Whenever summer does arrive, everyone seems to do there best to make the most of it. However fleeting the nice weather might be, most people waste no time in wheeling out the BBQ’s and the sun loungers.
But just because it’s time for some recreational activities outside, it doesn’t mean you have to stop being environment conscious. Opportunities to be eco-friendly are abundant in today’s society, and that includes during the summer. (more…)
Briquetting is a process that agglomerate powders and fines together to produce solid briquettes under high pressure, and most of the time, with the help of binder and high pressure.
Initially, coal briquettes are made during WWII for home heating in cold winter. To this day, coal briquetting is still an effective way to recycle coal fines and upgrade LRC (low rank coal). This technique is widely used in countries that are rich in coal resources, like India, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, China, etc. (more…)
It’s the 303rd birthday of political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (pictured), best known for his 1762 masterpiece The Social Contract, the central point of which is that a government is legitimate to the degree that is exists via the consent of the governed. This is one of the guiding principles in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, as well as the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21 of which reads: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.”
This makes today a good time to think about the concept of “the will of the people” and ask ourselves: OK, what do we want? It’s a question that has many dozens of equally good answers: a cleaner environment, better public education, universal access to healthcare, equal justice for all, a cessation of military aggression, etc. (more…)
A large storm came through Tuesday night and we lost power for 43 hours. During that time I ran the house on my little solar PV system and batteries. My new inverter provided clean power without shutting down when the battery voltage got close to fully charged the way my old one did. This allowed me to leave it running for the entire time nonstop so the fridge always had power. Also watched about 4 hours of TV per night.
The rest of the neighborhood was running generators and it was just loud up here the whole time. I actually wore ear plugs to sleep.
A reader from Africa notes: I was watching this YouTube video of Mr. Shields speaking on renewable energy investment opportunities, and I must say we have something in common. I have been researching using sugarcane bagasse to make paper. I am from a small country in Africa that generates a lot of sugarcane, this is an opportunity that is too good to pass by and furthermore, there is a huge market for this product. I seek for your advice.
I had a contact in this space many years ago, but, after dealing with him for a month or two, I realized he was a fraud and I dropped him like a hot rock. (more…)
Frequent commenter Larry Lemmert remarks on my post in which I wrote to a reader:
Do you find the notion that we can have a robust economy without destroying our planet to be absurd? Why? Personally, I believe that true prosperity will come from evolving a new economy that takes care of people, rather than killing them. Why is that so hard to accept?…..What if we change the focus of our efforts and investments from fossil fuels and war, and directed them to education and cleantech? Is there some reason that this simply won’t work? I sure don’t see it……It’s not a sin to try to make good things happen in the world, and the concept is perfectly compatible with a healthy economy.
The Dutch have a much more personal relationship to the issue of global warming… it will cost them a great deal more in managing their dike system…..Even if we were to stop all emissions immediately, we’ll likely still see a sea-level increase of ~2 m over the next century. That would result in a VERY significant increase in flood control costs (as ~2/3rds of the country is vulnerable to flooding,)…..So it matters a little more to the Dutch that we target global warming as rapidly as possible. They won’t be able to pressure other countries effectively unless they can show that they themselves are going way above and beyond within their own borders….If we in the U.S. continue the rate of emissions drop from 2007 to 2013 for another 8 years, we will bring our emissions down to 17% less than 1990 levels. We are dropping our emissions at a rate that is almost as fast as the Dutch, even though they stand to lose 2/3rds of their country, while we will only lose portions of Florida, Georgia, SC, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Thanks, Glenn; I’m always amazed at the remarkable grasp you have on all this. (more…)
Two cleantech entrepreneurs wrote to me in the last couple of hours; one discussed a 30 MW wind farm in Michigan and the other a biogas plant in Poland—both legitimate renewable energy investment opportunities, but both flawed in the same way: the requirement for additional development capital. Projects that aren’t shovel-ready scare investors, and rightfully so. (more…)
A reader wants to know if the results he’s achieved with his newly designed solar thermal hot water heater are compelling. He used his panel solar absorber area of 16.25 sf to heat 50 gallons water 55.2 degrees F in 5 hours.
Here’s what I get, using q = m * C * deltaT and energy = power * time: (more…)
Whenever summer does arrive, everyone seems to do there best to make the most of it. However fleeting the nice weather might be, most people waste no time in wheeling out the BBQ’s and the sun loungers.
Frequent commenter Larry Lemmert remarks on my post in which I wrote to a reader:
In response to my post: 
