Archive for Go Green Questions For Thought
November 9, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged carbon emissions, cattle flatuence, CFU cow fart unit, climate change, cow farts, cow farts harmful to atmosphere, greenhouse gases, methane
You would not usually associate cow farts with climate change, but there is a lot of talk about cows lately. Methane is a product of cattle flatuence and a signifigant grrenhouse gas. At least 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases are produced from cattle. Scientists have now isolated the cow farting gene. The Environmental Protection Agency says cows are responsible for about 80 million metric tons of methane gas each year. Now that the gene has been isolated and studied, vaccines will soon be available against agricultural flatuence. There are different solutions in different countries. A tax in Estoria was approved – farmers will have to pay extra for cow farts. Who would have thought? Some farmers are changing the cows diets. The UN – says cow farts are more harmful to the atmosphere than man. The top destroyer of the environment is not the car, the plane or George Bush – it is the cow! There is now an approved universal standard for measuring greenhouse gases and carbon credits. it is a CFU or cow fart unit.
November 9, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged phone books in an electronic world, yellow pages go green
Are phone books still used in this electronic age? I think that most of us do not use phone books anymore, but we still get them automatically delivered to our door, even if we do not want them. That seems like a waste of paper. The non-profit oprganization YellowPagesGo Green.org says that more than 500 million phone directories are printed and distributed every year in the U.S. Along with this goes a lot of waste. Some 19 million trees, and 7 million barrels of oil (not including the gasoline used for local deliveries) is used. Over 1.6 billion pounds of paper is generated from these felled trees. Producing the directories also uses up 3.2 billion killowatt hours of electricity and generates 268,000 cubic yards of solid waste that ends up in landfills. These numbers are staggering. At this time, there is no way that we can opt out of receiving these directories. The directory publishers have been trying to operate in an environmentally responsible way by using water soluble ink, and recycling friendly glues, but much more can be done. As consumers we should be aware of this waste of paper. Eventually directories will become obsolete with the widespread use of the internet, but in the meanwhile, if you do not use the phone books, ask to be removed from the delivery list.
November 8, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged energy efficient homes
No, the number of energy efficient homes is low. Energy efficient homes are becoming quite popular with the new green generation, but the percentage is only 15%. The reason for this is that a large percentage of homes are older. They have energy standards that go along with the time the home was built, which may not be up to today’s standard. The new homes are a little more energy efficient, but not “green” homes. The expense to build a home with solar power and solar hot water heaters etc. would be far too expensive for the builder. He would not be able to make a profit on the sale of the home. It is really up to the owner of an older home to do a green alteration or for a person interested in building a new home to talk to a green builder. To increase the percentage of energy efficient homes, we need to start educating people, and for the government to give incentives so that people will be able to ceate their own energy. There are incentives now for doing green renovations such as $1,500 tax credits, but we really need more. We need to get the banks on board to help the builders. An appraisal for a green home should be higher, but currently it is not.
November 8, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged harnessing the sun's rays, solar energy, solar power, sun's energy
No. currently we only use about 1% of the sun’s energy. More energy falls to the Earth each day from the sun than we could use in 27 years. We need to find a way to harness it. There is an enormous potential in the sun’s rays. With new solar power research, hopefully we will be able to tap into it soon.
November 8, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged convert ocean energy into electrical energy, Harnessing energy, New Technology, tidal turbines, tides, tides to create energy, underwater turbines, wind turbines
It is a fact that tides can create energy. Researchers are working on ways to convert ocean energy into electrical energy. Oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface. Harnessing this energy has been a dream for years, and we are getting closer to it becoming a reality. Ocean currents can turn underwater turbines (similar to wind turbines). Tides turn the turbines which generate electricity that can be transferred by cable to shore. For tidal energy to work well, you need large increases in tides – at least 16 feet between low and high tides. Some plants are already operating. One plant in France makes enough energy to power 240,000 homes. Tidal turbines are a new technology. They work like wind turbines but because water is about 800 times denser than wind, tidal turbines will have to be much sturdier than wind turbines and they will be more expensive.
November 8, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged biomass resources, gasoline, ion gases, liquid petochemical, methano, non-renewable fuel, renewable fuel, wood alchohol
Yes, it is a fact that it takes approximately 1/2 gallon of oil to make a gallon of methanol. Methanol occurs naturally in the atmosphere as a byproduct of biomass and landfill decomposition, but as an industrial product, methanol is a liquid petrochemical that can be made from renewable and non-renewable fuel containing carbon and hydrogen. Methanol is called wood alchohol because it can be made from renewable and non-renewable resources like wood. Most methanol today is made from natural gas because it is cheaper. It is a fact that methanol is safer than gasoline. It is used in some racing cars for this reason and because it burns cooler.
November 7, 2009 · Filed under Go Green Questions For Thought · Tagged Farmers Almanac, global cooling, Global warming, Is global warming real, scientists and global cooling, scientists and global warming, theories of global cooling, theories og global warming
The answer to the global warming or global cooling question depends on who you ask. We find that everyone has a different opinion. Some scientists believe that global warming exists, but they have disagreements over the reason – is it man-made or is it a natural process the Earth is going through? The people who believe global warming is real are very strong in the convictions. There have been many books written giving us a very gloomy feeling about where the Earth may be heading. Television shows have been broadcast giving us the same feeling of gloom. There are scientists who are not convinced that global warming is occurring. They actually have data to support the theory of global cooling. It is confusing to have such different findings. I feel that it is better to be on the safe side and believe global warming exists. If it does exist, I would much rather know I did something to help then to have done nothing at all. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is forcasting a cool year and maybe decades of global cooling. They suggest that cool, not warm may become the future. I guess only time will tell.
