Did you know?
Wikipedia has a glossary of climate change terms. It's not perfect as a glossary, and some of the articles lack depth, but, on the whole, Wikipedia's climate change entries are very good, with many of them maintained by active climate scientists.
Glossary
Showing posts with label simple sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple sustainability. Show all posts
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Vocabulary
Strip Mining: The term "strip mining" usually refers to a type of mining in which the ground is surface-mined strip by strip. It is only desirable when there is relatively little, soft material on top of the deposits (usually ore, tar sands, or coal).
The earth-moving machines remove the overburden (the material on top of the deposits), moving in a line from one end of the field to another. The excess material is then dumped into the previous strip, such that each new strip is dumped into the prior. This has the advantage of requiring minimal earth-moving for a mine, but the earth, even though it is replaced, usually does not recover for a long time, reaching hundreds of years or more.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Surface Mining
Strip Mining: The term "strip mining" usually refers to a type of mining in which the ground is surface-mined strip by strip. It is only desirable when there is relatively little, soft material on top of the deposits (usually ore, tar sands, or coal).
The earth-moving machines remove the overburden (the material on top of the deposits), moving in a line from one end of the field to another. The excess material is then dumped into the previous strip, such that each new strip is dumped into the prior. This has the advantage of requiring minimal earth-moving for a mine, but the earth, even though it is replaced, usually does not recover for a long time, reaching hundreds of years or more.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Surface Mining
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard measure of energy consumption for electricity in the U.S. and throughout the world. One kWh is the amount of energy needed to power a one kW device for an hour, or the energy needed to power 10 100-watt lightbulbs for an hour. Don't confuse this with electrical generation capacity, which is measured in the peak power that can be produced, in units of kW or MW (million watts). In general, for a gas or coal-fired power plant, one kW of generation capacity will produce between 6 and 8 MWh (6-8000 kWh) in a year's time.
A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard measure of energy consumption for electricity in the U.S. and throughout the world. One kWh is the amount of energy needed to power a one kW device for an hour, or the energy needed to power 10 100-watt lightbulbs for an hour. Don't confuse this with electrical generation capacity, which is measured in the peak power that can be produced, in units of kW or MW (million watts). In general, for a gas or coal-fired power plant, one kW of generation capacity will produce between 6 and 8 MWh (6-8000 kWh) in a year's time.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
Painting your roof with a high reflectance roof coating can offset as much as 10 tons of CO2 emissions per 1000 sq. ft annually, according to researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. By reflecting more of the incoming light, they increase the effective albedo of the earth, reduce heat island effect, and reduce your cooling bills, particularly on low, large roofs in hot climates.
Further reading:
PNAS on the LBNL article
The full paper will be in an upcoming issue of Climate Change
Painting your roof with a high reflectance roof coating can offset as much as 10 tons of CO2 emissions per 1000 sq. ft annually, according to researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. By reflecting more of the incoming light, they increase the effective albedo of the earth, reduce heat island effect, and reduce your cooling bills, particularly on low, large roofs in hot climates.
Further reading:
PNAS on the LBNL article
The full paper will be in an upcoming issue of Climate Change
Friday, October 10, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
PM2.5 is a term that refers to particulate (think soot) matter suspended in the air with an average diameter of less than 2.5 microns. The two biggest emitters of PM2.5 are heavy transportation and coal-fired utilities.
Elevated PM2.5 concentrations in urban environments are the largest single cause of childhood asthma.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia
PM2.5 is a term that refers to particulate (think soot) matter suspended in the air with an average diameter of less than 2.5 microns. The two biggest emitters of PM2.5 are heavy transportation and coal-fired utilities.
Elevated PM2.5 concentrations in urban environments are the largest single cause of childhood asthma.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) save as much as 80% on energy over incandescents. However, this is not because they are more efficient at giving off light; rather, it is because they don't waste as much electricity as heat. Most of the losses in incandescent lighting come from this heat, not from inefficiencies in the light generation. For this reason, incandescents use a similar amount of energy to CFLs in the first few minutes they are turned on; it is only after the bulbs heat up that incandescents begin to waste.
CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) save as much as 80% on energy over incandescents. However, this is not because they are more efficient at giving off light; rather, it is because they don't waste as much electricity as heat. Most of the losses in incandescent lighting come from this heat, not from inefficiencies in the light generation. For this reason, incandescents use a similar amount of energy to CFLs in the first few minutes they are turned on; it is only after the bulbs heat up that incandescents begin to waste.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
Coal does not just pollute when it is burned in a power plant. The mining of coal releases large amounts of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, which has been stored at a high pressure in cracks in the coal. This is called coal-bed methane. Several technologies exist to take this methane and generate power from it, thus reducing the climatic impact of the methane and generating a great deal of power from it. Unfortunately, most coal mines do not take advantage of this technology.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Coalbed Methane
Coal does not just pollute when it is burned in a power plant. The mining of coal releases large amounts of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, which has been stored at a high pressure in cracks in the coal. This is called coal-bed methane. Several technologies exist to take this methane and generate power from it, thus reducing the climatic impact of the methane and generating a great deal of power from it. Unfortunately, most coal mines do not take advantage of this technology.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Coalbed Methane
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
Almost all salmon test for high levels of various industrial toxins (dioxin and PCBs, if we want to be technical). Salmon are an unusually fatty species of fish, and the poisons build up in their fat with time, providing dangerous reservoirs for people who eat fish.
Farmed salmon are particularly at risk, as the feed contains high levels of these toxins.
Almost all salmon test for high levels of various industrial toxins (dioxin and PCBs, if we want to be technical). Salmon are an unusually fatty species of fish, and the poisons build up in their fat with time, providing dangerous reservoirs for people who eat fish.
Farmed salmon are particularly at risk, as the feed contains high levels of these toxins.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
You can compost inside an apartment with vermicomposting. This entails setting up a "worm bin," in which red worms, which can eat many times their own bodyweight, turn food garbage into compost with no odors or other mess.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Vermicomposting
You can compost inside an apartment with vermicomposting. This entails setting up a "worm bin," in which red worms, which can eat many times their own bodyweight, turn food garbage into compost with no odors or other mess.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia-Vermicomposting
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
80% of water consumption in the U.S. is for agriculture. Only 20% is consumed by the total of residential, commercial, and industrial uses.
80% of water consumption in the U.S. is for agriculture. Only 20% is consumed by the total of residential, commercial, and industrial uses.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Simple Sustainability
Did you know?
Greenpeace regularly publishes a Guide to Greener Electronics, which rates electronics companies on their commitment to recycling electronics, to reducing the number and quantities of toxic compounds in them, energy efficiency, and to increasing transparency throughout the whole lifecycle of the product, from manufacturing to disposal/recycling.
Further Reading:
The most recent Guide can be found here.
Greenpeace regularly publishes a Guide to Greener Electronics, which rates electronics companies on their commitment to recycling electronics, to reducing the number and quantities of toxic compounds in them, energy efficiency, and to increasing transparency throughout the whole lifecycle of the product, from manufacturing to disposal/recycling.
Further Reading:
The most recent Guide can be found here.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Simple Sustainability (2)
Did you know?
The average adult American spends 90% of his daily life indoors. Concentrations of indoor air pollutants usually greatly exceed the maximum tolerances for outdoor ambient air.
Keeping houseplants can improve the quality of your home or office's air, and NASA uses houseplants to filter air on the space shuttle missions.
Further Reading:
A list and brief discussion of houseplants that NASA found effective in cleaning air.
NASA's original paper on houseplants and air quality.
The average adult American spends 90% of his daily life indoors. Concentrations of indoor air pollutants usually greatly exceed the maximum tolerances for outdoor ambient air.
Keeping houseplants can improve the quality of your home or office's air, and NASA uses houseplants to filter air on the space shuttle missions.
Further Reading:
A list and brief discussion of houseplants that NASA found effective in cleaning air.
NASA's original paper on houseplants and air quality.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Simple Sustainability (1)
Did you know?
The standard bathroom faucet uses 2.2 gallons of water per minute (GPM). Switching to a low-flow faucet aerator can reduce this to 0.5GPM, a savings of almost 80%. Under normal daily consumption patterns, this would save 8.5 gallons of water per day for each person using the faucet, or over 12,000 gallons of water in a year for a family that retrofits its faucets with low-flow aerators.
Further Reading:
Here's a quick overview on faucet aerators. It's cheap, easy, and saves loads of water and energy (to heat the water) without placing any burden on you.
The standard bathroom faucet uses 2.2 gallons of water per minute (GPM). Switching to a low-flow faucet aerator can reduce this to 0.5GPM, a savings of almost 80%. Under normal daily consumption patterns, this would save 8.5 gallons of water per day for each person using the faucet, or over 12,000 gallons of water in a year for a family that retrofits its faucets with low-flow aerators.
Further Reading:
Here's a quick overview on faucet aerators. It's cheap, easy, and saves loads of water and energy (to heat the water) without placing any burden on you.
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