Category Archives: solar power

Top 50 Environmental Blogs – We are at 3 and counting

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I know this is slow but I want this list to HAVE some Order to it. Most list publishers either claim they add order but in my estimation don’t or they say “in no uncertain order”. Well if the top 2 Blogs listed aren’t Tree Hugger and Grist Mill what is the point? Oh and I must say this:

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Community Energy Systems is a nonprofit 501c3 organization chartered in Illinois in Sangamon County. As such we are dependent on public donations for our continued existence. We also use Adsense as a fundraiser. Please click on the ads that you see on this page, on our main page and on our Bulletin Board (Refrigerator Magnets) and you will be raising money for CES. We say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who do.

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This Top Ten List lists Tree Hugger as number one and Grist Mill number 8. I gotta say everyone lists the Peak Oil  and lesser cousin Oil Drum sites as Environmental Sites…They are not…they are informative, I read them sometimes daily but they are not environmental in Nature.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/top-10-environmental-blogs/348

So then there is Grist Mill:

http://www.grist.org/

and of course Ask Umbra is one of my favorite parts:

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-28-ask-umbra-on-ditching-dirty-things

Q. Dear Umbra,

What is the greenest way to dispose of pet waste? Scoop and flush, or bag and throw in the trash?

Jenifer M.
Vienna

A. Dearest Jenifer,

dog signFlush or toss?The greenest way to dispose of pet waste is to dispose of your pet, I suppose. No pet, no waste! But barring that revolutionary scheme, a few other options present themselves.

You have not said what kind of pet you have, but judging by your reference to scooping, I am going to assume it is a cat. The time-tested advice for felines is to bag and throw away the soiled litter, including poo. If you are on a municipal sewer line, you may be able to flush the feces, but you should check with your town; if you have a septic tank, it’s not advised. By the way, when you choose kitty litter, don’t buy a brand that contains clay—you might want to consult our product tester for the best non-clay options.

If you are scooping the waste of a dog or other animal, the same truth applies: bagging is best. It’s gross to think about all that pet waste rotting in landfills, but it’s a teeny bit less gross than imagining it seeping into our waterways or contaminating our gardens with its pathogens. (Some people compost pet waste, but it must be done very, very carefully—here are some tips.)

Of course, we hear occasionally about efforts to turn pet poop into power—I fur-vently hope “they” keep working on this idea, and I’m also very glad that is not my line of work.

Ferretly,
Umbra

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Then there is Eco Geek. See I depend on real scientists to tell me real things so after Tree hugger and Grist Mill I gotta be blinded by Science.

http://www.ecogeek.org/

Using Osmosis to Generate Clean Energy

Written by Philip Proefrock on 30/11/09
osmoticpowerSolar. Wind power. Wave power. Geothermal. Tidal power. If you’re a regular EcoGeek reader, you’re probably pretty familiar with the different major power generating alternatives to the burning of non-renewable fossil materials. But still, osmotic power generation is likely something you haven’t heard of before. Your first question is likely ‘How do you use osmosis to generate electricity?’Osmosis is a process whereby water with two different concentrations of solution (in this case, salt) is separated by a semi-permeable membrane. Fresh water is able to pass through the membrane to the salt water side, but salt water cannot cross back in the other direction. This causes an increase in pressure on the salt water side, and this pressure difference is used to run a turbine which produces electricity.

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Finally, before I go read Peak Oil, there is Real Climate. See again, Science and an (dot)Org. These things I trust

http://www.realclimate.org/

Something Is X in the State of Denmark

Filed under:

— rasmus @ 29 November 2009

We received a letter with the title ‘Climate Change: The Role of Flawed Science‘ which may be of interest to the wider readership. The author, Peter Laut, is Professor (emeritus) of physics at The Technical University of Denmark and former scientific advisor on climate change for The Danish Energy Agency. He has long been a critic of the hypothesis that solar activity dominates the global warming trend, and has been involved in a series of heated public debates in Denmark. Even though most of his arguments concern scientific issues, such as data handling, and arithmetic errors, he also has much to say about the way that the debate about climate change has been conducted. It’s worth noting that he sent us this letter before the “CRU email” controversy broke out, so his criticism of the IPCC for being too even handed, is ironic and timely.

Update – the link in the letter is now fixed. -rasmus

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I know at 3 or 4 a day it is going to be a long way to 50 but it is worth it.

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The Smirking Monkey Is Going Out Of Business – Please help out

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Community Energy Systems is a nonprofit 501c3 organization chartered in Illinois in Sangamon County. As such we are dependent on public donations for our continued existence. We also use Adsense as a fundraiser. Please click on the ads that you see on this page, on our main page and on our Bulletin Board (Refrigerator Magnets) and you will be raising money for CES. We say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who do.

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Here is a web site that suffered from lack of support, has 4 no 3 no 2 days left, and a point to make:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/25006

Nuclear promises safe, cheap energy, but the truth is less enticing

by Pierre Tristam

| November 17, 2009 – 11:04am

Energy independence is the new creationism; nuclear power its deity. As the head glow for nuclear’s new dawn, you can’t do better than Aris Candris. He’s president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric, the company aiming to build 14 of 25 new nuclear reactors planned in the United States. Candris also sums up everything that’s wrong with the nuclear power industry’s orchestrated revival — the deceptions, the manipulated numbers, the false promises and the sheer swindle of taxpayer dollars for a technology with a lethal past and an unproven future. Candris’ Nov. 9 tribute to nuclear in The Wall Street Journal tells the tall tale.

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You can read all of those lies here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704224004574489702243465472.html

He pretty much says the same thing no matter where he speaks – More Nukes..More Nukes

Nukes Good – Renewables Bad

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Aris says: Only nukes can supply the huge electrical demand. My source is bigger than your source.

