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Brave New Leaf
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A green newbie trying to assess her impact and transform her lifestyle to be more sustainable. Covers green projects and products.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'carbon output'
Carbon Footprint Check-In
It's time to see how I'm doing with my carbon footprint for the year 2008. As a reminder, I've set a 2008 New Year's Resolution to cut my carbon footprint in half: from 22 tons to 11 tons. On initial......
What worldwide industries use the most power?
Cnn.com reports on which industries are contributing the most greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. As far as I can tell, they report on the emissions at the source of their generation. The energy industry appears to be the largest ghg emitter,......
Algae 101
Algae has been making the news a lot lately, and is a fairly new topic in environmental circles. Let's take a step back for a moment and talk about why algae is interesting and important. What is algae? It's a......
Emissions targets may not be enough. We need technology to bridge the gap.
Hello, my lovely readers! Sorry Brave New Leaf hasn't been updated in a few days. Life got a bit busy. And then I was trapped in the Washington State Legislative Caucus for nine hours yesterday. But I'm back, and am......
Australia launches experiment to bury carbon dioxide underground
Australia's Energy Minister will open up a demonstration injection plant today that is capable of storing up to 100,000 tonnes of CO2 underground. The facility, the largest of its kind in the world, is designed to show that greenhouse gases......
The frontline battle of coal vs. climate in Kansas
Something remarkable is happening in the heartland of America. One might even consider it a tipping point for the battle of coal vs. climate. The story goes like this: Last year, Sunflower Electric proposed the development of three new coal-fired......
Celebrating the 50-year-old Keeling Curve
If you've spent any time reading about greenhouse gases and climate change, or if you've watched Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, this is a graph you should be extremely familiar with. This week marks 50 years ago that Charles David “Dave”......
Where are the dirtiest power plants?
All morning, I've been playing with a site called http://www.carma.org. CARMA stands for Carma Monitoring for Action which is an organization financed by a couple of thinktanks in Washington DC. What they've done is compiled a comprehensive database ...
The Green Economics of Tankless Water Heaters
In theory, a tankless water heater seems like a no-brainer. Why heat your water all day when you're not using it? Providing on-demand hot water is much more energy-efficient. It's the dominant water heating technology in Europe and Asia. Plus......
Slowly, we are making a difference...
The EPA has just released their US emissions and energy report for 2006, soliciting public commentary on it. The good news? The overall emissions for our nation was down 1.5% year over year. The bad news? We're still up 14.1%......
Cows, long blamed for global warming, start giving back.
The poor cow has been much maligned by environmentalists. Their mere existence requires a massive burden on the land, and is often a cause of deforestation. To top it off, their burps and farts release enormous quantities of methane, a......
All of the water in the world. All of the air in the atmosphere.
Making it's way around the nets today, it's a unique perspective on what we're fighting for....
Carbon Hero key chain tracks your travel emissions
For most of us, transportation is the biggest way in which we contribute to carbon emissions. But because carbon is invisible, it makes it difficult for us to witness the impact of our actions and improve our daily behaviors. Enter......
While Branson's biofuel jet flies, Airbus tests fuel cells
As we've covered before, airplanes are a dangerous source of CO2 because they 1) burn tons of gas, and 2) the emissions are output directly in the atmosphere, giving them no opportunity to be absorbed by plants. This week, two......
World's first carbon dioxide injection well in Gaylord, Michigan
Gaylord, Michigan is famous for its alpine village, golf resorts, and one of the world's tallest statues of a bottle of beer. Now Gaylord has a new claim to fame. Starting today, Gaylord will be the world's first operating test......
Cap and Trade Programs Explained
There's a tremendous amount of talk lately about Emissions Cap and Trade programs. All of the major presidential candidates have a national program at the center of their environmental proposals. But the concept is new to most US citizens. How......
Learning how to drive green
Meet Wayne Gerdes: Wayne is the most fuel-efficient driver in the world. Seriously. There's a competition and a trophy and everything. Wayne drives a 2004 Honda Accord which, according to the US Department of Energy, gets 23 MPG city. Wayne......
The Myth of Green Travel
Last year, 55% of my carbon emissions came from travelling on airplanes. In the US and UK, air travel accounts for 5% of our nations’ overall carbon footprints. 2% worldwide. The US airline industry uses 20 billion gallons of gasoline......
Carbon Footprint Goals for 2008
In the past few weeks I've noticed that the best overall measure of my progress seems to be my carbon footprint, since it encompasses all of the other things I am focused on. My 2008 goal will be centered on......
Four simple ways to keep your water hot, and reduce your carbon footprint
In a recent look at my hot water heater, I discovered that the gas burned to heat my water is responsible for 8.1% of my CO2 emissions, or 1.5 tons of carbon a year. It took me some time, but......
Cutting through the "green car" confusion
According to our carbon footprint audit, and an evaluation of our three current vehicles, our cars contribute significantly to our carbon emissions. Though we don't drive very long distances, none of them get over 18 MPG. Throughout our debates on......
The System: Tracking our Carbon Footprint
Read other articles in the Carbon Audit Series: an ongoing investigation into our carbon footprint. At this point, I've completed enough individual audits to have a good sense for my overall carbon footprint. Here's what it looks like yearly: Nearly....
More help with calculating a carbon footprint
I found a couple of more useful carbon emissions calculators, that I thought I would share. 1. TerraPass Flight Carbon Calculator (http://www.terrapass.com/flight/flightcalc.php) This groovy calculator lets you type in the specific arrival and destin...
Hot Water Heater Audit
Up until recently, my energy audits have pretty much ignored my appliances. Which is an enormous thing to handwave. Appliances are huge energy suckers. But my arm muscles are too measly to roll them out of their designated areas to......
Carbon Audit: Evaluating my Automobiles
Read other articles in the Carbon Audit Series: an ongoing investigation into our carbon footprint. My husband and I own three cars. Yes, that’s right. Two people, three cars, 12 wheels, and 15 seats. Let’s just say that my husband......
The Carbon Audit: Evaluating 4 Carbon Footprint Websites
Read other articles in the Carbon Audit Series: an ongoing investigation into our carbon footprint. I admit it. After starting my energy, water, and waste audits, I’ve been delaying an audit around my carbon emissions. Mostly because I’m not sure...
