Category Archives: water efficiency

Rockspan – A sustainable farm in Missouri

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Carol Kneedler, who runs CES’ website, forwarded this to me and I thought it was a good way to plug her business. Thanks Carol for all you do.
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http://ksmu.org/article/small-ozarks-farm-provides-innovative-example-sustainable-living-50451#.UNoqJWCh7_Y.facebook

Small Ozarks Farm Provides Innovative Example For Sustainable Living

 Article | | By Shane Franklin

One farm in the Ozarks is the location of a series of unique experiments in sustainable living.  If these experiments prove successful, it would greatly affect the future of sustainable technologies and how people think about building their homes. KSMU’s Shane Franklin had the opportunity to tour the farm, and has this story.

Rockspan Farm, the home of Dan and Margy Chiles, is unique in so many ways. They wanted to build a farm that could be an example to others, and a test lab for experimental technologies they’ve been personally developing over the years.

“We are trying a number of new technologies here to make houses more efficient and to make a livable space without having to burn a lot of coal.

 

http://www.danchiles.macmate.me/rockspan/RockSpan/Home.html

RockSpan maps and overview

RockSpan is the name for our 12 acre farm and house in western Greene County, Missouri.

 

The project is the West end of Division street, 11 miles from Springfield, Missouri.   The colorful plan below shows the family farm: approximately 227 acres outlined in red with a possible land use plan.  Our 12 acres are inside the larger farm.

 

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Go there, read and see all the pretty pictures. More tomorrow.

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Getting energy from a natural event – In this case a tornado

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I got my doubts about this. Recreating the circumstances of a tornado can not be easy to control and maintain. I have always dreamed about storing lightening in giant batteries in the ground.

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/12/18/using-tornadoes-for-good-not-evil-green-energy/

 

Using Tornadoes For Good, Not Evil — Green Energy

 

Never one to let a good heading get away from me, it’s time to turn the evil power of tornadoes into something good — namely, green energy. And thanks to The Thiel Foundation’s funding program Breakout Labs, a new grant has been awarded to harness the power of atmospheric vortexes.

Tornadoes!

“The power in a tornado is undisputed,” said Louis Michaud, Canadian engineer and designer of the Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE). ”My work has established the principles by which we can control and exploit that power to provide clean energy on an unprecedented scale.

“With the funding from Breakout Labs, we are building a prototype in partnership with Lambton College to demonstrate the feasibility and the safety of the atmospheric vortex engine.”

Michaud’s design sees warm or humid air introduced into a circular station wherein it takes the form of a rising vortex which drives multiple turbines.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Utilities In The United States Still Battle Solar After 50 Years – When will they give up

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The coal companies and the utility companies in this country are morally repugnant and ecologically a disaster.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Solar-energy-is-ready-the-U-S-isn-t-3988796.php

Solar energy is ready, the U.S. isn’t

By Ken Wells
Published 5:07 p.m., Sunday, October 28, 2012

Clean energy has become a dirty word in presidential politics.

In their second debate, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama each tried to outdo the other’s love of fossil fuels: Obama extolling his record on oil and natural gas production, Romney vowing to take “advantage of the oil and coal we have here.” The Republican candidate has ridiculed the administration’s $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, the bankrupt solar panel maker, and accused Obama of living “in an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”

The candidates’ coolness to renewable energy comes at a time when the domestic supply of traditional energy sources, such as oil and natural gas, is at an all-time high. And yet this failure to make the promise of renewables a keynote in the debate is a huge missed opportunity. In particular, it ignores the dramatic reduction in the cost of photovoltaic solar power worldwide and the considerable benefits to U.S. consumers and the environment.

Political roadblocks

The untold story of this campaign is that what killed Solyndra may turn out to be a boon for the nation. “Economically and technologically, the game is over,” said Bill Powers, a San Diego engineer and board member of Solar Done Right, a group that proselytizes for rooftop solar power. “The hang-ups in the U.S. are strictly political.”

