Hello all,
The petro plant. There has been an immense amount of discussion on the option of plants producing fuel. Corn, for example, is used to make ethanol and works well for that purpose but affects the food source. Vegetable oil from various plants, another example, affects the food source of animal feed. Food source affects are valid reasons not to pursue this as a total replacement of our transportation energy needs. Affecting the world food supply is a huge deal, but wait there's more.
Native to many countries the Jatophra plant is the answer to affects on the food source. It is actually defined as a weed in many countries and is poisonous to eat. In Australia, up until 2010, jatophra plant was band from import. After a large lobby for it's use in their biodiesel industry it became legal to import, cultivate, and grow.
Jatophra plant plantations have popped up all over the world. In Vietnam, Shell has a 24,000 acre farm that is growing 100% jatophra. In Africa, in the famine ravaged, poor, adjunct poverty stricken countries are being taught to grow this plant as an export good. This plant will grow in most hot environments and does not need a substantial amount of water to survive. It will also survive light frosts on occasion because it is such a hardy plant that can even grow out of rocks.
This is a great example of alternatives available to food impactual petroplants. It actually produces more oil than any other plant being used for that purpose.
Thanks,
8)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Can we get some misters on the patios?
Shreveport... Hot as Hell right?
Why don't we have misters on patios? We have a large amount of restaurants with patios outside all over Shreveport-Bossier and a lot of us love the patio scenes. This generally occurs only during nice weather and retreats inside as it gets hotter. Having our dinner and drinks in the great outdoors, it's great and I know a lot of people out there would like to extend those good times a little past May, especially the smoking outcast. Confusing me is the fact that we have had 100+ degree temps that would stifle a camel and I can't find a patio anywhere that has misters. (let me know who does)
A mister is a tubular devise with misting nozzles having water pushed through cooling it's effective areas by as much as 20 degrees. Six Flags over Texas has had misters forever in their "cooling stations" and anyone ever being there in the summer learned to worship those gifts from above.
As as a another look back "in the gap," Dallas has numerous patios with misters. Oh man, I miss those days doing "Fun-day Sunday" down on Mckinney Ave. Even when it was blistering heat you could still sit on the patios with a "cold drink" and friends being comfortable. Mixing some fans and misters is an awesome way to stay comfortable even in the hottest temperatures.
How is it "Green" is a question you might be considering with the whole idea of this blog being to inform on the practicality of green. Excellent Point! Well keeping a cooler temperature around porches and entrances will reduce your electrical bill. It acts as a layer of cooler air between your conditioned air and the brutal heat. It is not practical to do this on a continuous basis because of a few different hindrances but when you have family and/or friends at the house you have all that in and out traffic. This makes your A/C kick on a little more, especially in this recent heat, and it is certainly noticeable on the bill. So using misters will combat your high as hell bill this summer and keep your outdoor guests feeling up to 20 degrees cooler.
Thanks for reading!
Adam
8)
Check out the home improvement stores and you can get a real inexpensive one. You will thank me later!
***Disclaimer Disclaimer Disclaimer LOL It is water! Whatever water can mess up, it will.***
Why don't we have misters on patios? We have a large amount of restaurants with patios outside all over Shreveport-Bossier and a lot of us love the patio scenes. This generally occurs only during nice weather and retreats inside as it gets hotter. Having our dinner and drinks in the great outdoors, it's great and I know a lot of people out there would like to extend those good times a little past May, especially the smoking outcast. Confusing me is the fact that we have had 100+ degree temps that would stifle a camel and I can't find a patio anywhere that has misters. (let me know who does)
A mister is a tubular devise with misting nozzles having water pushed through cooling it's effective areas by as much as 20 degrees. Six Flags over Texas has had misters forever in their "cooling stations" and anyone ever being there in the summer learned to worship those gifts from above.
As as a another look back "in the gap," Dallas has numerous patios with misters. Oh man, I miss those days doing "Fun-day Sunday" down on Mckinney Ave. Even when it was blistering heat you could still sit on the patios with a "cold drink" and friends being comfortable. Mixing some fans and misters is an awesome way to stay comfortable even in the hottest temperatures.
