PERMACULTURE AND PERENNIAL FOOD FOREST DESIGN: February 2007

Feb 22, 2007

My Carbon Footprint

My Hybrid at 60,000 miles has created 11.67 tons of CO2. or about 2.92

tons a year. (51.4 lifetime mpg)

3.4 ounces of CO2 per mile.

Sounds sad until you calculate my van mileage at 12 mpg. Now I put maybe 3000 miles a year on it.

If I had driven that instead, if it had lasted another 60,000 miles, 50 tons or 12.5 tons a year.

http://www.TERRAPASS.COM

Do the math: miles driven/mpg * 20 for pounds. divide by 2000 for tons.

http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html

If you drive a diesel or use heating oil, add another 14%

We used 600 gallons of heating oil last year, that's 6.84 tons a year

Then add Electricity, Utilities, and Firewood. Later.

Dan

The math.

How can 6 pounds of gasoline create 19 pounds of Carbon dioxide?

It seems impossible that a gallon of gasoline, which weighs about 6.3

pounds, could produce 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned.

However, most of the weight of the CO2 doesn't come from the gasoline

itself, but the oxygen in the air.

When gasoline burns, the carbon and hydrogen separate. The hydrogen

combines with oxygen to form water (H2O), and carbon combines with

oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2).

CO2 molecule with one carbon atom (atomic weight 12) and two oxygen

atoms (atomic weight of 16 each)A carbon atom has a weight of 12, and

each oxygen atom has a weight of 16, giving each single molecule of

CO2 an atomic weight of 44 (12 from carbon and 32 from oxygen).

Therefore, to calculate the amount of CO2 produced from a gallon of

gasoline, the weight of the carbon in the gasoline is multiplied by

44/12 or 3.7.

Since gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight, the

carbon in a gallon of gasoline weighs 5.5 pounds (6.3 lbs. x .87).

We can then multiply the weight of the carbon (5.5 pounds) by 3.7,

which equals 20 pounds of CO2!

Observing Snow Drifts

I was just observing the snow.  The melt patterns and the drifts that
stay. Even the darker colored mulch is breaking through. The south facing
roofs have all melted and the north are draining now. Ice and snow is frozen
under the saw dust from cutting winter fire wood. Perhaps mulching with snow
now with a little organic coverage will keep the temp extremes buffered and
retain the moisture a bit longer.

I need to record all these areas in my base map. Spring thaw, snow cover
chronology,  micro-climates, heat sinks and standing water.

The south east side of the earthen wall is bare with a layer of wood chips.
It had no drifting snow since it is east of the house. The northwest side
has deep snow slowly melting. Swales might direct it better and faster to
the pond though I need to keep the water on the wall.

BTW The Edible Forest Garden Books are worth every cent!

Feb 19, 2007

My city has no vision

I feel another letter comin'on...

I went to the Prior Lake citizen Forum on there long range pans. The 2030
Vision.

It was like kids in a candy store.  It was all about new roads, parks,
trails and housing developments. No limits on growth or moderating expansion
for future conditions.

Peak Oil and Climate Change? Not an issue here.

I brought up the thought that oil might be $200 a barrel. I got 2 seconds
serious consideration then the jokes started about jet packs and transporter
beams. It was a topic none wanted to talk about, probably because they
didn't know about it. Serious needs in this area for a heads up.

The joker moderating the 120 people was an expert consultant entertainer. It
was about keeping everyone happy laughing and thinking they were actually
contributing to the future. No talk about recycling, energy use, or any
other environmental issue. I felt I was in a movie or bad dream. So out of
place.

Dan

Feb 10, 2007

Letters to the editor from the Feb. 2 Prior Lake American | Prior Lake American

http://plamerican.com/node/967

The letter was published.
Not good formatting here.
I hope it was better in the paper.

Dan

Feb 4, 2007

Man its cold!

-21 here and going down.
Burning up the firewood but the house is cozy 68.
My "porch" office is 57.

I gave my sister Gaia's Garden last fall and talk to her often.
She's got the message and has asked me to help her design a catchment system
and three year plan for her lot.
She lives in Grand Rapids,MN  No snow, frozen septic systems and wells all
around. She has city utilities.

The little bug in her ear about climate change has cause her to pick up the
ques and signs in her area.  She has heard last summer's drought is said to
continue this summer.  Being a teacher, she has all summer off and she
spends most all of it in the yard. I am glad she has seen the light and
wants to make some preparations for the future. Her lot has all the right
facings and protected on the north and west by the garage and house, on
south side by a tall stand of pine.

I am going to do a remote basemap from aerial and topo maps. Send her a
blank sector map and get her started on observations.
Its like a multiple choice test where the answers to some question are clues
to others.

Keep tepid.


Dan