Pierre says:

Actually, that’s more true of nuclear, far less so of renewable. Not a single nuclear power plant has been approved and built in the United States since the 1970s. The newest one, Watts Bar in Tennessee, began construction in 1973 and went online in 1996 — a 23-year span that multiplied its initial costs, to $7 billion. Candris gives the impression that a slew of plants are about to be built. Not so. A slew of plants applied for licenses, but only because the federal government is offering up to $1 billion in tax credits per new nuclear plant (once electricity production begins), as long as the application was in by the end of 2008.

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Aris says: Nukes planned will come in starting in 2016. My source is faster than your source.

Pierre says:

Look for pigs flying around Turkey Point, too, because Westinghouse’s claims are identical to those of Areva, a French company building what was supposed to be a next-generation nuclear plant in Finland — quick, safe, cheap. The plant, Europe’s first in 30 years, was supposed to open last summer. Finns will be lucky if it’s open by 2012. It was to cost $3.5 billion. The cost is now creeping close to $7 billion and counting.

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Aris says: Renewables, conservation, efficiency weak. Look at France.

Pierre says:

But French electricity consumption is 7,200 kilowatts per person per year, 44 percent less than the American consumption of 12,900 kilowatts per person. France is a model — of conservation. (Candris is wrong about France’s independence: it imports all of its oil and natural gas.)In the United States between 1995 and 2008, electricity consumption increased by 22 percent, more than the projected increase over the next 21 years. The country coped without gobs of nuclear power — and can cope again as renewables like wind and solar increase their share of electricity generation, from 5 percent today (compared with nuclear’s 20 percent) faster and safer. Imagine if renewables had the kind of obscene tax subsidies the nuclear industry is receiving.

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Aris says: ALL those wimpy girlie technologies  are expensive and US manly Nukes are cheap.

Pierre says:

In fact, nuclear energy is more expensive than solar or wind energy. Take Florida Power & Light’s plan to build two new nuclear reactors sometime over the next 12 years (it’s not clear when, though the company is already socking it to customers by making them pay for construction today. No other state but Georgia allows that con). The projected cost of the two reactors is $18 billion. It’ll certainly go up well beyond that by the time they’re done, but go with the $18 billion figure. The two reactors will produce 2,234 megawatts of electricity. That comes out to $8 million per megawatt at the opening bell. FPL just started operating a 25-megawatt solar-power plant in DeSoto County. Cost: $152 million, or $6 million per megawatt — $2 million cheaper than the projected cost of the nuclear reactors. With wind, it’s even cheaper. A Chinese-American consortium on Oct. 29 announced plans for a 600-megawatt wind farm in West Texas. Cost: $1.5 billion, or $2.5 million per megawatt. Cheap nuclear power? Demonstrably not.

Keep in mind that wind and solar farms require zero raw materials to operate, and minimal security. Terrorists aren’t about to crash planes into wind turbines or solar panels. Operating a nuclear plant is said to be cheaper than operating gas- or coal-fired plants — but not when security, liability and potential catastrophes are figured into the equation. And for all the safety advances of the past 30 years, the current fleet of about 100 reactors has a projected Chernobyl- or Three Mile Island-like severe accident rate of one every 100 years. Would you like to live near those odds?

The nuclear power industry can’t even persuade its own investors to bet on it, so it’s going after tax dollars and captive customers to pay for its dreamed-up expansion. Simple solution: If nuclear power can make it on its own, fine. But it’s far too dangerous, too uncertain, too costly and too tempting to terrorists to be subsidized by taxpayers and unwilling customers. So far, the nuclear power industry is betting equally and exclusively on public dollars and gullibility. Don’t let it get away with it.
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Pierre is right and Aris is wrong. Please support him.

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Simple Method For Beaming Energy From Space – But somebody will get hurt in the process

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It is Jam Band Friday –

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+can%27t+always+get+what+you+want&docid=1345780778117&mid=16E7403197023CEB494316E7403197023CEB4943&FORM=VIVR10

Everyone in this country has been programmed by rampant science fiction to believe that everything for the future comes from outer space. So the Japanese launch a press release about using a satellite to beam microwaves back to Earth.

http://www.physorg.com/news172224356.html

Let’s see, first you have to clean up the 13,000 pieces of space debris…then you got to up our payload capacity and multiple the number of vehicles available by at least 1,000. Just to START such a project. Hell we can barely generate enough capacity to keep the International Space Station running  which is 160 volts in DC. Which gets us back to this final meditation on “living off the land”. There are somethings we will have to give up on and the first one is Space Flight. Why? Not because of the money and effort that could spent elsewhere. Not because of the hellishness of the logistics. NASA’s dirty little secret is Cosmic Rays. They would destroy any unshielded human and that is why the International Space Station is not in geosynchronous orbit or higher. Stewardesses and Pilots who regularly fly at high altitudes are exposed to enough Cosmic Rays to have a slightly higher chance of developing some cancers. That is why NASA limits the space station stay for astronauts to under a year. But what is the point of going out there?

GROWTH

If we replaced that with

Quality of Life

As a principle the world would be a much nicer and longer lived place.

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http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+can%27t+always+get+what+you+want&docid=1322404807369&mid=9E85A21DF312D9016FDC57CBDDDC180567D96A9A&FORM=VIVR12

For those of you who want what you need and a simpler life there are many resources out there

http://www.livingoffgrid.org/

Tips for Off-Grid Living – How To Live Off The Grid

Off Grid Solar Power ArrayWelcome to our free online resource for off-grid living.
We are here to help you along in the rewarding challenge of living off of the power grid. Whether you are a veteran off-grider living in an RV or cabin in the woods, a seasoned rural farmer, a third-generation rancher – or someone just looking to get out of the rat race – we have the information you seek.

