Power Bills

[drezha]

1172 hours in 4 months!!!!!!!!!

But when you have to pay 4 times what you americans use, it pays to save.

Thats 2 PC's, 3 laptops, XBox, PS2, TV, Lights, Cooker, Fridge/Freezer and a freezer and shower.

Not sure it's so little then but it is. Most of the PC's are on 24/7 (mine DC's during that time, but the other just leave them idle)

[gatekeeper53]

A lot of the rain forests in South America are going to Japan to run their "wood chip " plants and have been for many years. I was in Brazil a few years ago and went out to see a foresting operation. They were chipping up everything they cut. Made me want to cry watching them chip up mahonagy trees 3 feet in dia. All the lumber and beautiful furniture that could have been made from some of the trees that were just destroyed to feed an electric plant in Japan. Progress? They are renewable but some of those trees were 2 and 3 hundred years old. That is more renewable than coal or oil but still pretty stupid. It's just more "cost effective" to strip the area bald and chip up everything in their path than to be selective. I am as far from a tree hugger as you can get but, I hate to see things just wasted. As far as making electricity out of crap if we could set up plants near seats of goverment I think there would be a never ending supply of Bullshi@.

[gatekeeper53]

Yea Drezha I see what you mean. We run things around here wayyyyyyyy to much. Having 2 teenagers that have no idea that a light switch also turns a light off don't help much. lol I have been looking at building another house so I might be able to fix some of that. I plan on not having any switches at all. I'll run everything off of motion sensors and elce eye beams. I can have 8 inch outer walls with good insulation and heat with a wood burner. My brother in southern Missouri has a woodburner that takes an eight foot log at a time and you can't tell in his house that he heats with wood (no wood smoke smell). Since my sister has a trucking company I can get wood hauled from down near my brothers at a reasonable price and should save some cash doing that. I got up early this morning and installed the new on demand hot water heater and aas soon as I got done I took a 30 minute shower. lol It was great to not run out of hot water and around 2 teenagers that's the first time in a while that I haven't unless I take a shower at 5 or 6 am.

[Bender10]

Solar/wind is starting to come into it's own. Prices are coming down, and return time for investment is going down.

I'm going to have a site study this spring. Just panels will run @$4000. With batteries up to $8000. It runs my meter backwards, and the power company HAS to pay me for any excess I generate (with DC running...yeah right).

[Steve Lux]

Of course I live by myself, but my electric rate is usually under $65 a month for an average of 700 (winter) - 800 (summer)Kw/month - with outside night-time security lighting. My 'puter crunches 24/7, heat is propane (LPG), but everything else is electric.

Interesting thing I learned about alternate fuels... Here in the States there is much to-do about converting corn and other crops to ethanol. Well one thing they seem to forget is that the production of ethanol generates carbon dioxide. Pound-for-pound almost as much CO2 is produced as ethenol by weight during the production process (CO2 is a byproduct of the little buggars that digest the starches and sugars of the veggies to make ethenol). I wonder when the global warming folks will get together with the alternate fuel folks and tell them they need to clean up their act.

[drezha]

Well one thing they seem to forget is that the production of ethanol generates carbon dioxide. Pound-for-pound almost as much CO2 is produced as ethenol by weight during the production process (CO2 is a byproduct of the little buggars that digest the starches and sugars of the veggies to make ethenol). I wonder when the global warming folks will get together with the alternate fuel folks and tell them they need to clean up their act.

It's what's known as CO2 neutral

The CO2 used, is made back in by planting more plants. Those plant abosrb that CO2 and then they get burnt and the circle carries on.

Hydrogen's the one to wacth out for. Current H2 is produced mainly from CH4 (methane) and that gives out a lot of Co2 to get the H2.
In fact, it all seems a bit pointless ATM as well because 1MW of Ch4 prodcues 0.6MW H2 power.

[Nflight]

It's what's known as CO2 neutral

The CO2 used, is made back in by planting more plants. Those plant absorb that CO2 and then they get burnt and the circle carries on.

Hydrogen's the one to watch out for. Current H2 is produced mainly from CH4 (methane) and that gives out a lot of Co2 to get the H2.
In fact, it all seems a bit pointless ATM as well because 1MW of Ch4 produces 0.6MW H2 power.

NOW there is a way to realign the CO2 once it leaves the initial plant to power your device or process. After the CO2 is about to be released channel it into a greenhouse facility to grow anything, because all plants need CO2 to flourish. One possible way to sequester the CO2 is to grow Algae to be harvested for Oil from that algae and return the CO2 to the air as pure oxygen. Yes the Algae Produced oil is now an additional substrate to use to power the vehicles around the world. CO2 will again be developed once you use that Oil from the algae to produce work. But until you use the Oil the CO2 is sequestered.

[spikey_richie]

http://www.coldplaying.com/index.php...ticle&sid=3202