Search The Oil Drum with Google
Recently on TOD:World
TOD:Local
- Streets: Utilitarian Corridors or Livable Public Space
- Summer Streets a Success!
- Plan for Hydro-Fracture Drilling for Unconventional Natural Gas in Upstate New York
TOD:Europe
- Oilwatch Monthly - November 2008
- The 2008 IEA WEO - Production Decline Rates
- The EU Strategic Energy Review: maybe not so depressing after all
TOD:Canada
- The Round-Up: October 24, 2008
- Compressed Air Energy Storage - How viable is it?
- Oil Megaproject Update (July 2008)
TOD:ANZ
Blogroll
Energy Sites
- The Coming Global Oil Crisis
- Die Off
- Dry Dipstick
- Energy Bulletin
- From the Wilderness
- Life After the Oil Crash
- Peak Oil Crisis
- Peak Oil News and Message Boards
- Powerswitch
- Rigzone
- Matthew Simmons
- Wolf at the Door
Environment & Sustainability Sites
- The Daily Green
- EcoGeek
- Eco Street
- Green Car Congress
- Green Options
- green.alltop.com
- Gristmill
- RealClimate
- Sustainablog
- Treehugger
- WorldChanging
Blogs
- The Big Picture
- Casaubon's Book
- Cleantech Blog
- Clusterf
k Nation (Jim Kunstler) - The Cost of Energy
- David Strahan
- The Energy Blog
- Entropy Production
- European Tribune
- GraphOilology
- jeffvail.net
- Mobjectivist
- Peak Energy (Australia)
- Peak Energy (USA)
- R-Squared
- Resource Insights
Finance & Economics Blogs
- Calculated Risk
- Ecological Economics
- Econbrowser
- Environmental Economics
- Infectious Greed
- The Mess That Greenspan Made
- Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Organizations
“What people need to hear loud and clear is that we're running out of energy in America.”
—George W. Bush, May 2001
User login
Contact
- Content: editors at theoildrum dot com
- Tech support: support at theoildrum dot com
Personnel
- Editors: Prof. Goose, Heading Out, Stuart Staniford, Nate Hagens
- DrumBeat Editor: Leanan
- Contributors: ace, Engineer-Poet, Gail the Actuary, jeffvail, JoulesBurn, Khebab, Robert Rapier
- TOD:Local: Glenn
- TOD:Europe: Chris Vernon, Euan Mearns, Francois Cellier, Jerome a Paris, Luís de Sousa, Rembrandt, Rune Likvern, Ugo Bardi
- TOD:Canada: benk, Libelle
- TOD:ANZ: Big Gav, Phil Hart, aeldric
- Technician: Super G
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
GAIA Host Collective
As indicated in my 2007 resolutions, I am making a serious effort to reduce my fossil fuel usage this year. I have relocated to Aberdeen, Scotland, and this is giving me a chance to implement some changes I have had in mind for quite a while. It's not like my energy usage was excessive before, but I saw some places that I could reduce. What I am really trying to do is to see how low I can go without making drastic changes (like moving into a cave).
Let me first say, “It ain’t easy being green.” Well, some things are and some aren’t. For instance, take walking instead of driving. I have been doing that for almost all of my trips since arriving here. I did without a car for the first 8 days I was here, and I walked everywhere. One day I walked about 10 miles. When I run out of groceries, I walk half a mile to get some more. Obviously, this limits the amount of groceries I can purchase at one time. So, while I have lowered my fossil fuel usage, it is not nearly as convenient (especially in this weather). Which is of course why we are so dependent on fossil fuels: We love the convenience. We like to drive anywhere, any time we want.
After being here for 8 days, I did rent a car until I can arrange to buy one. I rented a Peugeot 207, which was classified as a mini, the smallest car you could rent. I haven’t had to put gas in it yet, but my guess is that it gets around 50 miles a gallon. It took me only a day or so to get accustomed to the left hand shift and right side steering wheel. Those have also helped me to remember to drive on the left. I have only turned into the right lane once (and drove the wrong way down a one-way street another time). All things considered, I think that’s pretty good.
I wasn’t able to get a house that had public transportation both to my job and to the kids’ new school. So, we compromised on location. I am only about 4 miles from work, and if I leave very early (6:30) I have no traffic coming in to work. The worst thing is that the road is incredibly narrow and winding. There are portions that are so narrow that I cringe when someone passes me. I have asked a couple of people about riding my bike in on that road, and they just laugh and ask if I have a death wish. I do not, so biking is probably out. In fact, I don’t feel particularly safe in my small car on this road (especially when it is dark and snowing), so I drive very slowly. We are on the bus route for the kids’ school, though, so we will be able to keep our trips to a minimum.