What to look for when buying real estate off the grid >>

Though sometimes a challenge, the many benefits of living off grid make it all worthwhile. How can one describe the feeling of running your house or business off of clean energy sources like natural gas and propane, or renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro? Who could explain the effect being out of the city and suburbs has on your sense of well-being? How many of us would enjoy more fresh produce grown organically on our own property?

This website isn’t just about owning property that happens to not be connected to the big power company’s grid. It is about living closer to the land; Being responsible for the culture, values and environment we leave behind to our children; knowing that life was meant to be enjoyed, rather than working in a tiny cubicle to earn enough to accumulate stuff we didn’t need in the first place.

Well, that’s what it’s about for me at least. But more importantly:
What is living off grid about to you?

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

You can even be a Dad and do it:

http://frugaldad.com/2009/04/05/living-off-the-grid/

Living Off The Grid

Ever wish you could just unplug from your current hectic life?  Maybe quit your stressful job, move to a farm with several acres, and spend your remaining time living off the grid.  Yeah, me too.

The problem is that this type of lifestyle seems so simple, but is terribly difficult to pull off these days.  Why?  Because we have become slaves to our stuff – myself included.  We have our houses, our cars, our expensive hobbies, our electronic gadgets, our new furniture, our designer clothes, etc.

We spend the majority of our lives working to pay for the stuff that keeps us from living a life with more freedom.  Along the way we usually manage to accumulate debt buying more stuff than we can afford.  So then we spend even more time working to repay the money we borrowed to buy the stuff that we work to pay for in the first place.  Whew!  It’s a vicious cycle.

farmhouse040509
Photo courtesy of iLoveButter

How To Break The Chains of Stuff?

So how do we break the cycle?  How do we join others who are living off the grid?  It isn’t easy.  I believe the very first step is to stop accumulating stuff.  Draw a line in the sand (or on your front porch), and vow not to allow anything else to enter your home unless it is a necessity or improves your quality of life in some way.  If something qualifies under those two conditions, you must save for it and pay cash.  No more borrowing!

The second step is to take a look around your house, and your budget.  Are you paying for things that you could really live without?  The $40 gym membership, or the $15 Netflix membership, may not seem like much by themselves, but how much of a nest egg would be required just to cover those expenses?  I mentioned the multiply by 25 concept in a previous post.  The idea is that you can estimate how much of your nest egg would be required to maintain your current expenses.  I used Netflix as an example:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX1OVXTplos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymLRWZG4u24

The movement is not just limited to the US.

http://www.off-grid.net/

Top govt advisor attacks Big Power

Section:

— by Alexbenady, 30 Oct

Simpson: Local hero

Simpson: Local hero

The UK is in the grips of a power cartel, says an insider from the governing UK Labour Party.

That cartel actively hinders the fight against global warming by lobbying for its own narrow commercial interests at the cost of local democracy and the future health of the planet.   It’s an argument that off-gridders and anti-capitalist campaigners will be familiar with. It’s not really what you expect to hear from an advisor to Her Majesty’s Government. Yet it is precisely the belief of Alan Simpson, who occupies a place close to the heart of political power in Britain as  energy advisor to the Secretary of Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband and Member of Parliament for Nottingham South.

>>Keep reading Top govt advisor attacks Big Power Your Comments: 0
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http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+can%27t+always+get+what+you+want&docid=1346708637036&mid=00EB313253A0B35936F300EB313253A0B35936F3&FORM=VIVR34

Some people even thrive in an “off the grid” living:

http://www.eartheasy.com/blog/2009/06/what-its-like-living-off-grid/

By Greg Seaman Posted Jun 9, 2009

In the summer of 1980, my wife, three-month old son and I moved “off-grid”. We loved living in San Francisco but wanted to live a simpler, more independent lifestyle, and so we bought a small cabin with land on a rural island in the Pacific Northwest. Since there were no services to the island, our home had no electricity. Residents of the island had to create their own electricity or do without.

Now here I sit, almost 30 years later, with the kids grown and their rooms empty, and with some time to reflect on our experience living and raising a family off-grid. But before even considering the challenges and solutions in dealing with our energy needs over the years, one observation seems to leap out: how little things here have changed. We’ve done very little over the years to enhance our energy needs, aside from installing two solar panels last year to power the computer I’m using to write this article. (Alongside my computer on the table here is a kerosene lamp, and a candle for added light.) This lack of change is testament to the feasibility of off-grid living, and my vision for the upcoming years is to keep things pretty much the way they are.

But keeping it simple hasn’t always been simple. We had to learn alternate methods of preserving food, how to build things without power tools, how to cook on a wood stove, how to clean diapers without a washing machine, entertain ourselves without TV, and accept that many common tasks can take longer and be more difficult without electricity. Here are the main challenges we encountered in living off-grid, and how we managed with them.

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For much more:

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2650

http://www.coyotecottage.com/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/living-off-the-grid.htm

http://www.bringaboutgreen.com/

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Oh yah and the people that made the song famous:

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

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Wind Turbines Don’t Kill Birds Hunters Do – The record on bats is a little less clear

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http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/28/wind-turbines-dont-kill-birds-coal-plants-do/

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/upland_bird/harvest/index.asp

In Oregon alone hunters kill over 94,000 Ruffled Grouse in 10 years…now on to other news

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Continuing with my meditation on “living off the land”, (and my life a*s a google whore) there are many passive ways to use the environment to our advantage. One of these is solar water heaters. Hell I remember when they were called solar water preheaters because the utility companies were petrified that everyone would have them.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/KJ29Cb02.html

China Business

     Oct 29, 2009

      

 
China leads solar home revolution
By Ryan RutkowskiGazing across the Chinese urban cityscape, one quickly notices many strange tubular devices dotting the rooftops of many residential buildings. These are solar water heaters.Solar water heaters rank among the world’s fastest-growing applications of solar thermal technology. According to the WorldWatch institute, the solar thermal heating sector expanded worldwide in 2007 at its highest rate since 1995, up 19 gigawatts of thermal equivalent (GWth) to 147 GWth total capacity. Solar thermal energy harnessed for domestic water heating is the primary application of this technology, accounting for 86% of all installations in 2009.

