Mindzle

Archive for February, 2009

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So many people are investigating renewable energy, these days, whether it’s passive solar, active solar or reduce home power bills.

Much of what is written is either a waste of trees or blows most budgets, so when it came to homemade solar panel systems I was super skeptical.

What I saw, confirmed my fears, a fair bit of what is published is impractical to build, there were though a few publications that offered genuine, well researched and practical information.

Amongst the group, the best of these would be Earth4Energy, which proved to be a comprehensive manual on how to build an integrated renewable power generation system for the average home.

The whole system utilizes recyclable materials, so is incredibly economic to put together, making it possible to have part of the system up in a weekend. The solar panel might take an extra weekend or two, by the time you have located the necessary bits and pieces, but but time is well spent when you think about what you will save long term.

For the handyman this package offers a wealth of information, instructions, pictures and diagrams which will allow virtually anyone to build a renewable power system, {comprising both wind and solar power, that will generate power from both solar and wind}.

These wind and solar systems are not created for mansions and don’t expect your first effort to power everything, it won’t unless you are very frugal, it was never designed to do that, but it could save you anywhere upto 30% on your power bills. That is just the start, once the first system is up, just build another.

This publication is an excellent piece of work, put together by a man who has done it and even if you are only just starting to think about building a renewable energy system, this book will quickly make you realise that it is quite simple to make your thoughts become a reality.

To find out more visit the Earth4Energy website.

Whole house rain water system

It should be clear to all of us that water is the single most important “element” for life. When scientists look for signs of life out in the greater universe, they first look for signs of liquid water. And here at home on Earth we know all life needs this fluid of life to exist. Yet when we think of the bright green future, rarely is water put out front. We talk of Solar, wind, algae based bio fuels etc. But not about our diminishing supply of fresh, clean water. It seems that the only people who pay attention to this are in areas where it is already a scarce commodity, such as the Dessert Southwest and the Australia outback.

Here I live in a part of the world known for our over-abundance of fresh water. We have the mighty Columbia River, plentiful rainfall and immense aquifers. But even in this land of abundant water, we are already seeing our resource start to be used beyond the capacity of nature to refill. Many of the local municipalities are spending MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to increase storage and supply, as growth here has far outpaced the infrastructure.

It hit home recently. We are in need of replacing our gutters. This winter they have been damaged by ice, branches, etc, to the point they no longer work properly. And, properly working gutters are not a nicety, they are necessary. So, I starting doing the math to calculate how much water hits our metal roof in a year, and then travels through our gutters, and is “disposed” of. And then starting looking at our water bills to determine how much water we use in the summer for the yard… We get 20,000+ gallons of fresh rainwater on our roof every year. In the summer we will use 17,000 gallons for our yard…

That water comes from our community well, which is treated with fluoride, chlorine etc. So why am I using this water, that is treated to make it “safe” to drink, to water plants, who then spend energy to get rid of the chemicals we treat the water with? Why am I using it to flush my toilets? The plants would prefer rain water, and the toilets could care less.

The inevitable outcome of this type of thinking is to start capturing and storing the rainwater. Use that water on the garden, toilets etc. In the overall scheme of things, it is a small additional price when adding or replacing gutters to include a cistern. We’d love to capture and store the full 20,000 gallons, but are starting small. As part of our gutter system we are installing 2x 550 gallons tanks that will be used primarily on the garden. When we remodel the house (hopefully soon) we will adding several more tanks and install a Purple Water system (aka grey water, but using rainwater) for the bathrooms.

I promise to post pictures, and a detailed account of how the system goes together. Step one, the gutters will occur March 12th, weather permitting.

If you have been following along with my coverage of the “Everything Green Expo” here in Portland Oregon then you know my excitement about many of the products, services and ideas I learned of while there. This post is another in that vein. I expected to see new products from new companies and hopeful entrepreneurs. I was genuinely surprised to see the number of old established companies in attendance. In part 2 I talked of a local skylight company (Skylights NW) that now installs Solar Water Heaters. In this post one of the largest manufacturers on Earth shows there new Green wares!

