Ecocide

I recently came across the term ecocide which is defined as: “Destruction of the natural environment, especially when willfully done.“  It made me sit and think for a considerable amount of time about when humanity first began to willfully destroy our environment.  My intuition is that it began on a large scale with the industrial revolution and then accelerated as consumerism ramped up in the 1950s.  Behind all of this is the population explosion that drives humanity to exploit our resources beyond what is reasonable or sustainable. Ecocide is actually defined as criminal in 10 or more countries around the world and the United Nations has been working on creating a legal framework for defining it for decades.  Interestingly, ecocide is generally considered international crime in wartime, but not in peacetime.  I think this says a lot about humanity and our values.  The first country to make ecocide a crime against humanity in peacetime or war was Vietnam in 1990.  The other countries that have enacted similar laws are primarily centered around the Russian Federation.

It is not hard to think of examples of ecocide.  The rapid deforestation of South America, strip mines, mountaintop removal in the southeast of America and the list goes on.  And it scales all the way down from these gigantic overpowering images of destroyed landscapes to the construction of new housing developments in which forests are bulldozed and paved.  And scaling down even further, does one stop at using Roundup to control weeds in a suburban lawn?   Where does one draw the line?

I have read a bit about the native American tribes that lived here in the northeastern US before the colonists arrived.  The original Americans were able to live and thrive in harmony with nature in a climate that is quite unforgiving in the winter.   There is an excellent book: “Reading The Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England” that describes how our forest today evolved with fascinating examples of unique terrain and how they formed.  In one section, the author describes what the Maine forest looked like before colonists clear cut it for timber, ship masts, and to create pasture land for sheep and livestock.  Apparently the trees grew tall and so widely spaced that you could run a horse at full gallop through the forest.  The native Indians managed the forest actively by periodically burning out the underbrush in order to bring back the berries and maintain walkable terrain in the forest.   One could easily misinterpret the deliberate burning of underbrush as ecocide until one explores the benefits to all concerned including flora and fauna.   I can only imagine the careful deliberation as tribal elders decided when and where to begin a controlled burn and the centuries of history of this practice that helped to create an eminently livable environment.

Another perspective I have on humanity and the ecocide we are committing on a global scale is that eventually humanity will become multi-planetary - if we survive the destruction of our home planet.  In the process of reaching out to colonize other worlds, we will first need to live in small closed environments in orbit and in small constructed colonies.  By living in these closed environments we will be forced to be conscious of all of the inputs and outputs to the system and the processes within that sustain life.  From the perspective of orbit, astronauts on the space station are constantly awed by the view they have of the earth and come to love our tiny blue marble. I am hoping that as we transition toward living on other planets that these experiences of living in small closed ecosystems will teach us valuable lessons about respect for ecosystems as we create them and terraform planets such as Mars in the long-term future.

reposted from my old blog post from 09/06/14

IoT - Geeking out with live data to the web

I have always been an early adopter of things technical - yes I am a geek!  Before the phrase: "The Internet Of Things" (IoT) was in common usage, I had been using a product called the ioBridge to feed live data to the web from my solar installations.  Back in 2011 the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" did a segment in which the geeks controlled a lamp via the web.  It was absolutely hilarious, but like much of the science in the show it was based firmly in reality.

For myself, I find it more useful to send information the other way.  The first thing I did was to install temperature sensors to monitor the solar heating system I designed for my workshop:

The charts above are live on my website (updated every 10 minutes).  Throughout this blog page you can click the images to see that web page with the live data.  This allows me to closely monitor the performance of my heating system, and more importantly to share its successful operation with hundreds of people who view my website daily.

I also installed temperature sensors in the heat recovery ventilation system I installed in my workshop that clearly demonstrate how well it performs:

These gauges update in real time on my web page documenting its performance.

I deployed another ioBridge that monitors the solar domestic water heating system I installed for my home:

The monitoring equipment is mounted on the wall near each device, and any time anyone is looking at a webpage with this information on it the device lights up a number from 1 through 4 indicating which of the four sensors are being read and providing live data to that webpage.