How is it "Green" is a question you might be considering with the whole idea of this blog being to inform on the practicality of green. Excellent Point! Well keeping a cooler temperature around porches and entrances will reduce your electrical bill. It acts as a layer of cooler air between your conditioned air and the brutal heat. It is not practical to do this on a continuous basis because of a few different hindrances but when you have family and/or friends at the house you have all that in and out traffic. This makes your A/C kick on a little more, especially in this recent heat, and it is certainly noticeable on the bill. So using misters will combat your high as hell bill this summer and keep your outdoor guests feeling up to 20 degrees cooler.
Thanks for reading!
Adam
8)
Check out the home improvement stores and you can get a real inexpensive one. You will thank me later!
***Disclaimer Disclaimer Disclaimer LOL It is water! Whatever water can mess up, it will.***
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Biodiesel
I'll just tell you upfront, I am a fan of the biodiesel. The company owns a 360 gal/day processor. It is our pride and joy! We can produce our own energy/fuel to operate our transport company. It's the beginning of a little private gas station out there in North Shreveport.
Excitement!!!
Here some additional info:
Courtesy of www.darlingii.com
The Ethical Side of Renewable Diesel
As appealing as it is for the world to find efficient alternatives to petroleum fuel, using grains as raw stock in biodiesel production has faced challenges. The “food for fuel” debate claims these grains should go to feed third world countries rather than be used to produce fuel, and more recently, studies suggest the sudden rush to clear forested land to plant grains for biofuel production is actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions rather than lowering them.
Rendered fats offer a perfect feedstock for the production of alternative fuels and a way around these challenges. Because its raw stock is recycled from collected food waste products, the biofuels produced from rendered grease will not diminish the food supply and does not require fertile land space be cleared to produce it.
Renewable energy and biofuels won’t necessarily cure the U.S. of our dependency on foreign oil, but it's one piece in the puzzle of solving that dependency. Darling’s role in alternative fuel production and renewable energy, along with other promising uses for our products, will be developed while we continue to provide the services and process the same material that we have for the past century.
Excitement!!!
Here some additional info:
Courtesy of www.darlingii.com
The Ethical Side of Renewable Diesel
As appealing as it is for the world to find efficient alternatives to petroleum fuel, using grains as raw stock in biodiesel production has faced challenges. The “food for fuel” debate claims these grains should go to feed third world countries rather than be used to produce fuel, and more recently, studies suggest the sudden rush to clear forested land to plant grains for biofuel production is actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions rather than lowering them.
Rendered fats offer a perfect feedstock for the production of alternative fuels and a way around these challenges. Because its raw stock is recycled from collected food waste products, the biofuels produced from rendered grease will not diminish the food supply and does not require fertile land space be cleared to produce it.
Renewable energy and biofuels won’t necessarily cure the U.S. of our dependency on foreign oil, but it's one piece in the puzzle of solving that dependency. Darling’s role in alternative fuel production and renewable energy, along with other promising uses for our products, will be developed while we continue to provide the services and process the same material that we have for the past century.
Breaking out of the heat!
Sweat mother of God, it has been hot.
An earlier blog I mentioned solar panels and their effect on your bill. When looking at your bill this month remember their are options.
Here's some quick info from Standford.
This page will have my own opinions about solar energy, but I will gladly include references to other opinions. The Wikipedia page on solar energy looks up-to-date as of 2007 and will presumably be kept up-to-date.
The applications of solar energy include powering earth satellites (successful), powering emergency telephones along highways (successful), heating water with rooftop installations (successful but at best marginally cost-effective where energy is cheap), electric power where grid energy is not available (apparently not cost-effective at present compared to diesel generators) and central station electric generation (not presently economical). This paragraph was written in 2003, but I think it is still accurate. It's now 2007 June, and solar central stations are still not economical.
Central station generation is the application that needs to be compared to present generation methods - burning coal, oil or natural gas or nuclear energy. We have a separate page on nuclear energy. Like nuclear energy, solar energy does not put CO2 into the atmosphere, and so needs to be considered if global warming has to be avoided. It has lots of supporters, especially among those who oppose nuclear energy. There are many schemes for generating electricity from the sun. These include
"The World's Energy Future Belongs in Orbit" by Dr. Gerrard K. O'Neill,
"Solar Power from Space" by Texas Space Grant Consortium. The last two urls are dead. Another SPS advocacy site It's not an SPS site any more.