The Portland Rebuilding Center

As promised here are a few of my favorite products and services I met at the Everything Green Expo:

1) EcoStone -Eco-Friendly pavers made from reclaimed granite.

Ecostone Booth at the Everything Green Expo

EcoStone is a Portland based company that manufactures tile, landscaping pavers and interior/exterior stone from reclaimed granite and other natural stone. A typical kitchen granite counter install results in a 30% waste of material, most of which ends up in landfills. EcoStone collects this “waste” material from several stone fabricators in the Portland area and uses a patented hydralic press to tranform it into solid granite tile and pavers of various shapes and sizes. Any resulting waste is crushed into gravel and used as aggregate with zero net waste ending up in ladnfills. Thier goal is to keep 1,000,000 pounds of waste out of Oregon landfill each year. I hope they exceed this goal. In fact we will be installing an EcoStone patio to replace our existing ground level deck that is in it’s last years of useability. I will definately be posting more about this product, and the installation of our patio in the near future. Check out http://www.ecostonenw.com for more information.

The Solar Oregon Booth at the Expo

2) Solar Oregon – Good Energy for Oregonians, is there slogan. My first question to them was: Is Oregon sunny enough for solar?The answer a resounding YES! Even portland and the rainy Willamette Valley recieve as much sunshine as the average US city. In fact, solar is Oregon’s most abundant renewable resource. Today, more than 17,000 Oregon households use solar energy systems to generate electricity or heat water. Suprisingly half the power we use in Oregon is generated by power plants that contribute to climate change and pollution. the sun is a clean, renewable source of energy that can help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Okay, great we can do solar in Oregon, but what does Solar Oregon do? They make it easy for homeowners to install solar energy systems. They are a nonprofit organization that offers free workshops, expert advice, cash incentives from the Energy Trust, State of Oregon Tax Credits, information about Federal Tax Credits, referrals to qualified contractors and access to affordable financing. To learn more or attend a free workshop go to http://www.solarnoworegon.org Their Solar Now! campaign connects Oregonians with the resources and assistance they need to choose solar energy.

3) McGee Salvage- Purveyors of quality reclaimed hardwood floors. Their business is reclaiming hardwood flooring from gymnasiums, homes, hotels, churches, dance halls, etc. around the Pacific Northwest. They then sell the reclaimed materials to customers who are interested in hardwood flooring that is unique in character, antique out-of-production, and green eco-friendly. You can visit them online at http://www.mcgeesalvage.com

The Master Shield demo at the Everything Green Expo

4) Master Shield – Gutter protection that actually works. the single largest problem with gutters on my own home is pine needles. They clog the downspouts, fill the gutters, and always seem to somehow overcome any device designed to stop them. But, believe me this system actually works. We are having them installed on all our gutters. I will be writing about the install with plenty of photos.  They say it keeps ALL debris, including leaves, pine and fir needles, twigs, seedpods, oak tassels – you name it! And after seeing the product I believe it. They give an unconditional 100% money back warranty if it ever clogs. They say they have never had a gutter clog, anywhere, nationwide.

This makes the water in the gutters the cleanest of any gutter system, and eliminates all debris. Which brings about the real importance of this system, it makes rainwater cistern projects much simpler. And this is why we are so excited to install the system. Our hope is to soon be installing a gray-water system for the toilets and gardens using the rain water from the 8000 gallon cistern.

You can learn more about Master Shield and find a local contractor to install the system at their website http://www.mastershield.com

5) Skylights NW- Adding light to your life. Skylights are less than exciting. Though, we will be adding a few to our home to allow more natural light. What is exciting is this 65 year old, established company is now selling and installing Velux Solar water heating systems. On average, installing a solar water heater, your water heating bills should drop 50%-80%. Also, because the sun is free, you’re protected from future fuel shortages and price hikes. On average it takes 3-7 years to payback the system in most areas.