It is quite encouraging for me to walk into my utility room and see numbers flashing on these units indicating live viewer(s).  By the way, the folks at ioBridge consider to me to be a power user - deploying technology like this is not for the faint of heart or the technologically naïve.

But wait there's more!   When I purchased my Chevy volt electric vehicle, I became very interested in monitoring how much power it uses to charge the battery.  And I also wanted to know how much energy it needed to use to keep the battery warm in the dead of winter.  It uses power from the charging station to heat the battery to keep it from being damaged by freezing.  So yet another web page with charts:

The chart above correlates temperature dips and energy consumption from the charging station.  Tall spikes are when I charge the vehicle, short (lower energy) spikes are for battery thermal management.

And yet more…  after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, I geeked out and built a Geiger counter kit.  And it occurred to me I could interface that to the web:

The surprise result from this experiment was that I could detect solar events such as Coronal Mass Ejections (high-energy radiation from sunspots) as shown in the chart above.  My webpage compares charts from my Geiger counter with actual current solar radiation information for comparison.

Oh yes, there's more!   I also have a weather station that feeds live data to the Weather Underground, there are several ways to access my data from the web including the Rapid Fire page below:

My Weather Underground personal weather station page shows current and historical data in considerable detail along with an up-to-date WebCam image of my home or workshop.  Years ago, I used historical information from my weather station to evaluate my site for a small wind turbine.  (More about my recently upgraded weather station in this recent blog page).

The solar power system that I installed starting in 2009 came with its own web portal that monitors the energy output of every panel individually - this information is available to me privately.  On my webpage I show the public information showing energy generated on a daily basis.  I also show historical energy and cost information based on accurate records I have kept of site energy production and electrical bills.

I was able to use this monitoring system to diagnose a failed piece of equipment last June.  Here is my blog page about that little adventure.

One of the first live-to-web items I added to my webpage was images from two WebCams showing my home updated every minute:

Live image of my home

live image of my workshop

On my webpage I have compiled a series of panoramic views of our property going back to 2003.  It is fascinating to see the tree growth and other changes over the years:

I monitor almost all of these pages on a daily basis and it gives me warm fuzzies to know that all of my systems are operating well and my solar systems are saving energy and money.

Book review: "The Last Hours of Humanity: Warming the World to Extinction"

click image to purchase: print $8.99, Kindle $.99

I just finished reading this short (46 page) book by Thom Hartman published back in August 2013.  What this book does like no other is to put contemporary climate change into the context of geologic history.  The writer lays out all of the known extinction events and the theories about their causes.  He then reviews current conditions and draws parallels. The biggest take away from this book is that all of the other extinction events took thousands of years to happen.  The current extinction which is already underway will take mere decades or a century or two at most.  It is all made painfully clear what is going on, why, and how there is very little time left for us to take action if it is not already too late.

I have skimmed through Naomi Klein's excellent "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate" and Elizabeth Kolbert's "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History", and found this book to be wonderfully concise and crystal-clear in the way that he defines the crisis unfolding around us.  This is a very quick read with no skimming required and packed with thoughtful insights.  He makes the reader painfully aware that the fossil fuels that took millions of years to bury are being burned in the blink of a geologic eye with the most dire of consequences.  It is not just carbon dioxide that we need to be concerned around it is the methane that is being released from the Arctic tundra and deep ocean methane clathrates.  Methane is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 and as the oceans warm a feedback goes into effect triggering massive releases of this potent gas.  The only question is: has our climate already crossed a tipping point or not and is there anything we can realistically do about it?

This very short book is a must read if you want to be fully educated about abrupt climate change and its causes and outcomes.

The End of Endless Growth

Over the last few years I have become increasingly aware of the contradictions inherent in the capitalist ideal of continued growth and the very finite resources of our biosphere.  It is quite clear that this is completely unsustainable and humanity is due for a major transition within the next few decades if we are to survive.  One of the concepts that I find compelling is that the fossil fuel industry must leave most of the discovered resources in the ground if humanity is to maintain a viable biosphere.  Clearly this comes in complete conflict with their ideal of profiting from extracting those resources.

