Energy/CO2 savings

[DamonHD]

Our total household CO2 emissions from primary energy, eg mains electricity and mains natural gas, fell from about 6t (for 2 of us) 2 or 3 years ago, to 2.2t (for 4 of us from mid-November!) in 2008.

Electricity consumption fell from about 9MWh/y in (say) 2006/2007 to 2MWh this year, with 0.9MWh being offset by PV, so 1.1MWh net consumed from the grid.

Gas consumption has fallen modestly from ~9.1MWh/y to about 8.9MWh/y but this a pretty harsh winter so far (much higher heating-degree-days, and no longer pumping in several MWh of electrical heat from my servers at home) and some of the most energy-saving measures for space-heating have only been in a couple of months, so I'm very happy with performance.  For example, for this month local heating degree days (for a base temperature of 12C which suits us) were 233 [typo, fixed on request], compared to 192 last year, with our gas/heat demand only about 39kWh/day compared to about 53kWh/day last year, and never over 60kWh/day unlike last year.

See all the gruesome detail at:

http://www.earth.org.uk/saving-electricity.html

Have a happy (and warm) New Year.

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

Whoops, in my excitement got the degree days wrong: 233 for this month not 361.

Still a ~60% improvement in heating efficiency!

Rgds

Damon

[windstuffnow]

Nice job cutting back!  I've done the same over the years and hope to be able to do better in the future.

I have 7 large Co2 scrubbers and several smaller ones.  Each of the large scrubbers will remove the Co2 and provide clean oxygen for a family of 4, enough here to handle approximately 40 people.

I didn't build them, and didn't pay millions of dollars for them, nor are they taxed.  God put them here... we call them Trees!

Global Warming is simply a political move to create 12 new taxes. ( Carbon taxes ).   The greedy strip trees and leave the land empty for profits.  They messed it up and they want us to pay for it...

.  

[tecker]

The Co2 emissions and poison in general  have to be itemized so that the residents of an area can control what has being mismanaged . Trees are a big portion of the balance that is off by 20 to 40 percent depending on the area , high concentrations for one area like SMSA of a city of 40,000 or more are way off but you don't get many people Save Folks Like Damon that really give a Slip  about anything but the comfort zone which is not really that bad .SO it goes untended until the area is to hot to handle and the people have to be Sued to comply .

 Basically those who are aware of a  Area mismanagement  have to out Think the  the pilots of the garbage scow with a technology front that is in touch with ready data and have ready alternatives  So builds and  property use are not mandated but easily kept  in an absolute purity that rivals nature .

 Four  ready approaches are RE ,.Hydrogen over fuel,  electric decentralization and thermal depolymerization . All of which create jobs and leave plenty of room for those who run the garbage scow to move forward on.

Implementation can be mandated at first get out of the spiral down and the positives are monetarily the way to go as we move on

 One of the things that works well that I 've tried on my self  is to expose ones self to high concentrations of greenhouse gases to get a firm grip on the symptoms of exposure now when i go into plants and areas of high concentrations I am aware almost immediately you would be surprised at the number of place that in jeopardy And how much those concentrations effect thinking and activity .

It sounds like ED is being subjected to the same wave front as many of us have . That is the major reason that people let go of their drive . I say to those resposably for managing this front you wil change and you will like it>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Jon Miller]

That is great news.

Seems like you hard work is paying off now.

hope the savings continue.

[TomW]

I promise to stop burning tires for heat and go 100% trees. That should lower my carbon impact considerably.

Honestly I will.

(JK)

Tom

[jonas302]

oh come on Tom with earth day right aroud the corner(:

[DamonHD]

If your burn your more annoying fossil-fuel-hell-in-a-handbasket neighbours (that drive SUVs unnecessarily and have overlarge houses for example) for fuel, then it'd be the gift to the climate that goes on giving...

Rgds

Damon

[tecker]

  A tire for a fire there's got to be a country song there

 " I was tired of bein cold so I burned the tires off my baby's Truck

   She threw her keys at me and I did'nt Duck

   It was bad bad for a month or so

   she was  in and out a bed with every one I know  

   My mother  saw her with my brother at a bar

   she heard they were gona steal a car

   run away to Nashville and be a star

    that was more than I could stand so snached her up

    tied her fast to the bed of my Truck

   I was haulin ass driven drunk

   when I saw the blue lights and I hit a skunk

   the police swirrrrved to miss the skunk

   He lost contol flipped and rolled I

   had to stop

   and go back for that boy

   Staggered to the wreak and My heart  dropped  

   he was my bosses boy Now all this explainin required

   All for alittle warmth of four  tire  fire  

   There all basses coverd

[DamonHD]