China is the world’s largest market for solar water heating (SWH). Since the 1990s, China has blossomed with an increase in annual
production to 114.1 million square meters in 2007 from 0.5 million square meters in 1991, accounting for two thirds of global output. According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, the country has the world’s largest installed base of solar water heaters, at over 125 million square meters, with one in 10 families such devices.

In 2007, SWH firms in China generated sales of 32 billion yuan (US$470 million). The country’s annual production of solar water heater systems is twice that of Europe and four times that of the United States.

Moreover, China has become a global leader in the manufacturing of components for solar water heater systems. According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, over 95% of core solar water heating technology patents are held by Chinese firms. In 2005, China produced over 90% of the world’s evacuated tubes, 70% of the world’s borosilicate glass, and more than 90% of the world’s “getter” – reactive materials used for removing traces of gas from vacuum systems.

In recent years, China has begun exporting its SWH technology. In 2007, the sector’s exports grew 28%, with a total value of US$65 million, the equipment going to 50 countries and territories in Europe, the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia. China’s leading export companies are Jiangsu Sunrain New Energy Group, Shandong Linuo Solar Energy Group and Beijing Tsinghua Solar.

Solar water heater systems can be seen across China, from the largest urban metropolitan areas to the smallest rural hamlets. The systems are most common on residential buildings in urban areas, while 90% of the systems are used in single households and 10% in schools, hotels and restaurants.

Altogether, over 30 million households in China use the systems. Southwestern Yunnan province, an area known for abundant sunshine and consistent year-round temperatures, has adopted widespread use of solar water heater systems, with almost all residential buildings in cities and rural areas equipped with them.

A combination of low production costs and significant government support has contributed to the rise of the systems. A standard household system can be set up for just over 2,000 yuan (US$294), compared with 1,800 yuan for gas and as low as 500 yuan for comparable electric water heaters. However, every cubic meter of natural gas costs about 1.7 yuan and every kilowatt hour of mains electricity costs about 0.44 yuan, compared with no cost for a SWH system – a significant savings over time, especially in areas with no access to natural gas and with abundant solar energy.

According to a study by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, SWHs were the most economical domestic hot water system compared with diesel oil boilers, gas boilers, or electric water heaters. The annual operating costs of SWHs in Shanghai were 70% less than electric water heaters.

On January 1, 2006, China passed a revolutionary renewable energy law to spur local governments to support the development of renewable energy projects across provinces. In 2007, the National Development and Reform Council’s Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy in China called for an increase in the total installed area for SWH systems to 150 million square meters by 2010 and 300 million square meters by 2020 – of this 100 million square meters will be in rural areas.

At present, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone next to Hong Kong, eastern Nanjing, Zhengzhou and Xiamen, and Shijiazhuang near Beijing, are among cities that make SWH systems compulsory on newly built and rebuilt residential buildings at 12 stories or below. In Shanghai, the local government is also pushing for an increase in the solar collecting area.

Three types of solar SWH systems are in use in China: vacuum tube collectors, flat-plate collectors, and combined storage collectors. The vacuum tube collectors are the most prevalent, making up 88% of the market in 2004, compared with 11% for flat-plate collectors, and less than 1% for combined storage collectors. New models often have electrical heaters inside the water tank to ensure efficiency in all weather conditions. According to a study by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, under weather conditions in Shanghai, the annual solar collecting efficiency of flat panel SWH systems is about 36-40%.

The SWH manufacturing market is highly fragmented, with more than 5,000 producers throughout the country. A lack of comprehensive standards for components and manufacturing and local protectionism has kept down the costs of entry for firms.

In April this year, the Ministry of Commerce announced a “Home Electronics to Countryside” program to encourage the growth of SWH systems in rural areas with a 13% subsidy on the cost of buying a system for rural residents. Many experts view this plan as a tool to encourage consolidation in the industry through adoption of more rigid standards. Only 92 of the 133 companies that placed a bid for the program were selected.

Shandong is the world production center for SWHs, based on measured area of concentrated heat vacuum tubes, with over 100 million square meters a year and 387 manufacturers. Of China’s 30 leading makers of the products with over 10 million yuan in production value, 10 are based in the province, including some of the largest SWH producers, such as Himin Solar Energy Group, Shandong Sangle Solar Energy and Linuo Paradigma Solar Energy.

Dezhou city, home to Himin Solar, boasts that 90% of households there use SWHs and that the streets are lit with solar-powered lights.

Recently, Jiangsu province joined the drive into SWH manufacturing. Of the 92 companies selected for the home electronics to the countryside program, 15 were from the province, including Jiangsu Huayang Solar Energy Heater, Jiangsu Sunrain Solar Energy and Jiangsu Sunshore Solar Energy Industry.

Jiangsu Huayang has filed for 150 independent patents and exports products to the US, Germany, Italy, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

The industry’s growth is attracting overseas interest. On September 17, Milwaukee-based, AO Smith Corp acquired a controlling stake in Tianlong Holding, one of China’s leading water purification companies. AO Smith is a world leader in residential and commercial water heating equipment and is already the second-biggest maker of water heaters in China, posting sales revenue of US$2.3 billion in 2008.

China’s rapid adoption of SWH technology will help counter the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. In 2004, SWH units already provided 12% of China’s renewable energy, second only to hydropower. According to the government’s mid-to-long term plan, China could save 20 million tonnes of coal by installing a total of 150 million square meters of SWHs by 2010.