With all this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised to find that someone has written beautifully conceived overview of the situation. Nafeez Ahmed, writing for Motherboard has produced two articles released on Jan 1+2, 2015 that cover this topic with brevity, clarity and some rich insights.  So rather than recapitulate his well reasoned and crisp writing I am simply going to link to the two articles which I encourage you to read them.  He addresses energy, food, finance, and ethics in a deeply thoughtful and concise way.

The End of Endless Growth: Part 1

The End of Endless Growth: Part 2

 

Upgrading my weather station

Old WS1090 station

NEW Ambient WS1400 station

In 2010 I was considering installing a small 1 kW wind turbine on the roof of my workshop.  In order to evaluate the site to see if I had sufficient wind, I installed an inexpensive weather station for under $100 (now obsolete).  I upgraded it by adding a server that would send my weather data directly to the Weather Underground.  I also hacked on a small solar panel so I did not need to replace the batteries. The station transmits data wirelessly to a receiver in my office.  I could now access logs of all of my weather data on the web and see it in graphical form like this:

1 year of temperature and wind speed data

After one year I learned that my site was not appropriate for wind power, more about this on this page of my site.  I deliberately installed this weather station 10 feet above the ridge line of my two-story workshop which would be an ideal location both for the weather station and for potential wind turbine in the future.  Weather stations, like wind turbines need to be installed where they are least affected by wind shade.

The original weather station served its purpose and I learned quite a bit about our local weather conditions while also being a responsible source for local weather information for Weather Underground.  Eventually the rain gauge in that weather station failed and I decided to upgrade to a new weather station that incorporates solar power and a simple easy to install web server:

Ambient Weather WS-1400-IP

The big climb

Removing old weather station

It was scary to climb up onto the top of the roof, and take down the pole that holds up the weather station.  My wife, Rebekah was my spotter and photographer for this process.   The 10 foot guyed TV mast is split into two 5 foot lengths so that I can remove the upper section in order to service the weather station.

 

New instrument installed

I expect this new better designed weather station to provide many years of service.  In addition to all the usual weather statistics, this unit also reports solar radiation in watts per square meter, and a UV index all of which can be viewed in chart or table format by day/week/month etc.  Here is a link to my Weather Underground webpage which also includes a web cam view of my property.   To see live real-time weather conditions click this link for my "rapidfire" page.  

And finally here is a live feed from my weather station:

Click for weather forecast

Sustainable Christmas gift giving

At this time of year I look around at everyone acting like sheep and doing what everybody else does, buying Christmas gifts.  This only endorses the unsustainable commercial farce that the celebration of the birth of Jesus has become.  This is such a tragic indictment of the way that religion and capitalism have co-opted and corrupted the message.  I am not Christian but I am quite certain that Jesus of Nazareth would be utterly horrified by what the celebration of his birth has become.  With this in mind I would like to offer some suggestions for sustainable Christmas gifts, gifts from the heart with little or no carbon impact.

Handmade Christmas card.
Make your own Christmas card by hand or with the help of a computer and express your gratitude for the recipient's place in your life.

Entertainment gift.
Buy a ticket for a performance: music, movie, theater, poetry reading, performance art etc.  Or perhaps for a sporting event for the recipients favorite team.

E-book.
If your recipient has a book reader and you know enough about their reading taste perhaps you can find an e-book that they would enjoy.   Resort to a paper book or print magazine only if you must.

Food.
Offer to cook a meal for your intended recipient at some future scheduled date, or take them out to a restaurant that endorses local and sustainable foods.  If you are someone who likes to make jams or jellies or other food that keeps, then give a gift from your garden.

Lend a hand.
Give the gift of your time and offer to help fix your gift recipient's home or vehicle or teach them how to do it themselves.  Share your skills or experiences in a meaningful way.

Handmade gift.
Traditional handmade gifts include knitted items such as mittens, socks and sweaters.  Be creative and think of the things that you can make that other people would value and enjoy.  Write a poem, sing a song or any other form of creative expression that is meaningful to you or to your recipient.

These are just a few thoughts that come to mind, if you have other suggestions please offer them up in the comment section below. 

