Greening The Grid
Al Gore wants the electrical grid to be 100% Renewable within 10 years. What are the options?
Renewable options include:
Water - hydro electric dams, tidal current, ocean waves
Wind - farms of wind turbines
Biomass - natural gas from composing manure and other waste products
Solar - photovoltaic, thermal
In part 1, we look further at Solar Thermal Electrical Production.
Green Roofs & Green Walls
There are many benefits to having a green roof - reduced heating and air conditioning costs, absorption of pollutants and carbon dioxide, etc. Read more about green roofs.
Love the idea of growing your own vegetables and herbs, but lack the space. Why not try green walls-vertical gardens.
G8 Fail Climate Change Vows - USA,
Canada Worst of 8
By Erik Kirschbaum, BERLIN (Reuters)
None of the G8 countries have come close to fulfilling their pledges to fight climate change with the United States, Canada and Russia lagging especially far behind, a study published on Thursday found.
“We’re not going to be able to fathom what the world may be like in 20 years if we aren’t able to reduce emissions,” said Regine Guenther, head of climate policy at the WWF in Germany.
Editor’s Note: We need a combination of Carbon Taxes and Cap & Trade limits, to make a real impact in our GHG emissions.
The Carbon Tax will provide incentive for the average citizen to make intelligent decisions on a day by day basis, while reducing their personal footprint.
The Cap & Trade system, properly implemented, will stop all increases in industrial carbon emissions and provide a controlled path for reducing the overall GHG levels. It permits industry to pick the most cost effective and financially rewarding methods to reduce their carbon outputs… without the government imposing specific directives… “use product A”.
We must act now.
DIY Wind Turbines
As the price of electricity rises, so does the interest in making your own windmill or wind turbine. We have designs and links for the do it yourself builder for both:
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT
The HAWT we have built ourselves. The VAWT will be our next project.
Swamp coolers work by blowing air over a water  soaked pad. As the water evaporates, it cools the air. These units work well in low humidity areas and are much cheaper than air conditions.
Learn more about their advantages and disadvantages here: Evaporative Coolers
Here's a great article full of ideas on how to keep cool without air conditioning. Lots of suggestions such as:
- Wet your wrists and other pulse points with cold water
- Keep the air flowing. Turn on the ceiling fan or box fan in the room
- Get wet! Take a cool shower
Full article here: Cool Yourself
Air conditioning use is a significant contributor to peak electrical production. This requirement for extra capacity means the coal-fired electrical generators have to be brought online, which are a major contributor to greenhouse gases and thus global warming.
Use these tips to reduce your overall air conditioner use and thus your personal electrical bill as well: Air Conditioning
Electric Plug-in Vehicles
Electric plug-in vehicles are available today, that can travel over 100 kms (60 miles) before a recharge, with top speeds exceeding 100 km/h (60 mph). Even greater ranges and speeds are on the horizon.
Read more on Electric Plug-in Vehicles.
How much CO2 does Electric Vehicle produce vs Gasoline Power Vehicle?
Pounds CO2 per kwh of Electrical Production - Listed State by State and Provinces
Just how much Power is in the Wind, for producing electricity? - Wind Turbines
There's just a little bit of math involved, but you can easily figure out how much power a small wind turbine can produce, given the length of the blades and the wind speed. With this information, you'll know if you should listen to that Salesman, or walk away.
How Much Power is in the Wind
Carbon Footprint Calculator
We have added a carbon calculator to our website that is hosted by carbonfootprint.com and works for most countries across the globe. Give it a try and let us know what you think... Carbon Calculator
Step by step instructions with parts list and tools list. Makes a great science project.
Green Washing Runs Rampant
Big business has figured out that "green" sells and all of a sudden, everything is being coloured with the big green paintbrush. Many terms are not regulated and those that are, may not require a lot of content before they are used. "Organic" fertilizer is a good example, where adding a very small amount of natural material (15%) may allow a company to continue to use mostly man-made chemicals but call their product organic.
Not everyone is standing still for the greenwashing. A lawsuit filed by Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, this week accused 13 cosmetic competitors in the washing game of false advertising through the misuse of the label "organic" on their products.
In North America, the EcoLogo also helps us determine if a product truly is "eco friendly" from start to finish.
Learn more about ways to avoid GreenWashing here:
Parched USA states may initiate water wars
According to The Canadian Press thirsty USA states could start “water wars” in a fight for access to fresh water from the Canadian and U.S. Great Lakes. Water issues that are currently emerging will develop into bitter conflicts in the not too distant future when those dry states become increasingly desperate, said Milton Clark, a senior health and science adviser for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. See more info on water wars here:
Think Electric Car Introduced to USA Market
The Norwegian automaker THINK GLOBAL, plans to sell their THINK CITY electric car in the USA. This car can travel 170 kilometers without a charge and will cost under $25,000 USD. It’s a 2-seater with a top speed of 105 km/p (64 mph). The cars on sodium batteries and is 95% recyclable.
There are 5 parts to looking after your lawn. The first and most important is caring for the Soil.
Caring for your Soil
Look after your soil and it will look after your grass. If you do nothing else, at least:
- add compost once or twice a year. More often is better.
- aerate at least every spring. Spring and fall would be even better.
- de-thatch in the fall if you have a build-up over a half inch or an insect problem
- water only once a week and only if you haven’t had an inch of rain. Soak the soil down to the bottom of the root level.
- don’t cut the grass any shorter than 3 inches
These simple steps will go a long way to giving you a green and healthy lawn. For a more in depth look at these steps including weed and insect control, read this article on lawn care from GreenTerraFirma.com
Healthy lawn & gardens without pesticides. Learn the tips about feeding your soil, native plants, pests and weeds and more...
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - starting with reduce. Lower your carbon footprint by carefully considering each purchase. Is this a “want” or a “need”. Can I get it in good used condition from someplace else? Does it have minimal packaging.
- Operate your large electrical appliances in off-hours. If you use a dryer, run it in off-peak hours. (using a clothes line is even better)
- Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater.
- Make your own household cleaners. It’s easy and quick. See http://greenterrafirma.com/cleaners.html for recipes.
- Shorten your shower times and take fewer baths. (if you buy a low flow shower head you can greatly reduce your hot water usage and keep those longer showers).
See the full 16+ items here.
We walk you through the process so you can easily figure out how much power you can expect from a small wind turbine located at your site. It's not that hard! |