Over the past five years the price of photovoltaic panels has plummeted 75 percent, due largely to a glut of Chinese-made panels. The fall in prices rendered technically advanced photovoltaic panels, like those produced by Solyndra and other U.S. companies, too expensive to compete.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Disability Aids For The Home – My how things have gotten better

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When I played at being deaf, it was surreal. They challenged us to try to participate in a activity while experiencing one of the handicapped conditions. I was hungry and they did not provide lunch so I went to the student cafeteria and ordered as best I could by speaking, but there were a few things I had to write down. I also smacked into people a couple of times because I could not hear people coming at me. To top it all off it made the room all bright and glarey. Some kind of weird sensory enhancement I guess. Anyway it was pretty cool. This post is not about hearing however, it is about Bathroom Safety Products.

  http://www.easierliving.com/all-products/bathroom-safety-hygiene/default.aspx

Bathroom Safety Products & Hygiene Aids for Homecare

As life progresses, you adjust. Through these changes, EasierLiving.com bathroom safety products and hygiene aids can help you hold on to your sense of independence and dignity – whether recovering from surgery, an injury, health condition or simply just advancing in age.

If you or a loved one needs help with bathing, using the toilet, or creating a safer place for both, EasierLiving.com can provide you with all the bathroom safety products and hygiene aids to make homecare easier.

The experts at EasierLiving.com have carefully selected the best among thousands of bathroom safety products used in nursing homes and hospitals, so you can now have access to the same, high-quality items best suited for home use, not to mention, peace of mind.

Bathtub & Shower Safety
The bathroom can be a dangerous place for anyone, let alone someone with a disability or limited strength and balance. Make you or your loved one’s bathroom safer with our selection of bath grab bars, safety rails, shower seats and more bathroom safety products.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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The Audubon Institute – Is old enough to be my great grandmother

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Unlike some environmental groups, they first do no harm. And they do not support quackery. You go guys.

http://www.audubon.org/newsroom/news-stories/2012/because-conservation-doesnt-have-party

Because Conservation Doesn’t Have a Party

By Audubon President & CEO David Yarnold

Published: Oct 16, 2012

New York NY –

You have to get out of shouting range of the politicians in Washington to appreciate what’s really important to Americans.  Americans like Barbra from Arizona: “‘Environment’ is not a swear word, but too often it is treated like one in the halls of our legislatures.”

Barbra is one of thousands of Americans — Republicans, Democrats and independents — who have joined a national grassroots conversation aimed at taking the politics out of conservation and returning preservation of our wilderness land, waterways and wildlife to its original roots as a unifying, rather than divisive force in America.

Judging from responses from all across America, perhaps we are not a nation as divided as our political leaders would like us believe. We’ve heard from angry Republicans.  “Since when did breathing clean fresh air, drinking pure clean water and protecting our precious natural resources and environment become something that only Democrats should value?” wrote Lorrie from Pennsylvania.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Conservation International – An organization with a history

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These type organizations when founded (1987) were founded for “the long haul”. The belief was then that Humans might damage the Earth but not destroy it. Well here we are,  when it looks like Humans may kill off themselves and maybe permanently in some respects changing the Earth, and these organizations sort of plod on. They need to pick up the pace. While I understand the desire to do good work in the 3rd world. They may want to change the minds help the 1st world countries first.

http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx

Two Conservation International Leaders Honored by World’s Top Conservationists

September 12, 2012
Conservation International Applauds its President Dr. Russell Mittermeier and Board Member President Ian Khama for receiving Honorary Membership of IUCN at World Conservation Congress

Jeju, South Korea – Conservation International’s long time President, Dr. Russell Mittermeier, a world-renowned  primatologist, herpetologist and conservationist, was granted Honorary Membership today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the world’s largest international environmental organization. The award was presented at the World Conservation Congress taking place this week in South Korea, on the recommendation of the IUCN Council to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to conservation.

“Russ Mittermeier is an innovative, proactive and scientifically informed conservationist,” declared IUCN on its website.  “A renowned primatologist and herpetologist, he has undertaken extensive field work and made major contributions to the conservation of the fauna of Madagascar, the fauna of South America (especially in Brazil and the Guianas), primates in general, and freshwater turtles worldwide.”

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go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Environmental News Network – Just one article out of hundreds

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This site is a little busy as they used to say, but it is really informative.

http://www.enn.com/climate/article/45052

From: Editor, Science Daily
Published October 5, 2012 01:11 PM

Non-Native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change

Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state’s landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.

his adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives’ potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say.

