going green

you know the new trend to go green
Well i was thinking home brewers have been doing this for years

from using old copper around the house to reusing bottle & kegs. Now the release of C02 is bad for the enviroment but hey screw it.

I think all home brewer should get a nobel peace prize

If al gore can get it for a movie then i should for brewing beer
LOL

Heck yeah, I'm right there with ya. We can all go get the Nobel prize as a group and then go drinking together.

Don't worry about it... The fermentation process is carbon neutral...

ie
The sugars that are broken down come from the starches that came from a plant which is solar powered

The burning of propane is not carbon neutral, nor is most of the electricity in your ac (temp contol) but hey you can win everything and big brewers have most of those emissions anyway...

It's all moot anyway. We need to just brew beer and prepare.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/11/climatechange

monty73741 said:

. Now the release of C02 is bad for the enviroment but hey screw it.

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Just to prove what an ass hat Al Gore is, keep your fermentors and plants in very close proximity. The plants LOVE the C02!

I would make a joke about Man-beer-pig... but that would be in poor taste.

See what I did there?

Methane is a greenhouse gas too. Don't drink your yeast! Mit Kleine Hefe!

I would think that it's great to be green and all but that's didnt save Al Gore from the zombies so how is that really helping us?...

noisy123 said:

Methane is a greenhouse gas too.

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Yup, thats why I work in renewables, I need to counteract my "contribution"

EDIT: 9 posts to zombification... Nice work...

I would really like to build a nice house that was self sufficient of both water and energy. Perhaps even food if I could design a setup that was easily maintained through automation of water and fertilizer.

TxBrew said:

I would really like to build a nice house that was self sufficient of both water and energy. Perhaps even food if I could design a setup that was easily maintained through automation of water and fertilizer.

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Didn't they build one of those....ans didn't Pauli Shore get locked inside?

If I build a house it will have (at a minimum), a pellet boiler and solar water tubes on the roof... A passive heating design, active heating will be under-floor, and it will have a massive overall U value...

Possibly if the situation is suitable, some geothermal.

TxBrew said:

I would really like to build a nice house that was self sufficient of both water and energy. Perhaps even food if I could design a setup that was easily maintained through automation of water and fertilizer.

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You know me and a coworker have been talking about this sort of thing for quite some time, he has this dream of being totally self sufficient up in Alaska or something like that. I'd like to build a small house where I live currently and try to do the solar/wind thing combined with water recycling. Biggest problem in any developed area is that the building codes don't allow allot of the "green" stuff just yet.

farmbrewernw said:

You know me and a coworker have been talking about this sort of thing for quite some time, he has this dream of being totally self sufficient up in Alaska or something like that. I'd like to build a small house where I live currently and try to do the solar/wind thing combined with water recycling. Biggest problem in any developed area is that the building codes don't allow allot of the "green" stuff just yet.

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That's what we want to do. Buy a nice 30 acre plot just West of the city limits so we are still really close to town but avoid permits. Then do a basic wind/solar or perhaps geothermal setup. Also a well and rain water collection system.

I've been researching and even built a basic solar Stirling engine recently. Fun concept to mess around with.

farmbrewernw said:

Biggest problem in any developed area is that the building codes don't allow allot of the "green" stuff just yet.

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The planning laws were recently changed in Ireland to allow for the adding of solar panels and some wind technology (depending on size / capacity) without the need to go through the planning application process...

http://www.earthship.net/

Some people we know built one of these. They save Tons of $$ using recycled tires, and now they have nearly NO heating and cooling costs.

I'd like to build a fairly self-sufficient house, but not really for all the politically correct reasons. Mostly, I'm tired of paying bills. The deregulation of electricity in Texas that was supposed to save me all kinds of money is doing exactly the opposite ($0.19/kWh - seriously?!). A one time overhead cost well into the 5 figures range would be acceptable so long as I expect to live in the house for a significant amount of time. For me, the environmental impacts (or lack thereof) would be completely by chance rather than by design.

I went green before it was cool.

Burn wood to heat house- Carbon neutral renewable resource. All my wood is recycled from either curb or facility, where my town fills 2 dumpsters a day to go to the landfill. Cut my Gas/Electric bill from $290 a month EPP to $75 a month EPP(Equal Payment Plan) cost averaged for 1 yr.

Water restricted toilet, faucets, shower.

CF(compact flourescent) licghts in all lamps and light fixtures except for the kitchen cceiling fan because they are not available.

Laundry- Cold water wash, hang outside to dry.

Garden is huge: most veggies I eat come from garden.

Compost- awesome for the garden, reduces waste in landfill.

Beer cans recycled for profit, now bottles are re-used.

This years heat=


Also, work from home, so gas purchases are minimal-

Stopped all junk mail, newspapers, and pay everything electronically.

Don't drink bottled water-bought water filter, and fill re-usable water bottles from camping store.

Switched from desktop to laptop computer, uses half the energy.
Cieling fans make a big difference all year round.

