Category Archives: water efficiency

The Green Economy – This site thinks it is only a matter of time

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This real cool site believes that because energy prices now must be factored into every business, the green economy is only a matter of time. I hope so.

http://www.thegreeneconomy.com/corporate-investing-in-a-time-of-record-cash/

Corporate Investing in a Time of Record Cash

How to invest in an evolving economy?

As businesses — many of whom have record levels of cash on hand —  look for new opportunities, readers and experts chime in on where to put corporate investments.

In a recession, business hold fast, reducing costs and overhead while waiting out the slow economy. The return of the economy heralds a return — often very much like to the one that existed before the recession — except with some new efficiencies.

The Great Recession is different.

By the start of this year, we saw businesses reaching the conclusion that business-as-usual was not going to happen. There is a realization that oil and energy prices are now fundamental to decision making at all levels. (One example is the auto industry, which fought fuel efficiencies for years. Now they are entering new markets with innovative cars, and bringing back buyers who have bought foreign for years.) Limitations in global outsourcing — including customer dissatisfaction and the costs of doing business abroad — are making board rooms re-examine policies once held as best practices. There is talk about supply-chain efficiencies that are broader and more complex than ever before. Companies with the technologies and skills to manage that process are becoming the new Google and the new Microsoft.

Amidst the on-going malaise at the federal level, states and local communities are moving ahead with water and air quality policies. Innovative leaders are leaping ahead of those regulations, developing new products that manage resources better, either in the manufacturing process or as used by consumers.

Yet, with all this opportunity, at the beginning of January, Reuters reported that Apple Computer (APPL) had $93 Billion in cash, as well as long and short term investments. In September of 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported that corporations had a higher share of cash on their balance sheets than at any time in nearly half a century, with the Federal Reserve reporting that non-financial companies had more than $2 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, up more than $88 billion from the end of March of last year.

 

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Utilities Go Trenchless – And cut costs

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This is great news for the safety of the industry.

http://trenchlessinternational.com/news/advances_in_utility_location/004594/

Advances in utility location

Jo Parker

Trenchless International — October 2009

Advances in underground utility location could mean enormous savings – in economic, environmental and social terms. Here Jo Parker from Watershed Associates discusses some of the latest technological research and development emerging from the UK.

There are over four million kilometres of buried assets in the UK. At present, utilities make information about their buried assets available in a variety of methods including via websites, through telephone or written application, with a paper plan sent in response, or by marking out the location onsite. Collating these records can be a time consuming exercise and often the information has to be transferred by hand to another CAD system.

Even when a utility company uses the latest techniques to map its new assets, information on legacy services – which may have been installed decades earlier by a predecessor organisation – may be inaccurate or even non-existent. Pipes in older cities may be over 150 years old. Poor mapping techniques used at the time of installation and the practice of recording the pipe’s location relative to a physical feature that may no longer exist means the exact location of many of today’s networks are unknown. Although current surface location and detection techniques have improved in recent years, they are still of limited use, being both unreliable and slow to operate. As a result the only way to reliably identify the accurate position of any buried service is to excavate a trial hole.

Economic disruption

The direct cost of trenching and reinstatement work of UK highways for utilities is in excess of £1.5 billion per year. Part of this is attributable to holes excavated in the wrong location and damage to third party assets, which is estimated to be as high as £150 million. Although direct costs are high they are significantly lower than the societal costs, such as delays to road users, disruption to businesses and environmental damage which may be as high as £5 billion per year.

Article continues below…

 

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Go there and read boatloads. More tomorrow.

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Off Grid Living – Site may be inactive but it has good content

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Sometimes I find sites that appear inactive but I post them anyway because, like yesterday, they have something of interest. This is another one of those.

http://lifeoffthegrid.info/?p=57

Off Grid Living-You Can Do It Too

January 21, 2009

More and more people are realizing that you can still enjoy modern amenities while enjoying the independence of off grid living.  Being off the grid means being exactly that, off the grid.  No power lines, no electric bills, and being free of utility grid demands, not to mention their ever-rising rates.  Off grid living is environmentally friendly and cost effective and it is an option available to almost any one owning a home.

