The Problem With Carbon Emissions

Carbon Emissions .... what are they? Many in the media talking about carbon emissions and how to reduce our carbon, but how many of us actually know the meaning.

Carbon emissions are the result of burning carbon-based fuels (fossil fuels) such as coal, oil and natural gas and the carbon compounds released into the atmosphere. How this affects us apart from the obvious pollution question is that the high concentration in the atmosphere of changes in carbon dioxide results in the rising of the earth's temperatures, causing the problems we are experiencing today...i.e. climate change, the melting of the ice cap, rising sea levels etc.

This situation is a global problem and it involves everyone from the major industries in the USA and Japan and the developing industrial countries such as China and India to businesses in cities and towns using computers and office water coolers, to all households using heating and electricity.

On a huge scale, there are international processes in place in the form of the Kyoto agreement, which calls for global co-operation in reducing emissions. This suggests long-term undertakings from the major countries to reduce their carbon footprint by using different technologies already available such as shifting to wind, solar and geothermal power to produce electricity. Also, increases in machinery and transportation efficiency.

Industrial emissions are a major problem, making it the responsibility of each government to set down and implement policies that limit the enormous impact the emissions (from factories etc) have. Clean energy technology would see a change from dependence on carbon based to hydrogen based energy systems resulting in a more stable climate and cleaner world to live in.

On a more localised level, businesses have a responsibility to play their part. This could entail everything such as, using more natural ventilation instead of air conditioning, reducing excess lighting and heating, reduce leaving things on standby (in some cases hundreds of desktop computers), and reusing or recycling paper, office furniture, IT equipment etc. By leaving a PC monitor on standby, enough electricity to boil 500 kettles is wasted annually. The implementation of web, video and phone conferences can greatly reduce a company's carbon footprint negating the need for travel often by car or air.

Even the provision of water to a workforce creates carbon emissions. Water miles are the distance travelled by vehicles transporting the water bottles for dispensers in businesses. The simple way to overcome this is to install mains fed office water coolers, which will remove an enormous number of heavy vehicles in city centres.

Another advantage of the latest technology in office water coolers is that instead of filling a kettle to make tea or coffee, water in these machines can now be boiled to a temperature where hot drinks can be made from the water produced. Therefore, only the correct amount of water needed is heated. If people only boiled the amount of water they actually needed, enough electricity to run nearly all the street lighting in the UK would be made available.

The message to households is to turn down or switch off. Most UK households produce 6 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. By turning down the thermostat by 1 degree, replacing ordinary light bulbs with energy saving ones, not leaving their technology on standby for 24 hours a day or leaving lights on using excessive amounts of electricity unnecessarily, individual household emissions will see a reduction of approximately 2 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Carbon emissions are here to stay for a very long time yet but if each country, business, household and individual took conscious steps to take responsibility for their own contribution, our global outlook would be very much a healthier one.

Read More..

Saving Energy in the Kitchen

Kitchen, with all appliances, gadgets and heat, is a hotspot for potential energy saving. As the oven uses energy the most and make the room very hot when cooking, this is a good place to start.

For instance, when baking cookies use two trays. While one is in the oven baking, the other one is prepped with raw cookies ready to replace the tray in the oven with no wasted heat and some time saved. When we bake bread we also fill the oven with foil wrapped potatoes. The potatoes can be stored in the fridge without the foil and used throughout the week in a myriad of recipes, or as a side dish. This method can be applied to a menu plan in that if you are baking one dish, try to include a side dish that is baked as well.

By turning off the oven a minute or two before the dish is done, the residual heat will finish the cooking. When done with the oven, open the door to allow any leftover heat to warm the home.

Pasta cooking water can be left out until it has completely cooled so that the heat and moisture are released back into the air. Before pulling the plug, consider leaving hot dishwater (and bath water) until it cools. Why pay to heat up your sewer pipes? When cooking vegetables, consider steaming instead of boiling. When steamed, more nutrients are retained in the food, and because it requires less water to heat - there is less energy used.

In summer, consider cooking on the barbecue to help keep the house cool. Most barbecues now include side burners that make outdoor cooking all that much easier.

All these methods are relatively easy to adopt and when added up, the savings in energy and time really do make a difference.

Read More..

Can bamboo flooring really help save the worlds’ environment

Probably not on its own, but this one is very excellent, example of how consumers can be vote with the purchase of dollars for them to change the market demand for products that bring more environmentally friendly in the marketplace.

