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damontThanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fuzzface00, whose own post reminded me of this, and who also pointed out the following:
'I imagine the organizers of Blog Action Day did not consider the acronym possibilities beforehand. As an example, I almost titled this post "[PUBLIC] BAD: A brief post on the environment ..." '
I've been thinking a lot about environmental issues myself lately. I was raised as an environmentalist almost by accident; the way in which my conservationist views informed my libertarian-ish political stance is a topic for another, longer post -- heck, for a *series* of longish posts -- which I'm still in the process of writing. But what I want to talk about here for Blog Action Day is two short things: the "Three R's" and alcohol.
The "Three R's" are "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." My house is gradually reducing the energy and environmental footprint it makes, by changing over to fluorescent light bulbs (of various types) wherever it is feasible to do so. At some point I'd like to install fluorescents in the bathrooms, but that will require redoing the fixtures. Another way to reduce the energy footprint would be to replace the windows, but that would require money we've never had (and don't expect to have soon). We also recycle everything that is feasible, either by reusing it or through the recycling programs available in our locality. I don't think the local recycling programs do enough towards recycling plastics, and occasionally push elected officials towards implementing a more comprehensive plastic-recycling program. We also recycle computer components through PC Recycler which has a free pickup every month in our area.
As for alcohol: petroleum products are more easily portable than renewable energy, in terms of "bang for the buck on the hoof" -- but ethanol is just as portable as petro-stuff. Much talk has been made about how much energy it takes to *make* the ethanol from biomass in the first place. What folks don't seem to be noticing, though, is that we can make the ethanol using *renewable* energy (solar, wind, geothermal, whatever), and thus cut down on our overall fossil-fuel use.
At some point soon I'll probably start posting on topics environmental, both as a way of writing down my own contemplations and as a springboard for discussion; I may set up a specific filter for those posts, but I'll be sure to let you know when that happens.
fuzzface00, whose own post reminded me of this, and who also pointed out the following:'I imagine the organizers of Blog Action Day did not consider the acronym possibilities beforehand. As an example, I almost titled this post "[PUBLIC] BAD: A brief post on the environment ..." '
I've been thinking a lot about environmental issues myself lately. I was raised as an environmentalist almost by accident; the way in which my conservationist views informed my libertarian-ish political stance is a topic for another, longer post -- heck, for a *series* of longish posts -- which I'm still in the process of writing. But what I want to talk about here for Blog Action Day is two short things: the "Three R's" and alcohol.
The "Three R's" are "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." My house is gradually reducing the energy and environmental footprint it makes, by changing over to fluorescent light bulbs (of various types) wherever it is feasible to do so. At some point I'd like to install fluorescents in the bathrooms, but that will require redoing the fixtures. Another way to reduce the energy footprint would be to replace the windows, but that would require money we've never had (and don't expect to have soon). We also recycle everything that is feasible, either by reusing it or through the recycling programs available in our locality. I don't think the local recycling programs do enough towards recycling plastics, and occasionally push elected officials towards implementing a more comprehensive plastic-recycling program. We also recycle computer components through PC Recycler which has a free pickup every month in our area.
As for alcohol: petroleum products are more easily portable than renewable energy, in terms of "bang for the buck on the hoof" -- but ethanol is just as portable as petro-stuff. Much talk has been made about how much energy it takes to *make* the ethanol from biomass in the first place. What folks don't seem to be noticing, though, is that we can make the ethanol using *renewable* energy (solar, wind, geothermal, whatever), and thus cut down on our overall fossil-fuel use.
At some point soon I'll probably start posting on topics environmental, both as a way of writing down my own contemplations and as a springboard for discussion; I may set up a specific filter for those posts, but I'll be sure to let you know when that happens.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-17 04:36 am (UTC)(Dum dum duuuuuuuuummmmmmmm)
The problem comes up again once you calculate how much of this stuff would need to be grown to meet even our current need for fuel.
I'm convinced that the estimates show that even using this plant would involved cultivations that would be staggeringly large and therefore would have a monstrous impact on our agriculture and the rest of the economy.
It is still my opinion, that energy wise and CO2 wise, that our salvation is going to HAVE to come from a major breakthru of some sort.