Kilowatts from Cow-pies Review

            The future of water in an industrial setting is a real problem with the growth in population over the last 100 years. The Earth’s surface is covered with 70% water, and only 2.5% of that water is fresh water. Most industrial facilities cannot operate by using salt water, and the combination of these factors makes fresh water a precious commodity. The film “Kilowatts from Cow-pies” gave some solutions to this problem. The most impressive system set up in the movie to me was the first facility Kaplan Farms. The plan was a complete circle with water cleaning to reuse the cow pies and create methane to run the facility. Another impressive point of the design of their facility was that the land they chose to build on was a brownfield site. They integrated an automated system for gathering cow feces with water and sent the slurry water to an anaerobic digester. The digester would then break down the wastes and release methane. That methane was then collected and piped to an electric generator and burned as fuel, which was used to power the facilities. After that process, the water was drained into one of three separation ponds, where it was cleaned up through settling, algae, and then fish before being pumped back up and reused. The dried feces was then composted with left over from the slaughterhouse to become fertilizer for the fields that grew hay for the cows. This closed system is an ideal example for industrial applications and a possible crossover design for other businesses. Closing the loops in the industry is good for the environment and a sound business practice that increases profits.

Natural Break Down by Compost

The video I watched was on Veterans composting in Maryland. It is a veteran own operated company that makes compost. The owner could not find a job after returning from overseas deployment was discharged, so he created a job by composting, and he found others like himself to employ. They talk about getting their primary source of Nitrogen from the food scraps and yard clippings for their company. The carbon they use comes from the tree grinding from a local tree company. In this particular operation, they use 3 parts wood chips to 1 part food scraps to create their windrows. They maintain a tempter of 150 degrees inside the piles and use blowers to provide oxygen to feed natural bacteria into the banks. They sift out all contaminates (things that don't break down fast, like plastic or glass) and large debris after about two months of composting. Composting can also eliminate waste from wastewater facilities and ground-up tree trimmings. The compost at Veterans compost is then sent to another pile where it is sold by the truckload, or they hand load bags of compost to deal with. The narrator of this video recommends that people take the time and smell the compost before buying it because if it does not have a natural smell, it needs to be done correctly or may not have sat long enough. The equipment used for this operation is a barrel sifter, conveyor belt, and bobcat to load, turn and move the finished material.  

United States and High Speed Rail

            High-speed rail has never taken off in the United States, although America was once a pioneer in rail transportation during the country's expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries. Many state and national factions have proposed various proposals to realize high-speed rail's convenience and cost savings. High Speed Rail (HRS) can reduce fossil fuel usage by moving more people quickly rather than individual automobiles. HSR has been utilized worldwide for decades, and in the United States, it is still seen as a pipe dream even though President Obama has intended to provide funding for 80% of U.S. citizens to access HSR. Siemens (a company specializing in sustainable innovations) had a bullet train on display in D.C. that may be used in the proposed 520-mile HSR system through California’s Central Valley. That project was approved by the voters in 2008, and that construction started in 2013. Although the U.S. Congress seems unable to appropriate funding for HSR projects, the XpressWest Company has secured a $100 million investment from a consortium led by the China Railway Group to build a 230-mile HSR line between L.A. and Las Vegas. In Texas, construction for a 200+ MPH bullet train from Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth is set to start in 2017. The use of HSR has proven to reduce emissions from automobiles and planes in nations worldwide and can do the same while revamping the U.S. culture to a more sustainable society.

No Well Water Collection.

The emergency water scenario I am choosing is in a mountain environment because I have lived for the last 20 years and am comfortable. The most straightforward setup for water collection is a location on a south-facing slope that is 1/2 to 3/4 the way up the mountain to gain water pressure through gravity and pipe reduction. Ideally, the top is a Plato usable for planting a small garden and a possible wind turbine. Then down from that, a pole barn where the shed roof is metal and used to collect water that funnels down the hill into a storage tank. The shed is also covered in metal, which can collect condensation at dew points and direct the water into the storage tank. This tank will have three places for water to go. The bottom is the cold water that runs to the cabin. In the middle is water that has stratified with heat and is a little warmer, and it will go out about 3/4 of the way up to a couple of black barrels to be heated further for hot water. The third outlet is at the top of the storage tank, and the overflow runs to a lower-elevation pond than the cabin. This way, the water system does not need to be maintained when no one is staying at the place and can be used when required. The pond can house fish that can be eaten, and the runoff water filtered through mushrooms brings in-game that can be hunted. This is an ideal place to grow water plants like duckweed that can be harvested to feed livestock like chickens. This is a well-designed water system for a remote self-sustaining cabin in the woods.      

