Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The algae powered house
Students from the University of Cambridge have designed a house which utilises algae and household waste to produce power.
More information here.
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:22 AM
Students from the University of Cambridge have designed a house which utilises algae and household waste to produce power.
More information here.
Labels: algae, alternative energy, eco-building
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:22 AM
Around the world by chip fat
A trip around Europe in a biodiesel powered van was one of those plans I had that never came to fruition. Wired has an article about one man who is better organised than I and is on the road at the moment.
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:15 AM
A trip around Europe in a biodiesel powered van was one of those plans I had that never came to fruition. Wired has an article about one man who is better organised than I and is on the road at the moment.
Labels: Biodiesel
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:15 AM
Global Cooling is a con
This won't be news to anyone who's been paying attention, but it needs to be shouted out and repeated often, because the American public and even the BBC are falling for the lie.
There are many quote worthy lines in this report. Almost at random, let's go with-
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:09 AM
This won't be news to anyone who's been paying attention, but it needs to be shouted out and repeated often, because the American public and even the BBC are falling for the lie.
There are many quote worthy lines in this report. Almost at random, let's go with-
Saying there's a downward trend since 1998 is not scientifically legitimate, said David Peterson, a retired Duke University statistics professor and one of those analyzing the numbers.
Identifying a downward trend is a case of "people coming at the data with preconceived notions," said Peterson, author of the book "Why Did They Do That? An Introduction to Forensic Decision Analysis."
Labels: climate change, deniers, Global cooling
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:09 AM
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hop aboard the biomethane bus
A team from the University of East Anglia has adapted a single decker midi bus to run on biomethane and diesel. The bus can run for at least 60 percent of the time on gas from landfill or special anaerobic digesters.
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:14 AM
A team from the University of East Anglia has adapted a single decker midi bus to run on biomethane and diesel. The bus can run for at least 60 percent of the time on gas from landfill or special anaerobic digesters.
Labels: Hybrid, methane, transport
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:14 AM
The coming energy gap
The government's new energy adviser has warned of a potential energy shortage by 2016, as old coal and oil power stations are taken out of use. He blames public opposition to new wind farms, nuclear plants etc. for slowing the building of renewable energy sources.
I've got a solution for this, which I have put forward before. It's partly a bribe, but it's also a way of cutting the national energy bill and promoting renewables. The government should extend its schemes for subsidising houseowners' efforts to cut consumption and begin microgeneration. As more people become eligible for insulation or solar grants they will see the benefits of lower consumption in their bank accounts. Not only will this go viral and convince ever more people that they need to work toward energy independence, it will make them more open to larger renewable energy schemes.
Paying out more, and larger, grants to homeowners will be more expensive in the long term than just trying to force through wind farms or nuclear against current levels of opposition, but it will also have more immediate positive effects. Those who take advantage of the schemes will see a benefit in their fuel bills within a quarter and a large proportion of the money paid out will go to small companies, keeping them afloat in the recession and finding its way back into the economy faster than a huge sum to a big construction conglomerate would.
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:30 AM
The government's new energy adviser has warned of a potential energy shortage by 2016, as old coal and oil power stations are taken out of use. He blames public opposition to new wind farms, nuclear plants etc. for slowing the building of renewable energy sources.
I've got a solution for this, which I have put forward before. It's partly a bribe, but it's also a way of cutting the national energy bill and promoting renewables. The government should extend its schemes for subsidising houseowners' efforts to cut consumption and begin microgeneration. As more people become eligible for insulation or solar grants they will see the benefits of lower consumption in their bank accounts. Not only will this go viral and convince ever more people that they need to work toward energy independence, it will make them more open to larger renewable energy schemes.
Paying out more, and larger, grants to homeowners will be more expensive in the long term than just trying to force through wind farms or nuclear against current levels of opposition, but it will also have more immediate positive effects. Those who take advantage of the schemes will see a benefit in their fuel bills within a quarter and a large proportion of the money paid out will go to small companies, keeping them afloat in the recession and finding its way back into the economy faster than a huge sum to a big construction conglomerate would.
Labels: energy policy, renewable energy
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:30 AM
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Hair solar
A Nepali teenager has come up with a way to use hair to replace silicon in solar cells. The melanin in the hair is photo sensitive and a conductor, and can be bought for pennies a kilo. Panels could be made for £23, or less when production is scaled up.