SPS2000 is a Japanese proposal for a small system in low earth orbit.
There is information about wind power and other forms of "renewable energy" at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This laboratory hopes to demonstrate technology capable of 4 cents per kwh electricity by the year 2000. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has additional information. Here's a reference to some surveys on the public acceptablility of wind power. Here's a page Solar Energy by some enthusiasts.
1997 August 16: The San Jose Mercury has a story today datelined Washington about the U.S. solar energy industry. Here are some highlights:
You can download "A Consumer's Guide to Buying a Photovoltaic System" at http://www.doa.state.wi.us/depb/boe/fact_sheets/fact_sheets_view.asp?factid=22
I read the guide and it seems accurate to me.
1. Your photovoltaic electricity will cost you $.25 per kwh.
2. You don't pay property taxes on photovoltaic systems. This constitutes a subsidy.
3. In most of Wisconsin, the utility has to buy back your excess electricity at retail prices whenever you have an excess. In other places the utility only pays avoided cost, which may be as low as 1.5 cents per kwh. This is another subsidy, coming ultimately from the utility's other customers.
4. You can legally prevent your neighbors' trees from growing tall enough to shade your site.
My impression is that the reader of the guide will have to be a reasonably wealthy enthusiast to do it on the basis of the information provided.
It would be interesting to know how many systems there are in Wisconsin and whether installed systems continue to be used.
There have been news stories early in 2001 about wind systems about to be built in Washington that would produce electricity at $.06 per kwh, later to be reduced to $.03 per kwh. However, at present the state of California is taking proposals for fixed price contracts to produce electricity, and apparently all the proposals being submitted are for natural gas powered plants.
Up to: Main Sustainability page
Send comments to mccarthy@stanford.edu. I sometimes make changes suggested in them. - John McCarthy
The number of hits on this page since 1995 November 13.
Thank you, come again!
An earlier blog I mentioned solar panels and their effect on your bill. When looking at your bill this month remember their are options.
Here's some quick info from Standford.
SOLAR ENERGY
Up to: Main Sustainability Page Up To: Energy PageThis page will have my own opinions about solar energy, but I will gladly include references to other opinions. The Wikipedia page on solar energy looks up-to-date as of 2007 and will presumably be kept up-to-date.
The applications of solar energy include powering earth satellites (successful), powering emergency telephones along highways (successful), heating water with rooftop installations (successful but at best marginally cost-effective where energy is cheap), electric power where grid energy is not available (apparently not cost-effective at present compared to diesel generators) and central station electric generation (not presently economical). This paragraph was written in 2003, but I think it is still accurate. It's now 2007 June, and solar central stations are still not economical.
Central station generation is the application that needs to be compared to present generation methods - burning coal, oil or natural gas or nuclear energy. We have a separate page on nuclear energy. Like nuclear energy, solar energy does not put CO2 into the atmosphere, and so needs to be considered if global warming has to be avoided. It has lots of supporters, especially among those who oppose nuclear energy. There are many schemes for generating electricity from the sun. These include
- Photovoltaic cells. These are an attractive field of research, and have gradually been made more efficient and less costly.
- Power towers. Mirrors focus sunlight on a boiler, which generates steam and then electricity. Here's a Boeing power tower project. The Boeing URL died, so maybe the project has also died.
- Burning biomass. This competes with other uses of agricultural land and requires more labor than present energy generation methods.
- High capital cost. This is probably not insuperable.
- The need to store energy, because of daily, hourly and weekly (from clouds) and seasonal availability.
- The need to transport the energy long distances. This might put cloudy countries at high latitudes at a severe economic disadvantage.
- Maintenance cost. One person, experienced in maintaining complex systems gave me an estimate of one percent a month, e.g. a system costing $40K costs $400 per month to maintain.
Solar Power Satellites
Solar energy is more easily collected in space than on earth. The solar collectors can be permanently aimed at the sun, and there are no clouds. This has given rise to proposals for solar power satellites that would collect solar energy and beam it to earth using microwaves. The energy would be beamed to rectenna fields that would rectify the microwave beams and distribute the energy to users. Advocates of solar power satellites make quite favorable cost estimates, but others are more doubtful about the costs, especially launch and construction costs. The International Space Station will doubtless yield information about such costs. 2007 note: Launch costs have proved much to high. I think SPS will remain dormant until this changes. Here are some articles by advocates of solar power satellites. "Solar Power Satellites: An Idea Whose Time Has Come" by Seth Potter, New York University,"The World's Energy Future Belongs in Orbit" by Dr. Gerrard K. O'Neill,
"Solar Power from Space" by Texas Space Grant Consortium. The last two urls are dead. Another SPS advocacy site It's not an SPS site any more.