Gasification can run Generators to Cars.

The All Power Labs makes a Gasifier Experimenter’s Kit (GEK), a small-scale gasification system that produces power from bio-mass. The company claim that the generators are a carbon-negative source of electricity, and their product can generate on-demand power for 1/4 the operating cost of diesel at 1/2 the capital cost of solar. All Power Labs offers many different systems. Along with the GEK Gasifier, the PP20 Power Pallet shown in the pictures, the PC 20 Power Cube, and the 150KW Powertainer come in a 20′ shipping container. These machines are carbon-negative because a gasifier can impersonate the natural process of releasing atmospheric carbon (CO2) when a plant dies. The engines turn biomass into valuable energy while capturing some carbon that can be sequestered. I think the best way for All Power labs to improve on this product is to make the 150KW Powertainer able to run off from the dried waste at the water treatment plants. This could be used in every small town in the United States and may be cut a step out of the treatment process, thus saving water and making a positive all the way around. Gasifiers were experimented with in Germany during WWII to run automobiles and save on fossil fuels, and the technology works. 

 

What about electric planes?

The one place that Co2 emissions reduction is not talked about as much is with airplanes, but the Air-bus E Fan may be taking steps to change that. This plane was developed by Airbus Group-led European program; the E-Fan and demonstrator were explicitly designed for electric power at the time, a world's first. The 2.0 version is a two-seater for pilot training, and the 4.0 version is a four-seater for licensed pilots. The planes could replace the modern-day puddle jumper Cessna's. The pros of the electric airplane are reducing CO2 emissions by 75% per kilometer per passenger. The electric aircraft is also projected to reduce NOx emissions by 90% and reduce noise by 65%. Finding a solution to air travel is essential to reversing the carbon emissions caused by transportation. Planes have yet to go through any steps in reducing emissions, and this is the first I have seen in an honest attempt to develop a commercially viable solution in the plane industry. Airbus has come out with a new fuel motor this year that is 15% more efficient than other conventional motors. And Airbus also practices sustainable business policies in their Whales facility, Broughton. They feature biomass and gas-fired boilers, photostatic panels, solar water heaters, and rain harvesters to reduce their environmental impact. This kind of sustainable innovation and practice is an example of what more businesses must actively move toward to increase the quality of life for future generations. 

Climate Change is Second to the Real Reason

            Hans Rosling is a statistician who believes that the greatest invention in the world was the laundry machine. After his grandmother received her first laundry machine, she found enough time to teach him two languages. He is also the inventor of the gap finder, which gives the ability to compare different countries and their economic diversities. The one thing he measured as a statistician, informally, of course, is how educated the media was how educated they were on the number of children around the world who had been inoculated for diseases like measles. The result was that the media needed to be more informed than the general public, and less than 25% of everyone knew the correct answer. The information people receive is skewed by personal bias, outdated facts, and news bias. This coupled with a natural intuition, in part, is why we as a species are falling future behind even statically speaking, getting the correct answer by chance. The importance of being adequately informed has risen on the projection of economic growth is moving further away from the traditional western preconceived notion that has stood for generations. This means that to compete globally, a person needs to have the best possible information, and only being right 25% of the time will help anyone become successful. Going off this information, does it make sense to be informed of global changes? The only way this would not be important is if the projected plan was that human civilizations were not planning on living on this planet in future generations. The moral of this article is to look to the future for yourself and make decisions now for your children’s future.   

Inspiration in Waste Water Management

            This post is based on the Ted Talk given by Jonathan Trent about his OMEGA system design. OMEGA stands for offshore membrane enclosures for growing algae, a freshwater form of algae that will be developed. The plan is for the algae to be produced in plastic membranes filled with wastewater from sewage plants in the ocean. The ocean will hold a steady temperature, provide a natural mixing process with the movement of the waves and act as a safety barrier in case of any leaks by killing off the freshwater algae. The algae will grow with exposure to the sun, sequester CO2, release O2, and clean the waste water as it feeds off it. This microalga grows fast, and cane is harvested to make things like bio-fuels, fertilizer, animal feed, and cosmetics. This is a viable option for large coastal cities worldwide that can use the wastewater facilities and not just dump the sewage into the ocean. An OMEGA operation is not only environmentally friendly, but it can also produce local jobs, and the sites can double as aqua farms for seafood. The operation cost of these facilities can be offset by using renewable energy such as photovoltaics, wind turbines, and even wave kinetic energy generation. These innovative solutions are part of ongoing research propelling wastewater management toward the three r’s reuse, reduce and recycle.        

