Category Archives: Research

June 4, 2012

Why reduce your footprint at all?

By EchoDelta

Why reduce our footprint? What is the need or the drive? Does it matter? What does it change? Who cares?

I have found that in trying to answer these questions I bounce between three perspectives.

Planet-as-spaceship: A study on the physical/chemical conditions that make (human) life possible on Earth

Ecosystem-of-life: A study on how communities of humans can coexist with nature in sustainable systems.

Spiritual-community: A spiritual perspective on doing what’s right for the sake of yourself and others.

Whimsically, these three frames are typically represented  using wheels, so yay.

Planet-as-spaceship

The earth is a closed system (as far as we know: except for the sunlight, radiation, and chunks of space stuff coming in; and radiation, heat and gases and spaceships going out). For life as we know it  to exist in this planet (and specifically, human life) there are certain physical characteristics that need to be maintained. Scientists are making progress in determining what are the metrics within which we can live on the planet, defining what is called a ‘habitable envelope’.  If environmental measurements go outside the envelope, species survival is at risk.

The best attempt at determining the key boundaries of this habitable envelope has been published by Nature in their Planetary Boundaries special issue:

http://www.nature.com/news/specials/planetaryboundaries/index.html

Here you can download the actual paper “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity“. Bad news is that we’ve blown three boundaries, and still can’t get a grasp on how to measure two others. Good news is that we are starting to think about, measure and track these boundaries. The worse situation we can be in is one in which we don’t even know what they are – which accurately describes the state of affairs for most of humanity’s history.

If you make lifestyle changes that help rope these 10 boundaries in, you are helping save all life.

Planetary Boundaries as published in Nature

Ecosystem-of-life

Permaculture is an area of research that takes a dynamic-systems perspective at sustainable living. The system encompasses ethics and design principles, Health & Spiritual Well-being, Finances & Economics, Resource Governance & Stewardship, Building, Technology, Education and Culture.

The core tenets of permaculture are (from wikipedia):

  • Care of the Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply.
  • Care of People: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.
  • Setting Limits to Population and Consumption: By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.

While suburban high-income environments are FAR away from a permaculture ideal, every time you help make incremental progress towards the principles outlined in the discipline you are helping in your bit. For example, you may not be involved in agricultural land stewardship, but you can decide to stop using artificial pesticides on your lawn, or replace a patch of your grassy garden with some cool vegetables and local plants. The spiral around the flower underscores the incremental nature of effort.

Permaculture Flower

Spiritual-Community

We should not discount that there are ways of life and decisions we take that make us feel better because they are right. Buddhism has developed the eightfold path “to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion” It is typically represented as a wheel, too. When we do things that are good for our mind, body, community, other living beings, and the planet, we feel a sense of well-being that is strong yet humble and ego-less.

The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path (wikipedia)

Division Eightfold Path factors
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā) 1. Right view Try to look at life, nature, and the world as they really are.
2. Right intention Aspire to rid yourself of whatever qualities you know to be wrong and immoral.
Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) 3. Right speech Make best use of your words.
4. Right action Avoid harm to yourself or to others
5. Right livelihood Do not to engage in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm for other living beings.
Concentration (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi) 6. Right effort Make an effort to abandon all the wrong and harmful thoughts, words, and deeds.
7. Right mindfulness Keep your mind alert to phenomena that affect the body and mind.
8. Right concentration Meditate to supress desire, anger, sloth, restleness, and doubt.

Conclusion – How to use the wheels

Try these wheels out when explaining to yourself or others why you want to reduce your footprint.

In different occasions, you may find it resonates more to rely on the shock of the cold realities of the physics that make life possible life, on the appeal of living integrated to our ecosystem, or the wellbeing from doing what is good for yourself and others.

Related articles

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Question, Research

May 15, 2012

More Details on PSE Green Power

By EchoDelta

I got a great piece of feedback from Heather Mulligan, PSE Green Power Market Manager, about how the extra cost of the Puget Sound Energy Green Power program is applied to help the financing of new stations. She says:

The extra cost is used to purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which represent 1 MWH of actual energy production. RECs place a monetary value on the environmental attributes associated with renewable energy generation, thus making it easier for the developer to get the necessary funding to build their project. So in that sense, RECs do make it easier to get the startup capital needed, which does help to encourage the creation of more small & renewable generation stations.

– Heather Mulligan, PSE Green Power Market Manager

What is a REC?

