As I discussed in my prior post, I have downloaded and am reading the House of Representatives 'energy' bill. If any of you wish to read it you can find it at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2454eh.txt.pdf
One of the early things mentioned in this bill that peaked my interest is the short discussion of waste-to-energy conversion. The bill encourages waste-to-energy conversion operations for municipal solid waste (MSW), construction debris (of course this assumes we ever get back into constructing houses!) and disaster debris. The problem with disaster debris being using in waste-to-energy conversion processes is the government agency who is in charge. If an agencies SOP is to landfill, well then by golly they will landfill even though bills such as this one are trying to encourage use of renewable energy. We shall see after the next hurricane.
The restriction this bill places on waste-to-energy is that the locality that has such a facility must also have an active recycle program for 'residents' in place. The way I read this is that this assumes that waste-to-energy is under control of a local government and not a privately owned operation.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Waxman-Markley climate change bill--change for change sake?
The hottest topic this week, besides the 100+ degree temperatures here in the South is the Waxman-Markley climate change bill which squeaked through the House by the skin of its teeth last week. This bill includes a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020.
I'm a big fan of renewable energy and think that this is a good direction to move,however, we, as a nation, shouldn't be so open minded that our brains fall out.
The sad thing about all this hoopla about the need to have a climate change bill pass quickly is that there is a lot of misinformation being put out, including by our leaders, no doubt due to the complexity of the issues under discussion.
When ever is it prudent to do things quickly? Don't we teach our teenagers to think before doing or you can get into a whole bunch of trouble.
I plan, over the next few weeks, to go through the bill and highlight the good, the bad and the truly ugly for y'all and suggest what it could mean for our dirty footprint. So stay tuned!....
Rosemarie
I'm a big fan of renewable energy and think that this is a good direction to move,however, we, as a nation, shouldn't be so open minded that our brains fall out.
The sad thing about all this hoopla about the need to have a climate change bill pass quickly is that there is a lot of misinformation being put out, including by our leaders, no doubt due to the complexity of the issues under discussion.
When ever is it prudent to do things quickly? Don't we teach our teenagers to think before doing or you can get into a whole bunch of trouble.
I plan, over the next few weeks, to go through the bill and highlight the good, the bad and the truly ugly for y'all and suggest what it could mean for our dirty footprint. So stay tuned!....
Rosemarie
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Personal sustainability? Time for a victory garden
It's April, the dogwoods are in bloom, so are the azaleas here in Georgia and I'm figuring out what to do about my garden.
Why? Groceries can be expensive and if not careful, can be a budget buster especially in these days of cut-backs and reductions. So this posting is about personal dirty footprint where 'dirty' is a good thing (garden --> dirt, get it?) . It's also about personal sustainability and in times like these, the more personal sustainability that we have the better off (financially) we are.
Notice that I am tying sustainability to $ savings. Aiming for sustainability whether from an industrial, retail or personal level should run hand-in-hand with cost savings. I am not so open minded about sustainability that I let my brains fall out. If done properly (and with some creativity I might add), sustainability IS cost saving.
Gardening example of $$ saving sustainability
Yes
Swap seeds with friends
No
Buy organic seeds from boutique retailer
(I have yet to hear a viable reason for a non-certified gardener to spend the extra money for organic seeds)
Yes
Find a horse stable and ask to take a few loads of manure off their hands (and compost it) or find a local composter who sells bulk compost. Or if you want a small garden beg some good dirt from a friend with a garden. The nice barista at the coffee bar in my old office would give me her days worth of coffee grounds last year. Works great in the garden and kept it out of the landfill.
No
Buy bags of compost from the local big box.
Yes
Plant your upside down tomato's in those 5 gal buckets folks are happy to give away. Drill hole in the bottom for the plant. Takes up no space on a sunny patio or (if you have one) clothes line posts.
No
Buy those 'as seen on TV' upside down tomato plant hangers
Yes (here's my favorite)
Grab those cold-cut party trays, you know the ones, black plastic bottom, clear plastic top that inevitably show up at luncheon meetings at the office (or the broiled chicken containers from Costco--eat the chicken first). Use those as seed starter green houses.
No
Buy the same concept from the garden center of your local big box.
I think you get the idea. A little creativity goes a long way.
Oh, and if you don't have room for a garden, some companies are allowing employees to start community gardens at their sites as an employee perk. Worth asking about. Some communities have community garden space available.
Imagine if everyone planted a garden, whether big or small, instead of relying on someone else like the fast food take-out at your not-so-local mall. Local food, reduced transportation costs, fresh air and exercise, and that little-used term these days, self-reliance.
A footprint in the dirt instead of a dirty footprint. Sweet!
Why? Groceries can be expensive and if not careful, can be a budget buster especially in these days of cut-backs and reductions. So this posting is about personal dirty footprint where 'dirty' is a good thing (garden --> dirt, get it?) . It's also about personal sustainability and in times like these, the more personal sustainability that we have the better off (financially) we are.