Understanding a Riparian Zone

            This is a post to help people to know what a riparian zone is on world water day. The riparian zone indicates how stable a river or stream is and how well-sustained the fish and wildlife may be. Logging, industry, farm animals, farming, growing cities, and overdevelopment have taken a toll on rivers and streams worldwide by moving them, reducing shade, and allowing sedimentation and pollution. A healthy riparian zone can slow the river's speed, lower erosion, provide a system for cleaning water, and provide food and fresh water to wildlife, thus balancing the ecosystem. Some of the tell tail signs of an excellent riparian zone are large old trees; these trees provide shade, help regulate the river's temperature, and their root system can help stabilize the banks and slow the moving water by growing into the rivers. River banks are another good indicator of a healthy river, with deep banks keeping the river from changing direction and lots of vegetation along them to help control the runoff and sedimentation and aid in processing out impurities out of the water. Rapids are also a positive sign of a healthy river. They help put Oxygen into the water, and Oxygen is another way of cleansing water as it helps to break down impurities. Deep pools and fallen trees are good for wildlife that lives in the water by providing shelter and a way of staying out of the current for rest. Water is the building block of the world's ecosystem and the most valuable natural capital. 

Projecting Planetary Changes

The website Flood Fitetree.net is interesting; it shows the projected land mass loss due to rising seas with the melting of the ice. Global ice is the most significant amount of fresh water at about 68.7 percent and is held in ice caps and glaciers on the planet, and this website gives the ability to show sea levels rising 1 to 60 meters. After looking at the world, it shows the probability that the most significant cities near or around the coast of the world will be underwater. The most land mass loss will likely happen along the Atlantic seaboard. Cities like London, Rome, New York, Bangkok, and Cairo, to name a few. The Pacific coast in Asia will be hit worse than the Pacific coast of The United States. In the U.S., the Mississippi delta will go quite a ways inland. The water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico should lower with the loss of Florida, and most of the Atlantic seaboard will also have a significant land loss. One noteworthy piece of information is that the Great Lakes region seems unaffected. The Great Lakes consist of Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. These Lakes are estimated to contain 21% of the Earth's surface water and 84% of the freshwater supply for North America. This description represents the effect of the ocean rising 60 meters, which is the Flood Firetree. Net's highest settings. The climatic changes are more complex than global warming. These changes resolve the predictability of weather patterns and cause more unusual weather than ever before, or at least since weather records have been taken. In short, the time for combating climate change has passed, and it is time the world learns to live with the coming changes.   

How ancient is the Battery?

Battery University will challenge even the teaching of the Bible with what is believed to be the first ancient battery discovery while constructing a railway in 1936 near Baghdad. This is referred to as Parthian Battery. The object dates back to the Parthian period and is believed to be 2,000 years old. A clay jar of a prehistoric battery holds an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar or electrolytic solution, the pot produces 1.1 to 2 volts. Not all scientists believe the Parthian battery was used for electricity. Others believe it was used for electroplating, such as adding gold or other precious metals to surfaces. The modern use of batteries was started by Volta, who discovered in 1800 that certain fluids would generate a continuous flow of electrical power when used as a conductor. This discovery led to the invention of the first voltaic cell, more commonly known as the battery. In 1802, William Cruickshank designed the first electric battery for mass production. The battery of choice in this period was Lithium-ion, named after their active material, written in whole or specified by their chemical symbols. There are six of the most common Li-ion: Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2), Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4), Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2 or NMC), Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4), Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (LiNiCoAlO2), and Lithium Titanate (Li4Ti5O12). The Battery University has the most information that I have ever seen in one place about batteries. 