After researching the good and bad side of the REC system, I came to the conclusion that it is just a token-based market for “green Megawatt-hours”. Trying to put it simply:

  • If I put up a wind generator, and I generate 1 megawatt for 1 hour, I have two things I can sell – a megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity, and a REC, which is worth some cash (I estimate around $10 per REC).
  • PSE sells electricity to people. They want more of it. So PSE buys my megawatt.
  • Some people want “green power” so they also “buy” RECs from PSE which are worth a bit of cash.
  • PSE has to buy a REC from my mini-utility to meet these people’s demand, or fail audits.
  • By using the RECs (and the associated auditing that comes with this ‘virtual good”), the consumers can say “I want renewable electricity” – and have to put their money where their mouth is – and PSE has to get them from somewhere.
This great diagram from BEF explains the flow:
How a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Works (by B-E-F.org)

How a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Works. See the great explanation at http://www.b-e-f.org/business/products/recs/

Common misconceptions

Some folks claim this distorts the market. That is true. But the market is already VERY distorted as it is: with externalized costs (which every non-renewable generator has tons of), large R&D and supply-chain subsidies (which large nuclear, hydro, etc. projects have), and a central controlling distribution entity consumers can’t choose (which almost every utility company is). With RECs I have a way to express my demand, so for me it removes some net distortion.

I also see claims that purchasing RECs are a way to offset your carbon footprint. RECs are not carbon-reduction tokens. They are a token of demand of renewable electricity, and I believe you can’t buy RECs beyond the amount of Megawatt-hour you consume. In addition, some renewable energy sources are still carbon positive (that is, they still throw some previously captured carbon into the atmosphere, even if at lesser rates and from smarter sources than, say, coal). Therefore buying RECs won’t offset the emissions of your car.

Sign up!

I know this sounds like an ad – it is not- but there are few things that you can do that are as smart, cheap and easy to reduce your energy footprint as signing up for the PSE Green Power energy.

Just log in here: http://pse.com/savingsandenergycenter/GreenPower/Pages/For-Homes.aspx#form

and choose 100 percent. If you don’t do it, I would love to understand why, and how you feel about it.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Electricity, Question, Research

May 13, 2012

Changing your sources of electricity

By EchoDelta

Changing your source of electricity is one of the simplest and cheapest things you can do to reduce your footprint. Many utilities are offering “Green Power” options where a part of the electricity you use is purchased from more sustainable sources, for less than the price of a monthly LED bulb.

We live in the Pacific Northwest, and our power company here (Puget Sound Energy) offers a Green Power program where you pay a bit extra, in order to get a % of your electricity purchased from farm, biogas, and small hydro.

Why does it cost extra?

The extra cost is used as startup capital to encourage the creation of more small & renewable generation stations. In other words, your money will go into creating new independent businesses that will provide more renewable generation capacity in the region.

How do you know it is “your” electricity that is being generated?

There is no way to differentiate an electron from another. Technically, you are not buying their electrons, you are instructing your utility to buy more generation from them, proportional to your use, and place it in the grid.

Update. This was such a frequently asked question I made this other post:  More Details on PSE Green Power.

How much difference does it make?

Power sources differ by region, but here in the Northwest the PSE “basic” offering comes from a pathetic combination of sources (the proportions are for 2011 data I could find)

  • Large Hydro: 36%. Large hydro creates flood areas, change water tables, and disrupt natural flow of organisms along rivers.
  • Coal: 32%.  Burning coal pumps CO2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere. Earth requires less CO2 in the air to sustain humanity.
  • Natural Gas: 30%  Natural gas, another fossil fuel, pumps large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
  • Nuclear & Other: 2% While nuclear is potentially a good “bridge” technology for a carbon crisis on earth, or super-specialized uses like biomedical and space exploration, it requires adult handling and our civilization is too immature yet to meet the long-term safety standards required by this technology.
Compare this to the “Green Power” option, that despite the individual shortcomings of some generation methods, is way more smart and sustainable:
  • Wind Power: 50%. There are many generating farms in the region, especially towards the East where it’s windier.
  • Landfill gas: 24%. I’m not a fan of this as it increases the profit margin of landfills, but if it’s there, you may as well use it.
  • Low impact Hydro: 10%. Small hydro generation doesn’t require the big government subsidies, decades-long maintenance contracts, and large flood valley areas of large hydro.
  • Biomass & Wood Waste: 7%. Burning wood waste instead of creating an acidifying pollutant by dumping chips. It’s popping back some CO2 into the atmosphere, but it’s from carbon that was captured in our geologic era.
  • Livestock & Methane: 7%. Cows & their manure are a major source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Capturing the methane for burning and producing power is smarter than farting it into the wind. I’m not a fan of supporting livestock industries, so increasing their profit margin is something I wouldn’t choose to do.
  • Solar Power: 2%. The pacific northwest has high latitudes and a large part of it has a constant cloud cover, getting less than 150 Watts per square meter. The eastern region has higher solar exposure, however.
 Ideally, PSE would allow me to select where my extra money will go. I don’t want it going to a landfill generator… but I most certainly prefer that to a coal or gas generator.

