Clean & Green
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Why I Won’t Live Where The Sun Don’t Shine
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on July 2, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Friday, July 2nd, 2010Wherever the wind blows me is where I’ll be settling down. Thinking about going off the grid? Here are some handy tools for finding the best place to exploit renewable energy sources.
I mentioned to a friend today that I was doing more research for my plan to build a wired, off-the-grid home, and he nearly spit out his coffee. I asked him what he thought was so bloody funny, and he looked first at my cell phone – which had just been ringing – and then at my laptop, and then at my face, smirking. Which all somehow was meant to imply that I was some rabid technophiliac that had a device for everything, and was always using it, and that I’d need solar panels covering an area the size of the Sahara to effectively go solar. Which I imagine is a common misconception about living “green” and “wired” at the same time. The fact is, in spite of having a computer on ALL THE TIME at home, I only use an average of about 9kWh a day, which is about a third of the national average. How do I do it? I never use AC, I have a small, energy efficient fridge, and I use lights only as needed. I also take in most of my video entertainment on the computer instead of the typical TV/DVD/Cable setup many people use. My usage would go up a bit if I had a washer and dryer in my apartment, but I bet I could still keep it well under the 30kWh a day that is the national average. So enough defensive tooting of my energy miser horn, the fact is that a lot of this is irrelevant, because I’m planning a house from the ground up, and basing my decision for where to live partly on the feasibility of wind and solar power. So how feasible is it to generate your own power and get off the grid? If you want to stay in an urban area, you have some challenges ahead, but it’s obviously a simple equation between your energy consumption, and how much you can generate. Duh. So how much can you generate? That obviously depends completely on where you live, but how do you determine how much to rely on wind, and how much to rely on solar wherever you live? That’s where we’re in luck, because compared to even a year or two ago, there’s a wealth of information out there to help you. Start out by figuring out your usage using a tool like the Lawrence Berkeley Labs’ Home Energy Calculator. And once you have a realistic handle on your usage, the best resources for taking an in-depth look at solar and wind resources nationwide are probably the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Solar Maps and the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Wind Resource Potential Estimates site, respectively. And if – as I am – you’re basing your choice on where to settle on the resources available, you might give also give some thought to MicroHydro. In our next piece we’ll be looking at real estate issues and site selection. Looks like I’ll see you in the Southwest, if the maps below are any indication. Read the rest of this entry »
Clean & Greenbacked: Grants For Green Building
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on June 26, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Saturday, June 26th, 2010I want to live in an off the grid, wired home. And have someone else pay for it.
I decided a few years ago to take the plunge of home ownership, and immediately realized a couple of things. The first was that I would never be happy living in 99% of existing pre-built homes. They’re simply not “green” enough or “wired” enough for my tastes. The second was that I don’t want to live in a building that is simply a big symbol of the decades of debt that lie ahead. My solution? As someone in need of a career change who has worked from a home office for over a decade, the only sensible approach I could see was to make the building of my home a business in itself. I’ve done a lot of casual research over the last two years, and recently decided to hunker down and get to work. First up: FUNDING. The Obama administration campaigned pretty heavily on green issues, so as I research the best locations and building solutions, I’m going to coordinate those plans with as many green building and renewable energy subsidies as possible. To that end, I’ve been compiling some resources, and thought I’d share them here. In upcoming pieces I’ll share information I’ve found on things like wind and solar resource potential by state, and green building resources and strategies. But to get started, below are some government funding resources I’ll be exploring. Please share any resources you may be aware of yourself, I’ll take all the help I can get! Read the rest of this entry »
Mean Green Machines
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 20, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Sunday, June 20th, 2010Now available in two, four, and eight wheeled versions.