Regarding the house, I was looking for energy efficiency. The house we got into has a lot of southern exposure, and it is very well lit. There is a very large skylight upstairs, which really minimizes the need for lighting. There is a programmable thermostat that controls both the hot water and the heating for the house. Right now, since I am alone in the house, I have the hot water coming on just before I get up in the morning, and then back off just as I leave. Ditto the heating for the house, except I also program it to come back on just before I come back home. I should have known that this was the house for me when I walked in and there was a copy of Twilight in the Desert on the coffee table.
We have curb-side recycling for paper, plastics, bottles, and cans, and there is also a recycling center near by. This is much easier than many places in the states, where you often have to go well out of your way to recycle.
Overall, I am pleased at the progress I have made in reducing my fossil fuel input. (Most of the electricity here, by the way, is hydropower). Due to the high gasoline prices here, there is also a significant cost savings from minimizing fossil fuel usage. I just have to keep the momentum going when the rest of the family arrives. We are going to have to break the habit of leaving lights, PlayStations, and computers on when not in use. But other than some inconvenience, I have managed to greatly lower my fossil fuel consumption without too much trouble.
Incidentally, I do not have Internet access at home yet. That is going to be at least another week, so I will be slow to answer responses or e-mails. The only access I have is from work, and I want to limit that to my lunch period.
I'm impressed with all the things you have done. Anything I've done it is usually because it is convienent - like I walk to work and groceries on the way home because it is more convienent for me to do that.
Is the grocery store you are 1/2 mile from a big supermarket type? Other than work commute, groceries are the leading trip generators so we try to incentivize grocery that cover 1/4 to 1/2 mile radius'. One problem is that the grocery stores like to be big these days 70K sq ft + for their own "efficiency" but then they tend to not be close enough together to make walking a viable option for many people because they would cannibalize each other's sales but then this makes the overall community less efficient. How you measure efficiency and local vs global efficiency policy goals is one thing that people need to talk about IMO.
Robert,
The key to driving in the UK is to line the right hand side of the car with the middle of the road. I learned this from a helpful British chap who was helping me change a flat tire (resulting from driving too close to the left hand side of the road).
When I first rented a car in York, it took me some time to get out of the parking lot--it took me a while to get used to shifting with my left hand and driving on the right hand side of the car. What really fried my brain was turning left into the left lane.
I personally think that cars rented by Yanks in the UK should come with rotating warning beacons.
It is amazing how easy they let you rent a car when the rules are different in other countries. I honeymooned in Scotland for 3 weeks and had a car. The first place I drove was downtown Glasgow. I did suprisingly well. The key is to remain calm and don't rush decisions. For our time in Glasgow and Ediburgh we parked that sucker and never thought about using it.
Come on, guys you are making a mountain out of a molehill... with global tourism we are all used to driving RHD cars (UK, Aus, NZ, India, Asia) or LHD cars (Europe, N America etc).
No... the REAL fun doesn't start until until you take your drive-on-the left British car across the Channel to drive-on-the-right France...
Especially if you are driving solo... overtaking, in particular, becomes a most interesting exercise... and then there are the toll booths!!!
(-:
Driving on roads like that in Cornwall I discovered why British cars can come with a feature that allows you to draw in the wing mirrors at the touch of a button. There were several times when doing so was the only way to get past an on-coming car. Instead of a hard shoulder, the Cornish roads often have stone walls or hedges right up against the edge of the road. I had to honk my horn before rounding blind corners. Irish roads were even worse as everyone traveled along them at almost motorway speed (or so it seemed).
RR,
You should be complimented on dealing with the issue at hand by changing your lifestyle. This is in marked contrast to today's SCIENCE, "Sustainability and Energy," devoted to techno-geek/cornucopian means to sustain our perilous current consumptive standard of living. Unfortunately, the MSM, politicians, the vast majority of the educated will refer to SCIENCE rather than TOD as they plot our future.
Great example! Thank you...
The one sad thing that occured to me about your house is that the well built ones (architecturally as well as ecologically) are kind or hard to find, aren't they? Do you feel particularly lucky to have found this one or is my experience in house hunting (I am in CA...) not transferable?
Robert, I've always found your posts to be excellent and I applaud your efforts to "walk the talk!" I now find myself getting excited about the monthly utility bills. It is upsetting when I don't live up to my own expectations some months. But other months are a big surprise, like the sub-300 KWH used in each October and November...weather's been even milder than usual here in Florida.
I recently bought a 1,400 SF house built in the 1950s. Simply switching out the incandescent bulbs with CFLs, adding a programable thermostat, replacing the original oven/cooktop, replacing a 15+ year old refrigerator with an Energy Star model, and slowly but surely improving the weatherstripping in the house has made a nice difference in our energy use. Also, replacing one of the original toilets with a new dual-flush model has dropped our family of two down to between 1,000 - 3,000 gallons of water used per month (of course we don't have an irrigated landscape like every other house in Florida). But like you stated, getting control of the ghost plug loads from electronics helps as well.
