in each city’s susceptibility to an expanded list of environmental challenges based on the percentage of its population that is most at risk.

To link to the Washington Post Article, click here

:}

There are so many places selling green now that I must believe that the future is here:

 http://www.lilgreenhouse.com/

One of Little Green House’s main focus is water, life?s essential element. It drives our passion for sustainability and inspires our commitment  to you and to our planet.

:}

Or that their are millions of people in the world that will give stuff away for free/

 http://www.freecycle.org/

Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,676 groups with 6,385,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!

:}

Or that there was a cool ecology magazine only available online?

 http://www.emagazine.com/

OBAMA MAKING GOOD ON GREEN PROMISES
As though making up for lost time, the federal government has initiated a whirlwind of activity over greening the economy since Inauguration Day just two weeks ago. By Roddy Scheer

 BUSH?S QUIET ENVIRONMENTAL TRIUMPH?
No one will be holding up former President George W. Bush as an example of a great conservationist. But one of his last presidential acts may stand the test of time as a key move in the conservation of marine ecosystems. By Roddy Scheer


COMMENTARY: CALIFORNIA WATER WORRIES
California is in the midst of a water crisis. By Linda Bozung and Ryan Leaderman

:}

Then there is the mother of cool. The guys and gals that have been at Green for 40 years this year. I have both the Black copy and the White copy and the only thing I ever order out of it was Rope Sandals from East Wind Collective in Missouri. But just like the original Sears Catalog it was so much fun to read. I Give You Whole Earth Catalog

http://www.wholeearth.com/

 

About Whole Earth

 

After the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG and its descendants ceased publication, New Whole Earth LLC, headed by entrepreneur and philanthropist Samuel B. Davis, acquired the intellectual property and physical assets of the family of publications from the Point Foundation.

We thought it was important to preserve the heritage of the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG and its succeeding publications. Although the CATALOG’s heyday was during a specific and turbulent period of American history, the ideas found in it and in its related publications continue to engage the brightest minds of the 21st century—and Whole Earth LLC believes that those ideas should be preserved as they were originally disseminated.

This collection is not complete—and probably never will be—but it is a gift to readers who loved the CATALOG and those who are discovering it for the first time. The great stuff found on these pages is a celebration of the genius of Stewart Brand and all those associated with the WHOLE EARTH family of publications.

:}

EdenPure Nothing But A Fraud – As one lady said, “I wouldn’t give one of these to my worst enemy”

Posted on by
2

Years of lawlessness have left us with a situation similar to the 1920s when it was legal to peddle snake oil. EndenPure should have been busted for Advertising Fraud and Consumer Fraud years ago, but because of deregulation they keep getting to peddle their crap.

http://www.edenpurestore.com/

As heard on the Paul Harvey Radio Show and television features across the nation. The EdenPure TM is a remarkable new advanced portable heater can cut your heating bill up to 50% and pay for itself in a matter of weeks!

 
A major cause of residential fires in the U.S. is due to portable heaters. The EdenPure TM uses a new advanced quartz infrared heating system that never reaches a temperature that can start a fire.

The outside of the EdenPure TM only gets warm to the touch, never hot… so its safe around children and pets. Children can play on it and pets can actually sleep on it while operating without harm!

:}

It makes me puke just to put their stuff up. BUYER BEWARE…Here is what actual purchasers had to say.

www.topnews.in

fraud-1.jpg

Are they reliable?:

 http://searchwarp.com/swa278556.htm

» left by disapointed from cleve, OH (6 days 19 hours ago.)
Reader Rating: 5 out of 5
My First Edenpure 500 just broke for the second time ! first time in warranty, pain in the butt to send back. Now, out of warranty, and only in my second ‘winter’ season. It was only used for about 4 to 4.5 months the first season, stored nicely, and taken care of…What a rip off. WAY TOO expensive. Cleveland, OH – cheaper to turn the GAS thermostat up for REAL and Quiet heat. Darn expensive lesson.

left by Craig in Washington from Vancouver (5 days 11 hours ago.)
Reader Rating: 4.5 out of 5
This article has convinced me NOT to purchase one of these.. much less three. I live in the Pacific NW and our power costs are very low compared to other parts of the country so the cost to operate is not the reason for my decision NOT to buy. It would be because overall.. it appears that the reliability is TRASH. Also, it appears the customer service is severly lacking.

