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| *Vultures Knob>>>Bike Lights |
Energy saving devices and the environment.......? |
I have the energy saving light bulbs. I take public transport when I can. I walk to and ride a bike to the local shops. Try to unplug as many electirical items as possible. We try to do our bit to recycle. I am now looking into fitting a solar panel or mini wind turbine. I need to buy a car for work, don't fancy any of the hybrid's - any suggestions to a good economical and enviromentally friendly-ish car? Relax max! Just buy any car and make sure you feed it on Tesco's bioethanol. Case closed. Despite the emmissions being only marginally better it's the whole growing process at the other end (bio ethanol is derieved from maize, sugar cane etc) which combats the output of C02. Oh and as for the solar panels, forget the photovoltaic ones (electric producing panels) since the dont even provide enough power to boil your kettle, neither does a wind turbine. BUT using water heating solar panels (they run water through the solar panel to heat it with the suns rays) you can chomp your heating bill down by half. Failing that, check out one of the Mini CHP (combined heap and power) units that are available, they run on biomass (which is anything natural that can be burnt) and can provide all the electricity and heating you need in a standalone system. No such thing I'm afraid for cars use most of their energy by simply being made with only some 5 - 10 % of the energy they use in their life time being used as fule to power them. This being so, then the damage to the enviroment has already been done once the car is on your drive...even if you never use it. Same goes for solar panels/ wind turbines....as much energy is used to make them as they produce in their life time. Not green at all really. If you are in the U.S., get a Honda Fit or Toyota Yarus. If you are in the U.K., you can get a small diesel powered car. I love diesels, they just aren't available in the U.S. Your first poster doesn't know what he is talking about, IMO. Why dont you try a Vauxhall Astra or Vectra on LPG? The fuel used is a by product that occurs when producing petrol and therefore if not used gets burnt off into the atmosphere.It has a low carbon emmission, and can elongate the life of the engine as no carbon of any quantity is produced. They are (under 4 years old) congestion charge free and at around 30 mpg to the gallon you are doing the environment a favour by not using as much petrol or diesel. The price of gas is half that of Petrol, service intervals are the same,and performance is on a par with its petrol only derivative. We have just completed a head gasket change on a van that has done 192,000 miles and the general condition of the engine suggest another 100,000 miles is probable without major surgery. You can therefore keep the car longer and be assured that with the proper maintenance is will pay for its own carbon "footprint" long before you have tp buy an expensive replacement. Toyota Prius and dangerous electric cars are not the short term answer just a "green " marketing ploy ! Thank you very much for putting so much effort in to conserving our energy.I was beginning to think I was the only one who cared enough to do the things you do. I use solar panels.They are really good for lighting purposes,not much else.By the time the energy is stored in batteries and converted to AC with an inverter,the efficiency losses make it a poor substitute for the grid. I believe the car solution is in driving less and using a lightweight vehicle.Honda is my top choice. |
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