Green House Gas Reduction for Humanity

According to the 2014 International Energy Agency, CO2 Emissions from fuel Combustion highlight transportation was responsible for 23% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Climate change has been attributed to the rise in (GHG), and the effects have been prevalent with the increase in violent weather worldwide. The 5 highest polluting countries with (GHG) are as follows: most to most miniature China, Russia Federation, the United States, India, and Japan. All top five emitters have reduced their emissions per unit of GDP between 1990 and 2012, while emissions perceived showed contrasting trends. For example, perceptual emissions decreased significantly in the Russian Federation (21%) and the United States (17%), although each followed very different strategies to achieve those results. The Russian numbers dropped sharply and rose steadily in that period indicating the possible circumventing of the established policies. The United States, on the other hand, has steadily fallen since 2008, indicating a more rigid approach. This will build on the voluntary emissions reduction pledges from the 2015 Paris Treaty that 195 countries around the world signed which were established from COP 21. The Paris Agreement aims to reduce (GHG) to keep the global temperature from rising over 2° C and break the natural checks and balances of the world eco-system out of kilter. The most significant lifestyle changes will have to be made in developed nations. It will start with reconstructing infrastructure, allowing them to operate off renewable energies like solar power and wind. This has been achieved primarily in Germany, which made the change due to the lack of natural mineral resources, and they have become much more energy-independent. These shifts are going to change the world economies, but it is also an opportunity for markets that have seemed to level off on growth. Plus, making these changes is humanity's best choice for future generations. 
        

Embracing Innovation in Transportation

            The end of oil is an outstanding idea in the United States, and Amory Lovins explains it as a common sense fashion. He spoke of technological innovations and profit-maximizing capitalists that can accidentally save whales. Society can reshape the future by drawing from a backlog of technology and breaking everyday molds. His theme goes back to ephemerialization as a first response to making cars more efficient on gas, and very little has changed in the realm since 2005. One possible way to get the public's attention is for someone like ford to remake something like the 69 mustangs out of fiber composite and prove which one outperforms the other, much like the way that a blade for a wind turbine is assembled. Giving both vehicles the same motors, transmissions, and drive train to show performance and fuel differences in just the body weight adjustment and run performance test. This fiber-compost Mustang could have the engine well and underneath designed for electricity, battery, and aerodynamics. This would be interesting to test against an electric motor conversion of an original model 69 Mustang like the Zombie 222. The best innovation of the solar car could come from the fiber composite shell. Make the composite clear and double-layered on all large surface areas like the roof, hood, trunk, and doors, and between each double layer, place solar panels to supply energy to the batteries. When the car comes up to traveling speed, have some regeneration feed form of hydrostatic generator that also feeds the batteries. Another way to bring electric car innovation and public awareness to products like these is to develop a division of racing. Through experimentation, maximum performance testing, and part endurance testing, it becomes an approving ground, creating public awareness and confidence that bring about public demand for this technology, thus expanding the electric car market. Electric car racing is also suitable for sport. In fact that high Co2 levels have been linked to the rise scenery sensitive people and autism. Electric cars are much quieter than combustion engines and can be made simpler than cars in the sixties. The best data on how long they might last is the electric forklift, whose life cycle has been 30 or 40 years with minimal problems. Electric cars are also being made technology rich enough to be fully autonomous in the next 10 years. Which is great for an aging population. An autonomous car provides the opportunity for freedom and safety for everyone else on the roads. The biggest hick-up in the electric car has been battery range, but like all other things, the more they are worked with, the faster battery technology will develop. For now, the content of an electric car is around 200 miles, which is suitable for city driving. According to AAA studies, most people drive 29.2 miles a day; this would mean people who live in a city and are close to work could charge their car as little as once a week, Which could really cut carbon pollution not just in the exhaust, but in the amount of coal burned to provide the needed energy for the oil refining process. Electric cars may not be the only answer to combating climate change, but they sure will help with the solution to climate change. 

            

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.