Thank you all for exposing this for what it is… a non-performing, HIGH Cost Sham. I feel sorry for those who buy it without looking it up on the web to find out how badly it works in real life. There claims are not truthful. Just read these testimonials… and their ads… “Heats a large room in minutes with even heat wall to wall and floor to ceiling”.  WHAT A CROCK!

Thank you for your attention.

:}

gjha.org

fraud-2.jpg

Does it save money?:

http://www.infomercialratings.com/product/edenpure_heater_reviews

Do Not buy electric bill up $100.00 first month

1/31/2009 – pam of western NY ~ West Almond, USA writes:

I purchased this unit after watching the infomercial, claiming how the unit would reduce my heating bill. We are using this to heat a 15 x 12 bedroom for extra heat only. We have a [] wood stove (best stove out there) to heat the rest of the house (it keeps it at 70 to 75 degrees and its been over 80 also. Keeping it on a low setting (3 bars) to heat the bedroom at 65-68 degrees has made our electric bill jump from $132 to $265 in one month. we even purchased a new [] refrigerator and got rid of my 1985 sub zero refrig the previous month. I would not get one of these for my worst enemy! What a waste of money! I am trying to retun this as I write the review.

Senior Citizens Scammed By Edenpure

1/31/2009 – Lark&Bertha of West Virginia, USA writes:

We purchased 6 Edenpure heaters: 2 for us, 2 for my stepdaughter, and 1 for each of my two other daughters. With the price of oil the way it was, this seemed the way to go for heat and economy. Well, all of our electric bills have more than doubled. My husband abd I are on Soc.Sec. fixed income and on a budget with the elec. company. I know that this winter has been really cold, but the elec. co. said that the Co. that makes Edenpure heaters lies to the public in their ads, that no way will the heaters cut your bills! I’m going to try to return the heaters, but since the 60-day return period is over, I don’t think we will have much success. Scammed? You bet we were. For what we paid for all 6 heaters, we could have bought oil for the winter! I guess the old saying is right: If it seems to be too good to be true, it is! Disappointed and cold in W. Va.

Electri bill tripled

1/29/2009 – Michelle of Mi., USA writes:

Bought the Edenpure Heater in Nov.2007. The electric bill was higher but assumed it was due to sub-zero temps. I had a problem with the heater in Nov.2008, returned item and was shipped a new one. Bill in Nov.$257.00, Bill in Dec. estimated $218.00. Bill in Jan. $593.40. We’ve had some very cold weather. But this was advertised to save on heating costs. It has cost me more. I now have to make payments bi-monthly just to chip away at this outrageous bill. I work, I feel real sorry for people who are in a tight financial bind.

:}

Could you ever save money?:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2008/11/edenpure-heater.html

According to the grand daddy of them all, Consumer Reports, IF YOU LOWER YOUR THERMOSTAT 17 DEGREES.

As I have said before it is not even a good space heater. I advise against space heaters. You could heat your own house with your body heat alone if it was properly insulated. But if you insist on buying one the EdenPure ain’t it:

http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/localshows/dontwasteyourmoney/story/EdenPure-Other-Space-Heaters-Tested/PdondT-tOkKTOuXc3gCxLw.cspx

Is the EdenPure Amazing?

The results of the test of the heavily advertised EdenPure were not promising.

The $400 EdenPure ended up at the bottom of the ratings. It was the worst performing of 20 space heaters tested.

Top Performing Heaters

Top rated: The Honeywell Electric heater HZ-519, for just $60.

It’s normally sold by Home Depot and Amazon.com, among other stores, but has been in very short supply, due to Consumer Reports’ review.