The research combines analyses of temperature change and blooming patterns of 141 species of Ohio wildflowers since 1895. Overall, the average temperature increased 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) in Ohio between 1895 and 2009. And 66 wildflower species — or 46 percent of the 141 studied — flowered earlier than usual in response to that warming.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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I normally would not think of Colorado as a solar state

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But I imagine the whole “front range” of the rocky mountains is. Usually you think of deserts but really sunshine falls everywhere and the higher you go the more intensity it generates. So we close the week with this:

http://www.myenergysolution.com/energy-savings-blog/

Colorado Solar Power

Despite Colorado’s fame as a skiing destination, Denver actually ranks 30th of 174 major U.S. cities in terms of sunshine potential, not far behind Honolulu and Miami. In fact, Colorado has the third highest installed solar PV generation capacity of any U.S. state (source: IREC US Solar Market Trends 2009). As a result of innovative policies and greater awareness of environmental issues, Colorado was an early adopter of solar energy systems. As of the end of 2009, the state had 59 megawatts of installed solar PV capacity, third highest among U.S. states despite the fact that the state ranks 22nd in terms of population. In addition, Colorado installed 53.6 megawatts of solar power in 2010, ranking Colorado fourth in the nation, which was double the output for 2009 (23.4 megawatts). Home to natural gas, oil and some of our nation’s best solar rebates, Colorado plays an important role in the United States’ energy industry. Colorado was the first state to create a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), through a 2004 ballot initiative. Originally, the RPS mandated that all utilities with more than 40,000 customers provide at least 10% of their electricity from a renewable energy source. Through additional improvements, it is now mandated that by 2020 investor-owned utilities must provide 30% and cooperatives and municipal utilities with over 40,000 must provide 10% of their retail load from renewable energy sources. Investor-owned utilities also have a distributed generation requirement, which is good news for solar owners. By 2020, 3% of the retail load must come from customer solar electric systems, rather than huge solar farms. This means that investor-owned utilities will continue to offer fantastic solar incentives to consumers to increase the number of residential and commercial solar systems

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Wave Power – Let us ride a wave into the next week

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Well this has been a weird week. Last week wasn’t much better. But now that the 2 political Party Conventions are over we can get back to the real world. Every once in awhile I check in with waterworld to see how they are coming along. Eventually we will get a bunch of energy from the sea, but right now these guys are struggling. This is an old article. For Monday I will try to find something newer and if I can’t I will move on.

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/wave-power-farm-sets-sail/

America’s Premiere Wave Power Farm Sets Sail

Wave energy is among the impressive list of renewable energy resources that is being developed in the United States. New Jersey-based developer, Ocean Power Technologies has launched a project that features the nation’s first commercial wave power farm off the coast of Reedsport, Oregon. Once the project is completed, wave energy will generate power for several hundred homes in Oregon. The wave power farm operates on the wave energy that is created when a float on a buoy flows with the natural up and down movement of the waves.

This action subsequently causes an attached plunger to follow the same kind of ebb and flow movement. The plunger is attached to a hydraulic pump that changes the vertical movement to a circular motion, which drives an electric generator to produce electricity that is sent to shore through submerged cables.

When the initial project is finished, the first $4 million dollar buoy will measure 150 feet tall by 40 feet wide, weighing 200 tons. Nine more of these crafts will be set in motion by the year 2012 for a total cost of $60 million dollars. About four hundred homes will receive electricity from Oregon’s wave power farm by the completion of the project.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Power From The People – How to community finance alternative energy

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I do not know whether this is the way of the future. It sure claims it is.

http://peakoil.com/publicpolicy/how-to-organize-finance-and-launch-local-energy-projects/

How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects

Is it possible to “relocalize” energy? This is a critical question that must be addressed if we are to achieve true global resilience.

In our brand new book (September 4, 2012), Power From the People, energy expert Greg Pahl decisively argues that the answer is YES.

Power From the People is the second book in our Community Resilience Guides series, The book illustrates how communities across the country are already generating their own energy at the local level. From citizen-owned wind turbines to co-op biofuel producers to community-wide initiatives combining multiple resources and technologies, Pahl outlines the steps necessary and plan, organize, finance and launch community energy projects.

The book showcases over 25 real-life examples of local energy projects, offering a range of challenges and solutions that can be adapted and reapplied.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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