Things We Can Do To Save The Environment - Issue No. 02: Green House Effect

The Green House Effect is the second step in my new weekly blog, "Things We Can Do To Save The Environment".   

 

Giving credit to TIME,  I'd like to thank them for showing us the many ways we can meet these goals of saving our environment.  And yes, even one person can make a difference.

 

The Global Warming Survival Guide

2. Get Blueprints For a Green House

Reducing your impact on the earth is not just a question of what you drive but also of what you live in. Residential energy use accounts for 16% of greenhouse-gas emissions. If you begin thinking green at the blueprint stage, however, low-tech, pragmatic techniques will maximize your new home's efficiency. Installing those systems from the ground up is cheaper than retrofitting. 

"Doing simple things could drastically reduce your energy costs, by 40%," says Oru Bose, a sustainable-design architect in Santa Fe, N.M. For example, control heat, air and moisture leakage by sealing windows and doors. Insulate the garage, attic and basement with natural, nontoxic materials like reclaimed blue jeans. Protect windows from sunrays with large overhangs and double-pane glass. 

Emphasize natural cross ventilation. "You don't need to have 24th century solutions to solve 18th century problems," Bose says. Next, consider renewable energy sources like solar electric systems, compact wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps to help power your home. 

When you're ready to get creative, GreenHomeGuide.com will help you find bamboo flooring, cork tiles, and countertops made from recycled wastepaper. 

Make sure to follow this blog every Tuesday for a new issue of Things We Can Do To Save The Environment.  Each issue is thought-provoking, informative and may hold the key to saving your children and grandchildren's future

Things We Can Do To Save The Environment - Issue No. 01: Turn Food Into Fuel

Corn is the first topic in my new weekly blog, "Things We Can Do To Save The Environment".

Giving credit to TIME,  I'd like to thank them for showing us the many ways we can meet these goals of saving our environment.  And yes, even one person can make a difference.

The Global Warming Survival Guide

1. Turn Food Into Fuel

Are corn husks better than corn for producing energy? Ethanol is the alternative fuel that could finally wean the U.S. from its expensive oil habit and in turn prevent the millions of tons of carbon emissions that go with it. The Department of Energy has doubled its 2005 commitment to funding research into biofuels—any non-petroleum fuel source, including corn, soybean, switchgrass, municipal waste and (ick) used cooking oil. Already, half of the nearly 11 billion bushels of corn produced each year is turned into ethanol, and most new cars are capable of running on E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gas).

Yet the eco-friendly fuel is beginning to look less chummy of late. Some of the 114 ethanol plants in the U.S. use natural gas and, yes, even coal to run the processors. And ethanol has to be trucked. Existing gas pipelines can't carry it because it corrodes iron. Then there are the economics. Producers depend on federal subsidies, and increasing demand for corn as fuel means the kernels keep getting pricier.

That's why researchers are prospecting for more alternatives, preferably ones that don't rely on food crops or a 51 cents-per-gallon tax break. Municipal waste, wood pulp and leftover grain and corn husks are all quite attractive; they can produce something called cellulosic ethanol, which contains more energy than corn. But they don't give up their bounty easily, so for now they're more expensive than corn-based ethanol to produce. Undeterred, researchers at several cellulosic-ethanol plants are developing innovative enzyme concoctions and heating methods to make the process more economic. Nothing like haste to make something out of waste. 

Make sure to follow this blog every Tuesday for a new issue of Things We Can Do To Save The Environment.  Each issue is thought-provoking, informative and may hold the key to saving your children and grandchildren's future

With The Heat Comes The Dried Up Lakes and Rising Utility Bills

Still think it's not global warming?  Check out this picture of a Catfish decaying in a dried up lake in San Angelo Texas, on Monday.  

Things are getting pretty bad.  When my water bill is hovering around $179.00 and my A/C rounding up around $400.00  in one month, we have some serious problems.  Our land is getting scorched at an all time high.  Indices this week will be between 105 - 110 degrees according to CNN, some even as high as 112, like in Killeen, TX.

It's so bad I overheard some people wishing for Hurricanes the other day.  They feel that if a hurricane comes ashore, we can get all the rain that comes with them; that's desperation folks.