:}

The EdenPure people should be in jail…

:}

www.bestblogsite.org

fraud-3.jpg

Cisterns, Another Personal Story – A house that was meant to recycle water

Posted on by
Reply

I was reminiscing with a Guy who grew up in a rural Sangamon County household whose house was built to recycle water. I was telling him about my daily bucket brigade duty when I was staying at my great grandparents house. His name is David. He said, “OH yah well I had to do that everyday for almost 15 years”. He said that he grew up next to his grandmother’s house and she already had a well. It was hand dug by his dad and his grandfather. There was no way his dad was going to dig another well. So when they build his families house they put in a huge tile lined cistern feed from all of the downspouts off the roof. That was fed into  a tank inside the house by an electric pump which pressurized the whole system. The holding tank fed a hot water heater and a cold water line. The rest of the house was plumbed like a regular house.

The reader is probably thinking that what we are describing is a classic quaint little farmhouse setting with the large kitchen with the little bedroom off the kitchen for the married couple. They had a slightly larger “sitting room” that had a couch, some over stuffed chairs, a desk and some pictures on the wall for more formal entertaining and the children lived in the cramped attic. Where they sweltered  in the summer and froze in the winter. These house were usually all porch because folks spent most of their time outside. Well yes I am talking about those houses BUT these people have a cistern too:

 

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~liz/home.html

 house_dec03.jpg

:}

That’s right please also note that there is a solar water preheat system (not shown) on the garage. This is a house in Floirda that is totally disconnected from any centralized distribution system, and they use a chemical composting toilet.

They did not drink cistern water mainly because of taste. Dave said the well water from his grandmothers house was so sweet it was like drinking candy. So that was his job as the little man in the house, he went to the well and filled up a 2 gallon porcelain bucket twice a day everyday until he went off to college. He noted that the job changed as he got older and so did his grandmother. He first started checking on her to see if she needed anything. Pretty soon he was getting water for her too. He said she had a reservoir on the back of her cob cook stove (which I had forgot about – my grannies did too). Eventually he was taking her ashes out for her too. The advantage was he got one breakfast from mom and then another from his grandma. 2 Breakfasts in one day. What a treat.

But the funniest stories were the ones about water conservation. He said repeatedly, “We were taught water was precious”.  Those lessons have not changed:

 http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=1681

He said, “You got whatever it was wet (teeth, body, dishes) and then you did whatever you needed to do. Then you turned the water back on BRIEFLY.” He said,”When you were in the shower if you heard the pump come on you knew it was time to get out of the shower no mater what because it was about to get real cold.” Laundry day was the toughest because his mother had a wood rod that she could stick in the cistern to measure its level. She knew that she could only use so much water washing clothes because they needed it for other things..the nearest water was 10 miles away.

Finally he said, “This was rammed home to us every couple of years because when it got really dry in some summers and falls we had to buy 500 gallons of water at a time. This guy from Sherman had a water truck and he would fill it up. He run a hose to your well or wherever you wanted it and dumped away.” It was kind of exciting when you were a kid. But, as he got older he realized that those gallons of water meant fewer new clothes for the school year, or that his shoes would have to last longer, or that maybe his sister couldn’t go to the Prom at school.” Then he said it again, “You know water is precious.”

:}

These people think so too:

 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/MNC615JNHB.DTL

Severe drought expected after mild January

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009

 

California teeters on the edge of the worst drought in the state’s history, officials said Thursday after reporting that the Sierra Nevada snowpack – the backbone of the state’s water supply – is only 61 percent of normal.

January usually douses California with about 20 percent of the state’s annual precipitation, but instead it delivered a string of dry, sunny days this year, almost certainly pushing the state into a third year of drought.

The arid weather is occurring as the state’s water system is under pressure from a growing population, an aging infrastructure and court-ordered reductions in water pumped through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – problems that didn’t exist or were less severe during similar dry spells in the late 1970s and late 1980s.

“We’re definitely in really bad shape,” said Elissa Lynn, chief meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. “People can expect to pay higher prices for produce … and more agencies may be rationing … some raising fees. We just don’t have enough water.”