The principles of off grid living may be applied to any home in the world, even those currently tied to the grid.  From solar panels, hydro power and windmills, there is growing curiosity in off grid living and breaking free from fossil fuel burning power plants.  The technologies have advanced and the costs have dropped greatly.
Even do-it-yourselfers can take leaps into off grid living with many kits, resources and manuals available for instruction.  As energy demands increase globally, those living off grid can rest easy knowing their own energy costs are diminishing.

The idea of off grid living can be scary to some who believe they will have to give up some of their most prized possessions and electronic gadgets to achieve such freedom.  This is very far from the truth.  Off grid living is simply about learning to moderate your use of electricity.  It can be as simple as turning off lights that are not really in use.  Purchasing appliances that don’t use energy when not in use (like clocks on microwaves and stoves).  Learning to unplug, not just turn off.  Things like computers and printers, well anything with the little green light that is always on, these items are stealing precious energy and adding to your bill.  Wanting to become part of the off grid living adventure, doesn’t always mean giving up everything, sometimes it just means getting smarter about the things you have.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Building A Cob House – It is not what you think

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When I first saw the headline of this next site, I thought: can this be? I had heard of actual corn cob houses in rural America. They are basically slatted walls filled in with corn cobs and then finished inside and out. They are sort of a variation of hay bale houses. But this is way different.

http://www.livingoffgrid.org/building-a-cob-house/

Building a Cob House

By Off Grid Ebert

In a time in which we are increasingly hearing scary statistics about the fate of our planet, the way forward in the field of sustainable, green building may just be to go backward.  This is certainly the case for people demonstrating a growing interest in building earthen homes and structures using an ancient method known as cobwork or cobbing.  Cobbing, believed to have originated in the Maghreb as early as the 11th century, spread into wide usage across many parts of the rest of Europe as the main building style for homes.  The name of this style of building comes from the word cob, which is the name of the building material itself, formed of a mixture of earth (such as clay, sand, and other soil), straw, and water.  Despite what the materials may imply, this substance, when dried, is fireproof.  It is also inexpensive, and naturally cool in the summer heat and relatively easy to heat in the winter.

Many homes built of this material centuries ago still stand and remain in use.  Pictured here to the left is a cob house in England, believed to have been built in the late 1700s. (Photo by Tim Green, http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/4927564858/) These homes typically have thatched roofs, while small but efficient fireplaces with chimneys provide warmth when the weather is cold.

The appearance and texture of cob varies from region to region, depending on the available natural resources and their characteristics.  As such, cob is one of the most versatile building materials on earth.  It can be molded and shaped into whatever form is framed by the builder.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Off The Grid Store – I am posting a hunk of his blog

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This blog for this store has one chunk dated January 25th of 2012 and the first post listed as January 13. There is nothing more. So I do not know much about the store or the guy claiming to be Darin. It hasn’t been open long. According to a phto shoot caption they opened in early December 2011. I never endorse anything I have not actually tried and I have never ordered anything from this site. So buyer bewarier. As a man with a new business I am sure that he is too busy to blog and I disagree with his probable ideology as well. However new small businesses are very hard to keep alive so here he is, the Off The Grid Kid.

 

http://offthegriddotcom.wordpress.com/

Me – Off The Grid as a kid

The first post is always the hardest post to write on a blog.  It’s like introducing yourself to a bunch of people and you can’t look them in the eye. I’m an eye contact person as I believe one on one communication is something this world could use a lot more of.  If people talked, they might be able to understand each other better instead of making blanket judgements based on assumptions.

I’ll give it my best shot.  My name is Darin and I’m the Owner of OffTheGrid.com.  I’m a 40 year old guy with 3 little ones, grew up in the woods of Northern Arizona.  Caught my first fish before I could tie my shoes and tell my boy hunting stories instead of bedtime stories.  I’m  a Patriot and believe that the United States is the greatest nation on earth but I don’t think we’re perfect.  I know we have a great foundation for this country (the constitution) but I’m afraid of what country my children will inherit if we continue down the road we are currently on.  I hope our country gets back on track and focuses on the principles of what makes us great.