Bamboo flooring is a rising trend in home flooring and a great alternative to traditional hardwood floors. It is the most environmentally friendly natural hardwood flooring alternative you can select for your home, it is a renewable resource, is stronger than steel, and has a greater resistance to expansion and contraction problems associated with temperature and humidity changes.

The bamboo grass is one of the fasted growing plants on the planet, only takes 5 years to grow to maturity, and can provide 25 times the bio mass of a comparable stand of trees. Bamboo is harvested every 5 years, and starts to re-grow immediately with new shoots when harvested. Bamboo is also strong and has a tensile strength exceeding mild steel. It can withstand up to 50,000 pounds of pressure per square inch versus some steels 50,000 psi ratings.

Bamboo flooring is also become a very trendy interior design statement with its rich and beautiful golden earth tones. It is important to shop around for a quality bamboo flooring product that contains no formaldehydes in its binding compounds. Many offshore brands use cheaper binding agents that may contain formaldehydes, and this can cause indoor air pollution problems down the road as all chemical compounds will slowly release their toxins into the air.

So why look to bamboo to save the environment? Bamboo is an excellent replacement product for much of the hardwood species that are being harvested in our global equatorial rainforests. Once harvested, these hardwood species often never grow back due to the thin layers of soil and lack of sunlight under the jungle canopies, and if they do grow back it can take up to 200 years! Our global rainforests are the lungs of our planet and provide a significant contribution to our global oxygen production, second only to the ocean.

By selecting bamboo flooring you reduce the consumption demand for rainforest hardwood materials, and in the process help save to the environment for our future generations.

Read More..

Environmentally-Friendly "Earth Homes"

You know what the "Earth Homes"? Earth Homes are houses that are basically construction from the earth. Some earth homes built of earth materials: adobe, mud, straw, or may be underground as an earth-sheltered home. Environmentally friendly, earth homes warm and cold easy and the most parsimonious is the primary energy.

Adobe Earth homes are houses constructed from bricks comprised of tightly compacted earth, clay and straw. Adobe earth homes can be naturally waterproofed by using fermented cactus juice!

Earth sheltered earth homes are houses the are constructed underground - or at least mostly beneath the ground surface. Surrounding soil is a superp and nautral insulation which makes these homes cheap to heat and cool. Usually installed in a well-drained hillside, earth sheltered homes have a skylight window that can fill the home with natural sunlight. Although costs may run a bit higher than conventional home construction, earth sheltered homes are a good, long-term investment as lowered maintenance and energy savings make up the difference.

Straw Bale earth homes are making a comeback as well. Straw bale earth homes are obviously constructed of straw and grass, are energy efficient, and can cut material building costs by as much as fifty percent.

Earth homes, such as Cob Houses are built from clay-type lumps of soil, sand and straw. Similar to the adobe homes, except cob earth homes do not use bricks or blocks. Cob homes have walls that are sculpted into smooth forms. Again, very energy efficient, cob homes are well-suited for the very cold climates and deserts.

Rammed earth homes may have over 18-inch, thick walls that are made from a comcination of dirt, sand, cement and water. Energy conservative, rammed earth homes have the appearance of bungalow-style charm and help keep the house warm in winter and cool in the summer. Additionally, rammed earth homes may last hundreds of years.

Why build an earth home? Earth homes conserve energy, and in most cases are easier to maintain and can endure for years to come. An excellent site to visit on earth homes: www.hobbithomes.ca This particular site even has a recipe for building your own "cob" earth home, and other projects as well.

As we embark on a strange, new age and global warming continuously on the rise, doesn't it make sense to construct your new custom home as an earth home?

Read More..

How geen house gases will destroy the earth

Great Julius Caesar's death came swiftly when he way to the Capitol. And one of his murderer is Brutus, a trusted friend! If you talk of betrayals, sure will many strange things that happen. For even Agamemon - a mighty men of land conqueror, he was killed by his own wife!

But pity neither Caesar, nor Agamemon. For your best riends are this moment betraying you. They have dug your grave, made out your coffin and are preparing to announce your obituary, even while you are still alive!

But hold on before you dispatch hired assassins to good old Billy, or faithful Penelope, and end up in the dock for first-degree murder. Who are these friends?

They are greenhouse gases. Now, try this experiment. Find a hot corner of the street, park your car there, and shut yourself inside with the windows closed. How do you find the experience?