We have not yet chosen a solar hot water system or contractor, but this Velux system is one of the more interesting ones. You can find more information at: http://www.veluxusa.com/solar

In the next part of this series I will be talking of several photovoltaic systems, and  more from the Everything Green Expo.

Over Valentines weekend we had the “Everything Green” expo at the Oregon Convention Center.

If knowledge is power than a green expo has Megawatts of potential. Very few times in your life do all the right conditions and critical mass come together to spark a massive change. I was at the begining of the dot com’s and fell when it crashed. I’ve also grown through the web 2.0 “thing” and note that it is little more than repackaging of the original dot com’s with realistic expectations. In the same manner, the green movement in the USA has been building from the ashes of the last.

The ideas of the green movement are nothing new, going back to Ansel Adams and others in the late 19th century who didn’t want to see the end of open spaces. It has taken generations working towards a better tomorrow and the looming threat of Global Warming, to gain traction with the US general public.

Much like the dot com bubble burst changed the expectations of the web, and taught a new round of idealogues a better way to move forward. This new web 2.0 movement could not come about without the failings of the dot coms, which weren’t even possible until the break-up of AT&T. Making the internet a tool of more than university scientists and the military. The new green movement feels much like the current web 2.0 and not like the dot coms of the early 1990′s.  I see this as a movement from the ideals down, that is not built on hype and over enflated expectations, but one built on concious decisions of right and wrong, of quality over vollume and healthy versus toxic.

Living in what many consider to be the epicenter of the movement gives you insights and opportunities that cannot be underestimated. Being here, I was able to attend the Portland, “Everything Green Expo”. I went in with, a very broad knowledge, and expectations of seeing nothing new. What I found was renewed energy, new ideas and many exciting new products. By the time I left I had made contact with manufacturers, entreprenuers, idealogues and green merchants galore. All of them excited by the future and the hope that a new day brings. But all of them realistic in their expectations and most built on solid fundamentals. I will be talking about these in the next part of this series.

Had enough of paying for your electricity?  You are not alone.A lot more people are switching every day to alternative energy sources rather than rely on the national grid.  Energy bills peaked at new highs in 2008 as world oil prices soared.  Over the next few years oil prices will soar again as remaining reserves become more expensive to extract.It therefore makes a lot of sense to switch to alternative types of energy to save money and the planet also.

When it comes to choice, most people select a wind turbine or solar cells to fully or partially power their homes, as they are the simplest and most reliable options.Most home owners will use both wind and solar combined with a battery pack.  By setting up their system in this way they are assuring their supply. For example, when prevailing winds are not strong enough to provide enough power, requirements can be topped up with the solar panels.  And with a battery pack as part of the system, energy can also be stored to be used at times when the turbine or solar cells are not keeping up with your household demands.

If you want to install your own wind generator or solar energy systems, you basically have two choices.  You can either buy a system or believe it or not, you could actually make your own.  The latter option is cheaper, and makes sense if you have the time to do it.  There are a number of DIY renewable system kits available today, plus several manuals detailing how you can source your own parts and build systems from them for as little as a couple of hundred dollars!  That sort of cost has to be attractive!

To read more about building your own systems, and to see which kits and manuals I recommend, take a look at Build Your Own Wind Turbine and read my reviews there.

Most of us don’t think about recycling much past when the driver picks it up or we drop it off at the local recycling center.  Of course, the process of making new material from used items is important, but in the course of everyday life it just doesn’t make it through all of the other concerns in the day.You could schedule a visit to the closest recycling plant and see the recycling process for paper looks like up close and personal.  Most companies are more than willing to share the process and information behind taking scrap paper and making it usable again.The best way to really show people that their efforts matter.  However, it’s a little faster to learn about the recycling paper process by reading about it.

