Who Saved Watt?!

President Barack Obama declassified satellite imagery that graphically show the effect of global warming.  The imagery was previously kept classified by the Bush administration.

Read more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/26/climate-change-obama-administration

View the images:

http://gfl.usgs.gov/Publications.shtml

This interesting article in The Economist talks about two companies (one in Norway, the other in the Netherlands) who have created processes that harden softwoods so that they don’t rot and aren’t susceptible to bugs.

I know bamboo is a sustainable wood product that has been used for hardwood floors. It’s even been used to make fabric and cloth.  But treating softwoods to take on the properties of hardwoods is a new and potentially valuable technique. Softwood trees account for the vast majority (80%) of the world’s timber.  Making that timber into durable building products goes a long way towards sustainable development.

Solar heat absorbed through windows and roofs can increase your air conditioner use. Incorporating shading concepts into your landscape design can help reduce this solar heat gain, reducing your cooling costs.

Shading and evapotranspiration (the process by which a plant actively moves and releases water vapor) from trees can reduce surrounding air temperatures as much as 9° F (5°C). Because cool air settles near the ground, air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 25°F (14°C) cooler than air temperatures above nearby blacktop.

Using shade effectively requires you to know the size, shape, and location of the moving shadow that your shading device casts. Also, homes in cool regions may never overheat and may not require shading. Therefore, you need to know what landscape shading strategies will work best in your regional climate and your microclimate.

Trees can be selected with appropriate sizes, densities, and shapes for almost any shading application. To block solar heat in the summer but let much of it in during the winter, use deciduous trees. To provide continuous shade or to block heavy winds, use dense evergreen trees or shrubs.

Deciduous trees with high, spreading crowns (i.e., leaves and branches) can be planted to the south of your home to provide maximum summertime roof shading. Trees with crowns lower to the ground are more appropriate to the west, where shade is needed from lower afternoon sun angles. Trees should not be planted on the southern sides of solar-heated homes in cold climates because the branches of these deciduous trees will block some winter sun.

Although a slow-growing tree may require many years of growth before it shades your roof, it will generally live longer than a fast-growing tree. Also, because slow-growing trees often have deeper roots and stronger branches, they are less prone to breakage by windstorms or heavy snow loads. Slow-growing trees can also be more drought resistant than fast-growing trees.

A 6-foot to 8-foot (1.8-meter to 2.4-meter) deciduous tree planted near your home will begin shading windows the first year. Depending on the species and the home, the tree will shade the roof in 5–10 years. If you have an air conditioner, shading the unit can increase its efficiency by as much as 10%.

Trees, shrubs, and groundcover plants can also shade the ground and pavement around the home. This reduces heat radiation and cools the air before it reaches your home’s walls and windows. Use a large bush or row of shrubs to shade a patio or driveway. Plant a hedge to shade a sidewalk. Build a trellis for climbing vines to shade a patio area.

Vines can also shade walls during their first growing season. A lattice or trellis with climbing vines, or a planter box with trailing vines, shades the home’s perimeter while admitting cooling breezes to the shaded area.

Shrubs planted close to the house will fill in rapidly and begin shading walls and windows within a few years. However, avoid allowing dense foliage to grow immediately next to a home where wetness or continual humidity are problems. Well-landscaped homes in wet areas allow winds to flow around the home, keeping the home and its surrounding soil reasonably dry.

Reprinted from http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/landscaping/index.cfm/mytopic=11940
EERE copyright: “Materials on the EERE Web site are in the public domain. EERE requests that it be acknowledged as the source in any subsequent use of its information.”
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Did you know that 24% of our trash in the landfill is composed of grass, leaves, and organic kitchen scraps?  That’s perfect compost!

This interesting article gives 5 great reasons to grow a Victory Garden.

It makes sense, too.  Growing your own stuff saves money, it’s healthier, and its good for the environment.

Want to drive one month for free?  Below are 5 simple steps towards better fuel efficiency that will help pay for your extra month of driving.  When the numbers are applied to the nation as a whole, the amount of conservation achieved is mind boggling.  A few thrifty, conservative tips will save you and our entire country save a whole lot of money.

Drive Like Gandhi

Ok, maybe Gandhi didn’t drive much, but can you imagine him driving aggressively?  Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. According to FuelEconomy.gov, aggressive driving can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.