According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, the market size for green technology in China could reach up to 15% of gross domestic product by 2013. Clearly, this is not only an opportunity for foreign firms to jump on the bandwagon of a Chinese market with astronomical growth potential, it is also a golden opportunity for Chinese firms to gain a foothold in the rapidly developing renewable energy markets in Europe and North America. China’s solar revolution is well underway, and will not be limited by national borders.

Ryan Rutkowski is a master’s student studying international economics at Johns Hopkins University – Nanjing University Center for Chinese-American Studies.

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They got sales going on too:

http://www.china-solar-collector.com/solar%20collector.html?gclid=CICS167S4p0CFSMNDQodgT5vCQ

solar collector-roof[1]

Solar Collector or Solar Water Heater is a device that absorbs thermal energy from the sun and converts it into usable heat. The heat is normally absorbed by water, or a freeze resistant water mix, which can then be used to supplement hot water heating, space heating and even space cooling via use of an absorption chiller or dessicant cooler technology.

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Can Humans Live Off The Land – And by this I do not mean a return to a hunter gather society

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I mean can humans live with out a growth model of economics like corporate capitalism?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013105631.htm

Sustainable Architecture: Setting Sail In An Ecological ‘Earthship’

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2009) — Could sustainable architecture address pollution, climate change and resource depletion by helping us build self-sufficient, off-grid, housing from “waste”, including vehicle tires and metal drinks containers? That’s the question researchers at the University of South Australia address in a new paper appearing in the International Journal of Sustainable DesignMartin Freney of the department of Art, Architecture and Design has taken a critical look at the work of architect, Michael Reynolds of Taos, New Mexico, USA, who has experimented with radical house designs, and construction techniques over the past three and half decades. Reynolds designs incorporate passive heating and cooling, water catchment and sewage treatment, renewable energy, and even food production. These houses, which Reynolds calls “Earthships” are essentially independent of external utilities and waste disposal. On the face of it, they offer, an environmentally benign approach to housing.

A common method of responding to unsustainable housing is to design an energy-efficient home using “natural building” methods, Freney points out. He adds that Reynolds has already demonstrated that essentially free building materials resulted in greater financial independence for the owner-occupiers of his houses and when he added off-the-grid power and water systems he found that it was possible to reduce his utilities bills to practically zero.

Freney, while enthusiastic about the potential of Reynolds’ approach is also more realistic about the actual sustainability of Earthships that are off the utility grids. After all, he says, to a certain degree, Earthships are still locked into potentially unsustainable systems because they rely on a technological society for the production of the vehicle tires and aluminum can bricks from which they are constructed and the high-tech components such as solar panels, electronics, pumps, tanks, glass and cement that allow them to go off-grid.

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These people are soooooo cooool

http://www.earthship.net/

1. Ekofilm ends, Main Prize goes to Garbage Warrior

Education/videos, movies, tv

On Saturday 10 October, the gala evening with awarding of prizes for the 35th annual film festival MFF Ekofilm was held in the Municipal Theatre in ?eský Krumlov. Prizes were awarded in 13 categories. The Main Prize of Ekofilm and also the..

2.  The earthship is here, in in the hinterlands of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, India

Global Network/India

Kodaikanal: A novel idea is taking shape in the hinterlands of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, even as you are reading this. Alex Leeor, 35, from Brighton, UK, has arranged about 800 tyres and a few truckloads of mud(as seen in pic above) on a remote,…

3. EVE gets plastered

Buildings/Communities

Earthship Village Ecologies (E.V.E.) gets an initial coat on the second level roof. We have also observed (in the developed countries) a barrier  between the peoples of the world  and  an affordable carbon zero/sustainable living…

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Tomorrow:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33357744/ns/us_news-environment/

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Nobel Prizes This Year Reflect A Turn Toward A Steady State Economy – Elinor Ostrom is a perfect example

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While there was huge howling on both the right and the left about Barack Obama winning the Nobel Prize, I think it was mainly because they don’t understand that we are shifting from a “growth” paradigm to a “sustainable” paradigm and the Nobel people were publicly recognizing that fact. I think if they all knew what that meant, they would be howling even louder. What Barack and company have understood is that standard politics is about to become irrelevant. That is that the Growth method of economics is about to become obsolete and with it a whole way of life.

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/30218?tid=14

The sustainable economics of Elinor Ostrom

2009-10-14 17:56


It was not by chance that Elinor Ostrom was awarded this year’s Nobel prize in economics.

Global warming, along with the preservation of the quality of our environment, has become the most pressing issue facing the human race.

The presentation of this year’s Nobel prize in economics to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson–in particular Ostrom’s dedicated researches in the inter-relationship between mankind and our ecological system, thus ensuring the sustainability of our water, forest, fishery and other shared resources–should serve as a loud and clear alarm to mankind, who have now come face to face with ecological disasters of unprecedented proportions.

Environmental initiatives continue to thrive in all corners of the Earth. Although many people are well equipped with the knowledge of protecting our environment, few will actually turn that knowledge into practical actions, resulting in the piling up of trash, severe river contamination, illegal logging as well as ill-planned and uncurbed developments. The quality of our environment has deteriorated further, culminating in a broad array of hygiene issues and illnesses.

Elinor Ostrom spent her teenage years in the depth of the Great Depression and the subsequent second world war, when resources were scarce and potable water a rarity. She grew vegetables in her own yard, and made her harvest into canned food. This opened up her eyes to the realisation of the necessity to work with other people for the common interests of all when resources were in short supply. Such a realisation had laid a solid foundation for her future scientific research works.

Judging from this perspective, it therefore came as no coincidence that she was given the Nobel.

It is an undeniable fact that environmental degradation has resulted in global warming. Even in Malaysia, the average atmospheric temperatures have risen over the past three decades.

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Summarizing her findings about the “tragedy of the commons”:

1. We must value the strategy of a more balanced overall development: In the past, due to the lack of overall development concept and plans, our developments have been concentrated in large cities while the well-being of rural residents was overlooked.