NJTomatoguy said:

Water restricted toilet

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Anybody else HATE these? It's all well and good that they only use 1.2 gallon per flush, but I find myself flushing at least twice per "session." So, what's the point?

Yuri_Rage said:

Anybody else HATE these? It's all well and good that they only use 1.2 gallon per flush, but I find myself flushing at least twice per "session." So, what's the point?

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HA! Twice... Ya Right.

I flush those damn things twice when I have to go wee wee.

We'll be flushing till sun up when #2 comes along.

Yuri_Rage said:

Anybody else HATE these? It's all well and good that they only use 1.2 gallon per flush, but I find myself flushing at least twice per "session." So, what's the point?

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I have to say, and IMO, this is down to American bread... Too much sugar and processed flour, no fiber... Start eating these or similar and you'll have no problems...

Yuri_Rage said:

Anybody else HATE these? It's all well and good that they only use 1.2 gallon per flush, but I find myself flushing at least twice per "session." So, what's the point?

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Yes, the First Generation older models suck, but if you get a newer model with an increased water surface area elongated bowl and a glazed trap, they do work. Spend between $150/$200 on American Standard or Kohler, they work fine.

BigKahuna said:

HA! Twice... Ya Right.

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Note the "at least" in my post.

I doubt bread is the problem. Bread isn't a huge part of my diet, and I get plenty of fiber... I really don't have any "issues" that would require additional flushing unless the flush is just plain inadequate.

It was just something I noticed when I was over was the massive difference in the toilets... You'd think a toilet is a toilet right? Of course you should try eastern european jacks... I've also noticed that when many Americans visit they have trouble "adjusting" to the new diet...

Now this is supposed to be a green thread...

Does anyone use solar on their house?

Solar is an excellent option,in the right situation, and my state subsidizes the installation. For a solar system that would cover most of my needs would be about 15k. My house is oriented North/south, and to see the most benefit at the highest demand,summer, my neighbor would have to cut down a tree. They don't want to do that, so no solar yet. The back of the house gets the sun in the winter, and I have looked into building a greenhouse attached to the back of the house.

NJTomatoguy said:

The back of the house gets the sun in the winter, and I have looked into building a greenhouse attached to the back of the house.

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A nice big sun room built on the south of a house is great for passive heating, as long as you don't consider it an all year round room. It will work as a solar collector all summer and much of spring/autumn, however don't even consider trying to heat it in the winter, you'll just lose all the energy you saved over the summer and then some...

I have been considering a solar heated wort boiler. Basically focus a large Fresnel lens on the base of the pot and direct at the sun. Maybe even paint that side of the pot with high heat black paint.

This is the basic principle behind solar cookers. May not work but it would be fun

I recently heard on local NPR station on how to cut down the number of catalogs that enter the mailbox. Being in an apartment we are getting past residents' catalogs as well. Go to www.catalogchoice.org
That really helped.

Yuri_Rage said:

Anybody else HATE these? It's all well and good that they only use 1.2 gallon per flush, but I find myself flushing at least twice per "session." So, what's the point?

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They make those dual flush toilets now, one button for #1 and then if your taking a turbo dump you push the #2 button, I hear they alleviate the problem with the low flow toilets. Course what with me living in the country I pee outside half the time anyway.

Brew-Happy said:

I have been considering a solar heated wort boiler. Basically focus a large Fresnel lens on the base of the pot and direct at the sun. Maybe even paint that side of the pot with high heat black paint.

This is the basic principle behind solar cookers. May not work but it would be fun

I recently heard on local NPR station on how to cut down the number of catalogs that enter the mailbox. Being in an apartment we are getting past residents' catalogs as well. Go to www.catalogchoice.org
That really helped.

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I've seen diy solar water heaters that pretty much consist of black tubing, foil, and a storage tank such as a water heater. I know one of the breweries up here (I think Lucky Lab) can get their water in the summer up to sparging temps and in the winter they can at least take the water up to 70-80ish thus reducing the amount of energy needed to warm up the water.

We have a massive power of one campaign going on advertising "what one change will you make?" You know the small little changes you can make to your house or to everyday actions that multiplied over the course of a year will make a big difference...

The classic example is that turning your thermostat down 1 degree C will knock 10% off your heating bill... That was of course until someone did a survey and most peoples heater doesn't have a thermostat accurate enough to drop 1 degree...

Honestly this going green stuff is way too expensive. I looked into solar power to reduce my bill 20% it was 15,000 & my state only give me 5 grand. Plus the return on investment sucks a big one. I always have kept my thermostate low in the winter & higher in the summer. But what pisses me off the most is BG&E having these comericals to turn up ur a/c oh kay fine, Use fans Common sense. sprit your self with water Jesus christ f that. so now i;m supposed to be hot & fing wet. I have a tenant right now. I just walked onto their house to do some dry wall work...the A/c was at 72 degrees. WTF it is 85 with a breeze & no one is home.