SPS2000 is a Japanese proposal for a small system in low earth orbit.
Wind
There is some recent optimism about wind power. Kenetech is said to be building wind turbines capable of generating electricity at 5 cents per kwh. (1997 note: Alas, Kenetech, said to be the leading builder of wind power systems, went bankrupt some time in 1995 or 1996). There was said to be a 500MW plant being built in Carbon County, Wyoming. Another significant build is said to be in the Guadaloupe mountains in West Texas. It will be interesting to see if the cost estimates hold up after the plants are built and if there are enough suitable sites to generate a substantial part of the country's electricity. (I'd change "said to" if I had links to references.)There is information about wind power and other forms of "renewable energy" at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This laboratory hopes to demonstrate technology capable of 4 cents per kwh electricity by the year 2000. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has additional information. Here's a reference to some surveys on the public acceptablility of wind power. Here's a page Solar Energy by some enthusiasts.
1997 August 16: The San Jose Mercury has a story today datelined Washington about the U.S. solar energy industry. Here are some highlights:
- Sales last year amounted to $850 million. (This is less than half the cost of one 1,000 megawatt power plant.)
- The industry relies heavily on exports, and the Government wants to reduce that dependence.
- The U.S. Government has put $1.5 billion into solar research in the last 25 years.
- President Clinton announced a "million solar roofs initiative" intended to achieve that by 2010 - either photovoltaic or hot water heating.
- California will give $54 million in solar subsidies next year.
- 18 states require utilities to buy power from residents and small businesses at retail rates. This is a real racket, because the power is produced whenever the householder has it available rather than when the utility needs it. The effect will be to put peaks into the utility's power requirements curve. Of course, it won't matter if the amount of power put back into the utility's system is very small - which may be likely.
- Here's the last sentence of the article:
But because the utility industry's power grid is so extensive, and its output so inexpensive, only about 30 percent of solar-power sales are within this country. For years to come, solar cells will probably be too expensive to compete directly with electricity from the power grid.
You can download "A Consumer's Guide to Buying a Photovoltaic System" at http://www.doa.state.wi.us/depb/boe/fact_sheets/fact_sheets_view.asp?factid=22
I read the guide and it seems accurate to me.
1. Your photovoltaic electricity will cost you $.25 per kwh.
2. You don't pay property taxes on photovoltaic systems. This constitutes a subsidy.
3. In most of Wisconsin, the utility has to buy back your excess electricity at retail prices whenever you have an excess. In other places the utility only pays avoided cost, which may be as low as 1.5 cents per kwh. This is another subsidy, coming ultimately from the utility's other customers.
4. You can legally prevent your neighbors' trees from growing tall enough to shade your site.
My impression is that the reader of the guide will have to be a reasonably wealthy enthusiast to do it on the basis of the information provided.
It would be interesting to know how many systems there are in Wisconsin and whether installed systems continue to be used.
There have been news stories early in 2001 about wind systems about to be built in Washington that would produce electricity at $.06 per kwh, later to be reduced to $.03 per kwh. However, at present the state of California is taking proposals for fixed price contracts to produce electricity, and apparently all the proposals being submitted are for natural gas powered plants.
Up to: Main Sustainability page
Send comments to mccarthy@stanford.edu. I sometimes make changes suggested in them. - John McCarthy
The number of hits on this page since 1995 November 13.
Thank you, come again!
Monday, August 15, 2011
The reality of solar energy.
The Reality of Solar Energy
By Adam P Barr
Solar Energy is another one of those alternative means to power your hot tub, your TV, and a host of other appliances that consume large amounts of energy. The roommate uses his TV as a night light to keep the angry monkey away or something, I don't know. One day, I broke down the facts. Running the TV on 20 hours a day, 30 days a month is 600 hours a month. Coming out to around $15 a month, this did make a noticeable difference in the bill. Now I will admit that the TV is still being used as a night light but we did identify the cost and he decided it was worth the expense. :) Most of us have large appliances that suck a lot of power. Identifying costs and ways to plot a "beat down" on them is important to $avings and the grid that is getting overloaded.