For instance, we moved polluting factories from cities to outlying areas and adjacent rural communities. We should have instead formulated a set of preventive guidelines to curb environmental degradation. The success of environment protection depends very much on the monetary expenses as well as manpower, financial and equipment inputs; and priorities and timetables should therefore be set.

2. An environment evaluation system must be put in place. Works on all new major construction projects, manufacturing plants and public gathering places, should begin only after environmental impact assessments have been carried out.

3. Promote a sense of responsibility in nurturing the necessary expertise. Future entrepreneurs must come to the full realisation that the prevention of environmental degradation is a responsibility which they are obliged to, and the money invested in the equipment for the prevention of environmental degradation should be seen as part of the essential operating cost in their production and service delivery. At the same time, they should also establish research bodies aimed at grooming expertise to fight pollution.

Not believing in the “tragedy of the commons,” Ostrom has put her entire lifetime’s effort in the researches on outlying and underdeveloped communities, living over a very long period of time with their impoverished residents.

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The 2 types of economies are on a crash course:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_41/b4150055757494.htm

The Clash Over Clean Power

Utility chiefs are juggling the conflicting goals of green energy and low rates—and self-interest reigns

BUCKING POWERFUL INTERESTS

What makes the task even more difficult is a fundamental clash between the two goals that Rowe, Rogers, and other CEOs say they are passionate about: keeping power prices low to benefit customers and averting the potential catastrophe of climate change. The effort to curb emissions, after all, will significantly raise the price of coal-fired and other fossil-fuel-generated electricity and make alternatives more competitive.

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Some countries are already there:

The future of energy happening now in Germany

Friday, 16 October 2009 08:01

Germans are leading the way in the clean energy revolution.  From huge smart grid projects and massive wind and solar farms to smaller micro-generation projects at the home to new appliances Germany is taking energy efficiency very seriously.

Germany passed legislation more than 20 years ago that required utility companies to pay homeowners who generated renewable power.  Since 1990, carbon emissions there have been reduced by 23 percent as a result of forward-thinking policies and by embracing innovative technologies.

The country is now conducting tests that will determine if homes can produce all of their energy needs and sell excess back to the power grid.  Operating under the label E-Energy, the project will include tens of thousands of homes in six separate regions.  The €140 million project has attracted many of the world’s largest energy and technology firms who have agreed to help pay for the effort.  Germany believes that a similar nationwide program could conserve 10 terawatts of energy annually – an amount equal to the yearly consumption of 2.5 million homes.

The Germans are also working on offshore wind farms and massive solar power installations to be built in Africa.  Several energy companies are working on the solar project that will eventually feed clean energy into Europe’s power grid.  Schemes such as these can eventually provide up to a third of the country’s requirements, according to estimates.

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The point being, that the Nobel Committee picked people that reflect that…the “Growthers” just don’t get it and never will:

http://nobelprize.org/

Nobel Prize Winners For 2009

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

Elizabeth H. Blackburn

Carol W. Greider

Jack W. Szostak

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Thomas A. Steitz

Ada E. Yonath

The Nobel Peace Prize 2009

Barack Obama

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009

Charles K. Kao

Willard S. Boyle

George E. Smith

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2009

Herta Müller

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009

Elinor Ostrom

Oliver E. Williamson

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I did not say it up front but Elinor is the first woman to get the Nobel Prize for Economics -Yaaaaaa

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This Just IN – A LEED Certified Builder in Florida..

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Wow in the land of the badly built house there comes a bright spot. I mean really. Think about it. Every house in Florida should be hurricane impervious, and many parts of Florida should be off limits to human habitat. But they have a saving grace.

Arch Aluminum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Green Building

Council Names Florida’s

First Private-Sector LEED

Homes Provider

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (Oct. 14) – E3 Building Sciences has

become the first private-sector LEED Homes Provider in

Florida.

A LEED Homes Provider is responsible for overseeing the

certification of a LEED for Homes project. They act as the

liaison between the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

and the Green Raters gathering the LEED documentation,

which is necessary to verify the green attributes of both

single-family and multi-family residential dwellings. The

USGBC developed the family of LEED Green Building

Rating Systems, which are the leading national benchmarks

for measuring and certifying the sustainable attributes of

residential and commercial properties.

“We see our partnership with the USGBC as a LEED Homes

Provider to be a continuation of our commitment to bring

high performance buildings into the mainstream that are

economically, socially and ecologically sustainable,” said

Ben Millar,  Director of Business Development.

Since E3 Building Sciences was founded in 2002, it has

specialized in the design, engineering, and third-party

verification of more than 3,500 energy-efficient buildings

for the residential and commercial sectors within the

U.S. Southeast, Gulf States, and the Caribbean. It is

the leading certifier of Energy Star homes in the State

of Florida. Such efforts have resulted in projects with

better indoor air quality, a reduced impact on the

overall environment, greater durability and sustainability,

and significant energy and operating cost savings to

building owners.

E3 Building Sciences is one of 36 LEED Homes Providers

nationwide. The Florida Solar Energy Center was

designated the first academic-sector LEED Homes

Provider in Florida.                                             

###   ###
 
 
E3 Building Sciences Contact:Ben Millar, Director of Business Development

E3 Building Sciences

3690 Via Del Rey

Bonita Springs, FL 34134-7592

Ben@E3BuildingSciences.com

Office: 239-949-2405

www.E3GreenBuilding.com

Media Contact:

Paul Nutcher

Green Apple Group

4775 N. Seminole Avenue, Ste. B

Winter Park, FL 32792

Cell: 407-579-8683

pnutcher@greenappleconsult.com

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Oh if you’re ever in China and you need a wind turbine…these people asked for a plug so here it is:

Best regards

Yours

Nina

Baotou Changan Magnetoelectric Machine Co., Ltd

Contact:

South Fuqiang Road NO.169,Rare Earth High–New District,Baotou,Inner Mongolia,P.R.China

Website: www.btycdj.com (This is Chinese web and our English web is establishing now)

E-mail: qingmuyue@gmail.com

Tel: 86-472-5329936

Fax: 86-472-5329927

MSN:qingmuyue@hotmail.com

Skype:caoyuannina

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Dow Plans To Launch Solar Power Shingles – Your roof becomes a generator

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From an environmental perspective  CIGS is a little worrisome and it ain’t exactly “solar paint” like they have been promising, but it could open the market for a whole new range of products.

http://www.dailytech.com/Dow+Puts+Traditional+Panels+to+Shame+With+New+Solar+Shingle/article16424.htm

Dow Puts Traditional Panels to Shame With New Solar Shingle
Jason Mick (Blog) – October 6, 2009 12:12 AM

 


Dow’s solar shingles are poised to put the solar panel market out of business. The unobtrusive designs produce power more cheaply than traditional panels, are produced domestically, and require no specialized skills to install, other than standard roofing experience.  (Source: Beanieville Blog)


The new cells uses CIGS thin films, encased in plastic. The resulting design has lower efficiencies that traditional panels, but is cheaper to produce, lowering the cost per watt by 10 to 15 percent over traditional panels.  (Source: University of Strathclyde)Product should shake up the power industry open up new era for solar

Inventors and designers have long envisioned a roof or window that produced solar power affordably.  However, until now no company had mass produced such a device.  Instead, the consumer market was dominated by rooftop panels which require a fair amount of maintenance, are relatively fragile, and are rather expensive.
That’s all about to change, however.  Dow Chemical Co., one of America’s most successful chemical firms, is launching the first mass-produced consumer solar shingle next year and will be planning a wide-scale rollout by 2011.  The firm foresees a booming $5B USD market for the shingles.

The new shingles use a thin film of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) to capture solar energy.  As a result, the cells which are encased in molded plastic are relatively flexible, unlike their photovoltaic cousins.  And while these elements (such as indium) are quite expensive in bulk, they’re used extremely sparingly, keeping costs low.

The shingles one weakness is that they manage just over 10 percent efficiencies, less than traditional panels.  Despite this smaller generation capacity, they produce power at a 10 to 15 percent lower cost on a per watt basis due to production and installation cost savings.

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Or in this Reuter’s piece

Dow sees huge market in solar shingles

Mon Oct 5, 2009 8:57pm EDT

 

By Matt Daily

 

(see above poster’s note)

Dow Solar Solutions said it expects “an enthusiastic response” from roofing contractors for the new shingles, since they require no specialized skills or knowledge of solar systems to install.

The new product is the latest advance in “Building Integrated Photovoltaic” (BIPV) systems, in which power-generating systems are built directly into the traditional materials used to construct buildings.

BIPV systems are currently limited mostly to roofing tiles, which operate at lower efficiencies than solar panels and have so far been too expensive to gain wide acceptance.

Dow’s shingle will be about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than current BIPV systems.

The Dow shingles can be installed in about 10 hours, compared with 22 to 30 hours for traditional solar panels, reducing the installation costs that make up more than 50 percent of total system prices.

The product will be rolled out in North America through partnerships with home builders such as Lennar Corp and Pulte Homes Inc before marketing is expanded, Palmieri said.

Dow received $20 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to help develop its BIPV products.

The company also produces fluids used in concentrated solar systems, in which sunlight is used to generate heat that produces steam to power a turbine.

In addition, it supplies materials used to help manufacture photovoltaic panels and increase their efficiency.

Dow shares were up 4.4 percent at $24.67 on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading.

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But this guy doesn’t like the NEW Windows 7, iPhones, nor HYBRID cars…let alone SOLAR shingles. Because people won’t understand them or they have functions customers don’t want. Want to bet he is heavily invested in oil and coal stocks?

http://247wallst.com/2009/10/06/the-solar-shingle-and-the-false-promise-of-new-technology/

Technology is now clearly so good in many industries that it has surpassed the needs of many customers. Smart phones do scores of functions that most owners do not want. Many of these consumers opt for a simpler and less expensive phone. An Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone may carry a great deal of status with it, but for people who only want to make phone calls it is a luxury that they will not pay for.

Dow Chemical (NASDAQ:DOW) has a new piece of technology that it forecasts will have sales of $5 billion in 2015 and $10 billion in 2020. The $10 billion is only a little less than Dow’s quarterly sales today. The product that will drive all of this revenue is a rooftop shingle that converts sunlight into electricity. Reuters says that “The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide, a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells.” The shingle probably works well, but Dow should be more careful about what it has to say about future sales. Most shingles that are used today work well. Once they are hammered on a roof, they can last for decades without being replaced. They do not have to be linked to any other structure in the home. The cost of a single shingle is easy to calculate because it does not come with a set of instructions that says “batteries required” or “do not use this in temperatures above 75 degrees or below 30 degrees”

A solar shingle is a part of a complex and expensive system which involves rewiring the way that a home gets its electricity, stores it, and uses it over the course of a day. A shingle that converts sunlight into electrical energy requires engineering and storage that doubtlessly costs thousands of dollars and has to be installed by a specialist. The homeowner has to decide how long it will take him to get that investment back compared to the cost of simply getting electricity from the local utility. There is also the issue of what happens if twenty days per month are overcast. The solar shingle is not a shingle; it is a part of a complex and expensive system that most homeowners can neither understand nor evaluate financially.

The solar shingle is a revolutionary idea and it could change the way people get energy to run their homes. But, Dow may find out that it sells almost none of the news shingles. They may break when it gets icy or blow off in a storm the way normal shingles which are not tied to a home’s electricity system do. Consumers, at least a great many of them, will think these solar shingles might pose some kind of fire or health hazard. They could be right.