Nothing can happen in the recycling paper process without one very important element.  People willing to take the time and save their paper products are vital to the success of any recycling effort.  The entire process starts with you, the consumer, in other words.Whether you drop your stuff off at the recycling bin or have it picked up, the process can’t start until you become a part of it.

Once the paper makes it to the center, the first step is pulping.  In the recycling process for paper, this means that water is added to large amounts of used paper and agitated to produce pulp.After the paper is sufficiently broken down, the pulp is pushed through a series of screens to separate the larger pieces of contaminants from the useable paper pulp.The somewhat clean paper is then placed in a machine that uses centrifugal cleaning to spin more of the debris from the paper pulp.

The next step in the recycling process for paper is to remove the ink.The water and paper pulp mixture is brought to a flotation treatment.Surfactant is added to the mix and it forces the ink to release from the paper causing it to float to the surface for easy removal.The pulp is now ready to be kneaded and broken into fibers further.  The final washing is done with clean water to get rid of any contaminants or particles that is still hanging on.If the paper is intended to be white, a bleaching process is started by the workers.

The recycling process for paper is then completed with presses to form the new, recycled paper into its proper shape and size.  As you know, recycled paper and paper products usually bear the famous recycling logo so you can pick products that were made with environmentally safe techniques.

The use of solar power for home use has become a popular alternative in the United States and other parts of the world. The main advantage of solar power use is that it has very little cost to run and none of the noise and waste pollution attendant to existing power generation facilities. But one of the main obstacles is the high installation cost of solar electric panels.

Currently, the cost for the installation of solar power panels in a home is not yet affordable to the average homeowner. But the current technological advances are making the cost of the materials lower and more efficient and it will only take a few more years when the average home would have solar panels for heating and lighting standard.  It may sound like out of a science fiction story but it will become reality soon enough.  And it will then be one of the cheapest new alternative fuels we have available.

This goal is easily achievable because of the realization that after installation of the solar panel, the cost of generating electricity is practically nil. This is the best part of the deal, because one would need not worry about monthly bills and conserve energy goals would be necessarily eliminated as the source for energy is nearly limitless. Also, the absence of any lost power due to expenses and administrative costs for distribution would be eliminated as the solar power generated is directly consumed by the home and the power stored would be in batteries for the home.Once you recover your setup costs, the solar power you get each month thereafter pays you back, try to get that will a fossil fuel. This is why we need more alternative fuel sources.  

And the long-term costs are also eliminated. Unlike fossil fuel power generation, chemical emissions and the harmful extraction of this resource has pretty much altered the atmospheric landscape of our planet. In solar power, there is no chemical waste produced and no harmful by product is introduced to the environment. With this, the over-all costs of power production and consumption would be eliminated and replaced by clean, renewable and environmentally sound power source for all. And best of all, the costs of solar power is recovered in a few years as it pays for itself, then you have free power for life.

Mark Twain is usually attributed to the saying, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”  While the true source of this quote might be in dispute, the message is on target.

In today’s environmental climate, water is a big deal, especially in areas like the American southwest where there are shortages of water.  Municipal users find themselves fighting agricultural users; environmental groups and Native Americans struggle against municipal and rural interests.  Rights to water are increasingly litigated.

Standard Water Measurements.

People who research water are often confronted with measurements that might not make sense, like AFA, or CFS or GPM.  Here are some standard water flow and volume measurements:

• AFA means acre-feet per annum.  Visualize an acre of land.  One acre-foot is the volume of water sufficient to cover that acre of land to a depth of 1 foot.  Generally, four people will use one acre-foot of water each year.

• CFS refers to cubic feet per second, and is used to measure the flow rate of rivers and streams.

• GPM is another measurement of flow, and refers to gallons per minute.  You’ll see this flow rate used for domestic consumption.