Notice that I am tying sustainability to $ savings. Aiming for sustainability whether from an industrial, retail or personal level should run hand-in-hand with cost savings. I am not so open minded about sustainability that I let my brains fall out. If done properly (and with some creativity I might add), sustainability IS cost saving.
Gardening example of $$ saving sustainability
Yes
Swap seeds with friends
No
Buy organic seeds from boutique retailer
(I have yet to hear a viable reason for a non-certified gardener to spend the extra money for organic seeds)
Yes
Find a horse stable and ask to take a few loads of manure off their hands (and compost it) or find a local composter who sells bulk compost. Or if you want a small garden beg some good dirt from a friend with a garden. The nice barista at the coffee bar in my old office would give me her days worth of coffee grounds last year. Works great in the garden and kept it out of the landfill.
No
Buy bags of compost from the local big box.
Yes
Plant your upside down tomato's in those 5 gal buckets folks are happy to give away. Drill hole in the bottom for the plant. Takes up no space on a sunny patio or (if you have one) clothes line posts.
No
Buy those 'as seen on TV' upside down tomato plant hangers
Yes (here's my favorite)
Grab those cold-cut party trays, you know the ones, black plastic bottom, clear plastic top that inevitably show up at luncheon meetings at the office (or the broiled chicken containers from Costco--eat the chicken first). Use those as seed starter green houses.
No
Buy the same concept from the garden center of your local big box.
I think you get the idea. A little creativity goes a long way.
Oh, and if you don't have room for a garden, some companies are allowing employees to start community gardens at their sites as an employee perk. Worth asking about. Some communities have community garden space available.
Imagine if everyone planted a garden, whether big or small, instead of relying on someone else like the fast food take-out at your not-so-local mall. Local food, reduced transportation costs, fresh air and exercise, and that little-used term these days, self-reliance.
A footprint in the dirt instead of a dirty footprint. Sweet!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Time for Change! Why not?
Sigh,
As I was researching alternative energy technologies (it's what I DO) I came across a short article about the potential for converting hurricane biomass to biomass fuel pellets.
I thought, wow! This would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for carbon footprint reduction. This wasn't the first time I heard this proposal. Professor Alex Green of Florida State University (FSU) has been spitting into the wind on this for years. Prof. Green is the father of biomass pyrolysis, a total expert as well as a really nice guy. Basically, he's right.
What else could be a win-win for a devastated area then to have all their down trees and other destroyed biomass collected, at no cost to either the owner of the property or to the local/regional government. Right now FEMA and the Corp of Engineers contracts with companies to remove this biomass and haul it to a landfill or burn it! There is no contract vehicle set up to use the biomass for CO2 reduction (which is part of the climate change initiative of the new administration).
We need to change that paradigm. Those of us in the south could care less about 'heating our homes' because, lets get real, a Georgia winter is 6 weeks long at most and our electricity is cheap (Nuclear) or those of us near major cities (like Atlanta) have natural gas! But Europe is really big into biomass pellets because all fossil fuels are EXPENSIVE for them. We, here in the south, have a product that we are presently landfilling (hurricane biomass) that could be easily converted into usable and EXPORTABLE fuels! But we are landfilling because it is the 'standard' option. Again, SIGH.
I'm posting my thoughts on this way before the 09 hurricane season. Why? If you think I'm right, now would be the time to write your congressman to suggest that they encourage FEMA and the Corp of Engineers to look to biomass removal contracts with companies that will use the biomass to make fuel pellets which will reduce our oil independence as well as make us an exporter not just an importer of stuff. Instead of landfilling it or burning. Oh, and yeah, this administration want's to reduce our CO2 footprint. Well duh. Using our hurricane debris is a no brainer to help do this!
Rosemarie
As I was researching alternative energy technologies (it's what I DO) I came across a short article about the potential for converting hurricane biomass to biomass fuel pellets.
I thought, wow! This would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for carbon footprint reduction. This wasn't the first time I heard this proposal. Professor Alex Green of Florida State University (FSU) has been spitting into the wind on this for years. Prof. Green is the father of biomass pyrolysis, a total expert as well as a really nice guy. Basically, he's right.
What else could be a win-win for a devastated area then to have all their down trees and other destroyed biomass collected, at no cost to either the owner of the property or to the local/regional government. Right now FEMA and the Corp of Engineers contracts with companies to remove this biomass and haul it to a landfill or burn it! There is no contract vehicle set up to use the biomass for CO2 reduction (which is part of the climate change initiative of the new administration).
We need to change that paradigm. Those of us in the south could care less about 'heating our homes' because, lets get real, a Georgia winter is 6 weeks long at most and our electricity is cheap (Nuclear) or those of us near major cities (like Atlanta) have natural gas! But Europe is really big into biomass pellets because all fossil fuels are EXPENSIVE for them. We, here in the south, have a product that we are presently landfilling (hurricane biomass) that could be easily converted into usable and EXPORTABLE fuels! But we are landfilling because it is the 'standard' option. Again, SIGH.