I’m a former radio talk show host from Phoenix, Arizona.  In my previous career, I spent most waking hours following the news, watching what was happening and then talking about it to a large audience.  As I researched topics I was going cover on my show, I noticed that many times the mainstream media left out crucial details and portrayed the story in a way that wasn’t entirely accurate by my standards.  Eventually I became aware that in order to get the real story, it was important to look at all angles and formulate my own opinion versus just taking what I was seeing/hearing/reading as fact.

My “awakening” has led me to this adventure.  I hope the preparations I am taking will never be used in an emergency situation.  I hope the food, tools and other equipment I have accumulated will only need to be used when I am enjoying the great outdoors on my own terms.  But, my first priority is my family and I feel it is my responsibility to make sure my wife and kids are in the best possible position should a disaster strike.  They are relying on me and I will not let them down.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Living Off The Grid Has Gotten Sexy – Thanks to Natgeo’s Preppers

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I have only seen one episode of Preppers so I am no expert. The show did seem intrusive because many of the “preparing for catastrophe” types are really sensitive to outside interest.  Some fear laughter, others fear exposing their hoards to people who might try to take them away from them, and others are just by nature isolationists. Also many of their theories about the impending “end of the world” are just plain incoherent. Thus painful to listen too. Most the off the grid people I know are not Preppers, they are, like me, cheap. They hate giving money to the utility companies.

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

What is living off-grid?
by LINDAM on FEBRUARY 11, 2012 – 1 Comment in OFF-GRID 101

The literal definition of living off-grid (or offgrid or living off the grid) is living without Utility power or water or waste disposal.

It can go further than this, to include being disconnected from the infrastructures that make life convenient, including roads, banks, schooling, doctors and so on. Even the Internet is a grid of sorts. Wikipedia has an extended discussion

In the absence of Utility electricity, energy needs are often supplied by solar, water or wind energy. (more…)

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.
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Going Off The Grid Used To Be Hard – And many times ugly

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

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

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

Jan 30th, 2012 | By Tim George

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

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

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

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

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

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Go there and read a bunch. More tomorrow,

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Cuba Moves Ahead With Alternative Energy – Will they move ahead of the U.S.

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As rediculous as it sounds, Cuba could very easily overtake the U.S. in its use of alternative forms of energy. Why? Because like China they have a planned economy.

http://peakoil.com/alternative-energy/cuba-on-the-road-to-clean-energy-development/

Cuba on the Road to Clean Energy Development

More than a decade ago, solar electricity changed the lives of several mountain communities in Cuba. Now this and other renewable power sources are emerging as the best options available to develop sustainable energy across the island.

“If the world’s clean energy potential exceeds our consumption needs, why do we insist on using the polluting kind?” asked Luis Bérriz, head of the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (CUBASOLAR), a non- governmental organisation that promotes the use of alternative and environmentally-friendly power sources.

According to his calculations, the amount of solar radiation Cuba receives is equivalent to 50 million tonnes of oil a day.

“If we covered the 1,000-kilometre-long national highway with solar panels we would generate all the power currently used, without using fossil fuels or occupying a single square metre of agricultural land,” Bérriz said to IPS in an interview.

Moreover, “nobody can block the sun; it belongs to all of us,” he added.

Bérriz is a researcher and long-time advocate of renewable power sources who prefers to talk about “reversing” climate change – which he says is caused by “the destructive actions of today’s societies” – instead of “adapting” to it.

In his opinion, adapting to what others destroy sounds more like “conformism”. Industrialised countries are responsible for 75 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which cause global warming. The leading GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2).

For Bérriz, the best course of action is to move from oil to clean energy sources, which exceed power needs. The way to do this is to develop the knowledge, technology and industry necessary to tap into the various renewable energy sources most available in each area, he says.

Key components of this process, Bérriz argues, are the training of scientists, technicians and skilled workers to cover human resource needs, and the creation of an energy and environmental culture that will raise the awareness essential for the development of solar power based on “fairness and solidarity”.

