Green SAHM

The solar decathlon is coming up in just a couple days. it’s an event where teams compete to create energy efficient solar powered houses.

The BP Solar Decathlon is also sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. At the site you can learn all about the event and the teams.

No matter how you feel about companies like BP, in a lot of ways it’s nice to see some competitions rewarding people for working on the challenge of creating quality solar power homes. With all the progress companies have been making with solar, I keep hoping it will be more affordable by the time I can afford a home. I do hope something practical comes of things like this.

The teams come from colleges such Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, MIT and many other universities. The solar village will be built on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The teams have already built their solar homes, which are being transported to the site for the decathlon. The opening ceremonies will be on October 12, with awards on October 19.

Harkening back to my physics geek days, I can’t help but envy the teams, even though this wasn’t an area I worked on. Hopefully it won’t be that much longer before the technology becomes something more commonly useable.

Sometimes being socially responsible can be an excuse to have an extra good time. And so the people behind World Alzheimer’s Day (September 21) are encouraging people to throw a Purple Party as a fundraiser. In fact, if you can do this during the month of September, all funds raised will be matched dollar for dollar by the Harrah’s Foundation.

Helping people with Alzheimer’s is a great cause. I’ve been fortunate and not lost any family to that one, but my husband’s grandmother had a severe case before she died some years back, and it was very hard on him and his family.

The site has a variety of basic party ideas and how you can make it work as a fundraiser. Parties can be registered, and the first 500 to do so with a promise of at least $150 raised get a free party kit. Guests can also donate online, making it easier to ensure that your fundraising efforts get to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Of course, my own idea would be to think about ways to keep the party green and fun while doing the fundraising. It can be pretty hard to limit the amount of disposable stuff you use during a party, even for a good cause, but it’s always worth the effort. One of the site’s suggestions certainly goes low waste - emailing the invitations. The only trouble is of course that it’s not how everyone likes to be invited, but I think it’s not really that bad.

This is a topic very dear to anyone who has watched a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. If this is you, consider taking the time to hold your own Purple Party.

I can joke sometimes that my water heating is extremely efficient, at least during the summer. You see, the water come up under concrete, as near as I can figure, and so on warm days the cold water starts out warm. On hot days, we can even get steam.

Obviously, we don’t let the kids touch the water until we’re actually getting cold water.

Unfortunately, I rarely need hot water at the times I can get it that easily. So like most people I rely on the water heater.

As a renter, I don’t have a choice in water heaters. I’ve told my husband that when the time comes, I absolutely want to look at a tankless hot water heater. The efficiency really appeals to me.

The Fast Water Heater Company offers these. They also have water heater installation in my area. They’re pretty much a West Coast company by the looks of things, as their site shows service areas in Washington, Oregon and California.

Their site is very helpful. There’s a section where they give you tips on what to do when you need help fast. When you have a leak, whether it be gas or water, you don’t want to wait for the repair guy. You want it stopped now!

Their site also reminded me of another thing. The landlords don’t have earthquake straps on the water heater (they’re in a cabinet in the garage). I really need to get that taken care of. It’s bugged me since we moved in here.

Having green water heaters is just one of the little things you can do for the environment. Sometimes that means repairing the old one, other times it means seeing what can be done to send the old off for recycling while you get a newer, more efficient water heater.

All in all, the Fast Water Heater Company website has some good information on water heaters, even if you aren’t in their service area.

This is an interesting idea. British Gas is offering a zero carbon green energy tariff. The tariff goes toward Kyoto compliant offset schemes.

I am of course a fan of green energy. I love watching all the potential green energy sources being developed. Programs like this encourage more investment in green sources. It seems pretty interesting to me.

Of course, since this program is in the UK, I know little more about the company that what can be seen on the site. But I like seeing what they’re working on to give people options to include more green energy in their lives.

Press Release:

BRITISH GAS LAUNCHES GREENEST ENERGY TARIFF

9 August 2007: British Gas has announced it is launching two new green energy tariffs, Zero Carbon, which will be the greenest tariff available on the domestic market and Future Energy. British Gas has launched the tariffs, in response to the increasing demand for green energy products.

Householders signing up to the Zero Carbon tariff will:
• reduce their household energy carbon emissions to zero through Kyoto compliant offset schemes which will meet the new Defra requirements
• help fund a direct increase in investment in renewable energy generated in the UK
• contribute to the new British Gas green fund which will:
o invest in developing new renewable technologies such as wave power
o oversee a programme to help schools in the UK reduce their CO2 emissions

Gearóid Lane, Managing Director British Gas New Energy said,”Our new tariff responds to consumer demand for truly green energy solutions. It is essential that customers have confidence in green energy tariffs and that their credibility is not damaged by tariffs that claim to be green but in reality do not deliver any incremental environmental benefits. Green tariffs are moving from niche to mainstream products and we’re leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available.”