We eventually plan on improving our attic insulation to R-38 (or higher) and replacing our 18 year old water heater with a passive solar water heater. What so many people fail to realize is the biggest wedge for the foreseeable future is by far the efficiency wedge. The US DoE's Building America Program aims to make "zero-energy" homes an industry standard by 2020. How do they hope to get there?...by reducing the energy demands of a typical home by 70% and making up the other 30% with renewables as they come online. TOD readers, check out their free publications based on your climate for ideas on how to improve your home.
One thing TOD should consider is adding a new section to the archives that "pre-sorts" posts according to certain topics. TOD has always been a global leader on reporting "the situation," but it would be great to have a section on "solutions for the individual consumer," or something like that.
Keep up the great work!...and GOOD LUCK!
If the Energy Star appliance needs to be replaced frequently it may not be worth the investment, energetically. We need a durability label.
"We need a durability label."
We have one. It's called "guarantee period". After a year, or five, if the manufacturer feels good about their product, all bets are off. Yet, my parent's had their fridge for over twenty years and it was a good thing that it died! The new one uses half the electricity.
Be careful what you are asking for. Products that are too durable have their own set of problems. A couple years from now we will wish we could replace the vehicle pool faster than every dozen years.
I read somewhere recently that the manufacture of an automobile accounts for 40% of the total CO2 emission of the thing over its lifetime. So durability would seem to be a good thing in many cases. It would seem to make sense to get maximum life out of our stuff. We sometimes seem to draw a line between stuff and the energy use of that stuff, but making stuff takes lots of energy...
"I read somewhere recently that the manufacture of an automobile accounts for 40% of the total CO2 emission of the thing over its lifetime. It would seem to make sense to get maximum life out of our stuff."
That, unfortunately, is not generally correct. Compare early vs. late replacement. In both cases you have to invest the energy/CO2 to make the replacement car. But since the CO2 emissions for making the next generation cars will continue to fall because of better manufacturing practices and because more and more renewables are going to be used in the energy mix, the total CO2 emissions for it come down in time. In contrast, the CO2 emissions over the lifetime of the SUV stay the same. The longer you wait, the more you waste.
Also keep in mind that when you scrap an SUV, almost two small cars can be made from the recycled materials. In other words: you save enormous amounts of resources.
Actually, the warentee is often doubled depending upon your charge card. Does that mean the manufacturer has somehow singled you out for that one in a hundred that runs twice as long as the one other that non-card users buy?
From an energy point of view, about half of the lifetime energy, IIRC, is involved with the manufacture of the vehicle. Cuba may know something we haven't adopted yet.
Regarding the house, I was looking for energy efficiency. The house we got into has a lot of southern exposure, and it is very well lit. There is a very large skylight upstairs, which really minimizes the need for lighting.
Dear RR... I sincerely hope you found something reasonably NEW. Whilst you say you were looking for energy efficiency, I note you make no mention of insulation or glazing standards!!!
If it is like most British houses.. though it will have an insulated attic... it will have single skin brick walls and draughty windows with single pane glazing...
I long ago despaired of British building standards... where since WW2... "build 'em cheap" has been valued more than "build for quality"...
It would be my guess that some 90% of the UK housing stock needs bringing up to C21st European/N. American standards... and by that I mean demolishing, not retrofitting... (installed energy investment notwithstanding...)
Although the fact that Hunterston B is down for repairs at the moment means that a bit less of your electricity comes from lovely nuclear power.
Hope you're adapting well to life on our cold and grey island. You did pick the most miserable time of year to come. It does get better in spring and summer, honestly (well, most years ;-) ).
Wow. I'd call that "hardly any hydropower at all."
How's it going with Longannet, BTW?
Generating at reduced power using gas, last I heard
Robert ,
are you sure your electricity is from hydro power?
You may find you get your bill from ''Scottish Hydro''. The name of the company has its roots in this source, but not so much now.
Still, apparently there is enough wind plant installed to power a million homes, according to BBC Scotland tonight.
Anyway, enjoy your stay. Sorry about the snow... I have been cursing its lack all winter and then here it comes...
Today's big news:
Now what will the oil corporations do to clean up this global-scale mess that they have created?
David Mathews
http://www.geocities.com/dmathew1
Maybe GW will be thier PR ticket to get "big auto" into increasing gas milage as a first step. Future declines in oil production could be masked with in the context of "increasing auto effciency as a means to reduce greenhouse gases" PR campaign. Raising auto efficiency standards would reduce carbon emisions, semi-maintain the status quo, and make big oil look good(better?). Pointing the finger at "big auto" would be an easy mark, and it makes alot of sense imho.
Lets watch "big oil" and "big auto" race to save the world from global warming.