 

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It’s a big article, so go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Finally Get A New Water Heater – Do yourself a big favor and go Tankless

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Before I post that however let me thank:

Roger @

Ray’s TV

625 West Beecher ST

Jacksonville IL 62650  tel – 243-3051  email pegasus2112@frontier.com

He fixed my computer for next to nothing and I am here today because of it. (no boos or hisses) THANKS

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While Consumer Reports does not like “on demand” water heaters, I do. Once you get used to them they are a blessing and if you have a large family the money you can save is amazing. But for me it is a mental thing. First in mind solar water heating should have been the way our society should have gone 100 or even 200 years ago. I mean it is there and we “throw it away”. But there is also something so bourgeoisie about heating up a bunch of water to sit in a tank wating for us to (what?) fain to use it. But if we don’t then a heater comes on and heats it up again. The whole mindset there is flawed.

http://www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com/

Tankless Water Heaters heat water directly without the use of a storage tank. Therefore, they avoid the standby heat losses associated with storage water heaters. When a hot water tap is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. In an electric Tankless Water Heater an electric element heats the water. In a gas-fired Tankless Water Heater a gas burner heats the water. As a result, Tankless Water Heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water. You don’t need to wait for a storage tank to fill up with enough hot water. Typically, Tankless Water Heaters provide hot water at a rate of 2 – 5 gallons (7.6 – 15.2 liters) per minute. Typically, gas-fired Tankless Water Heaters will produce higher flow rates than electric Tankless Water Heaters. Some smaller Tankless Water Heaters, however, cannot supply enough hot water for simultaneous, multiple uses in large households. For example, taking a shower and running the dishwasher at the same time can stretch a Tankless Water Heater to its limit. To overcome this problem, you can install a “whole house” type Tankless Water Heater or install two or more Tankless Water Heaters, connected in parallel for simultaneous demands of hot water. You can also install separate Tankless Water Heaters for appliances—such as a clothes washer or dishwater—that use a lot of hot water in your home.

Other applications for Tankless Water Heaters include the following:

  • Remote BBQ or outdoor sink
  • Poolhouse or pool shower
  • Remote bathrooms or hot tubs
  • To serve as a booster, eliminating long pipe runs, for solar water heating systems, dishwashers and sanitation.

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Go there and see all their pretty pictures and diagrams. Read the text. More next week.

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God Bless Martin Luther King – I hope he is with you now

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Normally I just post a speech by Martin or put up a tribute of some type. I saw this article in the Bangkok Post and I thought Martin would approve so:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/275315/saving-energy-means-saving-money-as-well-as-saving-the-mekong

Saving energy means saving money as well as saving the mekong

In this very fast-changing region, few countries are changing faster than Laos. With economic growth of around 8%, the country is awakening and Vientiane is bustling with new developments, new trucks, and an even brighter outlook. Laos is finally catching up with its neighbours, and though this will take time, the pace and direction is undeniably clear and strong.

However, beneath this strong economic growth is a challenging story. Numerous rivers are being dammed for power production as Laos pursues its vision to become the “Battery of Asia”, and about 90% of this power is for export to Thailand and Vietnam.

Obviously Laos is not the only country growing in this region, and the demand for electricity is understandably strong. But the “Land of a Million Elephants” is becoming the “Land of 50 Dams” and that affects us all. This is because the dams are on the tributaries and water catchments of the great Mekong River. Indeed, according to the Mekong River Commission, nearly one-third of Thailand is actually in the Mekong River basin. The current dams in the Mekong basin produce around 1,600 megawatts yet the potential is estimated at 30,000 MW. And with around 60 million people depending on the Mekong for food, water, and transport the number of people directly linked to the river is huge _ approximately the same as the population of Thailand itself. And these dams will have an uncertain impact on this important inland fishery.

Electricity is vital for economic growth and it is vitally important for countries to have very reliable sources of high-quality power to drive their economies forward. But not all electricity has to be used in an inefficient way, and by getting serious about energy efficiency, the demand growth can be reduced. And this will mean that fewer dams are needed on the precious Mekong and its basin. Countries such as Thailand and Vietnam getting more strict about energy efficiency will better preserve the region’s key river.

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Edward Allen is a technical programme coordinator at the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy and the technical adviser to Sunlabob Renewal Energy. He holds a BA in Geography from Oxford University, and an MSc and Diploma of Agriculture from Imperial College London (Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development). For more on renewable energy issues, see www.sunlabob.com

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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