 Photo: Amadeus Photography via PopSci.com |
If you love the growl of a high-performance race car engine, this round up of cars that do 0-60MPH in less than 4 seconds will have little appeal for you. We’re sorry to inform you petrol addicts that these vehicles also won’t be contributing to any of those oil spills you seem so fond of. Just ten years ago, the idea of a stylish, high performance electric car or motorcycle still seemed a bit far-fetched. But as our oil-addicted culture sputters into the 21st century, the number of sexy electrics available is expanding rapidly. You may have heard of the innovative Tesla, which has an even brighter future now that Toyota is getting involved. Toyota’s decision makers were impressed with Tesla’s commitment to Monozukuri, which is part of the origin of Toyota’s 70 year philosophy of “contributing to the society through the manufacture of automobiles”. But Tesla’s not the only electric on the block these days. Finally, you can make a list called World’s Top 10 Fastest Electric Cars. And if the Shelby SuperCars Aero EV (no relation to this super car by Shelby) is for real, there’s some astounding innovation going on; they claim a 150-200 mile range from a mere 10 minute recharge on a standard 110V outlet. Some people have their doubts, but remember, it was just over a hundred years ago that people were calling those two guys in North Carolina crackpots for saying people could fly. This new focus on sexy, high performance EV’s isn’t limited to autos though. The MotoCzysz – a racing bike by American motorcycle developer Michael Czysz – just took a title in the legendary Isle of Man bike race, and Mission Motors lays claim to “Fastest Production Electric Motorcycle in the World” with their Mission One Superbike which can “pop wheelies” at 70MPH. And finally, if two or four wheels don’t strike your fancy, how about eight? The Eliica may look strange, but pulls a faster 0-60 than a Porsche 911 Turbo, and the designers intend to use it to break existing land speed record for street legal vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »
How Green Is The White House?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 6, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Sunday, June 6th, 2010The White House and Washington in general are pretty green. It’s just the policies they create that are all black and oily. And you may be surprised to learn that George Bush may have been secretly green in his spare time.
I’m sorry to say that’s classified information. But we do know that solar panels were installed in 2003 under the Bush administration, and the Obama administration is planning upgrades. President Carter is rarely given credit for his inspired attempts at opening America’s eyes to the perilous environmental future that is now the present, but he managed to open a few with this speech in 1977. He also installed solar panels on the White House which were later taken down by Ronald Reagan, in a move that was partly practical (a roof leak was being repaired), and certainly a typically Reaganesque political statement at the same time. And although the Obama administration appears firmly committed to clean & green issues, the presidential limo won’t be a hybrid, for obvious reasons. I have to admit that as I prepared to write what I intended to be a snark on Washington’s limo-driven excess and apalling waste, I was suprised to find that DC is often high up on lists of green cities. I was equally surprised to find that living in New York City is considered by some green thinkers to be a greener lifestyle choice than living in Vermont. And I’m sure that you’ll be as surprised as I was that Bush’s Crawford Ranch was pretty green too. So it seems that all in all, Washington’s pretty green. It’s just the policies created there that cause all the problems. For a lengthy and dry – but informative – history of how US foreign policy was shaped by oil over the last century, see this 1975 government report. And for a refresher on why we invaded Iraq, see this Independent UK piece. And then take a look at this list to figure out who we’ll invade next. My bet’s on Canada.
Might As Well Face It You’re Addicted To Oil
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 31, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Monday, May 31st, 2010Denial Is Not A River In Egypt. But if it were, it would probably be covered in oil as well.
Are you done bellyaching about the gulf oil spill yet? ’cause I didn’t hear a peep out of you as 448 million gallons of oil spewed from the ground in Nigeria in a continuous catastrophe over the last 50 years. 214 million of which spilled just this month. And I haven’t seen you sell your car or stop using any of the products that we use every day that are derived from petroleum (see a short list below). We can keep pointing fingers at Obama or at BP or Satan – or little oil fairies, for that matter. But when it comes right down to it, the parties responsible are you and me. We’re like an alcoholic who blames last night’s bartender for our waking up half off the bed with a splitting headache and our pants around our ankles using clever lines like “I was overserved last night”. The term “oil addiction” is almost hackneyed by now, but still as accurate as it ever was. If you haven’t heard your behavior framed that way before, check out the article The price of our oil addiction- excerpted from David Elliot Cohen’s What Matters