Dow Chemical should avoid saying it will sell $10 billion of anything that the public has not seen, even if it is just chemicals

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Windows Are Just Plain Stupid – If you want to see outdoors go outside

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(it is jam band friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFzZXvivo4c )

I know, I know…during the winter you can gather all that heat and store in something like a Trombe Wall but then you get into all this summer winter trade offs. You end up having to “shut off” the windows in the summer. There is a natural lighting argument and I am sure that in a work environment there is a health factor in there too. For homes however you can supply the light with light tunnels and avoid the solar load. Again health wise, if you want to feel one with nature – Go for a walk.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2c-iMqlA_w&feature=related )
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http://www.celsias.com/article/report-energy-efficiency-could-save-us-whopping-12/

http://digg.com/science

Energy Efficiency Could Save U.S. a Whopping $1.2 Trillion

A new report finds that the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency is the “single most promising resource” in pursuing energy affordability and security.

In addition to the tremendous savings potential for consumers and businesses, the report   (pdf), by the global consulting firm Mckinsey and Company  , finds that elevating energy efficiency to a national priority could also spur the creation of 600,000-900,000 long-term green jobs and reduce our overall energy consumption by 23 percent.

cfl

What are the implications of the above findings? Energy efficiency is an enormous (and enormously cheap) energy resource for the U.S., “but only if the nation can craft a comprehensive and innovative approach to unlock it.”

One of those barriers is seed money; the $1.2 trillion wouldn’t come for free. The investment, according to the report’s authors, would be about $522 billion over the next ten years, not including program implementation. But an investment of that scale could slash energy consumption in 2020 by 9.1 quadrillion BTUs, or 23% of projected demand, potentially avoiding up to 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Mckinsey and Company found that substantial gains in efficiency could be made by:

1. Recognizing true potential of energy efficiency and prioritizing;
2. Encouraging old as well as new approaches to efficiency at both national and regional levels;
3. Identifying ways to provide the upfront funding for energy efficiency plans and programs;
4. Building collaborative processes with utilities, regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and consumers, and;
5. Fostering innovation in the development and deployment of energy efficiency technologies to sustain ongoing productivity.

Overcoming Significant and Persistent Barriers

To unlock the potential outlined in the report, “significant and persistent barriers” need to be addressed to spur demand for energy efficiency and adopt wide-ranging energy management systems and practices. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so fast, say the report’s authors.

First off, the easiest gains in energy efficiency have already been made and much of the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. Since 1980, energy consumption per unit of floor space has decreased 11% in the residential sector, 21% in the commercial sector and 41% in the industrial sector. But while significant advancements have been made, the report strongly suggests we are not done — largely because of the persistent social, structural and institutional barriers.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ms95iEQ8Q&feature=related

I will be on vacation for next week and I may or may not post.

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PORTA’s Wind Turbine – I think I will take the week and do some local issues

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The mid range wind turbine is going up at PORTA High School outside of Petersburg. Way to go. First here is the rationale:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0907/S00214.htm

Green Economics and how it might work

Monday, 20 July 2009, 3:53 pm
Article: Salient Green Economics and how it might work

by Tushara Kodikara

In times of the global economic recession and ecological crisis, it is obvious a radical response is needed. World-renowned economist Herman Daly maintains the future of human civilisation is dependent on a new economic model, based on a dynamic model—known as the steady state economy—preserving the environment we are all dependent upon.

There needs to be a shift away from the current paradigm of the growth economy towards a system that emphasises conserving natural capital and views the economy as a subset of the environment. Neoclassical economics has ignored the environment. The current system views environment and economy as intertwined. Any environmental problem can be solved by the market or by governmental interference.

Traditional economic theory is based on general equilibrium models: a giant system of thousands of simultaneous equations balancing supply and demand. These determine the price and quantity of goods and services. It assumes that there is an infinite resource base and also an infinite waste sink with no feedbacks. Simply put, resources will never run out and pollution will never occur. This leads to the notion that infinite growth is possible.

However, a litany of environmental problems, including destruction of the ozone layer, climate change, acid rain, deforestation, overpopulation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, desertification, floods, famine, overfishing, hazardous wastes, expanding landfills, fresh water depletion and the depletion of nonrenewable resources, to name a few, are symptoms of the shortcomings of the current economic system.

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Did I mention it saves money?

http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1885902913/Spectators-marvel-as-turbine-installed-at-PORTA-High-School

 

Wind turbine draws crowd at PORTA High

Generator is final phase of $7.6 million energy-saving project

By ANN GORMAN

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Jul 19, 2009 @ 11:00 PM

Last update Jul 20, 2009 @ 06:21 AM

PETERSBURG — Harold Biggs of Athens was one of several spectators behind PORTA High School Friday morning, as cranes lifted a hub with three huge rotor blades and then workers positioned it atop a large tower.Biggs, a 76-year-old retired engineer and Army veteran, began noticing wind turbines around the country about 10 or 12 years ago, and he’d recently read about them in Popular Science magazine. But he’d “never seen one put up before.”So, with camera and binoculars in hand, he decided to check out the activity in Petersburg.“I think it’s a step forward in ecology,” Biggs said of the turbine. “I’ve thought about getting a small one for my place, but it costs too much.”Anticipating public interest, PORTA officials had set up bleachers for people to watch the turbine progress.“I think it’s really cool to see how it’s put together,” said 15-year-old Abbey Stier of Williamsville, who watched the process with her dad, PORTA teacher David Stier.

The wind turbine — which extends 241 feet from base to blade tip — is the final phase of a $7.6-million energy-savings project instigated last year by the PORTA School Board because of soaring electric costs.

The 600-kilowatt wind generator — built in India and shipped by boat to Houston — was trucked in sections last week to Petersburg….

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Way to go Petersburg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErksDKeWB8

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