What is it going to take to get you to go solar?
I’m lucky enough to live in a state that gives small solar rebates to homeowners who invest in them. Colorado is also home to a solar panel research laboratory and GE is even planning on setting up a solar panel manufacturing plant here as well.
But what is it going to take for homeowners to actually switch to solar? Many companies offer the installation of solar panels at no money down. Other claim the monthly payments for solar panels even out to the amount they are likely saving each month and even gaining money by selling back to the grid. The common theme? Money.
And that’s exactly the approach SunRun is taking to their marketing of solar panels. Earth-saving altruism is nice, but let’s face it – few people would bother installing solar panels if they weren’t somehow cost effective. Otherwise, going green would be a truly impossible task.
“Sometimes,” SunRun’s website states, “people just don’t use enough electricity to make the switch to solar financially worthwhile.
Makes sense. A point they put across in their video advertisements as well. Going green with solar is, literally, all about the green.
What would it take for you to go solar? Even partly?
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Two days with the Chevy Volt #voltKlout
Last week I was able to redeem one of my perks on Klout.com to test drive the Chevrolet Volt (#voltklout) for a few days. I get it, why wouldn’t they want a sustainably-minded blogger writing about the car they are billing as a highly fuel efficient machine?
However, I have to look at the Volt from two perspectives – the one where I am genuinely interested in it as a car (I like cars, a lot) and one where I am looking at it as a environmental blogger. One perspective fares slightly better than the other.
As a car, the Volt is fine. The electric engine picks up when you need it to and the car does really well for turning and handling. Lots of climate control features, XM radio, a DVD player and all the bells and whistles that seem to come with a mid-range sedan nowadays. Backseats fold down to provide a pretty expansive storage area – big enough for two carefully-stacked bikes.
Drawbacks for this car? It feels like one enormous blind spot. Maybe this comes from a lifetime of driving cars that are slightly longer (trucks, mostly) and maybe there isn’t a fear that my mirrors aren’t showing all there is to see. But every lane change and turn required a stretch of my neck just to make sure I wasn’t going to have to buy this car.
Plastic hoods over the engine, abandon hope all ye who enter here.
The other drawback I noticed is how stupidly reliant this car is on its own technology. For example – there is no spare tire. Looking under the hood, there also isn’t much in terms of access to any of the guts of the car (I looked, even though the Chevy rep told me not to). Any and all vehicular emergencies are received by the push of the On-Star button.
Call me old-fashioned, but I think this is a pretty terrible way to approach a broken car.
This display tells you where the energy is coming from/going to
As an environmentally-minded writer and a man who is interested in anything that would relive us of the petrochemical shackle? I don’t think the Volt is a step in the right direction.
Clearly the Volt was designed around the idea that most trips from the house are about 30 miles, round trip. That’s exactly how long the battery-power lasted on the Volt before it dripped to zero. After that the fuel engine kicked in and for the reminder of my time with the Volt, I was essentially driving a gasoline powered car. During that time, however, the almost-to-helpful computer of the car gave me subtle hints on how I could improve my driving habits to be a more fuel efficient driver – giving me clues about the traffic ahead and a whole on-screen tutorial about not being a jackrabbit accelerator.
Why didn’t I plug it in? Great question. Until I had this car at my disposal I was never aware of how infrequently I parked near a power outlet. The Volt can charge off a 120 volt outlet (like any of the ones in your house). But since I have no garage and park on the street, that wasn’t an option. During the day while I was at work, my parking options were also limited. Furthermore, to get a worthwhile charge, my car needed to be parked near an outlet for about 7-8 hours. I did have the option of parking near an electric car charging port (there were a few in Boulder), I still had to keep it parked for more than a few hours, and just about every kiosk I drove by asked me to keep my parking time to under an hour.
It was not in the cards for me to plug in this car. This car was clearly not meant for me; maybe for the folks who live out in the burbs with a garage at their disposal.
The Volt doesn’t tell you how much fuel you have left in the car (like a classic gas gauge would). Instead, it gives you an approximation of how much farther you can go before you either have to charge or fill up with gasoline. I had to do a little digging to find out that the Volt has a 9 gallon fuel tank. Honestly, for being able to get 350-370 miles on a 9 gallon tank – I’m sort of impressed. However, the reliance on the outlet (and the fossilized fuels that are burned to power that outlet) the Volt is actually a major turn off. Although, while I was never near an outlet, I was able to add some power back to the battery through the car’s Regenerative Power Recovery system – energy reclaimed through coasting and braking. The energy reclaimed on a downhill coast was quickly applied to assist the engine through the next gas-guzzling uphill climb. Smart.
