Why Is Understanding Your Carbon Footprint Important?
There are still many people who have no concept of what a carbon footprint is or how it is produced. The impact we are having to the growing problem of greenhouse gases adds to the whole global warming crisis. Our day to day lives are led in such a way that we simply don’t have the time or inclination to stop and wonder how our actions affect the larger picture.
I’ll give you a simple personal example of how my family takes energy use for granted. In our house we have multiple digital clocks and they all run 24 hours a day, one in each room - the microwave, the conventional oven, the CD player, the stereo and in each bedroom all has a clock and each one is sucking up passive energy we could be saving, and we don’t give it a thought. We don’t seem to mind wasting resources and assume it as one of the advantages of living in a modern society. Some people might be a little bit shocked if they were to find out exactly how much carbon emissions they are producing per year, not to mention an indication of how much it’s costing them and how simple it might be to save a few bucks and the environment at the same time.
If You Don’t Know It, You Can’t Change It
The previous heading sums up a whole range of human instincts and precisely describes one of the roadblocks in front of those trying to educate people on the importance of reducing our carbon footprint. It only takes a gentle reminder that there are consequences for the actions taken on a daily basis that people begin to realise that there is a need to change.
It’s not until you’re told that running your car produces around 2 ½ tonnes of carbon dioxide per year that you begin to realise that this could be a problem. You can then take the challenge to lower next year’s number. This now gives you a goal that is possible to quantify and track, giving you a proper aim. There will be no way of definitively knowing the damage you are doing with your carbon footprint without some means of calculation. It will be impossible to gauge future levels in the effort to produce less.
The fact that we each stand to get a direct benefit in terms of cost to reducing our carbon footprint should have people more than a little interested. That cost benefit is that you save money! The word will continue to leak out while, hopefully, carbon dioxide doesn’t.
Combating Global Warming
If you regularly watch television, surf the internet, or listen to the radio, there is a good chance that you have heard about global warming.
Press and media outlets have elevated the issue in the public consciousness through their increased coverage. Being concerned about the issue is something that many of us are, thanks in part to the continuing debate and disagreements over the issue. After all, so much is at stake for our future family members.
Fighting against global warming does not have to take a lot of effort or money out of your pocket. There is entirely too much emphasis placed on vehicles and appliances that are energy efficient. Every little bit helps, and if you do not have the budget for the big items, there are less expensive ways to become proactive.
Your home is the key to helping you combat global warming.
If you are not using an electrical appliance, such as your computer, shut it off. As an added bonus, your electricity bill will decrease, saving you money as you help out future generations.
Reducing electrical usage by turning off all the lights and appliances is simple. This is not only a free way to help out, but you can also save money at the same time!
Another way you can help is by making sure your thermostat is not turned up too high so enjoy the comfort of wearing a sweater instead. The amount of reduction in toxicity your home produces can be substantial with a change in just a few degrees.
Many people do not understand the benefits to using energy efficient light bulbs, or how that differs from traditional ones. Another benefit that many users of these energy efficient light bulbs discover is an increased amount of savings on their electric bills.
A typical energy efficient bulb can operate for a year or two, making them last much longer than traditional light bulbs. Depending on where you shop, you may be able to buy these lights for around five dollars per multi-pack.
The contributions to combating global warming are not constricted to homeowners, as renters can help to. If you feel cold air sneaking into your house when it shouldn’t, speak to your landlord about making window repairs.
Though many people hesitate to bring items such as the hot water heater or insulating blanket up to their landlord, these tips can result in saving him or her money in the long run.
Not everyone can afford to buy an energy efficient vehicle such as a hybrid, and those people can still help out by examining their day to day transportation habits. First, examine how often you drive and if those drives are really necessary.
Could you walk, join a carpool, or take public transportation instead?
If you want to help fight global warming, you can easily do so by choosing to simply not drive three times you normally would during the week.
Renewable Energy Sources
Traditional, fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are a limited resource. As they get harder to find and extract from the ground the price to use these resources will go up. There will be no change in this trend as more of these resources get used up. And there is another, potentially more serious, cost to using these types of fuels. They are thought to contribute to environmental problems like global warming and destroying the ozone layer that will be paid for by future generations. So what are the alternatives to these traditional sources of energy. This article will cover a few of the alternative energy sources that are being touted as practical solutions both commercially and for the individual homeowner.
The first alternative energy source to be covered is solar energy. It has been around for quite a while now and most people have seen the odd solar panel on a neighbors roof. Indeed, mankind has always used the Sun's energy since earliest times but only in the past 60 years has it developed to the extent that we are now familiar.
At this stage we use heat and light from the sun to create energy.
Heat energy provided by the sun is used for many things like heating water, heating a room or cooking food. As the Sun's heat was tangible, the inspiration for using it as an energy resource was not a great leap of the imagination. In reality, the Sun was used by many of these civilizations not only as an energy resource but also as a god, indicating the importance that they gave it.
Getting energy out of sunlight is still a fairly new development by comparison. The technology developed to do this is called the photovoltaic (PV) cell. It was first used in the 19th century but only started being produced commercially in the 1970's.
The principle behind it is that photons in sunlight hit the PV cell causing an electron to be displaced from the atom. Many cells and more sunlight cause more electrons to flow. This is how direct current (DC) electricity works. Direct current can be used as is, stored in batteries for later use or converted to alternating current for use in homes.
Wind power is another source of renewable energy that is becoming popular. I think this is because it is fairly well understood by most people as a concept. It may also be because plenty of wind turbines are popping up all over the countryside.