"Story of Stuff" Inspiring Change

The Story of stuff covers topics like the environment, consumerism, sustainability, capitalism, materialism, and social science in an informative common, sense way. This concept of this 300-page book is the best rebuttal to the theories of Victor Lebow’s 1955 “Journal of Retailing” I have seen to date. The Story of Stuff really breaks down how much control over consumer choices big businesses and political policies have on the day-to-day life of the average consumer. Consumerism is connected to the whole economic system, which is connected to political systems, and of course, this impacts the planet and its inhabitants. Although people can make a difference by taking responsibility for their decisions on what they eat, wear, drive, buy, and, most importantly, what they throw away. The corrupt system of democracy has indeed been failing to close the divide on income inequality and combating the realities of climate change. I find the book to be a great addition to my collection. The videos are an excellent teaching tool for everyone, allowing them to understand the impact of resource management. These videos could help High School and College students understand what is happening to natural resources. Maybe even get the next generation more involved with voting, boycotting poor quality products, recycling, and reusing discarded things to conserve natural resources.        

Way’s To Change our World

Management of natural and human capital is a topic that can be viewed from many angles, all dictated by desired outcomes. Although I find Herman Daly's statement amusing, "Viewing the economic process as a disembodied, circular flow of value between production and consumption is like trying to understand the biology of an animal only in terms of its circulatory system, without taking into account the fact it also has a digestive tract that ties it firmly to its environment at both ends" it is incredibly accurate. Specific changes can be made in everyday society and make a difference; instead of planting flowers on the side of the interstate, plant vegetables. Instead of having grassy parks in cities, sustainable food forests, and, instead of neighborhoods, Agra hoods with a farm in the center of them encourage the kids to get off of the couch, get out and grow food or raise livestock. Pass laws state that forests with timber harvested have to be replanted, and a certain percentage of the new growth has to produce food. Instead of building code as the minimum, raise the bar, make LEED the new minimum, and require all new homes have a certain amount of renewable energy production. Reintroduce Urban Renewal policies in the United States by rebuilding substandard homes to meet these standards and create jobs. Set aside money and plan for the infrastructure of the future. Reclaim the past business practices to build durable products that are worth repairing and will create jobs in the long run. Even looking at older technology used decades ago and seeing if the design ideas could streamline modern products. The economy, human capital, natural capital, and manufactured capital are so interconnected that once one starts to fail, it strains the others.    

Fiction or reality "Oil Storm"

In the movie oil storm, the most pivotal decision point was right after the assessment of damages. As the movie said, the potential loss of life after the battery should have been the focus. Essentially, they said it would take over a year to rebuild Port Fourchon, with the production and import losses being around 2,000,000 barrels of oil a day. The first fact is there was 350 day of oil available in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, so step one should have been to reduce oil consumption across the board. I would have made all work weeks four-day work weeks and encouraged all companies that were not infrastructural related to be closed one day a week (like Sunday) for a month. I would set up a gas rationing program like in WWII for everyone but emergency vehicles, farm equipment, and licensed public transportation. I would set up general information programs encouraging bike riding, motorcycle riding, carpooling, and mass transportation. I would have started moving products by rail and prioritizing trucking shipments to government contracts to ensure National Security. I would have dedicated an oil tanker to moving the available 20% oil production from Louisiana Port to the Texas Port while focusing repairing the loop in Louisiana. I would have increased domestic oil production, started bartering for oil from other countries, and looked first to Canada. I would constantly monitor the nation's state as the crises unfolded and rekindled the idea of the American Spirit, and reminded everyone that on one level or another, we were all in this together all well, bringing as many members of our military home to help rebuild the nation's infrastructure.            

Electric Cars are they Really the Future?

       
                The electric car is something to marvel at, it can be safer, environmentally friendly, and a simple designed mechanical system compared to the standard gas models. After watching a different episode of Fully Charged, I was shocked at the amount of energy used in the refining process of petroleum. Adding all the shipping, pumping, and transportation costs to get gas to the pump truly gives the electric car the efficiency award. I was born at the end of technological innovation and watched the world accept the status quo. I grew up expecting to live like the Jettisons, and instead, the United States has been stuck on Sesame Street, where everything stays the same. It is time for this generation to make changes to our global economy, and promoting alternative transportation is a fantastic way to start. The one question is why electric car manufacturers have only concentrated on regenerating electricity in the braking system? When supercapacitors technologies are suitable to use as an independent energy source for short distances (stop-and-go vehicles) such as city buses, tunnel trucks, and Warf trucks, primarily when this technology can also be used in pure electric or hybrid electric vehicles. Supercapacitors have been proven efficient in start-stop situations because they can reach a maximum speed of 50 kmh and complete charging in five seconds. The more that could be put back into the battery would effectively create a longer run time. Why don’t they have ram air induction ports that lead to accentuate a small-scale wind turbine and more solar collecting systems to add to the battery time? The electric car should concentrate on getting more miles out of each charge, and I have seen less self-sufficiency. The improvement of systems and battery longevity should not be overlooked, but what is wrong with creating the total efficiency package and generating electricity? Most car enthusiasts may not like the idea of electric cars, but when it comes to performance, I would suggest looking up Zombie 222 for a glimpse of an electric muscle car (68 Mustang fastback) performance. When it comes to modern technology meets old school, Zombie 222 is one of the best examples I know of. When it comes to new cars, electrics fit more stations than ever.   

