D.I.Y Planet Cooling

[Michaelangelica]

Kitchen scraps usually go to the garbage and thence to landfill and thence to anerobic digestion =methane=greenhouse gas
So how about this:-
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_soil_wat...382236,00.html
Clever Indoor Composting
or
http://www.naturemill.com/
or
http://greenyes.grrn.org/2002/09/msg00026.html
or
google "indoor Composting"
Its free plantfood. Why give it away?

[Michaelangelica]

There is a fight on in Tasmania at the moment about logging Old Growth Forests. "Gunns" the logging company seems to be winning. I saw semi-trailers in Tasmania completly full with just one bit of one giant tree that they are removing. It seems a great pity to remove anything that old and huge. It won't come back again for a long while.

Old-growth forest dirt might help cool planet

New science - A Chinese study finds soils capture carbon, which contradicts other old-growth research
Sunday, December 03, 2006
JEFF BARNARD

Researchers have found soils in an old-growth forest in southern China are storing carbon at a rapid rate.

If common to the soils of other old-growth forests, the finding could add combating global warming to the reasons for preserving them from logging, some scientists say.

The finding from soils in southern China goes against the generally accepted idea that old-growth forests are in balance, giving up as much carbon through decomposition as they take in from falling leaves and dying roots.
. . .
(Some are sceptical)
. . .
"This isn't business as usual for an old-growth forest," Aber said. "If this can be found to be generally the case in old-growth forests everywhere, it could have huge implications.

OregonLive.com: Everything Oregon

OCKHAM’S RAZOR – Apocalypse Now!
Sunday 10 December, 8.45am
Cognitive neuroscientist Dr John Reid is sceptical about the ability of
science to rescue humanity from its own folly. He says that by the time
there is a consensus for drastic action to be taken it could be too late.

Ockham's Razor
I tend to agree. I wonder what he will say?

[Michaelangelica]

This is an Advertisment
But the ABC needs your money (They do a great job)

True Green - 100 Everyday Ways You can Contribute to a Healthier Planet
Kim McKay and Jenny Bonin

Paperback Book
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days (subject to availability)
$19.95

ABC Books
Description

You can save the world! Global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change … often the magnitude of the environmental challenges we face can leave us feeling powerless – but we’re not. In ‘True Green’, Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin, part of the Clean Up Australia team, suggest 100 small ways in which you can make a big difference, at home, in the garden, at work, while travelling or in your community.

* Put on a jumper instead of the heater – and lower carbon emissions
* Switch off electrical appliances at the power point – and lower your energy consumption (and bills!)
* Say no to plastic bags – and reduce waste
* Take shorter showers – and save water
* Walk or cycle to your local shops – and reduce pollution

Practical, positive and easy to use, this essential reference shows how making simple changes in your everyday life that can contribute to a healthier planet. Don’t be true blue – be true green.

Released: 2006

Available from
ABC Shop - True Green - 100 Everyday Ways You can Contribute to a Healthier Planet Kim McKay and Jenny Bonin

[Michaelangelica]

Is this true do you think?
What about Terra preta use of trees?
Especialy given CraigD's posts
eg

Trees – or any carbon sequestration medium – can’t and don’t store a greater mass of C than their total mass. From the quote, in the case of trees, they store about 45% as much C as they mass.
While they eliminate a much greater mass of atmospheric CO2 than their mass, the O remain in the air, ready to recombine with the C in the event of such likely events as the tree being burned.

Sci. & Tech.

Planting trees to save planet `pointless' say ecologists

By Alok Jha in San Francisco

GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE: Planting trees to combat climate change is a waste of time, according to astudy by ecologists who say that most forests do not have any overall effect on global temperature, while those furthest from the equator could actually be making global warming worse.

``The idea that you can go out and plant a tree and help reverse globalwarming is an appealing, feel-good thing,'' said Ken Caldeira of the global ecology department at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Stanford, California, a co-author of the study. ``To plant forests to mitigate climate change outside of the tropics is a waste of time.''

The Hindu News Update Service

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by CraigD

This quote makes an interesting observation, but makes an obvious error, which it uses to suggest something mysterious about trees.

