Green Options » greenhouse

Climate Change Puts South India Under Water

Govind Singh — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:18:55 +0000

Even as the world prepares for the grand climate meet at Copenhagen this December, a large part of South India has gone under water. And while talks have already begun on coming up with an equitable deal and the very fear that there may be none, over 300 people have already lost their lives while millions are displaced and missing in this global warming related freak weather event, predicted well in advance by the IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007.

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Wireless Climate-monitoring System for Better & More Crops

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:56:53 +0000

Turkey farmers growing greenhouse tomatoes have been using this technology since 2005. California is going to get it before the end of this year.

LA-based ClimateMinder now completely owns the Turkish company Kodalfa and it is eager to bring some of its technology to the US. This company’s “new” climate-monitoring and control system helps greenhouse farmers to monitor their crops and adjust the conditions of their greenhouses with wireless technology. This helps farmers and consumers in numerous and significant ways.

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Growing Acid in our Oceans: A Looming Threat to Sea Life

Daniel Hohler — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:07:38 +0000

This picture is a picture of the beautiful Monterey, California coastline. This is where I grew up. It is famous for it’s beautiful sea life. Sea otters, jelly fish, sea lions, kelp forests all populate the Monterey coast. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. Yet, with all that mass of water, we humans are changing the chemical properties. The acid levels in the pacific ocean, as well as every ocean around the world, are rising. If things keep going this beautiful coastline, my home, will become a wasteland of acid. Habitable to only the most extremophiles.

Rewind our story. Fossil fuels are not just a problem for our atmosphere. When we burn fossil fuels carbon dioxide falls down into the sea. The carbon dioxide is quickly converted into carbonic acid. Carbonic acid has been known to be corrosive to corals and shellfish, and now scientists are discovering that rising acid levels in the ocean are effecting other animals as well.

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United States Finally Gets Behind Climate Legislation

Daniel Hohler — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:21:09 +0000

In a recent Zogby telephone poll conducted to gauge public opinion on the the Waxman-Markey climate bill, the results showed that a majority of Americans are finally behind climate legislation. The Waxman-Markey climate bill sets out to limit greenhouse gases in the US in order to combat climate change. The bill was just narrowly passed in congress last June by a vote of 219-212.

In the recent past, Americans have shown no interest in changing policy to limit greenhouse gasses, yet shockingly the results of this latest poll show that a whopping 71% of Americans support this bill. The poll also showed that Americans of every age, income group, and political affiliation support the bill much more than previously thought. An enormous win for those of us who want to see reduction in greenhouse gasses.

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Beer-to-Ethanol Triple Threat Teams Karl Strauss, GreenHouse, and E-Fuel

Tina Casey — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:54:31 +0000

Legendary San Diego microbrewery Karl Strauss has partnered with the GreenHouse alternative energy company and the E-Fuel MicroFueler to convert waste yeast from the brewery to ethanol. When a microbrewer, a microfueler, and the inventor of the Nintendo Wii controller (Tom Quinn, CEO of E-Fuel) get together, there has to be a twist, and there is. Instead of limiting the operation to ethanol conversion at the brewery, GreenHouse will collect the waste yeast from the brewery and transport it to participating homes and businesses. Each will have the refrigerator-sized portable MicroFueler unit on site, enabling them to produce ethanol and pump it directly from the MicroFueler into their vehicles.

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California’s consumer-driven recent ecofriendly initiatives: Solar Incentives, Residential MicroFueler & Digital Textbooks

Dr Vandana Prakash — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:07:46 +0000

California is trying many different initiatives to make its contribution to mitigate climate-change, many different ways to reduce its GHG emissions- drop by drop. Diverse attempts themselves improve its chances of success. But what in my mind, greatly improves its chance is the ability of California to think on behalf of the consumer, the common person.

Picture: Solar Panels on California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

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Study Shows Camelina-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel Reduces Carbon Emissions 84%

Dalton Wignall — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:48:05 +0000

Renewable fuels company Sustainable Oils shared the results of a life-cycle analysis of jet fuel created from proprietary Camelina seeds. According to the study, renewable jet-fuel made from Camelina reduces carbon emissions by 84% percent compared to the petroleum-based counterpart.

A team at Michigan Tech University based their research on Camelina grown in Montana and then processed into bio-jet fuel using “UOP hydroprocessing technology”. Next generation biofuels are true hydrocarbons and in the molecular aspect are indistinguishable from fossil fuels, which makes Camelina oil a good candidate to quickly reduce carbon emissions produced by aviation.

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Fish Oil Diet Could Curb Greenhouse Gases From Cow Farts

Andrew Williams — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:44:16 +0000

Irish scientists have discovered that adding just a small amount of fish oil to the diet of cattle can vastly reduce the amount of methane produced by, ahem…cow farts.

Climate scientists have long known that, pound for pound, methane is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping the suns rays, making it a highly potent greenhouse gas. An incredible 900 billion tonnes of the noxious fumes are produced each year by methanogen bacteria that live in the digestive systems of ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats.

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The Earth Punk Chronicles: DIY Sustainability

Becky Striepe — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:00:44 +0000

Minchalero Antonio’s tour of his house, greenhouse, and garden have some inspiring examples of DIY sustainable living!

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Ready to spring into action? Here is a roundup of tips and tutorials to do some of these projects in your own home.

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Build Your Own Plastic Bottle Greenhouse

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:11:36 +0000

Do you have tons of plastic bottles lying around your house and excess backyard space? If so, you might want to look into building a plastic bottle greenhouse. The greenhouse idea was devised and brought to life by Blue Rock Station. For $5 (the electronic version is $4), you can buy instructions to build one yourself.