There's no real explanation of what Milan Karki has done to the hair to take advantage of melanin's attributes. If I find them I'll investigate further.
posted by Ian Pattinson at 6:41 PM
A Nepali teenager has come up with a way to use hair to replace silicon in solar cells. The melanin in the hair is photo sensitive and a conductor, and can be bought for pennies a kilo. Panels could be made for £23, or less when production is scaled up.
There's no real explanation of what Milan Karki has done to the hair to take advantage of melanin's attributes. If I find them I'll investigate further.
Labels: Innovation, Solar, Solar Power
posted by Ian Pattinson at 6:41 PM
Monday, September 07, 2009
Redesigning Farmers' Markets
GOODblog ran a competition to generate ideas for invigorating farmers' markets and has posted the winners and finalists.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:10 PM
GOODblog ran a competition to generate ideas for invigorating farmers' markets and has posted the winners and finalists.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: Architecture, Farmers market, planning
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:10 PM
Vertical Gardens
Wired takes a look at the wall mounted gardens of Patrick Blanc. Impressive. Next time I'm in London I'll try to visit the Atheneum Theatre to check out its eight story living wall.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:51 PM
Wired takes a look at the wall mounted gardens of Patrick Blanc. Impressive. Next time I'm in London I'll try to visit the Atheneum Theatre to check out its eight story living wall.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: Architecture, Green Building, vertical garden
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:51 PM
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Interactive flood maps
I may have linked to these before. See how your home, or anywhere else in the world, will be affected by rising sea levels. Both the places I consider home- in Manchester and the Lake District- are out of reach of even a 14 metre rise, for what little comfort that provides.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:27 PM
I may have linked to these before. See how your home, or anywhere else in the world, will be affected by rising sea levels. Both the places I consider home- in Manchester and the Lake District- are out of reach of even a 14 metre rise, for what little comfort that provides.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: map, sea levels
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:27 PM
Monday, August 03, 2009
The rules for debating with climate change deniers
Climate change deniers have rules that they expect you to stick to when debating their latest weak attempt to disprove the theory. They look a lot like the ones posted here.
I still occasionally interact with some folks online for whom the rules above aren't satire. A good response- which they'll still ignore, of course- is given by one of the commenters on the post-
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:17 AM
Climate change deniers have rules that they expect you to stick to when debating their latest weak attempt to disprove the theory. They look a lot like the ones posted here.
And please note, that when I say evidence, I mean:
1) Nothing that was recorded by instruments such as weather-stations, ocean buoys or satellite data. Since all instruments are subject to error, we cannot use them to measure climate.
2) Nothing that has been corrected to account for the error of recording instruments. Any corrected data is a fudge. You must use only the raw data, which is previously disqualified under rule #1. Got that? OK, moving along…
3) Nothing that was produced by a computer model. We all know that you can’t trust computer models, and they have a terrible track record in any industrial, architectural, engineering, astronomical or medical context.
4) Nothing that was researched or published by a scientist. Such appeals to authority are invalid. We all know that scientists are just writing these papers to keep their grant money.
I still occasionally interact with some folks online for whom the rules above aren't satire. A good response- which they'll still ignore, of course- is given by one of the commenters on the post-
Mole, you’ve also got to factor in the consequences of inaction into the assessment of data.
If, for example, despite the existing scientific evidence, you personally would ONLY be satisfied by a longitudinal study over the next 30 years – well, what if it turned out todays’s scientists were actually right, and waiting for that study took us through the tipping point?
Why would policy makers be wise to adopt your approach?
See – even if I am wrong, cleaning up carbon emissions will do no harm. Clean the air up a bit, less pollution, fewer illnesses among kids, etc. No problemo.
If you are wrong, however: life on this planet could well be reduced to a few green sites supporting half a billion people – instead of 6 billion – by next century.
You see why doubt-mongers are losing this debate? And that that is a good thing?
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: deniers
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:17 AM
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
All new homes to be "zero carbon" by 2016
The Government has released a white paper that calls for all domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2016. There isn't a definition for "zero carbon", however, though it's likely to mean buildings which are net-zero carbon over a year. New public buildings will be held to similar standards within a few years.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:33 AM
The Government has released a white paper that calls for all domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2016. There isn't a definition for "zero carbon", however, though it's likely to mean buildings which are net-zero carbon over a year. New public buildings will be held to similar standards within a few years.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: carbon neutral, eco-building, energy policy, energy saving, Green Building, Household
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:33 AM
