Electric composters like the NatureMill promise to make the process completely hassle-free. The NatureMill uses 5 kilowatt-hours a month—about as much as running a room air conditioner for five hours—which the company claims is less than a diesel-burning garbage truck would use to haul away the same trash. As an added bonus, the machine can apparently handle meat and dairy, which are verboten in most home compost systems. The major downsides: The unit is pricey—$299 for the cheapest model—which can be hard to swallow when even a relatively fancy, ready-made worm bin costs about $75, plus worms.
http://www.slate.com/id/2257025?nav=wp
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Think green
A separate tax credit is available for homeowners who install alternative energy equipment. It equals 30 percent of what a homeowner spends on qualifying property such as solar electric systems, solar hot water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, and wind turbines, including labor costs. There is no cap on this tax credit.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Solar Energy: Saved by the Sun: Nova
This is a 56 minutes documentary on solar energy. It is surprising to see how Germany is leading the renewable energy program. It shows how we can harness the power of the Sun to reduce the Carbon print and lower the consumption of fossil fuels. A German farmer generates solar energy as part of his job. He get about $600,000 a year due to a German Government's renewable energy program. He makes a profit of about $60,000 a year.
Most people dismiss solar panels as expensive and affordable only by the wealthy. 14 out of 50 states in US provide assistance. So a middle class family spent only $12,000 (half the cost) for installing solar panels for their home. They have saved 50% on energy bills.
Whole Foods is leading the solar energy adoption in US. It is not paying a cent for solar panels. It is installed by a solar company that makes an upfront investment on the solar panels in exchange for guaranteed purchase of power by Whole Foods for the next 20 years. The solar company provides a price guarantee that none of the other non-renewable energy companies can provide due to price fluctuation (rising prices usually). So Whole Foods benefits by saving on energy.
Some of challenges of Solar Energy are:
1) If the solar power generating facility is far away from the homes, it loses energy when it transmits the power over copper. So it is better to have it closer to where the power is needed.
2) Only 1 frequency of the Sun is actually converted to Power. Two more frequency is deflected from the panel and is wasted. The panels will be more costly if all three frequency of the Sun is used to generate electricity.
Fossil fuels create political conflicts and cause of global warming. Germany provides it citizens a cash incentive. So there is a boom in the installation of Solar panels. People make money from the cash incentive and it is surprising to see Germans installing solar panels on their neighbors roof and sell the generated power. Solar power should be part of the energy mix that can solve the energy crisis that we are facing globally.
It is a shame that USA generates only 1% of the power from Solar energy whereas Germany is projected to generate as much as 33% of the power from it. I wish the politicians in USA would take their thumbs out of their asses and do something to take lead in renewable energy.
Most people dismiss solar panels as expensive and affordable only by the wealthy. 14 out of 50 states in US provide assistance. So a middle class family spent only $12,000 (half the cost) for installing solar panels for their home. They have saved 50% on energy bills.
Whole Foods is leading the solar energy adoption in US. It is not paying a cent for solar panels. It is installed by a solar company that makes an upfront investment on the solar panels in exchange for guaranteed purchase of power by Whole Foods for the next 20 years. The solar company provides a price guarantee that none of the other non-renewable energy companies can provide due to price fluctuation (rising prices usually). So Whole Foods benefits by saving on energy.
Some of challenges of Solar Energy are:
1) If the solar power generating facility is far away from the homes, it loses energy when it transmits the power over copper. So it is better to have it closer to where the power is needed.
2) Only 1 frequency of the Sun is actually converted to Power. Two more frequency is deflected from the panel and is wasted. The panels will be more costly if all three frequency of the Sun is used to generate electricity.
Fossil fuels create political conflicts and cause of global warming. Germany provides it citizens a cash incentive. So there is a boom in the installation of Solar panels. People make money from the cash incentive and it is surprising to see Germans installing solar panels on their neighbors roof and sell the generated power. Solar power should be part of the energy mix that can solve the energy crisis that we are facing globally.
It is a shame that USA generates only 1% of the power from Solar energy whereas Germany is projected to generate as much as 33% of the power from it. I wish the politicians in USA would take their thumbs out of their asses and do something to take lead in renewable energy.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Recycle old tennis balls - Save on shipping costs
Recycle old tennis balls to reduce the trash that goes into the landfill. Save on shipping cost by using one the ideas below:
1. Give the tennis balls to a "nursing home" so that they can put them on people's walkers (instead of wearing out the rubber bottom plugs that come with the walker).
2. Hang them on a string from the ceiling in the garage so that I know when my car is far enough forward for the garage door to close safely.
3. Use them as a bumper on the cable of a home weight machine. Are there other places that they would be useful as a "bumper"?
4. Use tennis balls as a packing material when you box and ship instead of Styrofoam chips.
"Books for the Barrios" program in Concord, CA uses #4. Furthermore, there is a high school "senior" at Las Lomas High School, who lives in Alamo, who is willing to drive to collect old tennis balls for them. So perhaps you can use this information.
Here is the contact info: Stuart Moore Alamo, CA weepter@yahoo. com (925) 906-9905 Books For The Barrios 2350 Whitman Road, Suite D Concord, CA www.booksforthebarrios.com (925) 687-7701
1. Give the tennis balls to a "nursing home" so that they can put them on people's walkers (instead of wearing out the rubber bottom plugs that come with the walker).
2. Hang them on a string from the ceiling in the garage so that I know when my car is far enough forward for the garage door to close safely.
3. Use them as a bumper on the cable of a home weight machine. Are there other places that they would be useful as a "bumper"?
4. Use tennis balls as a packing material when you box and ship instead of Styrofoam chips.
"Books for the Barrios" program in Concord, CA uses #4. Furthermore, there is a high school "senior" at Las Lomas High School, who lives in Alamo, who is willing to drive to collect old tennis balls for them. So perhaps you can use this information.
Here is the contact info: Stuart Moore Alamo, CA weepter@yahoo. com (925) 906-9905 Books For The Barrios 2350 Whitman Road, Suite D Concord, CA www.booksforthebarrios.com (925) 687-7701
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