I'm posting my thoughts on this way before the 09 hurricane season. Why? If you think I'm right, now would be the time to write your congressman to suggest that they encourage FEMA and the Corp of Engineers to look to biomass removal contracts with companies that will use the biomass to make fuel pellets which will reduce our oil independence as well as make us an exporter not just an importer of stuff. Instead of landfilling it or burning. Oh, and yeah, this administration want's to reduce our CO2 footprint. Well duh. Using our hurricane debris is a no brainer to help do this!
Rosemarie
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Clever recycling post-election yard signs
OK I don't care if you voted for Obama/Biden or McCain/Palen and had personal preferences for state or local politics enough to put a sign in your front yard. But now, you have yard signs and the elections are over. So what do you do with it? As a consummate recycler, I was ready to deconstruct the signs to metal (go to metal recycle bin) and plastic sign (which I hoped) would be acceptable for the plastic recycle bin. Sigh, I inspected the politico signs my dear husband had amassed and didn't see a recycle logo on any of them. What was this stuff made of?
While I pondered this problem, my husband (an 1880-early 1900s historian) solved the dilemma of what to do with the signs. Our house is old and typical of the south, it doesn't have a basement. It also is not on a slab (modern). It's raised, has a crawl space, bricked with open air vents.
Wonderful husband deconstructed the signs and laid the corrugated plastic in front of the vents, pressed the wire supports into the ground in front of the sign so that it pressed the signs against the air vents. Voila! Winterized house underpinnings thanks to political signage. Cost zero. Landfill, diverted.
Our depression-era and pre-depression parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. knew how to recycle. It was not 'cool' it was pragmatic. Resources were scarce. So was money. That combination made them very creative recyclers. We could learn a lot from them. Our only stumbling block is that we want everything to look like it came from a Pottery Barn display. We are in a recession. Maybe it's time to get back to basics. Can we be as creative as our great grandparents in reusing materials? If not, why not?
What did you do with your political signs?
While I pondered this problem, my husband (an 1880-early 1900s historian) solved the dilemma of what to do with the signs. Our house is old and typical of the south, it doesn't have a basement. It also is not on a slab (modern). It's raised, has a crawl space, bricked with open air vents.
Wonderful husband deconstructed the signs and laid the corrugated plastic in front of the vents, pressed the wire supports into the ground in front of the sign so that it pressed the signs against the air vents. Voila! Winterized house underpinnings thanks to political signage. Cost zero. Landfill, diverted.
Our depression-era and pre-depression parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. knew how to recycle. It was not 'cool' it was pragmatic. Resources were scarce. So was money. That combination made them very creative recyclers. We could learn a lot from them. Our only stumbling block is that we want everything to look like it came from a Pottery Barn display. We are in a recession. Maybe it's time to get back to basics. Can we be as creative as our great grandparents in reusing materials? If not, why not?
What did you do with your political signs?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Obama-Biden Energy Team summary
| Name | Position | Passions | Against |
| Steven Chu | Energy Secretary | Biofuels (second generation), solar energy, energy efficiency, climate change | Nuclear, fossil fuels |
| Lisa Jackson | EPA Administrator | Climate change | New coal powered plants |
| Ken Salazar | Interior Secretary | Wilderness protection; strong water quality laws; pro-coal; carbon capture/sequestration | Skeptic on oil shale development |
| Tom Vilsack | Agriculture Secretary | Cap-and-trade; cellulosic ethanol | |
| Nancy Sutley | Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) | Cap-and-trade; climate change | |
| Carol Browner, | Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change “Climate Czar” | Climate change | |
| Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. | chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee | Cap-and-trade; climate change | |
| Congressman Edward Markey, D-Mass. | Chairman House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment | Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and biomass; climate change; cap-and-trade | |
| | | | |
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
If the world was a cube
Have you checked out the new milk jug at Costco yet? It's a brick. A great example of sustainable packaging. The container is optimized to eliminate shipping dead space from the dairy to the dairy case and it can be stacked without having to put it in a box first. By optimizing the container to fill the space, standardizing the shape to fit on a normal palette, it also eliminates the need for the odd sized milk crates that need to be sent back to the dairy to be sterilized and reused. Here's another example of something so simple, as the redesign of a container to make it more like a space saving cube, that it is revolutionary. And so sustainable, saving space, water (for cleaning the milk crates), and energy (fuel and space conditioning). Oh, and did I mention, it is cheaper than the traditional gallon milk jug.
What else can we make into a cube that can be easily fit on a standard pallet for efficient shipping? Those two liter soda bottles come to mind. Let's face it, they are tough to pour as is, why can't Coke and Pepsi follow the lead of the dairy with their 'cubic' milk jug? Just think about how much more product could be put on the shelf along with the reduced footprint this would net! No doubt the cost would also be reduced.
Sustainability can be as simple as a cubic jug of milk.
Rosemarie
What else can we make into a cube that can be easily fit on a standard pallet for efficient shipping? Those two liter soda bottles come to mind. Let's face it, they are tough to pour as is, why can't Coke and Pepsi follow the lead of the dairy with their 'cubic' milk jug? Just think about how much more product could be put on the shelf along with the reduced footprint this would net! No doubt the cost would also be reduced.
Sustainability can be as simple as a cubic jug of milk.
Rosemarie
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