• MI means miner’s inches. This measurement is not used much anymore, and the standards vary from state to state.  It is the measurement of the rate of water flow in a miner’s sluice. Flow was measured by a hole one inch square with a head of one inch. Generally, one miner’s inch is a flow of 1.5 cubic feet per minute. You will find references to “miner’s inches” in old water right filings and notices, as well as older decrees governing water rights. As water demand increased with the development of large-scale mining technologies and the development of irrigation uses, the miner’s inch became an inadequate unit of measurement for flow rates, and was replaced by cubic feet per second.

How Much Water is Used by Each Person or Animal Per Day?

The State of Arizona has some standard water use quantities that it uses in calculating water consumption.  According to its general standards, each person uses 180 gallons of water a day for domestic purposes.  Where people such as the Navajo have to haul water, they use much less — typically, 15-20 gallons a day.

Horses and cattle drink about 12 gallons of water each day.  Pigs consume about 2.5 gallons a day and sheep drink one and one-half gallons of water a day.

How to Calculate Your Water Flow or Volume.

Western-Water offers free water flow and volume calculators that can convert gallons-per-minute into AFA, miner’s inches to CFS and so on.  If you need to file paperwork to claim your water, these calculators will come in handy.

Water is Important.

Water is essential for life on planet earth.  This is a precious natural resource that must be managed prudently.  At Western-Water.com, you’ll find interesting news snippets about some of the hot topics facing the western states.  Press releases and story submissions about water are always welcome.  Water is an important topic that affects all of us.

The 'Go Green' Campaign by IBM

You can’t move these days without hearing about how you can cut your CO2 emissions in your home, with ad campaigns, government policies and constant news coverage. An army of newly-enlisted eco-warriors are going about switching to energy saving bulbs, insulating their lofts and stopping putting their TVs on standby.  That’s all well and good, but carbon emissions from individuals is just a tiny piece of the pie.  The fact is that the majority of the world’s carbon footprint comes from businesses, offices and workplaces.It’s like an economy of scale – if you change a small thing within a big company you can see tremendous results.

Yes, I hear you say. I don’t have any control over that. That’s the job of my boss, and my boss’s boss – nothing to do with me. But that’s just not the case. If you have a job, you can affect your company’s carbon emissions.  And it can make a much bigger difference than the things you do at home.

Here are some pointers, small and large, on achieving a greener workplace:

1. Recycle office waste. Offices throw out a huge volume of paper and other recyclable waste every week – much more than any family could manage. Why not try bringing in recycle containers in accessible locations. There are local government schemes that can help you get these in place.
2. Drive less to work. Emissions from car exhausts are so harmful, and they can be cut by starting a fairly simple car pooling system. Or just cut out the car altogether – consider cycling or walking to work.
3. Switch to energy saving lightbulbs. Changing a couple of bulbs at home saves only a tiny bit of energy. But multiply that by all the bulbs lighting up your office and you can see how powerful a change this could make.
4. Eco-Friendly Computers. The energy usage of IT systems is huge for the majority of companies and organisations. Just a simple thing like making sure you switch off your monitor after work can be hugely effective. Why leave it there, though – for real results, get on to your IT manager about reviewing the company’s “green baseline”. Get them to perform some proper asset tracking on all office IT equipment, using professional asset management software, a business can dramatically reduce its carbon footprint and help meet increasingly stringent government environmental requirements.
5. Campaigning. Move from baby steps to giant leaps. Get like-minded colleagues together to run green campaigns and the real revolution begins.We little guys can really make a difference by putting pressure on the managers to take their environmental duties seriously. A lot of the time going green also saves the company some green, as the IBM ad shows brilliantly.Many companies are involved in using corporate vehicles in some way, from company cars to global freighting of goods, and this is a huge source of carbon emissions. Pushing them to properly review their transport and logistics management and make the smallest of improvements can save them big money and dramatically reduce their carbon footprint in the process.

These ideas are just the beginning. This article was primarly aimed at getting your juices flowing about this issue. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!