It should be in the charts within days!  %->

Rgds

Damon

[bob golding]

according to new scientist CO2 is not the big problem, methane is. 25 times more potent than CO2. ONE cow produces the same amount of methane as 1 suv doing 10000 kilometres. i am mainly veggy anyway but makes you think how much methane is produced from the fast food industry.  not to distract from your efforts damon. just trying to point out the uphill struggle we all have to get across the real facts of global warming. apparantly kangaroos dont emit methane. bet they are a bit of a challenge to try and keep fenced though.

cheers

bob golding

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I'm trying to switch some of my (and my family's) consumption away from beef and lamb in particular (though I forgot and had a lamb curry this lunchtime), as those are the most CO2 (and water and space) intense meats AFAIK.

So, no, a very valid point, and when I can get a better grip on those aspects I shall tackle them.  Look forward to my flatulence-reduction charts by month!  B^>

One of the reasons for my compost heaps at home is precisely to reduce methane produced if that stuff (waste food, and some paper and cardboard) went to landfill.

But CO2 remains a very real problem IMHO!

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

PS. I think I could keep one very small and weak kangaroo tied down in my very small garden (with apologies to Rolf Harris)!

Rgds

Damon

[SparWeb]

Hi Damon, I'm impressed.  I'm gradually moving wind power into my life, but it's still hardly making a dent in my overall consumption.  I have made important cut-backs by changing car, installing a programmable thermostat and using CFL's.  This has only achieved a savings of about 1/3.

If it's of interest, I've been reading a LOT about the climate and economics lately, and I'm still having trouble with Al Gore's doom and gloom.  Personally, the conservation of finite resources and saving money is plenty of justification.  I don't burden myself with "carbon guilt".

It might seem odd that a proponent of RE like myself is a skeptic of man-made global warming.  Usually I don't stick my head out, either.  But I see you going to a lot of trouble to cut energy consumption drastically, and you state your concern is CO2.  Hopefully the costs of reduction is recovered in lower costs at time goes on.

[DamonHD]

Hi,

Sorry: only just saw your posting.

Yes, for whatever reason I do find global warming plausible enough to attempt even my feeble pissing against the wind to reduce CO2 emissions.

Why?  Well one thing you learn in banking is to value the cost or value of an event as the cost (value) if it happens multiplied by the probability of it happening.  So even if I (or you) don't believe that the AGW theories are fully or mainly or even more than partially likely to be right, the cost if they are right is so huge I think that we have to make an effort because the result of the multiplication is still very unpleasant indeed.

But yes you are quite right: just conserving those valuable and irreplaceable hydrocarbons that are so much more useful than just for burning is reason enough to conserve.

Personally I'm not a doomer, and a little austerity rather than profligate conspicuous consumerism will probably be good for our collective soul...  If you want more doom read theoildrum.com!

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

And on your last point... As it happens our (premium-tariff 'all green') electricity bill sfor the entire year were about £170, about 1/3rd of the average UK domestic electricity bill.

So that's good and might even be a 30 year payback under a generous accounting interpretation, especially if interest rates and inflation stay low or go negative...

Rgds

Damon

[SparWeb]

...a little austerity rather than profligate conspicuous consumerism

Exactly.  I recently subscribed to Homepower magazine, expecting to see a lot of DIY stuff like you find in their website archives.  Uh-Uh.  Now it's "look at me and my 100,000 USD system, am I ever going to save the planet with this stuff".

And to refine my earlier statement: Climate change is happening.  It happens all the time.  Can't stop it.  Maybe we're affecting it, but it's hardly something humans can stop or even steer.  The "hockey stick" curve was a fake.  The thought of restricting economic development in the 3rd world because we "don't like it when you burn coal" makes me nauseous.  I could go on... but that would really be off topic!

[Madscientist267]

No, no, no! Thats all wrong. LOL

Don't stop eating the meat, it's tasty, and milk is also a good thing. There's a better way to beat the problem!

Since methane is lighter than air, the fix is simple: Make "methane barns" (feed 'em in the front, milk comes out of the bottom, methane out of the back), collect it with giant hoods (good place to mount all those solar panels too!) and bottle it up for later use to cook up that steak you carved from that arrogant angus (theres one in every crowd, right?). Plant some trees around the whole plot to convert your CO2 (from burning the methane) back into oxygen, and it's almost like you were never even there! >X-D

Steve