What "Dumb" Questions Do You Have About the Enviro

[collindunn]

Remember, in second grade, when there was that one math problem, or idea in science class, that you just didn't get, but you didn't want to raise your hand because you thought it was a dumb question and you didn't want your friends to make fun of you?

We've all been there, and it's no fun at all. TreeHugger doesn't want anyone to feel that way about green topics and the environmental world, so we're starting a new series of posts to answer these questions. So we want to know: what have you been dying to know? What haven't you been able to figure out? Leave a comment here; there's also a post up on TreeHugger, if you'd prefer to question us anonymously. Either way, we promise not to make fun of you.

So, please get asking, and stay tuned for the results!

[OG]

Why do squirrels wrestle? And what's the climate impact of their wrestling? Have squirrel scientists looked at ways to lower the carbon footprint of squirrel wrestling?

J/K

Good topic, though! I look forward to seeing the questions.

[veganjoe]

Actually I've got one:

If one is flying across the country on a packed jumbo jet, is that significantly less green per person than driving that distance in a run-of-the-mill car?

[GreenBean]

How does geothermal work? I understand that it is like an air conditioner only using the earth's steady temperature instead of air but I don't understand how it makes enough heat in the winter and is cool enough in the summer to combat the heat. Air conditioners use a coolant but geothermal just uses water, right? Please explain.

Thanks!

[BluecollarZA]

I keep receiving a lot of conflicting information about recycling, and specifically, which materials are actually worth recycling. Aluminum cans, for example, require much less energy to recycle than it takes to make new aluminum cans. But what about other things... glass bottles, plastic? Which types of materials are actually better off NOT being recycled?

[rhapsodyinglue]

Is there a serious effort in the U.S. to change minimum building codes to make new homes and buildings more energy efficient?

[madadart]

There have been some problems arising from the scale that renewable efforts have taken in the last decade: climate and bird concerns about wind turbine, production pollution and resource concerns about PV. Along those same lines, what would happen if geothermal systems were installed on a huge scale? Could we start screwing with the internal workings of the Earth, either on a large scale or localized effect, if so much heat was taken away or added to the ground?

[misobrilliant]

Is it just me, or does solar energy confuse the f*ck out of everybody? Specifically, I'm interested in putting together a solar array system in my house near Cabo San Lucas, but have so many problems finding a definitive guide that will explain:

1) how many solar panels and the rated output that I'll need;
2) how many batteries?
3) the type of inverters?
4) any other materials?
5) the difference between a solar hot water maker and an electrical array, and whether I need to choose one or the other.

Is there a buy-it-all-at-once kit that you can buy without having to piece it all together yourself that people can recommend? It just seems that solar energy should be much simpler to buy and use.

[BluecollarZA]

So, uh... where are the answers to our dumb questions? They gonna go in the main site or here or what?

[cajun2001]

CAN LIGHTNING BE HARNESSED FOR POWER?

[GreenEngineer]

How does geothermal work? I understand that it is like an air conditioner only using the earth's steady temperature instead of air but I don't understand how it makes enough heat in the winter and is cool enough in the summer to combat the heat. Air conditioners use a coolant but geothermal just uses water, right? Please explain.

Thanks!

How about an answer followed by a question?

In the winter time, your heat pump will basically operate in reverse of what it does when it's in cooling. Your refrigerant will run through an expansion valve... as the gas expands it gets cold. Then, when your geothermal water (between 25 and 85 degrees typically) is run over this refrigerant pipe it will warm up the refrigerant. Then you run that refrigerant through a compressor, and boom, it's now hot enough that when you run air over the coil it will warm the air. Pretty much the opposite thing happens when in cooling mode. That's your typical water-to-air heat pump.

Oh and Madadart, I think it's a long ways off from that being an issue (changing the earth's temp using geothermal). In Colorado, we tend to find the heating and cooling hours are pretty close to balanced. Some climates will be heating dominated, others cooling dominated. Local (meaning the immediate area the well field is installed in) ground temps can definitely be influenced by geothermal systems but I wouldn't foresee a massive global impact if we all switched. Normally, buildings that use geothermal systems are built to be pretty efficient in other areas as well so the heating/cooling loads are significantly reduced versus your typical building.

My dumb green question... are there any really good green products for green thumbs out there? I've got major weed problems in my yard and I'm not real keen on throwing a bunch of nasty herbicides on my lawn (especially when I own a dog). At the same time, I don't think that throwing a bunch of soybean oil is going to get the job done either.

[jajohn11]

We've been dumping perfectly good materials in landfills for God knows how long. It seems to me that there ought to be plenty of recyclable metals and other goods in them that are more accessible and pose less threat of environmental damage than traditional mining. So why aren't we mining our landfills?

This seems like an obvious solution to a number of problems. From the fact that no one is doing it, I assume that there is an equally obvious answer. But I haven't a clue what it is.

[The Seventh Sign]

geothermal can work using water as well as earth using large insulated tanks.

Geothermal can be used to generate power as well as heat and air.

Why don't people know this?
T~S~S

[The Seventh Sign]

Alastair Here is what you need to look at.

Take your annual energy bill for power. Look at your amount of light available for the last year.
Now <annual energy kilowatt hrs>/365 this gives you am approximate average amount of power used per day. then factor in the panels so that you exceed the amount of power used per day by 20% (recharging takes time / energy too you know and this is assuming your wanting to run solely on solar.) Now do your home work with the various solar panel companies and give them your data for weather and kilowatt usage they might be able to tell you how many panels then and how much land it would take up as well. Ask for extremely efficient solar panels. (Which the 42.8% efficient panels are still in development phase.)

Home power magazine had some tools to use to calculate out most of this stuff last i remember if you do not trust your math. all you have to do is enter the numbers.

T~S~S

[stg]

How does geothermal work? I understand that it is like an air conditioner only using the earth's steady temperature instead of air but I don't understand how it makes enough heat in the winter and is cool enough in the summer to combat the heat. Air conditioners use a coolant but geothermal just uses water, right? Please explain.

Thanks!

There is three types.. Heat stored in the upper layer from sunshine during summer months.. like 2-3 meters down

the radioactive heat (gasp!! .-) ) from natural radiation in rocks, read Radon gas problem in cellars.. Only in areas with this type of rocks..

And the vulcanic heat much longer down.. On island its up in the day. Most other parts is maybe 300- thousads meters down.. plenty for everyone

Heath pumps for private houses uses the first and second type of heat.