In Sonoma County, water managers are expected to take a bold step Monday – telling residents to prepare for severe rationing within weeks.

“We have entered uncharted territory,” said Pam Jeane, deputy chief engineer of operations at the Sonoma County Water Agency. “A 30 percent mandatory rationing order is just the beginning. Further decline in reservoir levels could necessitate 50 percent cutbacks.”

:}

:}

Should You Be Drinking Cistern Water – I am not sure it’s such a good idea.

Posted on by
1

Look if the world falls apart, like the survivalists predict. Civilization falls and the barbarians are at the gates. By all means drink any water you can get your hands on. But for day to day useage right now I would not. If you are seriously harvesting rainwater and recycling water your useage would be so low that sipping from the public water supply would be minimal. One of the problems is we so heavily pollute the air that you could never be sure that you were harvesting minute amounts of things like lead and mercury.

But if you must:

:}

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education2/9-cistern-water.htm

CISTERN WATER

In some areas there are attempts to collect rainwater in cisterns. In general, these cistern waters are harder and contain more total solids than rain. This is due to the accumulation of dirt and dust on the surface of the cisterns. One study shows that in 500 household cisterns, hardness ranged from 35 to 150 ppm. Further, cistern waters often have a high bacterial count and noticeable color. While in many cases the organisms found in cisterns are nonpathogenic, it is advisable to chlorinate this water where it is used for drinking purposes.

According to recent news and reports, most tap and well water in the U.S. are not safe for drinking due to heavy industrial and environmental pollution. Toxic bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals routinely penetrate and pollute our natural water sources making people sick while exposing them to long term health consequences such as liver damage, cancer and other serious conditions. We have reached the point where all sources of our drinking water, including municipal water systems, wells, lakes, rivers, and even glaciers, contain some level of contamination. Even some brands of bottled water have been found to contain high levels of contaminants in addition to plastics chemical leaching from the bottle.

A good water filtration system installed in your home is the only way to proactively monitor and ensure the quality and safety of your drinking water. Reverse osmosis water purification systems can remove 90-99% of all contaminants from city and well water to deliver healthy drinking water for you and your family.

Click to see details of Ultra Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System !
Healthy and Convenient! Our Featured Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System

 

 :}

Indeed some claim that it could be real dangerous. If you have a weak stomach quit reading:

 http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/38

Atmospheric Deposition and Roof-Catchment Cistern Water Quality1

Edward S. Young, Jr. and William E. Sharpe2 ABSTRACT

The water quality in 40 roof-catchment cistern systems in rural Clarion and Indiana Counties, Pa. was studied to determine the impact of atmospheric deposition. Roof-catchment cisterns are open to atmospheric contaminants such as the toxic metals Pb and Cd, and corrosive acid components present in acid precipitation.

Bulk precipitation samples failed to meet the drinking water standard for Pb on several occasions and were consistently quite corrosive. Mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations were well below drinking water limits for all cistern water samples. Cistern water was corrosive in all but a few cases, as indicated by the Langelier saturation index, although not as corrosive as the bulk precipitation due to the dissolution of CaCO3 from cistern walls and floors. Vinyl-lined cisterns contained water nearly as corrosive as the incoming precipitation.

Seventy percent of the systems on one or more occasions exhibited cistern bottom sediment/water Pb or Cd concentrations that exceeded the drinking water limits. This indicated that metals deposited on roof catchments were accumulating at the bottom of the cisterns. Standing tap water samples exhibited high Pb and Cu concentrations. Nine of the forty systems studied produced standing tap water Pb concentrations that averaged above the drinking water standard. The mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations of running tap water samples all fell below the drinking water standards. Atmospheric deposition of Pb and its infusion into tap water as a corrosion product pose a significant health threat to users of roof-catchment cistern systems in western Pennsylvania.

:}

On the other hand after proper filtration and clorination these folks seem to think its OK. But I let you read it for yourself:

 http://www.inspect-ny.com/water/WaterCisterns.htm

:}