There is no gas pedal in my car!

2012 Chevy Volt electric vehicle

When I take people for a demonstration drive in my Chevy Volt, I have to remind them that I am not using the “gas pedal”, I am using the accelerator pedal.  The pedal has no direct connection to the gas engine generator that GM refers to as a “range extender".  The pedal is hooked into the control computer of the vehicle and its only function is to modulate the amount of energy going to the electric motor.  It is interesting to note that when I punch the accelerator to the floor, my energy gauge shows over 80 kW of power going to the motor. Yes that’s Eighty. Thousand. Watts!  That is a truly enormous amount of energy capable of getting the 3800lb vehicle to 60MPH in 8.5 seconds with neck snapping acceleration in the 1st 40 feet!   And no gasoline involved unless I am running in "range extender" mode, in which case the four-cylinder 1.4L gasoline powered generator can contribute up to 50 kW to the battery to help maintain a safe battery level. There are times when that engine generator will ramp up to over 4000 RPM, and you really hear it, but most of the time it is barely audible.

Since we charge the vehicle largely from solar, the EV range of around 33 miles is literally a free ride for us (with zero carbon emissions!).  When the battery is low, the gas generator allows us to continue driving at about 40MPG.  

Observant passengers often notice that I leave the shift lever in "L" and not in "D".  Since this is an electric vehicle, the designations of Low and Drive are irrelevant, so GM just left the labels there as a convention.  "L" mode simply enables an aggressive regenerative braking feature that allows for one pedal driving.  By lifting your foot off the accelerator the vehicle slows so dramatically that you barely need to touch the brake pedal as you come to a stop.  This feature puts a great deal more energy back into the battery as it is recovered by the electric motor.

I have devoted a page of my web site to all the features of my Volt and it's performance and energy use/savings.  It is such an amazing vehicle - GM totally got it right with this one, and owners all agree by giving it the highest customer satisfaction ratings year after year.  With over 40K miles on my 2012 Volt I still consider it the best vehicle I have ever owned and love driving it.

Learning lessons from living off-planet

Anyone who has been paying attention is well aware by now that humanity is destroying the planet's ecosystem quite systematically.  While the planet Earth may well survive humanity, humanity may not survive the planet in the long run.  In my mind humanity's final lesson will be to learn how to live off planet.  Consider the small manned space missions we have undertaken so far, including the International Space Station.  These tiny spaceships represent a small closed ecosystem with a minimal inputs and outputs, and the ideal space colony whether in the asteroid belt, on the moon or Mars will need to be entirely self-sustaining in the long-term.  If we were to view our home planet as a similarly small closed system, we would certainly treat it with a great deal more respect.  Once humanity begins to reach towards the other planets we will be living in completely closed systems and our consciousness will change because our very survival will require maintaining these environments. (I am reminded of the classic Bruce Dern movie: "Silent Running").  For this reason, I admire Elon Musk for his proposed long-term goal of making humanity extra planetary and colonizing Mars.  His company SpaceX put out a T-shirt a few years ago with a picture of Mars and the text "Occupy Mars" and I have been wearing mine ever since.  Sadly, it has not stimulated conversation around the potential for humanity to become extra planetary. 

The nations and economies of the world seem to believe that sustained economic growth is possible into the indefinite future but we simply do not have the resources. The reality is that we simply cannot continue to support an increasing population all of whom require products and services.  So if/when we become a multi-planetary species, I am hoping that we will have learned the lesson of living in small, contained ecosystems.  Hopefully we will treat the planets that we colonize in the future with more respect than we treat our home planet which may be doomed to a future as a garbage heap as imaged in the movie: "Wall-E".

Why you need a home energy audit

I have a well deserved reputation as an energy efficiency and renewable energy guru and people frequently ask me what it would cost to put solar panels on the roof.  My immediate reaction is to ask them if they have done everything possible to ensure that their home is as efficient as they can possibly make it.   I point out that solar power systems are very expensive and in order to reduce the cost of that installation you first need to do everything you can to reduce the energy consumption within your home.  I encourage them to have a professional home energy audit done first and this can be done for between $300 and $600.   Some state utilities will do it for free, so do your research.   The quality of an energy audit will vary significantly from one entity to another, but bottom line they should provide you with a shopping list of things that you need to repair or change around your home starting with the "low hanging fruit" of the least expensive options and working up from there.