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Scientists Create Device to Remove Carbon Directly from the Air

Joshua S Hill — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:53:52 +0000

Scientists from the University of Calgary in Canada have created a method to efficiently capture carbon dioxide directly from the air around us. The device, which is built on near-commercial technology, was built by Uof C climate change scientists David Keith and his team.

“At first thought, capturing CO2 from the air where it’s at a concentration of 0.04 per cent seems absurd, when we are just starting to do cost-effective capture at power plants where CO2 produced is at a concentration of more than 10 per cent,” says Keith, Canada Research Chair in Energy and Environment.

“But the thermodynamics suggests that air capture might only be a bit harder than capturing CO2 from power plants. We are trying to turn that theory into engineering reality.”

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Chicago Climate Action Plan Revealed by Mayor Dailey

Joshua S Hill — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:36:47 +0000

As the US federal government has failed to step up to the plate, many smaller forms of government have realized it will be in their hands to bring about environmental changes. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley revealed Thursday details for the Chicago Climate Action Plan.

The plan will add Mayor Daley to about 800 US mayors who have adopted the Kyoto global warming protocols. Chicago’s new plan will build upon measured already in place and under way in the city, in an attempt to make Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in the US.

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A Project to Build Greenhouses in the Sahara

Adam Williams — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:23:02 +0000

Of all places to start a greenhouse, the Sahara Desert would likely rank pretty low for many. But someone is working on a plan to make food growing happen there. The Sahara Forest Project aims to use massive greenhouses to direct the sun’s rays for heat and energy, which is planned to regulate the air, filter water and create an environment for plant growth.

Via: greenpacks.org

Carbon Offsets: Creating Something Real from Hot Air

Paul Smith — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:42:44 +0000

You’ve probably heard about carbon offsets. They’re everywhere these days, and it seems not a week goes that I don’t hear about a company pledging to go carbon neutral. And yet, it all seems so…full of hot air. What’s real? What do they really do? Which will make the most impact? How are the different purveyors, well, different?

I have a suggestion: Take a look at LiveNeutral.

Why? Well on a basic, financial level, they are a non-profit. And? And that means that offsets purchased through them are tax deductible. More, you say? The resulting lower overhead means better priced offsets as compared to similar for-profit companies offering similar quality offsets.

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Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow? Vertically?

Max Lindberg — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:34:20 +0000

Lettuce and biodiesel too, that’s the plan of Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products of El Paso, TX. Kertz, who has worked in the greenhouse business for nearly two decades, believes the time has come to localize and simplify food production, and he says his Vertigro system will do just that. I spoke with Glen while he was attending an Orchid growers convention in Miami FL. We talked about his High Density Vertigal Growth System for both vegetables, and algae.

“The HDVG system grows plants in closely spaced pockets on clear, vertical panels that are moving on an overhead conveyor system. The system is designed to provide maximum sunlight and precisely correct nutrients to each plant. Ultraviolet light and filter systems exclude the need for herbicides and pesticides. Sophisticated control systems gain optimum growth performance through the correct misting of nutrients, the accurate balancing of PH and the delivery of the correct amount of heat, light and water“.

If you haven’t seen one of the many news stories on TV about Glenn’s system, you can visit the Valcent site and watch a video with Glenn on the High Density Vertical Growth System.

Getting Local Food

Philip Proefrock — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:12:09 +0000

Photo credit: Brines.org
There is a huge variety of food available throughout the year in grocery stores in the US. In most places, this is due to several factors: far distant farms situated in temperate climate regions; varieties of plants that have been bred to produce food that will ripen slowly and be hardy enough to withstand the rigors of packaging and shipping; and a transportation infrastructure that brings them to our stores. Unless you live in a southern state, much of the produce in your local stores right now is being shipped from far away.

All that shipping has an associated cost (financial cost as well as energy use and carbon release). Locally grown food has many adherents. There are hundreds of farms operating as community supported agriculture (CSA), where people buy memberships in the farm and receive a share of produce (usually on a weekly basis). CSA farms are wonderful for getting food locally, but they are usually tied to the local growing season, meaning that they don't have produce during the winter. But other options can allow even more extension of the growing season.

Even in cold-weather climates, for example, it is possible to grow some vegetables year round. In my area, a local farmer operates a zero-energy greenhouse with which he grows a range of cold-tolerant greens ("various lettuce, spinach, arugula, claytonia, mache, carrots, leeks, cress, tatsoi, pac choi, mizuna, and kale to name a few") throughout the winter. These are sold at the local farmers' market on weekends. (Interestingly, on cold winter days at the market, he often keeps the greens in an insulated cooler - not to keep them cool, but rather to keep them warm and prevent them from freezing.) The Brines Farm hoop house uses a frame covered with greenhouse film to create an enclosure to admit sunlight and retain heat in order to maintain a suitable growing environment. The project is well documented, and they have also produced a pamphlet with instructions for individuals who are interested in setting up similar enclosures for themselves. The pamphlet says a 12' x 12' greenhouse can be built for $200 or so.

A more unusual possibility has researchers have looked at the possibilities for a compost heated greenhouse. Composting gives off heat as the organic material is broken down. However, composting also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. While plants require carbon dioxide for growth, in one test case, the CO2 created from composting was 6 times as much as the plants in the greenhouse required, and other by-products were also many times more than what was needed for a balanced system.

Supporting and choosing locally produced food reduces the carbon footprint for the food we do eat. For the DIY-inclined, building a hoop house is an easy project that makes it possible to have an extended growing season and be able to have locally produced food of their own.

Links:
LocalHarvest list of CSAs
Brines Farm
Hoop House instructions (PDF)
Compost Heated Greenhouse