Water Management Ideas

         





Anupam Mishra's Ted Talk sowed slides of many different forms of architecture, some modern and some ancient, but all were designed to harvest every drop of water from the desert climate. Respect purity of the water and the people using it was what he described as the most important thing about water and the reason why their system works in India. Respect was directed not just at keeping contaminates from polluting water in collection areas but also for the rights of every person to water. This means no one can own the water, and these values have worked for centuries in India. Catchments, wells, condensation collection, and ample storage areas have worked in the desert climate for hundreds of years. 

The second part of this article is on the French inventor and appropriate technologist from the 1980's Jean Pain. He found a solution to manage the French countryside's underbrush that was so dangerous during wildfire seasons. The pain had discovered that if he were to harvest the underbrush and mulch it up, he could use it for multiple resources. He would place the mulch into approximately 262 square feet of round piles while wetting it in layers. In the center of these mulch piles, a fermentation tank was filled with biodegrading material like food scraps, solid waste, or food prep bi-products. Sealing off the tank would produce a byproduct of methane which he used to run his stove. Then he would run a hundred feet or so of 2-inch black pipe layered throughout the rest of the mulch pile as he layered it into a cylinder shape. The mulch piles could produce around one gallon a minute of 140° F water from the natural heat that breaks down the organic material. He used it for hot water, plus to heat his house as it was circulated in a system of pipes throughout the house. This natural breakdown of organic materials like leaves in valleys or low spots in the forest is how small animals keep warm in the winter. These discussion points are both excellent examples of sustainable harvesting and using water.

Inspired by Natural Capital Ch.3

The constant expansion of prisons in the United States US) has become a social justice problem, and in short, the US is no longer the home of the free. The war on drugs, poverty, racial inequality, and lack of representation in the US government has set up the American public for failure. Prison overpopulation is now starting to put a strain on the local and state governments. Instead of changing outdated policies or laws, they want to outsource the problem to private prison companies. The largest prison company in the United States is Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and at this point in time, the CCA has 61 facilities in the US alone. During recent negotiations, the CCA said they could operate these facilities for a cheaper cost than the local and state governments as long as they guaranteed a specific incarceration rate and retention rate. This seems unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal because the only way this grantee can be obtained is for the judicial branch to forgo early releases, give maximum penalties, and take advantage of poor, misrepresented individuals. This is extreme when a homeless man gets a longer sentence for stealing a roll of toilet paper from a government facility than a child molester. I witnessed this situation while serving on a grand jury years ago when just relooking at outdated laws and making adjustments can lessen the number of people incarcerated by having drug treatment facilities, legalizing medical marijuana, and minimizing lobbying. This is just a tiny part of the underlying problem, but a working solution is needed to sustain ourselves on this planet.  

Economics and Resource Management

            The story of stuff series, like the story of change, the level of bottled water, and the story of electronics, are all excellent. Victor Lavoe's planned obsolesces idea is bankrupting this planet's natural resources. The story of change's three-point plan (idea, commitment, action) is achievable and a reasonable response to the state of the world. The planned obsolesce movement was about boosting the economy of the United States after WWII, so the new direction can be called reversing designed obsolesce. The central theme is to undo the sustained damage that planned obsolesce caused. Doing so should incite the creation of jobs, the invention of the replacement technology, cleaning up waste sites, reusing, recycling, and electing different-minded leadership. It will take several generations to undo what has been done to the planet and humanity. Society must redirect the golden arrow to the greatest good for the masses, not the few. The business-as-usual style of representation in the US capital needs to change, and the first thing to go is corporate influence, corporate welfare, and subsidies. A comprehensive plan to restore the planet to a growing, healthy ecology should be a top priority of all world leaders. Replacing and recycling transportation alone would create a strong job market, not to mention changing farming or toxic chemicals. The world should demand quality goods and services, with no exceptions.