The car will be terribly hot because while the transparent glass lets the sun s rays in, it cannot let out the dangerous invisible infrared radiation. You will be killing yourself!

The same story proves true for the earth s atmosphere which acts like the glass in a greenhouse. It traps the sun s heat thereby warming the earth. Without it, the earth orbiting in the cold, empty space, would freeze!

But too much of a good thing is bad. The greenhouse gases-- our friends which make us warm, are turning into our enemies. Let s see their dubious roles.

WATER VAPOR
As our friend, it absorbs heat. But as our enemy it cooperates with other gases to sound our death knell.

CARBON DIOXIDE
As our friend, it traps heat and sustains life. But we have produced too much of it that even the plants and the ocean cannot absorb, and the surplus is turning up the earth s temperature.

METHANE
As our friend, this natural gas is as useful as carbon dioxide. But it has turned into an enemy because we have produced twice as much as we need, and the excess is making it impossible for the atmosphere to disintegrate other dangerous gases.

CFCs
As our friend, when chlorofluorocarbons are in the lower atmosphere, they are efficient heat absorbers. But when they rise up, they become our enemies because they go to destroy the earth s protective umbrella, the ozone.

NITROUS OXIDE
As our friend, this laughing gas like CFCs absorbs heat when it is in the lower atmosphere. But when it goes up, it destroys the ozone.

OZONE
This gas is our friend when it is in the high atmosphere where it filters deadly ultraviolet radiation, the cause of skin cancer. But when it comes down, it becomes our enemy.

Since these greenhouse gases are being added into the atmosphere daily from the use of fossil fuel, how can the danger of mass poisoning be avoided?

Well, Homo Sapien the smart has already dreamed up solutions:

Man will harness solar power to replace conventional ones.

Man will invent clean burning hydrogen fuel in place of the hazardous petroleum products.

Man will make a gigantic parasol to shield the earth from the sun s dangerous rays.

Man will reforestate the globe to suck up excess carbon dioxide.

Man will fire up giant laser rays to kill CFCs before they damage the ozone.

Man will use solar power satellites to collect solar energy from space, and send it down as microwaves, or laser beams, for use in place of burning fossil fuels.

Man will . That s enough. Thank you man the wise. Clap for yourself!

Let s hope that you will fix the greenhouse gases before they cover your grave!

Read More..

A Few Of The Facts About Hybrid Vehicles

Is your car wasteful? Did you feel it necessary to increase the efficiency in your car or reduce oil consumption is high enough for you to save costs?

You probably might have, given these times when oil prices are sky-rocketing and price hikes are being introduced every week. Your expenses for gasoline might even be reaching astronomical levels.

Through the years, especially since the first oil crisis in the 1990s when the first Iraq vs. United States conflict started, car manufacturers from Japan, the United States, Germany and elsewhere have begun the development of specially built and designed cars that would lower oil and gasoline consumption.

These cars are especially high-regarded during these times, because, apparently, gasoline has become the most essential liquid in the world, aside, of course, from drinking water.

Because car makers have always aimed to offer cars to the market that would quench consumers thirst for vehicles that do not mainly operate and rely on gasoline, the emergence of hybrid vehicles was made possible.

Hybrid vehicles

Hybrid cars, as manufacturers claim, are the cars of the future. That is because those cars are considered the answers to peoples prayers over the past years for vehicles that would not necessarily run on gasoline, which has prices that are so volatile due to emerging conflicts in the oil-producing countries every now and then.

Nowadays, car owners are being forced to just commute or take the public vehicles on their way to work everyday instead of using their cars because the gasoline prices are so high, that everyday use of the car would be unsustainable and most often, becoming a luxury.

In those cases, the purpose for buying or purchasing a car is breached, overlooked, neglected and unattained. For sure, cars are bought to give the buyer the convenience of going to destinations without the hassle of a public transport, which usually are tormented by delays, accidents and unlikely incidents.

No wonder, the launch of hybrid vehicles not so long ago was bombarded by promising and higher than expected sales of the cars. It is understandable that people have long awaited and anticipated the market launch of hybrid cars.

A little on the technical aspects of hybrid vehicles

Hybrid vehicles generally refer to those types of automotives or cars that run on the joint power brought about by gasoline and electricity stored in high-capacity electric batteries.