Putting your HVAC system, your hotwater heater, or any other large or small appliance on a solar source of power is perfectly logical. You can break-even on the cost within a couple years and then its running for free. Being willing to absorb the upfront cost for savings in the future is personal choice, not all will choose. We save for the future, isn't it only logical to cut future expenses by investing the money today to keep money in savings later.
Granted these ideas aren't for everybody you know and not all will jump all over them but, there are good uses for this source of energy. The company researched a few different ideas for alternative power for a good reason. We are on one of my partners parent's land and operating out of their buildings. So in our quest for other ways to get power, we found a solar hot water heater that will be incorporated into our processes and defer over $100/m of operating costs to the ole piggie bank.
There are many reasons to stop and take a look at whats out there. Tax incentives are a major factor but consult a CPA before jumping in head first. For under $5,000 in a lot of cases depending on your state and numerous other factors, you could power an entire average sized house for 20 years with the tax incentives available today.
Practical Green
By Adam P Barr
Solar Energy is another one of those alternative means to power your hot tub, your TV, and a host of other appliances that consume large amounts of energy. The roommate uses his TV as a night light to keep the angry monkey away or something, I don't know. One day, I broke down the facts. Running the TV on 20 hours a day, 30 days a month is 600 hours a month. Coming out to around $15 a month, this did make a noticeable difference in the bill. Now I will admit that the TV is still being used as a night light but we did identify the cost and he decided it was worth the expense. :) Most of us have large appliances that suck a lot of power. Identifying costs and ways to plot a "beat down" on them is important to $avings and the grid that is getting overloaded.
Putting your HVAC system, your hotwater heater, or any other large or small appliance on a solar source of power is perfectly logical. You can break-even on the cost within a couple years and then its running for free. Being willing to absorb the upfront cost for savings in the future is personal choice, not all will choose. We save for the future, isn't it only logical to cut future expenses by investing the money today to keep money in savings later.
Granted these ideas aren't for everybody you know and not all will jump all over them but, there are good uses for this source of energy. The company researched a few different ideas for alternative power for a good reason. We are on one of my partners parent's land and operating out of their buildings. So in our quest for other ways to get power, we found a solar hot water heater that will be incorporated into our processes and defer over $100/m of operating costs to the ole piggie bank.
There are many reasons to stop and take a look at whats out there. Tax incentives are a major factor but consult a CPA before jumping in head first. For under $5,000 in a lot of cases depending on your state and numerous other factors, you could power an entire average sized house for 20 years with the tax incentives available today.
Practical Green
Greetings,
Thanks for taking the time to scout out my words. This will be an informational conduit for a conservative approach to the world of alternative energy. From solar energy to alternative fuels, I will give rational ways to save money, make money, and be different from yesterday in your day to day life.
Who am I? No one special. I have a bachelors in journalism, a sales background, a lot of travel, and a insatiable appetite for research. Learning new things daily by investigation and being in the biz, I want to share what's "practical green" to friends.
Partnered up with some great guys, we run a transport company that is focused on running 100% biofuel in all its carrier operations. We intend to build a green company that is responsible to practicality and uses common sense as its guide to reasonable alternatives.
First Fun Facts:
1. Your grease in your fryer is worth money.
2. Diesel engines will run on processed grease.
Thanks for reading,
Adam P. Barr
8)
Thanks for taking the time to scout out my words. This will be an informational conduit for a conservative approach to the world of alternative energy. From solar energy to alternative fuels, I will give rational ways to save money, make money, and be different from yesterday in your day to day life.
Who am I? No one special. I have a bachelors in journalism, a sales background, a lot of travel, and a insatiable appetite for research. Learning new things daily by investigation and being in the biz, I want to share what's "practical green" to friends.
Partnered up with some great guys, we run a transport company that is focused on running 100% biofuel in all its carrier operations. We intend to build a green company that is responsible to practicality and uses common sense as its guide to reasonable alternatives.
First Fun Facts:
1. Your grease in your fryer is worth money.
2. Diesel engines will run on processed grease.
Thanks for reading,
Adam P. Barr
8)
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