Regen Power Recovery
Other discussions I could be having about this car, but won’t (for the moment) – The resale value of an electric car after 5 years. The immense amount of toxicity that is in an electric car’s battery. How well this silly car probably won’t do in the Colorado winters.
What experiences have you had with driving or owning electric and hybrid cars? Thoughts go into the comments below!
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You say “Hippie Talk” like it’s a bad thing
Chevrolet has this commercial running right now to sell their new eco-friendly Malibu.
“That’s hippie talk” the senile father says.
Is this what we can expect from the older generation? Any hint of a progressive technology is automatically shut down just because it isn’t what they are used to? Frankly, I’m not sure why Chevrolet isn’t embracing this older generation. Or why most of us leave them to be the “senile old folks that will be dead soon anyway.”
While their impending demise may be true, they are still voting. In some cases, they are the only ones still voting both at the polls and at the cash register.
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GMO Primer Part 1 – What is GMO?
GE gives desireable and marketable traits to common veggies.
It’s easy to get buried in the wash of information available on GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). The stuff is everywhere; Dave provided an excellent piece in November of last year in “The GMO Seed – the root of the evil” in which he explores the consequences of distributing a genetically modified seed that kills everything that eats it, is genetically altered to be resistant to pesticides (manufactured and sold by the same company BTW), and the cross contamination of non-genetically engineered crops through natural pollination. While the information is out there, it’s hard to figure out where to begin. Today we’ll start with the basics and go from there.
What exactly is a GMO or Genetic Engineering? Genetic modification is the technologies and practices used to alter the genetic makeup of an organism. This is generally done by introducing DNA from another species (plant, animal, bacteria, etc.) into the organism.
This is not the same as cross breeding two similar animals, or selectively breeding plants by the most desired traits, but a completely artificial alteration of the genome. Other terms commonly used are “Genetically Engineered” or “Transgenic”. The idea is to incorporate a quality not normally expressed in the recipient. One example is inserting genes from cold water fish like a flounder into strawberries to make them less susceptible to cold.
Genetic engineering is also used on mammals. GE salmon are given an additional growth hormone that causes them to grow faster. Similar practices are used extensively in medical and biotechnology research, altering bacteria to create specific microorganisms such as growth hormones or proteins, insulin being an example. The first successful attempts at genetic engineering go back to the early 1970s, and have been increasing on massive scales ever since. We will likely see more and more research in the areas of food and medicine, but if that’s a good thing or not is questionable.
Dig up your own research, evaluate objectively, and make your own decisions.
Next time, we will start looking at arguments for and against genetic engineering in the agricultural system.
[div class="note" class2="typo-icon"] David Martin is a passionate advocate for sustainable living and holistic nutritional health. He has spent a good part of the last 10 years improving his diet, reducing his carbon footprint, and learning as much as he can about restoring the balance of humans and nature. By day he works the system to beat it, by night he plans his ideal self-sufficient future. When not slaving away in the office, you can find him tending to plants, camping under the stars, or practicing his latest discovery: Tai Chi.
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Mold in the seed trays
Peppers finally starting to sprout
Had a slight bit of a problem this last week with mold in a few of the seed trays. If you’ve started seeds, you might have encountered it as well – instead of bright green seedlings the only growth your seed starting setup is harboring is that of a very fine, cotton-like mold.
You’ll have to forgive my lack of photo. For the life of me, I couldn’t get a clear shot of the mold. When it comes to the mold, you’ll know it when you see it.
It’s no surprise that this happens. In order for a seed to germinate they need warm, wet conditions – the same conditions mold loves. The spores can come from just about anywhere and can usually be prevented by sterilizing your seed trays before using them.
Thankfully, this is a very easy fix for this common problem. H2O2 – Hydrogen Peroxide. The stuff you buy at the grocery store for a buck. Put some in a spray bottle and treat the problem areas with it.
Why does this work? Is this dangerous for the seedlings?
Rainstorms clean the outdoors, in more ways than the obvious. Ever notice the ozone smell after a spring storm? That’s no accident. Commonly, the rain picks up excess oxygen from the ozone layer before it falls to earth (H2O + O = H2O2). In nature, the slight hydrogen peroxide compounds found in rain water clean and re-oxygenate the soil. It’s nature’s fungicide and keeps systems in balance.
Doesn’t hurt the seedlings, but hydrogen peroxide shouldn’t be used as a substitute for good ol’ water.
In the meantime, here’s some pictures of our current seedlings.
Thyme
Cauliflower and Thyme
Eggplant Sprouts
Basil
A micro-forest of seedling tomatoes
I update my Flickr photostream pretty regularly with photos from my garden. Follow me there!
