Alternative energy and technology.

[darkbeaver]

It's funny, I was driving through Tatamagouche the other day when I thought of a design for a home. Told Jamie about it and she didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as I was. The image in my brain was almost like a Hobit home. Built into the side of a hill, with pipes running into the hill to utilize geothermal heat, and the house would be well insulated. From the front of the property it would look like a garage only. From the back, you would see a house built into the hill, with lots of windows to bring in sunlight. Maybe I need to draw it for her, I thought it was cool anyways!

Show her some pictures explain the thermal efficiency, remind her about all the extra money saved that could, and would, be more advantageously spent on her instead of fuel bills. You could afford six or seven more little tonningtons with the greater efficiencies afforded by construction of an earth home.

 

[AnnaG]

I seems to me that we passed the point of no return a decade or so ago. The only thing that will bring things back to a sustainable lifestyle would probably by a massive natural disaster or several.
I think we have enough nuclear waste lying around to make survival questionable as it is. In order to stave off the inevitable would require people to cut their consumption in half by tomorrow.

How much nuclear waste is "lying around"?

 

[AnnaG]

How about we dump it all in Ottawa?

Would it do any good?

 

[AnnaG]

Burn wood. It is renewable, easily obtainable and clean. Wood fired steam turbines can even burn sewage sludge and garbage with no pollution.

Woodsmoke carries CO, CO2, acetic acid, ketones, aldehydes, phenols, esters, SO2, methane, ethane, and a variety of hydrogen compounds.

 

[AnnaG]

It's funny, I was driving through Tatamagouche the other day when I thought of a design for a home. Told Jamie about it and she didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as I was. The image in my brain was almost like a Hobit home. Built into the side of a hill, with pipes running into the hill to utilize geothermal heat, and the house would be well insulated. From the front of the property it would look like a garage only. From the back, you would see a house built into the hill, with lots of windows to bring in sunlight. Maybe I need to draw it for her, I thought it was cool anyways!

We've thought of that here, too. We're still living in the fixer upper we've been fixing up. lol

 

[AnnaG]

Show her some pictures explain the thermal efficiency, remind her about all the extra money saved that could, and would, be more advantageously spent on her instead of fuel bills. You could afford six or seven more little tonningtons with the greater efficiencies afforded by construction of an earth home.

Cool. Now if every couple on the planet had 6 or 7 kids we'd put an end to ourselves and a major portion of the planet, too. :roll:

 

[darkbeaver]

Cool. Now if every couple on the planet had 6 or 7 kids we'd put an end to ourselves and a major portion of the planet, too. :roll:

So you want the world deprived of Tonningtons DNA. Why? He can interpret charts and runes and chew a whole wad of bubblegum at the same time. Why deny the planet potential salvation by one of his sprogs? You don't want us to be happy do you? Many couples should not have too many children, that is true, but I suggest that when above average potential is suspected, as in the specimin in question, they should be encouraged to breed with abandon.

 

[Cliffy]

How much nuclear waste is "lying around"?

If you demand raw numbers: in 2002, there were 47,023.40 metric tonnes of high-level waste in the USA. 105,793 GW-days of thermal energy has been produced by nuclear power plants throughout the years to create that waste. Also in 2002, operating reactors added 2,407.20 metric tonnes [1] (1 metric tonne = 1000 kg).
Now factor in the rest of the world times 50 years and you start to see millions of tonnes.

 

[AnnaG]

If you demand raw numbers: in 2002, there were 47,023.40 metric tonnes of high-level waste in the USA. 105,793 GW-days of thermal energy has been produced by nuclear power plants throughout the years to create that waste. Also in 2002, operating reactors added 2,407.20 metric tonnes [1] (1 metric tonne = 1000 kg).
Now factor in the rest of the world times 50 years and you start to see millions of tonnes.

Like I said before, it'd be nice to find a beneficial use for the stuff instead of burying it in salt beds.

 

[petros]

It's funny, I was driving through Tatamagouche the other day when I thought of a design for a home. Told Jamie about it and she didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as I was. The image in my brain was almost like a Hobit home. Built into the side of a hill, with pipes running into the hill to utilize geothermal heat, and the house would be well insulated. From the front of the property it would look like a garage only. From the back, you would see a house built into the hill, with lots of windows to bring in sunlight. Maybe I need to draw it for her, I thought it was cool anyways!

Old concept already. Ever heard of an "Earth Ship'?







YouTube - Earthships 101 part I

 

[Tonington]

Old concept already. Ever heard of an "Earth Ship'?

I didn't figure I would be the first. Nope, never heard of that. That something like I imagined, only I envisioned more windows. I've found some pictures, such as this one:

but as I said, more windows, and maybe two floors. It would take some prospecting to find the right property. The biggest priority of course is the hill must be facing south.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I always wonder why more simple initiatives are not taken. For example, almost every house in Canada is built with a basement. The same is even more true of large buildings which have foundations that go down many meters. Why not install heat pump technology at the same time and take advantage of the hole in the ground that must be dug first? It seems that costly high tech solutions are always advocated first rather than smaller easy to implement projects.

 

[petros]

I always wonder why more simple initiatives are not taken. For example, almost every house in Canada is built with a basement. The same is even more true of large buildings which have foundations that go down many meters. Why not install heat pump technology at the same time and take advantage of the hole in the ground that must be dug first? It seems that costly high tech solutions are always advocated first rather than smaller easy to implement projects.

Ea new home would use about 2km of oil made poly pipe to do geothermal.

Or we could do what they did in Moscow. If you had a huge house going to waste three Serbian families suddenly became your roomates.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Ea new home would use about 2km of oil made poly pipe to do geothermal.

Or we could do what they did in Moscow. If you had a huge house going to waste three Serbian families suddenly became your roomates.

I suppose then it would have to be calculated how much oil or gas would be saved through use of the heat pump over the life of the house or building. Would I be wrong in assuming that there would be a saving?

 

[Cliffy]

Ea new home would use about 2km of oil made poly pipe to do geothermal.

Or we could do what they did in Moscow. If you had a huge house going to waste three Serbian families suddenly became your roomates.

Plastics made of hemp oil are far superior to petroleum based oils and is annually renewable and environmentally friendly. We would not need to clear more land or use existing crop fields to grow it, but use clear cuts produced by the forest industry. For the most part, fertilizers and pesticides are not necessary to grow hemp and it replenishes nutrients to the soil so as to give the eventual forest a better start. A clear cut could be used for up to 5 years before being turned back into a forest. With the amount of land clear cut each year in Canada, we could easily sustain a hemp seed oil crop to make enough plastics to utilize geothermal energy in many areas.