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Airplane Fuel Efficiency and Airplane CO2 Emissions Calculator

easy eco blog — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:00:13 +0000

Summer vacation? Traveling on a plane or car?

A recent article analyzed the fuel efficiency of airlines and found they get 60 to 75 seat miles per gallon of fuel in 2009. Better than the 50 mpg of a Toyota Prius hybrid automobile. Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, and Continental were best. The most fuel efficient planes were the Boeing 777-200ER wide body at 82 mpg and Boeing 737-900 at 99 mpg. The Airbus A320 at 77 mpg is their best.

Want to go a step further? We noticed a Climate passport kiosk in the airport. You can pay to offset your airplanes emissions. A 2,000 Miles (4 hr flight) generates 1,869 lbs of CO2, and costs $11.44 to offset. The money goes toward:

“The Carbon Offsets purchased through the Climate Passport Carbon Footprint Calculator are sourced from the Garcia River Forest, a conservation-based forest management project located in Mendocino County, California. The project achieves multiple goals including: increased sequestration and storage of carbon in native redwood forests, wildlife habitat restoration, and a sustainable supply of certified wood products.”

Tripbase has a CO2 Emissions Calculator that’s been made to help people out with being a bit more green and socially responsible when it comes to flying.

Green Construction – Building and Remodelling the Green way

easy eco blog — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:00:04 +0000

The trend is to consider green practices when constructing a new building or when remodeling your kitchen, bathroom or home. Here are some useful resources.

Build It Green has some very good guidelines and checklists for Green Construction, remodeling and building new homes. They are a non-profit dedicated to help all of us out even though they focus on California. They have extensive lists of building material recommendations and sources.

Advanced house framing techniques for new homes, require half the wood of the past.

Build it Green NYC has information on low cost salvage and surplus building materials.

Using salvaged or reclaimed items helps cut down on resource utilization.

Heritage Salvage in Petaluma sells reclaimed building materials.

Driftwood Salvage in Palo Alto sells surplus construction items.

Urban Ore in Berkeley sells surplus items.

List of other San Francisco Bay Area Salvage yards.

CalMAX – California Materials Exchange – One business’s trash is another business’s treasure.

Remember to donate your spare items after your remodel back to these salvage yards.

Toyota Prius Hybrid vs Toyota Camry – Payoff time for Hybrid vs Gas Cars

easy eco blog — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 07:00:17 +0000

Source: CNNMoney.com

CNNMoney.com has a nice analysis of how fast a hybrid pays off. They compared a buying a new $24,548 Toyota Prius Hybrid vs a conventional $19,635 Toyota Camry.

You can see that it takes 4.5 years to break even with gas at $4, 6 years at $3. Some hard numbers that should help prevent you from paying a crazy markup for any hot new green hybrid or electric vehicle.

Kiplinger’s has a Green Car Calculator that compares two cars costs and 5 year overall costs.

Remember that it takes a LOT of energy to build a car, so it may be more eco to keep what you have or buy a used fuel efficient vehicle. A hybrid still emits about 20 pounds of carbon with each gallon of gas you burn up.

Check out our hybrid driving tips.

Gas-Guzzler Trade-In Calculator

easy eco blog — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:00:30 +0000

Edmunds.com has a new Gas-Guzzler Trade-In Calculator that helps you figure out the pay back period and fuel saving associated with trading in a vehicle for a new more fuel efficient one.

“A common example demonstrates the potential pitfalls of ditching that SUV: A consumer trades in a four-year old GMC Yukon, worth $13,483, for a new $21,647 Toyota Prius. The difference is $8,164. If the consumer drives 1,200 miles per month and gas costs $4.07 per gallon (national average), the monthly fuel savings will be $201.34. While this may seem attractive, it will take 41 months to pay back the additional cost of the Prius over the trade-in value of the Yukon.”

Considering a Prius would probably cost more than $21,647, the pay back time is even longer especially if gas prices fall. Consider regular high mileage compacts such as the Honda Fit.

Also consider a recent (2 or 3 year old) vintage fuel efficient preowned car. The biggest cost in owning a car is depreciation at almost 50%, followed by fuel costs at near 20%.

Why Are So Few Chemicals Tested?

easy eco blog — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:00:56 +0000

A recent article titled: Why Are So Few Chemicals Tested? reminded us about how scary the chemical world is.

“Many of the chemicals we use for everyday activities like washing our clothes and cleaning our dishes have never been tested for safety. Since the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) became law in 1976, the number of chemicals in commercial products has risen from 60,000 to 80,000, yet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required testing on only 200 and restricted just five.”

Under this act, chemicals are given the benefit of doubt. They are presumed safe unless proven unsafe. New laws are being proposed that would allow the EPA to regulate of new and existing chemicals and to take faster action. You sure do express your support for these measures with your local representatives.

A recent CNN program – Toxic America by Dr. Sanjay Gupta reiterates elements of a safe and clean home.

Artificial Grass – Artificial Turf Synthetic Grass

easy eco blog — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:00:32 +0000

Many of us spend a lot of water and hence money, keeping their grass green. We decided to see if moving to artificial grass would be a cheaper proposition. Some of the newer ones look pretty good.

Costco even sells artificial turf. 15′ x 25′ costs $1299. Not exactly cheap but a lot cheaper than before. It comes with upto an 8 year warranty and is pet friendly. Many are made of recycled tires or water bottles. No more weeding, watering, or mowing. Costco surprisingly has a link to a MSDS sheet that shows it is Heavy Metal free (lead free) and is primarily made of polypropylene.

Dupont has added Forever lawn that has a 12-15 year lifetime, 8yr warranty.