Is this the best I can do?

No, probably the best you can do is live on a farm or plant enough crops on your house or roof to then create alcohol that you feed into simple thermal generators or burn in lamps made of clay from your own garden. This would be a resilient, carbon-neutral, zero-supply-chain solution (except for the generator, if you buy it). It won’t run your microwave oven, however. Do what you can.

How do I do it?

1) Go to PSE.COM, log in or create your account.

3) Visit this page http://pse.com/savingsandenergycenter/GreenPower/Pages/For-Homes.aspx#form

4) Fill the form in and leave the “100 percent” option.There is NO rationale to choose less:

There is NO LOGICAL REASON NOT TO DO THIS!

3 Comments | posted in Electricity, Question, Research

May 10, 2012

Find the light that works for YOU

By EchoDelta

When we made the decision to experiment changing bulbs LED, I didn’t know how much of an ‘experiment’ it would be. There are a lot of potential brands, suppliers and bulb models and their availability are constantly changing.

I will not go into a bulb-by bulb comparison sharing the pros and cons of each, as I have seen that finding out whats “best” is very context-dependent. For example, is it for a recessed light or a track light? How big is the original bulb? What sort of effect are you needing – an ambient light or a task light? Do you care what the bulb looks like when you look ‘up’ and what is the aesthetic you are after? These are not one-size-fits-all sorts of questions. You can’t even trust the pictures you see of others’ installations, as very few folks know how to calibrate the exposure and white-balance of their cameras. Most pictures you will see hold little resemblance to the real light you’d see with your own eyes.

Lighting is one of the architectural attributes of a home, and can greatly change its atmosphere. A cozy room can be made into a harsh hospital hallway with the wrong lighting.  You’ll get to appreciate this more once you test different alternatives one right after another.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Electricity, Research

May 7, 2012

Question, Research, Experiment, Measure

By EchoDelta

Reducing footprints is hard, especially because a lot of the information, criteria and end results are hard to know, or unknowable.

You can measure things that are at-hand – such as your own electricity consumption-, via sensors, meters, or even subjective gut-feel scoring, but you cannot really measure or quantify values such as the carbon footprint of your utility company, and you cannot verify yourself the business practices of Phillips’ suppliers in China other than by some google searches.

In any case, you want to take a fact-based approach to reducing your footprint.

Here is the cycle I’m going to be using throughout this blog:

 Question

Asking what should change, why and how.

Research

Finding out information first hand, through the Internet, or from experts.

Experiment

Try stuff out in deliberate ways.

Measure

See if what you tried changed anything.

Hopefully by separating these thinking areas the whole effort of reducing the footprint becomes more approachable.


Leave a comment | posted in Experiment, Measure, Question, Research

May 7, 2012

How to Change a Light Bulb

By EchoDelta

A light bulb goes out in your house. Let’s say for the sake of argument it’s a standard 60W incandescent tungsten-based  light. Also, for the sake of argument let’s say you want to replace it, because the space is transited when the day is dark, or for some other practical or aesthetic reason – or just because it used to be there.

Let’s also assume you care a bit about the planet or your children, and that you are a critical thinker. Now things suddenly got complicated.

If you’re like me, over the next ten seconds your gaze seems fix on the burnt bulb, and then float through it, past its glass globe and dangling tungsten filament fragment.

Now staring 10 seconds at a bulb is a bit weird, especially for spectators that seem to be increasingly reassured I’ve lost it but somehow seem to love me more for it. During those ten weird seconds, the following unfolds in my mind:

Your first reaction might be "wha... this dude needs help". Maybe, but only by challenging our own thinking, questioning, researching, experimenting and measuring we will ever get to be better off.

As you see, a burnt out bulb can, trigger an exploration of a complex and vast decision space – one in which I run into my own beliefs and assumptions, with more unknowns and unknowables than knowns. I may not know the optimal decision, a lot of the data I base those decisions on may be wrong, incomplete, or fabricated. I also realize I’m not the vanguard of sustainability – I can probably live using way less resources with some extreme changes in lifestyle; but I do believe I can use significantly less resources with some mindful changes.

But I can live with what I have decided – I’m going to go with LEDs for most cases and CFLs where I have them already.

Conclusion: Experiment with LEDs

2 Comments | posted in Question, Research