What little things have you done

[Saul Goodman]

My new electric shower is more efficient than firing up my un-lagged 3KW tank on a Sunday, but I don't get to easily soak my laundry in it and then flush the loo with the water ... When I first had it I was religiously using it once a week

Sheer decadence!

 

[PTK]

Changed the electric heating to a wood burner in the workshop garage - installed a pot-belly ...

We will still use the electric unless working for hours, as it takes a while for the pot-belly to warm up.

The idea is to use the branches which are too small for the living room stove. [which has such a strong draw up the chimney that anything under a couple of inches diameter vanishes in a few minutes ...]

Electricity can be produced without the emission of greenhouse gases, but burning wood emits carbon dioxide.

 

[WouldBe]

Electricity can be produced without the emission of greenhouse gases, but burning wood emits carbon dioxide.

But carbon neutral ish.

 

[PTK]

But carbon neutral ish.

I think it is carbon positive. Burning wood puts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that would not be there.

 

[WouldBe]

I think it is carbon positive. Burning wood puts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that would not be there.

That's already been taken out of the air by the tree growing in the first place.

 

[PTK]

That's already been taken out of the air by the tree growing in the first place.

The same applies to coal and oil.

 

[StoneRoad]

I think it is carbon positive. Burning wood puts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that would not be there.

Actually, the wood I burn is from branches trimmed from trees I planted ... so, in this case it is carbon negative, as more carbon is captured than released.
[Carbon cycle on the small scale]

 

[WouldBe]

The same applies to coal and oil.

No it doesn't as coal and oil don't grow.

 

[Aladdin]

We got solar panels with a big battery which can store about enough to run a fridge if needed....They work well.and they feed back into the grid every day. We figure that we are probably supplying the other 7 houses on our road with electricity.
The good thing is there is hot water most mornings Occasionally the boost button needs to be pressed.

The gas heating isnt turned on much...only if for below 10c... Two energy efficient electric heaters heat the rooms we are usually in. Conscious of the octogenarian staying warm so the heaters are wherever they are. I've a good winter duvet that's very warm. I didn't need to heat my bedroom at all last winter. I have an electric blanket which I turn on for 20 mins if I'm really cold.
Trying to be as careful as I can about rubbish and switching off lights. For the past 2 years we have small battery driven lights that come on with a sensor. They're on the stairs and all over the house. Saves turning on a light in the middle of the night going to the loo.

 

[oryx]

Pleased to report that the supermarket is now selling pouches of handwash (about time), so I have been buying these and reusing the bottles.

 

[PTK]

No it doesn't as coal and oil don't grow.

Coal and oil were produced by the transformation of living organisms. The carbon in them was extracted from the atmosphere.

 

[WouldBe]

Coal and oil were produced by the transformation of living organisms. The carbon in them was extracted from the atmosphere.

Millions of years ago. The only effect it has today is to add to the CO2 levels. By harvesting wood you're only dealing with a few years.

 

[PTK]

Millions of years ago. The only effect it has today is to add to the CO2 levels. By harvesting wood you're only dealing with a few years.

If the trees for the harvested wood were not planted, and the area was left alone, what would naturally grown there?

 

[WouldBe]

If the trees for the harvested wood were not planted, and the area was left alone, what would naturally grown there?

Grass, shrubs and trees provided they aren't eaten.

 

[MickiQ]

Once I go to bed I get to the bathroom and back with a small rechargeable torch - and not just because there are 5 landing and stairwell lights totalling 44 watts - but they and the 15 watts of LED downlighters in the bathroom are way too bright for my nerves when I'm in sleep mode.
Until recently not a single light in my house was operated by a switch in the normal way ... and I was running everything off extension cables and a dedicated spur for immersion / cooking hob and kettle...

In my hoped-for accommodation I will aim to have separate provision for guests...

How are you still alive?

 

[MickiQ]

According the news this am the UK's last coal power plant gets turned off today.

 

[gentlegreen]

.

 

[StoneRoad]

According the news this am the UK's last coal power plant gets turned off today.

Also the last blast furnace at Port Talbot.

 

[StoneRoad]

If the trees for the harvested wood were not planted, and the area was left alone, what would naturally grown there?

Assuming that there's no significant pollution - abandoned ground, at least in the UK, goes through a succession of vegetation types, depending a little on several factors - what the soil is like and the climatic conditions. To a lesser extent, what grew there before ...
As WouldBe said ...
Grasses, other soft-stemmed plants, then more woody stemmed plants & shrubs {like brambles, buddleia} and finally Trees [starting with Silver Birch].

 

[gentlegreen]

Also the last blast furnace at Port Talbot.

relocated to China

 

[hash tag]

According the news this am the UK's last coal power plant gets turned off today.

I often stay near that place when I go to see the in-laws. Every time I stay there and feedback I always tell them some things they can do to make the place greener. Despite what they say on their website it's not good and they never change.

 

[StoneRoad]

relocated to China

Tata group, who own Tata Steel are headquartered in Mumbai, India

 

[MickiQ]

I understand the plan is that Port Talbot will close to be refurbished and open again in 2028 using electric arc furnaces. Whether that actually will happen is anyone guess (mine is probably not) but either way the people that work there now will lose their jobs. Tata isn't going to pay them to sit at home for a few years.

 

[PTK]

I understand the plan is that Port Talbot will close to be refurbished and open again in 2028 using electric arc furnaces. Whether that actually will happen is anyone guess (mine is probably not) but either way the people that work there now will lose their jobs. Tata isn't going to pay them to sit at home for a few years.

And, apparently, it will not make high quality steel, which will have to be imported.

 

[WouldBe]

And, apparently, it will not make high quality steel, which will have to be imported.

It will import basic steel which they can melt in the arc furnace and make into any type of steel they want.

 

[PTK]

It will import basic steel which they can melt in the arc furnace and make into any type of steel they want.

Yes, in other words it will not be able to make steel here, which is why it miraculouly does not need carbon.

 

[WouldBe]

Yes, in other words it will not be able to make steel here, which is why it miraculouly does not need carbon.

Make your mind up you said "high quality steel" before. High quality steels have different elements in them to produce the different types of steel. This is done by adding them to molten steel which can be done in an arc furnace but you can't use an arc furnace to produce steel from iron ore because it doesn't conduct.

All types of steel contain carbon, the amount of which determines what type of steel you get.

 

[stavros]

I left the office extremely late today, with no one around bar the cleaners, so I made sure to turn off every monitor I could find in the general vicinity of my desk.

 

[StoneRoad]

Washed towels yesterday and half-dried them outside before tumbling them [mainly for the softening !] which took a lot less time.

 

[StoneRoad]

Went round and made sure the curtains / blinds were all closed - plus the ventilation trickle.
Plus turned off some surplus lighting.