Power and Energy Conservation – Sustainable Schmidt

David vs Goliath

schmidt — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:17:57 +0000

It was not so long ago that we had an enormous amount of momentum to make real progress fighting climate change. But the Republican party & conservative movement have mobilized all their resources against us, and for the moment, we are loosing. It is David vs Goliath, and we are David…

Watch Climate of Doubt on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Case Study: Unoccupied Regular Home Vs. Occupied Sustainable Home

schmidt — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:04:30 +0000

…And the winner is Occupied Sustainable!

Gas and Electric Comparisons 2009-2010

Hey, Andy here with another post – After analyzing months of PG&E bills from two houses, I put them into excel in order to compare their data. Below you will see a graphical comparison of monthly gas and electric bills between a house on Marietta Drive that is unoccupied and the sustainable house on 39th Ave occupied by a family of four…(To enlarge the graphs, click the image)

As you can see, the house occupied on 39th Ave is constantly paying less for their gas each month, a result of its efficiently and sustainability.

You will see in this graph that the electric bill paid in the occupied house is far less than that of the vacant. The 39th Ave. household has very steady payments not because it uses less, but rather because it has more efficient installations such as high efficient insulation, energy star appliances, energy star lights, and energy star windows (just to name a few!).

These numbers do not lie and show that sustainable changes do pay off!

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Ever wonder how solar panels are made?

schmidt — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:17:03 +0000

Green Building 101

schmidt — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:10:07 +0000

Urban Windmills

schmidt — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:41:15 +0000

Solar power is so hot right now it is easy to forget about alternate sources of home power. But just as the thought of rooftop photovoltaic panels probably sounded uber green 10 years ago, in 10 years we may well see more houses with these:

I have been watching this windmill spin in the Forrest Hills Extension neighborhood of The City for some time now. I think it takes some big hairy balls to be willing to erect one of these on your block, and I approve. This is radically unknown territory for your average home owner, and not every contractor, electrician or even inspector from the Department of Building Inspection is going to know what to do with a home windmill. Obviously though, it can be done, and in windy locals it makes sustainable sense. One big disadvantage to Solar Panels like the ones I have on my house is that they do not work at night. But the wind can blow 24/7, so having the capacity to generate at all times is great. Now my electrical bills with a 2.3 Kilowatt solar system is $11.22 for this past month (PG&E bill just came) but this has been summer with longer days and up to 2,000 watts generate each hour. I know it will drop when winter comes, and something like a windmill would is a tempting addition. Not 100% sure what the wife will say though…

How Exactly are Solar Cells Made?

schmidt — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:44:04 +0000

I like this video as it shows a quick overview of the construction process involved in making commercial photovoltaic cells. It’s a Belgian company, the video is well made, and props to them for working on a commercially viable solution to global climate change.

Clean Energy bill needs your support now!

schmidt — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:30:56 +0000

Being an active global citizen takes work. Here is something you can do right now, call your representative and tell them you support the clean energy bill that is before congress. More information available at Repower America.

GoSolarSF

schmidt — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:11:04 +0000

The city & county of San Francisco decided last year to offer incentives to homeowners & businesses that wanted to install solar panels on their roofs. It’s a great idea, your average coal fired plant gets truckloads of subsidies and tax breaks, it seems only fair that regular people get the same breaks. Hopefully more and more municipalities will do the same across the country.The incentives increase if local labor and other socially responsible practices are used.

For people living in San Francisco these are the incentive levels for residential solar installations as of Feb 1 2009.

Basic…$2,000.00

City Installer…$3,000.00

Environmental Justice…$3,500.00

Workforce Development…$4,000.00

Thomas Friedman: The Power of Green

schmidt — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:21:26 +0000

One of my favorite editorial writers maps out a path towards global energy sustainability.

I am often struck by how little I know…

schmidt — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:50:24 +0000

When faced with the vastness of our world, its complexity, I am almost daily reminded by how little I am aware of. We may live in the greatest country on Earth, but that does not shelter us from deep environmental tragedy. What, for example, is the connection between something as ubiquitous as your light switch with your community, your state, your country…your world?

The 2009 Goldman prizes for Grassroots Environementalism have been announced. Honoring 6 individuals from the 6 inhabited continents, the prize recognizes “a group of fearless grassroots leaders taking on government and corporate interests and working to improve the environment for people in their communities.”

Real grassroots achievements, not things like last weeks bullshit “tea parties” hosted by Fox News, but dedicated, local community activists working on local problems that touch global lives…this is what the Goldman Prizes salute. The achievements of true grassroots leaders like Maria Gunnoe demand not only recognition, but also admiration.

Maria has lead the fight against mountaintop removal – a practice of literally blowing up mountains to harvest the coal beneath them. To date close to 500 mountains have been blown up; the millions of tons of toxic debris dumped into the Appalachian watershed in the form of valley fills as casually as someone throws a plastic water bottle into a garbage can.

Maria has defended her great state of West Virginia and the Appalachian mountains because she loves her home and cannot stand idly by while the rest of us destroy it by our collective indifference, but her efforts have come with great personal cost:

“Observers confirm that mine managers point to Gunnoe as an enemy of mine workers and their jobs, and have encouraged acts of harassment. Gunnoe has received numerous verbal threats on her life, and her children are frequently harassed at school. Gunnoe’s neighbors recently overheard people planning an arson attack on her home. Her daughter’s dog was shot dead, and “wanted” posters of Gunnoe have appeared in local convenience stores…”

Her “crime”? Pointing out the catastrophic environmental damage done to her home by corporate profit whores bowing at the altar of the dollar, environment and community be damned. But her environment, her community, is also ours. And the damage done belongs to us all. As Maria says, “when you flip the switch on there is a 52% chance you are destroying the water, air and land of where I live.”