Hybrid vehicles save on fuel because there are certain times when the vehicles rely on the electric power produced by the batteries. Thus, consumption of gasoline is significantly lowered, leading to reduced oil or gasoline bills by the owner.

The technology for the manufacture of hybrid cars is continuously and consistently evolving over the years, marking significant changes, modifications and improvements time after time.

Usually, hybrid vehicles make use of rechargeable energy storage system also known as RESS which comes hand in hand with a propeller that provides fueled propulsion power.

In other countries, the term hybrid vehicle also refers to petroleum-electric hybrid cars which are also called hybrid-electric vehicle that use gasoline to feed the cars internal combustion engines or ICEs and built-in electric batteries that provide the vehicles electric requirements to power the electric motors.

Manufacturers

Giant car companies around the world have somehow embarked on a tight race to massively produce hybrid cars. The competition for such types of cars is becoming more and more intense through the years especially because there is a rising opportunity in the segment.

Opportunities do really come in time of crises so giant car makers are rushing to each offer the consumers their own hybrid car versions and models and at the same time, underpin rising demand for such cars, equating logically to higher sales and company revenues.

Japans Toyota Corp and Honda Corp are leading in the race to dominate the hybrid car market not just in Japan and the United States but also in other parts of the world, where people are becoming more particular about efficiencies and oil-cost downgrades.

Other car manufacturers follow suit, and it is expected that in the next couple of years, more and more hybrid vehicles are to be unveiled in the market by the two car makers and their aggressive competitors.

No wonder, because hybrid vehicles are tagged not only as oil and cost-saving cars but also as environment-friendly vehicles. Yes, you read it right.

Because hybrid vehicles have reduced gasoline consumption, it follows that smoke and greenhouse gas emissions are also significantly reduced.

Thus, purchasing hybrid vehicles is like hitting two birds in just one stone. You would practically save on gasoline and oil costs and at the same time help save the environment by reducing the rate of green house gas emissions.

Read More..

Understanding an Ecosystem

No one lives in a vacuum, we might say, and the same is true of nature. Just as people need other people to touch and learn to survive, as well as other elements in the universe and the planet earth. May be difficult even if most of us understand the universe with the naked eye, we can go out and learn about the world around us without having to use a microscope and even during some of us have any idea about what we are looking for. Studying a microcosm, or smaller world of organic activity, can help us to understand larger principles and systems at work on a major scale.

As schoolchildren, we study the basic physical sciences, including biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. College students will learn even more about some of these topics in fulfilling the general education requirements for just about any diploma. Yet, because few of us study all the sciences at length, we often do not understand very much about the way the natural world works. That's why personal study of a nearby ecosystem may help to expand our knowledge base in useful ways.

Start by reading an introductory lesson on the type of system you want to study. It might be about a woodland area, a bog or marsh, a river or pond, or a plain or meadow. You could study a farmer's crop of corn or beans, or a neighbor's trickling stream. Wherever you look in the rural outdoors, you can find a mini-system of natural principles operating to support a variety of life forms. If you have kids or grandchildren, or teach school or children's church, you may even want to arrange a field trip for an hour or so to let them learn about nature the experiential way. Go over the basic guidelines for identifying an ecosystem and how the parts work together to create a system that supports living creatures and plants.

Choose a good-weather day for the expedition. If you plan to investigate a neighbor's property, get permission first. Be sure there are no safety hazards like swampland, ditches, or gas lines that someone could stumble over. Let everyone know the boundaries for the study project, along with an idea of what to look for. Then it might be a good idea to pair everyone in two's to keep anyone from wandering off or getting lost. Another advantage to twosomes is they can check their impressions with each other to clarify findings.

Have everyone describe the terrain, the climactic and environmental conditions, and the dominant weather cycles for the region. They can do this afterward in discussion or take notes while in the field. Then they should look for typical life forms in the area, including species and genus, if they know how to classify organisms. Otherwise, a simple list by common names is fine. They should at least be able to separate insects from mammals, and so on. Animal tracks can be used as evidence in lieu of seeing the actual creature, like deer, for example.

The next step is to find water, air, and food sources that support the living things. Applying known rules or principles to actual observations will provide a rich and personal learning experience. In the notes or via discussion, explain how everything in the area works together to support an environmental life chain. This type of activity makes a great family excursion or a fun hobby for an individual. Try it sometime to see whether you enjoy reading physical history in the great outdoors.

Read More..