A wind turbine is a modern day windmill, it uses the power of the wind to turn blades. The kinetic energy is utilized by the generator to create electricity. Many developed and developing countires are increasing their production of wind turbines each year. They promise to deliver clean and cheaper ways to create energy.
Wind turbines or windmills can even be built in residential homes at a reasonable cost. It is quite simple to build a windmill or turbine from scratch or a pre-built variety can be purchased. Before you even think about this however, you need to establish if there is enough wind to make it viable and locate a good spot in your yard for it to go. You may also want to notify your neighbors that you are erecting a turbine as it could be an issue with some people.
Other familiar renewable energy systems exploit the kinetic energy in water to create usable energy, like electricity. This is hydro-power and a dam is an obvious example of this process in action. Geothermal energy can also be used to some extent. This is using the heat from the earths core to heat water which can be turned into steam that can turn a generator or be used as is.
Going Green - Good for the Environment and Good for Business
EPA report supports DBSis decision to make all their advanced technology centers planet friendly
“Staying on the current path, commercial data centers will consume a disproportionate amount of our countrys energy. This is not good for the environment or for business.” said William A. Bachenberg, CEO, DBSi. “Something had to change to support the 15-30 percent compound annual growth rate in power and cooling most data centers are experiencing; and for companies like DBSi this growth rate is even higher. We saw the need and became experts at not only the management of high availability data centers but also at architecting energy efficient infrastructures while maintaining our 100% uptime record. We are one of only a handful of data centers in the country employing our degree of green technology, and meeting the stringent availability requirements of our clients.”
Green is not only good for the environment by reducing energy cost and carbon footprint, but also improves the efficiency and longevity of servers, storage, and network equipment contained within DBSis data centers. This proactive initiative by DBSi allows its customers to get more out of each data center asset while enjoying the competitive benefits DBSi offers its clients in both managed hosting and disaster recovery.
Bethlehem, Pa (PRWEB) October 1, 2007 — DBSi, the leading regional provider of high availability disaster recovery, secure managed hosting and data center services, releases information on its long standing project to optimize energy usage and reduce its carbon footprint.
DBSis Green initiative has taken a holistic approach to improving energy efficiency, focusing on areas such as the thermal dynamics within each of its buildings; electric distribution; cooling methodologies; recycling and overall data center design. According to the Uptime Institute most data centers loose two-thirds of every watt of electricity to cooling and inefficient operations; DBSis Green initiative is reclaiming much of this lost power for productive use by their servers, storage, and network equipment. Proof points can be found in the near 40% reduction in radiant temperature generated by DBSis facilities; an ability to cool its data centers at times without running its chillers resulting in near zero carbon output for this operation; providing services that enable virtualization of servers that can result in a consolidation ratio of 8 to 1, or better; and investing in technologies that reduce power distribution losses traditionally found in moving the power from the street to the computing devices.
On August 2, 2007 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its report to Congress on server and data center energy efficiency. In the report it noted that U.S. data centers consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006, equivalent to approximately 5.8 million average U.S. households. The report also stated if change is not instituted the country could expect data center power usage to nearly double to over 100 billion kWh within the next 5 years.
In 2005 a Ziff-Davis survey showed that more than 70 percent of participating data centers identified power and/or cooling as a primary issue for their IT environments. Recognizing this problem was growing and not going to be easily conquered, DBSi instituted a Green initiative pioneering cooling and power management technologies discussed in the EPA report well before its contents were released. DBSis CEO took a personal interest in leading this effort utilizing proprietary DBSi infrastructure designs to reduce overall data center power consumption by 20 to 70% depending on the component within the facility. This has allowed DBSi to contain costs for customers and continue to offer long term contracts that reward them for their commitment. The combined power consumption of DBSis data centers is projected to exceed the energy used by over 30,000 average U.S. households; DBSis Green initiative will save the equivalent of 6,000 to 7,000 average households worth of electricity annually.
About DBSi:
DBSi is the leading regional provider of high availability disaster recovery, managed hosting, and data center services. Headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the companys business model is based on flexible, cost effective solutions tailored to the specific needs of its clients. DBSi has provided customized solutions to mid-sized and Fortune 500 corporations around the world for over twenty-five years and offers the personal care and attention companies expect while providing enterprise level infrastructure and expertise. DBSi operates multiple advanced technology recovery and hosting centers which also contain hundreds of seats for workspace recovery; and through its high-speed fiber optic networks provides seamless connectivity between its facilities, clients and the world. For more information go to http://www.dbsintl.com.
DBSi, Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of DBSi, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective companies.
© 2007, DBSi, Inc. All rights reserved.
Oct 1 Book Launch Party for S. David Freeman: Winning Our Energy Independence
Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How, recipient of CalStart Blue Sky Award, tells how to fight global warming in new book.
Read the news:
David Freeman wins Calstart Blue Sky Award
“Few are more qualified to lead the way than David Freeman.”
- Former President Jimmy Carter
RSVP Please:
Cara Morrissey
Tel: 310 454 3080
Ballantines PR
Ballantines PR
On September 6, David Freeman received the prestigious CalStart 2007 Blue Sky Award for innovative leadership in clean transportation policy and technology that impacts and expands the clean transportation market on a global scale.
Los Angeles, CA (Vocus/PRWEB ) September 26, 2007 — Gibbs Smith, Publisher is proud to announce the publication of Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How by S. David Freeman.
David Freeman, the Green Cowboy, explains Energy Independence
Wine and light snacks will be served.
Equator Books
1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
Few are more qualified to lead the way than David Freeman. Please join us for a launch party
Monday, October 1, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 PM
Book Launch sponsored by Vectrix Electric Scooters and Spellbound Wines.