Trees – or any carbon sequestration medium – can’t and don’t store a greater mass of C than their total mass. From the quote, in the case of trees, they store about 45% as much C as they mass. While they eliminate a much greater mass of atmospheric CO2 than their mass, the O remain in the air, ready to recombine with the C in the event of such likely events as the tree being burned.

I am not yet convinced that trees don't help.

Bala’s study, the first simulation to link carbon dioxide and the heat-absorbing effect of trees, found forests had different effects on global warming depending on latitude.

“North of 20 degrees [latitude] forests had a direct warming influence that more or less counterbalanced the cooling effect of carbon removal from the atmosphere,’’ said Caldeira. Past 50 degrees, forests warmed the Earth by an average of 0,8°C. But in the tropics forests helped cool the planet by an average of 0,7°C.

Bala explained that forest canopies, because they are relatively dark, absorb most of the sun’s rays on them. Grassland or snowfields, however, reflect more sun, keeping temperatures lower.

Planting trees above 50 degrees latitude, such as in Siberia, could cover tundras normally blanketed in heat-reflecting snow.

In the tropical regions, though, water evaporating from trees increased cloudiness, which helped keep the planet cool.

John Coequyt, of Greenpeace USA, said: “We have always come down on limiting the credits you give to countries and companies that use forestry policy to mitigate climate change.”

Barking up the wrong tree : Mail & Guardian Online
Isn't water vapour a greenhouse gas?; or does it change when it becomes a white (& reflective) cloud?
Would trees grow in Siberia/Scotland etc?

[Michaelangelica]

Here is a great way to drastically reduce greenhose CO2- Don't exercise
A 70 K human exhales 1 litre a minute of CO2.

When exercising vigorously this jumps to 2 litres!!

So halve your emissions; don't jog watch TV! (or write to Hypography)

SOURCE:
The ODD Body 2 S Juan

[Michaelangelica]

Some good news

LED Lightbulbs

Light Emitting Diodes are already ubiquitous in our lives as indicators that our electronic devices are plugged in and sucking power, often on standby, from the grid. But they could be doing much more for us.
They could light up our lives with a fraction of the electrons used by old-fashioned incandescent bulbs that waste 90-95 percent of the expensive electricity we feed them, producing more heat than light.
Today, lighting uses about 25 percent of all the electrical power we generate. Compact fluorescent bulbs are currently the best option, but LEDs are catching up.

Researchers made a breakthrough this year that pushed white LED output up to 130 lumens per watt. By comparison, an incandescent bulb produces 15 lumens per watt and fluorescent bulbs range from 60 to 110 lumens per watt. The progress is so encouraging that some researchers expect to reach 150 lumens per watt with LED bulbs in the next few years.

more about new ideas comming on line here:-
2006 top green tech ideas | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

[Michaelangelica]

The news about climate change looks grimmer every day, alerting us to the fact that we have no time to waste and we can't afford to invest precious resources in false technology promises and energy dead-ends.

Fortunately, a lot of brilliant minds are at work on these problems, and a number of good ideas have surfaced in 2006 that are worth further investigation. Below I list five technologies that seem especially promising. I'll be keeping an eye on these technologies to see where they go in 2007.

1. LED Lightbulbs ( see above post)

2. Solar Photovoltaics

3. Wind Kites

4. Plug-In Hybrids and the V2G


5. Terra Preta - The Black Earth

Scoop: Kelpie Wilson: 2006 Top Green Tech Ideas

[Michaelangelica]

6. Talking ? (hypografing?)

Dr. Hansen strongly disagreed with this characterization, saying such procedures had already prevented the public from fully grasping recent findings about climate change that point to risks ahead.

"Communicating with the public seems to be essential," he said, "because public concern is probably the only thing capable of overcoming the special interests that have obfuscated the topic."
. . .

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions,

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him - New York Times

[Michaelangelica]

Go to Carbon Pool Pty Ltd and also check out the project within called 'Minding the Carbon Store'.
They have purchased remaining clearing permits from Queensland farmers, retaining the carbon for 120 years. Rio Tinto Aluminium purchased most of the carbon credits. One of the landholders has just received a cheque for $1 million. They have saved about 10,000 hectares from the bulldozer.
The website will explain.