That’s 5% to 33% wasted gas because cutting off that idiot on the highway during traffic and getting one car length ahead makes you feel better.  What does that cost you?

At $2/gal,  that’s $0.10 to $0.66 per gallon!  Just a few summers ago, gas was over $4/gal.  Aggressive driving costs up to $1.32 per gallon!  That’s over 5 bucks for a gallon of gas!

Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.

Buy a manual transmission

I, personally, think a stick shift is more fun to drive, but it’s also significantly more efficient than a manual transmission.

Consumer Reports shows 10% better gas mileage on many common manual tranmission cars.  The same study also shows better 0-60 acceleration.

Why is that?  Because you, the smart driver, can shift earlier or later, as needed.   When I drive a stick, I conscious shift into higher gears earlier than an automatic transmission would.  I watch the tachometer sink to lower RPM levels, which means the engine is using less gas.  Likewise, you can ride out a lower gear longer when accelerating, giving you higher RPMs, which gives you more power to accelerate more quickly.

More than that, sticks just look cooler.  True story, my brother once bought a (used) Corvette when he was younger.  He wanted to look cool… except I made fun of him for buying a corvette with an automatic transmission.  I often look into the windows of Mustangs and other sporty cars.  Only manual trannies make the grade.

I’m pretty sure Gandhi would have loved a stick.

Observe the Speed Limit!

Gandhi wouldn’t speed either, would he?  Each vehicle has its own optimal cruising speed, but all vehicles experience rapid decreases in efficiency after 60mph.

The rule of thumb is  about $0.24 per 5mph over 60.  Want to cruise at 70mph?  You might make good time on your trip, but you’re paying half a buck more per gallon for it.

Lose the weight!

Gandhi wasn’t a big guy and he didn’t have much stuff to haul around.  Each 100lbs. of weight costs you 1-2% fuel efficiency.  This impacts smaller cars worse than larger ones.

Got some golf clubs in the back you’re hauling around?  Get ‘em out!  Unless you are playing that day, store them in the garage.  Keeping them in your car is costing you money.

Keep your car in shape

The GOP may have teased Obama’s energy plan by giving out tire gauges labelled “Obama’s Energy Plan” during the campaign, but the President was right.  Keeping your tires properly inflated will improve efficiency up to 3% or 0.3% for every 1 PSI for all four tires.

Keeping your car well-tuned and in good shape yields another 4%.  Regular oil changes and using the correct type of oil recommended by the manufacturer yields another 1-2%. (See stats).

Gandhi was a vegetarian, refrained from drinking alcohol, and refrained from promiscuity. The man would have taken good care of his car.

TOTAL SAVINGS?

Gandhi believed in collective action. An individual is powerless, but a nation’s collective will is immensely strong.

What do all these fuel efficiency savings add up to when applied to the entire U.S.?  Hundreds of millions of barrles of oil and billions of dollars.

12,000 miles per year at an average of 25mpg is 480 gallons of gas or about $1,200. All of the tips above could reasonably achieve 25% gains in efficiency.  Reducing your bill by 25% means you’ll only spend $900.  $300 savings!

What, you aren’t impressed by $300 annual savings?  Let’s look at the big picture…

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics says there are over 250 million cars in the U.S. and the Federal Highway Administration says American drivers laid down 249.5 billion miles of rubber just in April 2009! That’s around 3 trillion miles driven annually.

Now, I think that’s a lot of miles, and what if we all achieved a mere 10% better fuel efficiency?  We, as a nation, would save over 300 billion miles worth of gas.  That’s a full month of driving everywhere in America.

How much oil is that?  Aren’t we all trying to reduce our dependence on foreign oil?

According to the Energy Information Administration, a single barrel of oil makes roughly 20 gallons of gas. The BTS says the average car in America gets about 22mpg.  So, one barrel of oil will power a single car for about 440 miles. Saving 300 billion miles of driving will reduce our need for over 680 million barrels of oil! (300b miles / 440 miles per barrel = 681m barrels). At $50 a barrel, that’s over $34 billion saved.

The EIA says we consume roughly 20m barrels of oil daily in the U.S., with nearly half of that (9m barrels) being used for gasoline.  Saving 680m barrels of oil by simply increasing fuel efficiency by 10% means we’d save 34 days worth of oil.

There’s your free month of driving.  See you on the highway, but first check your tires.