There has been some controversy with regards to hazardous substances in some faux grass, primarily lead in older astroturf. It does help people with pets tearing up grass or grass allergies.

Morningstarturf has analysis showing that synthetic grass pays for itself in 4 years. Of course the analysis assumes you are installing new real grass. Without installing new real grass, the cost savings is faster.

Our Water savings tips also help you reduce your water bill.

Sungevity $0 Solar Panel Promotion

easy eco blog — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:00:02 +0000

Solar Power for less.

Sungevity has a limited time $0 down Solar Panel Promotion for those in California who sign up for a solar lease. Free home estimate.

Guaranteed performance.
Free monitoring and maintenance.
Free panel cleaning.
Full solar system insurance.

Walkstation – Multitask – Fight Obesity, Exercise while Working

easy eco blog — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:00:20 +0000

deta!ls from Steelcase just introduce the new $4199 Walkstation.

“The Walkstation is the combination of a fully integrated electric Height-AdjusTable Worksurface with an exclusively engineered, low speed commercial grade treadmill. At a maximum speed of 2mph the Walkstation lets you walk comfortably, burn calories, feel healthier and more energized…all while accomplishing the work you’d normally do while seated.”

Multitask! Fight obesity, improve your health, and exercise while Working. Or spend more time working and less time outside the office.

Somehow this product reminds us of this:

photo credit: lorda

Solar Day – Solar Energy Education – Saturday June 19, 2010

easy eco blog — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:32:53 +0000

Solar Day is Saturday June 19, 2010, a Nationwide day to learn about Solar Energy. A day of recognition for solar energy, energy independence and protection of the planet. Check your local area for events, solar home tours, etc. San Francisco has a Green Energy Fair on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

Be sure to read our article: Are solar Panels for me?

Picking Solar Panels – Finding the Best Solar Panels

easy eco blog — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:00:34 +0000

The Earth receives more energy from the Sun in one hour than the whole World uses in a whole year. Time to tap into that. Solar power is used to power everything from calculators to Coast Guard buoys to highway signs to the International Space Station.

You have read Are Solar Panels for me? and Solar Panel Installation – Planning and are ready for more details. Photovoltaic Solar panels were invented at Bell Labs in 1953. They have evolved over the years and several different types of solar panels exist, and choosing between then is confusing. No one vendor will have access to all products, so you will have to do some shopping around to find the best solar panels.

Monocrystalline or Polycrystalline Panels

These solar panels are made either from single crystal cells or stringing ribbon of multiple crystals. They are the classic version of solar panels and are rated for good efficiency, around 12-13% power conversion, and a Long lifespan, possibly 30 years+? Sunpower has a model with a very high 19.3% efficiency. Monocrystalline panels are less efficient in hotter climates and work best in unobstructed sun. A panel’s power will drop by 50% if a even one cell on the panel is half shaded. Temperatures typically above 75 degrees F cause most solar panel power generation to decrease. Solar panel suppliers include: Sharp, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Kyocera, Schott, SolarWorld, SunTech, Sunpower, bp solar.

Thin Film Panels

Less efficient than the Crystal Panels, but they much thinner and easier to make. Less efficient than monocrystalline, at 10-12% efficiency. They work better when you have slight shading and are not affected by hot weather as much as monocrystalline. Major Drawback of performance degradation over time. Possible lifespans of 10 years. Suppliers include: Nanosolar, Unisolar

Hybrid Panels

Hybrids of single crystalline silicon surrounded by ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers. Produces 10% or more electricity (kWh) than conventional crystalline silicon solar panels at the same temperature. Good efficiency levels of 16%. Hybrid Solar Panel Suppliers include: Sanyo

Solar Panel Power Ratings

Solar Panels are rated by Maximum power generated or Pmax that they produce in Watts when exposed to full sun. The rating may be calculated at STC - Standard Test Conditions at the factory or PTC – Practical Test Conditions which are more real world. PTC numbers are almost always lower than STC numbers. Most spec sheets will also show how much power they make with varying current and voltage. To calculate total system power, you need to compare Apples to Apples. Power output of solar panels decrease with time. Many panels are rated for 80% output for 25 years, 90% output for 10 years.

Also look for the negative tolerance rating of solar panels. This number reduces the PTC rating, so a high PTC rating with a high negative tolerance is not good. A 200 watt PTC panel with 10% negative tolerance could produce only 180 watts.

Look for the installer to quote a minimum warranted power rating for solar panels.

Total Solar System Power in CEC AC Watts output = Number of Panels X PTC Power rating of each Solar Panel X Inverter efficiency.

3456 watt CEC AC Rating = 3.4 kw = 12 panels X 300 Watt PTC Rating x 96% Inverter efficiency

This is a real world power output ratings of a solar electric array.

Solar Panel Inverters

Inverters convert DC power from the solar panel to AC power you can use. Look for brand name inverters from Sunny Boy. Target inverters with 95% or higher efficiency and 10 year warranty. Options include web interface to get statistics, SD Card for holding data, or even WiFi access.

Solar Panel Warranty

Look for a solar panel that has a long warranty. The longer the warranty, the more reliable the vendor feels the solar panel is. 20 or 25 years is not uncommon. Life expectancies of up to 40 years are now being seen. Watch out for dealers that promise warranties that may outlive their firms.

Solar Panel Rebates

Most rebates have lists of qualified solar panels. This can help narrow down what you can buy. California has a list.

The solar panel that is right for you, depends on your budget, location, and power needs. Some installations may need different types of panels for different locations, especially for areas of no shade and partial shading. Consult a local expert to find what is right for you.

Beware of the latest technology, you do not want to pay thousands of dollars and be a beta tester.