Blower door test in progress

While it is possible to do an amateur DIY home energy audit yourself, is really no replacement for a professional audit.  Professionals use a blower door test to find leaks in your building envelope, and a thermal imaging camera to identify energy leaks.  Several years ago, I followed my friends Paul and Topher around when they did an energy audit here in Maine, here is a link to my photo essay that details what they did and why.  The report they provided to the homeowner ran to over 10 pages and included a very thoroughly detailed analysis of their energy use and many suggestions for improving efficiency by reducing heat loss and energy waste.  

Here in Maine, typical low cost suggestions might include installing gaskets under the outlet and switch plates on the exterior walls to prevent cold air from infiltrating from the outside.   Next, you should look at weatherstripping the seal around your attic hatch.  Due to the chimney effect of warm air rising within your home, heat wants to exit at the highest point which is typically your attic hatch.  It is also quite inexpensive to weatherstrip around all your doors and windows to prevent cold air entering.  If you have a basement you should look very closely at any basement entrances or windows.   One way to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of your windows is to install interior storm windows.  Here are instructions on my website for making them yourself at a cost of around $1.25 per square foot.  Commercial interior storm windows can be custom-made at around $9/sq. ft. from AEP in Albany, New York.   Before my friend Topher came up with the DIY version, I installed some of the custom commercial panels in our home, here is a detailed overview that includes thermographic images showing how well they perform.

If your refrigerator is more than 10 years old, you may want to consider replacing it.  Refrigerators are the single largest energy user in the average home and newer refrigerators and freezers are a great deal more efficient than they used to be.  When shopping for any new appliance is important to look at the Energy Star label as a guide to comparison shopping.

Thermal camera showing cold air leaks
(blue) around our front door frame.

I did a thermographic imaging analysis of the exterior of my home and workshop several years ago and you may find it informative to review the images to see what I learned

In cold climates, it is essential to ensure that your attic is very well insulated.  If you can see the exposed top of the joists, then there is room for improvement.  You can add another layer of fiberglass bats across the top, or have a contractor blow in an additional 10 to 12 inches of cellulose.  Here is some helpful information about doing it yourself.

 

Self-installed solar power and heating
collectors on my super insulated
Maine workshop building.

Once you have achieved optimal efficiency in your home,  you will have significantly reduced your energy consumption and thus the size and cost of a solar power system .

I encourage you to get at least three estimates from local solar installers.  You can find solar installers in your area on the http://www.findsolar.com site.  There are multiple options for installing solar energy systems on your home and a qualified professional can explain them for you.  You may also wish to explore the systems I self installed on my home and workshop buildings.  If you are comfortable doing things yourself I suggest you start by looking at the Living Sustainably page of my site.

The Great Climate Change Debate - NOT!

The media in the US and around the world continue to frame Climate Change as if there were some debate as to whether it is occurring.  What we mean when we say the phrase "Climate Change" or "Global Warming" is the abrupt change in the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere with the resulting dramatic increase in the average surface and water temperatures of the planet.  A more correct term to describe what is going on is Anthropocentric Climate Change, meaning that it is being created largely by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels being burned by human beings.  

The science of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere trapping heat has been known for over 100 years.  The effect was first described by Svante Arrhenius a Swedish scientist who was the first to claim in 1896 that fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming.   His theory was not verified until 1987.  In 2003 NASA scientist James Hansen published a paper called "Can We Defuse the Global Warming Time Bomb?" in which he argued that human-caused forces on the climate are now greater than natural ones, and that this, over a long time period, can cause large climate changes.  From this point forward he spearheaded awareness of abrupt climate change caused by greenhouse gases and became a controversial figurehead.  