Under the government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), electricity suppliers in the UK are already required to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity through methods such as wind farms which, unlike traditional power plants, produce zero carbon emissions. For 2007/2008 this figure is set at 7.9%.

In a recent report, the National Consumer Council (NCC) raised concerns that some energy suppliers are packaging electricity which is produced under the RO scheme as “green”, yet it delivers no additional environmental benefits. The NCC called on energy suppliers to take steps beyond their legal requirements and offer green energy tariffs that provide genuine additional environmental benefits, in particular CO2 emissions reduction.

British Gas worked with Global Action Plan and The Climate Group’s “We’re in this Together” campaign to develop Zero Carbon which goes further than any other green tariff in meeting these requirements offering consumers the only zero carbon option on the market.

The tariff carries a premium of £84 per year, reflecting the higher cost of producing energy through lower carbon emission schemes.

Virginia Graham, Chair of Global Action Plan, said, “The British Gas Zero Carbon tariff delivers on all three of the essential requirements of a green tariff which are: additionality, transparency and verifiability. As such it is a very welcome new offering in the market. Consumers signing up to the tariff can be confident that they are getting 12 per cent more renewable energy than they would otherwise have got. The carbon emissions from their electricity and gas will also be offset with emissions reductions from projects accredited by the United Nations.”

Zero Carbon is one of the first initiatives launched through the ‘We’re in this Together’ campaign, which was launched in April 07 as an alliance of some of the UK’s biggest brands who are all working to help their customers reduce their impact on the climate.

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group and founder of ‘We’re in this Together’ said, “We’re committed to offering people ways to make a real impact on climate change through Together.com. We’ve worked with British Gas to ensure that Zero Carbon is a genuine step forward in delivering more environmental benefits than any other tariff currently available.”

British Gas’s second green energy tariff, Future Energy, offers an alternative green electricity tariff at a premium of just £20 per year. Customers signing up to this tariff will contribute to a green fund which will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to UK schools. Money from the fund will also be invested in development of future renewable technologies and sources.

To sign up customers can call British Gas on 0845 604 0055 or visit www.britishgas.co.uk

I saw an opportunity today to post today about a controversy over by Lake Michigan. Seeing the debate, I thought it important to bring up here. According to the Chicago Tribune, BP has been given a break and are being allowed to dump more waste into the lake. But BP feels that this articles is unfairly slanted. They point to another article by the News-Sentinel as a more fair representation of the facts.

And here are the facts as BP tells them. Let’s take a look at how each of the articles treat a few of the statements from BP.

Only treated water into Lake Michigan
What is released from our refinery is treated water that is more than 99.9% water - not sludge. All sludge is treated separately, according to state and federal requirements, and never discharged into Lake Michigan.

The Chicago Tribune article does indeed make mention of sludge. They say that 4,925 pounds of sludge will be dumped into the lake daily. So does the News-Sentinel article. Sludge is not defined by either, and certainly it’s a word that evokes an ugly picture. BP clearly disputes that what they are discharging is sludge.

What makes the final difference to me is what that final 0.1% is composed of. That’s just under 5 pounds a day of whatever they aren’t managing to get out of the water before they dump it. The Chicago Tribune notes that the sludge would be primarily heavy metals, which are very hard on the environment. If we assume that this is true for the treated water released, this is not the best thing for the environment. I can grant that 5 pounds a day is not that much, compared to what could be released, but can I really be pleased about more heavy metals being released?

Well within legal limits
A new water discharge permit allows the refinery’s average ammonia discharge to increase, but at levels that will still be less than half of those that federal environmental guidelines could allow.

Both articles state that BP will be releasing 54% more ammonia, in addition to the 35% more sludge. While this is certainly disappointing, I feel this is best considered in conjunction with another statement by BP:

Continuous improvement
For the benefit of the environment, the Whiting Refinery voluntarily reduced total suspended solids in its water discharge by 40% in just the past four years.

I have to admit that this is an excellent degree of improvement, but that they’ve wiped it out with these new changes is frankly infuriating.

It is also important to note that BP is still within federal guidelines, although they have been given something of a break from Indiana regulations.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the whole deal. As I see things we are in a bit of a bind when it comes to oil. Ideally I would love for this country to be less dependent on oil, but the simple fact is that we do depend on it right now. Getting the crude oil from Canada at least means the crude has traveled less of a distance and is from a more stable region. Refinery capacity is getting to be an issue, as no one wants to allow them to be built, due to the environmental damage they cause.

What do you think? Given the resources I’ve cited, or ones you know of, is this a good thing overall or a bad one?