Climate science has advanced dramatically in the intervening years and there are literally thousands of PhD climate scientists around the world that have verified various aspects of abrupt climate change and the forcings that are accelerating this change.  In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed to "prepare, based on available scientific information, assessments on all aspects of climate change and its impacts, with a view of formulating realistic response strategies."  The IPCC continues to produce highly detailed reports every seven years about climate change and its impacts.  These reports are drafted in order to enhance awareness of this issue for policymakers and the public and include suggestions for mitigation.

I thought I would create a hypothetical TV interview to point up the foolishness of the so-called "debate" centered around climate change.  Picture a reporter interviewing 3 individuals in a kitchen looking at a pot of water on the stove with a gas flame turned up high beneath it.  Here is the transcript of their conversation:

Reporter: "Gentlemen, in front of us we see a pot of water on the stove with the burner turned up high, what are your opinions about the temperature of the water in the pot?"

Politician: "I saw that when you put the water in the pot you used the cold faucet, so eventually the water will warm up to room temperature as a natural process.  I am not a scientist so I can't say what the effect of the gas flame will have on the temperature of the water.  Furthermore, I question any implication that the natural gas flame is harmful in any way or that it could potentially raise the temperature of the water to dangerous levels." 

Reporter: "You raise an important point about natural gas."

Fossil fuel lobbyist: "Yes, it is called natural gas for a good reason.  Burning clean natural gas to heat water is an optimal way to heat water.  I look forward to sharing a nice cup of tea with you gentlemen in a few minutes."

Reporter: "Mr. Climate Scientist, perhaps you can give us some scientific background about what is going on here?"

Climate Scientist: "I have a PhD in climate science so I am fully qualified to explain the science to you.  Since we know that the flame temperature of natural gas is approximately 1960°C (3560°F).  If we do not turn down the gas flame, the water temperature will inevitably reach a boiling point at 100°C (212°F) at sea level.   Using science we can accurately predict when that boiling point will occur and we can be certain that there will be a significant amount of steam and the water will be significantly disturbed by bubbles rising from the bottom of the pan.  Some boiling water might escape the pan so I advise you to keep your distance."

Reporter:  "Are you sure about that?  I can put my finger in the water and it is not very hot, but thank you for sharing your opinions about the potential increase in temperature of the water.  But isn't it true that if we were at a higher elevation that the water would take longer to boil?"

Climate Scientist: "To clarify, I have not expressed any opinions I am simply citing scientific facts as they are known by almost all the scientists on the planet.  It is not true that water would take longer to boil at a higher elevation, in fact it would take less time because water boils at a lower temperature when the air pressure is lower.  For instance at 10,000 feet water boils at 193.6 °F (89.8 °C).  This too is a known fact.  Perhaps you are referring to the fact that it takes longer to cook food at high temperatures because the boiling temperature of water is lower."

Reporter: "It is kind of chilly in the room isn't it?  Why don't we all hold our hands up close to the stove so that we can be more comfortable.  There, doesn't that feel better!"

Climate Scientist: "Given the relatively small size of this kitchen and the amount of gas that we are burning.  I am quite concerned that the CO2 levels in this room will reach harmful levels in the foreseeable future.  I have an instrument that is tracking the parts per million of CO2 in the air and see that it has already risen significantly, and I can warn you that if we do not open a window or turn the flame off that CO2 levels will be unhealthy in the foreseeable future."

Fossil Fuel Lobbyist: "Don't be such an alarmist, it would take hours or maybe even days for the CO2 from burning clean natural gas to have any significant effect.  I for one would rather be warm wouldn't you?  You are talking about something that may not happen for a long time and I am cold right now."

Reporter: "Great, so while we are waiting for the water to get hot enough to make tea, we have a side benefit that the room is getting warmer too.   We can worry about CO2 levels later if that even becomes a concern.   Thank you gentlemen for your time."

Climate Scientist: "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Politician: "Thank you, I look forward to a nice cup of tea with you."

Fossil Fuel Lobbyist: "Don't forget that Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning fuels on the planet."

Reporter: "We are out of time let's go to Fred at the weather desk who is reporting on the massive snowstorm that has dumped 6 feet of snow on Detroit."