Proposed CE Project: The Earth Initiative

Replies

• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Ash, if you remember we had done an interview with the initiator of One Billion Bulbs Project. I replaced all the bulbs with CFLs in my house. So now, we pretty much use CFL almost everywhere. The electricity bill has shrunk by as much as 35% !
  
  On a personal basis; I walk to the nearby distances [ anything that is under 1 KM and manageable ]. I realized I saved lot of petrol! For the sake of stats, I use less than 10 liters of Petrol per month. 😀
  
  Thirdly, I've already made up my mind that CE HQ will be powered completely by solar/wind power. But we'll have to wait for some time to see it in action
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  He he, cool. Yep, that was a good interview. My house was fully CFL in the first place, but I can't say the same for my uni hostel. I've read about theses indoor solar lights, where you make a hole through your ceiling, and connect this large tube that will let sunlight through. At the bottom, there will some sort of dispersal lens that spreads the light out in the house. I suppose thats good for those who leave lights on during the day because of a dark home. Most of my 35 litre/week consumption come from the fact my house and uni are 50 km apart (and that my car is a sports hatch, so driving slowly is not in character 😉 ) I've gotta improve my driving habits!
  
  Regarding the CE HQ, its important that equipment and appliances there are energy efficient. Its better if those devices can directly run from DC power, or else there will be inefficiencies from the inverter. That way you don't have to spend so much on those solar cells 😛 Btw, Gohm could probably help out with the design if this HQ!
• 

  Mayur Pathak

  *Scribbles on the note pad* I'll come back to this thread folks. Just subscribing it here. In fact I pondering on a thought of how can we make efficient use of natural resources. My apartment is east facing and sun throws enormous sunlight every day till noon. I wish I could charge my laptop batteries with it. 😀
  
  PS: Sadly I consume almost 55-60 litres of fuel every month
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Guys, let's think of some innovative ways of powering our home appliances. By the way, why can't we all brainstorm on making solar cooker better (and effective?)
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Yes, believe it or not.. each meter square of sunlight on the surface contains an average of 1 kilowatt of power 😉
  
  (admittedly, more applicable for solar heat systems rather than photovoltaics!)
• 

  Kaustubh Katdare

  Ash you sure? If that is true, we got to do something about it!
• 

  Lock-Os

  Ah, I'll start next month recording all that kind of data at the start of next month, got to find all those meters. I drive a jeep, but considering winter weather and ice on the road the 4-wheel drive more than makes up for the fuel consumption by getting me home safe. That is of course, not to say that on good days I try to coast as much as I can by less braking and acceleration and more or less letting friction slow me down for turns. As for walking, that isn't a realistic option for me... but I do try to compensate by getting all the stuff I need in one large trip to all the stores to get everything than going back and forth. I also tend to park once In shopping areas and walk to all the stores than to park in front of each one.
  
  Other stuff I do... I'm good about using the CF bulbs and we've replaced about half of the old bulbs in the house, and waiting for the other half to die before we change them. As for water, I'm not quite sure, but I don't think I can do much more to cut back on that. I might be able to build a rainwater collector / condenser for use in summer. That could help.
  
  Considering the fact higher ups own the house, and they don't want me messing too much with it, my hands a bit tied. However, I was thinking of creating a solar panel to charge up the laptop and what not. I've also been trying to salvage as much material that I can before tossing away something to limit the waste that I put out.
  
  Some simple things that I do already is to turn off or more often turn down the A/C in the summer and go camp in the basement, also try to buy seafood friendly fish to help cut down on overfishing.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Good stuff, Lock Os.
  
  Let me know your progress on the solar panel. If you need some help or inspiration, check out this link:
  
  [Part 1] : Do-It-Yourself Solar-Powered PC: Technical Foundations | Tom's Hardware
  
  [Part 2] : Do-It-Yourself Solar-Powered PC: Hardware | Tom's Hardware
  
  [Part 2b] : #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  [Part 3] : DIY Solar-Powered PC: Solar Components | Tom's Hardware
  
  Have fun reading 😀
  
  After we get some more responses, I will try compiling a list of tips on at the first post of this thread under different headings, such as: Driving, Food Habits, Electricity, Water, etc.
• 

  Lock-Os

  Food habits? Grow your own garden. Fun, easy, and not too challenging if you look up all the plant and it's tenancies and demands. Lettuce is fairly easy, and much better home grown and green than white and processed.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Oh, I love lettuce! My mom grew chili at the back garden, haha. But we dont have much space.. we live in a terrace housing area.
  
  Anyway, some of you might remember I mentioned about my EXRRIG (Engineering eXperimental and Research RIG) project:
  

  Aims:
  

  • Low power consumption
  • Ideal for running engineering and scientific applications
  • Used for engineering research purposes and home projects, such as data acquisition, simulation and automation.
  • Be remotely connected
  • Long life cycle via upgrading options

  I've recently been attracted to mini ITX systems. They are great candidates to be run under P.V solar power, and act as data acquisition units for solar tracking and electrical usage logger. But, I'm not sure of their capabilities to run software such as Matlab.. but I can ignore that limitation for now. I think getting to run it under solar in the first place would be a big win.
• 

  sauravgoswami

  Well these days wind-energy are used to even power mega industries,of-course those industries aint blowing green house gases
• 

  gohm

  support locally grown produce. You'll get the freshest stuff, many times organic, support a local farmer and usually reduce the carbon footprint.
  
  composting is real easy, try it!
  
  seal up cracks in your home to prevent loss.
  
  take short showers & turn the water off while you lather.
  
  turn down your water heater & thermostat
  
  reuse & recycle; avoid disposable products and items in lots of packaging
  
  avoid electronic vampires and unplug it!
  
  eat a healthy vegan diet, the meat industry consumes vast resources and contributes to pollution.
  
  walk, ride a bike or take public transport
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Great tips, CEans. Keep them coming!
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  *bump*
  
  Found an awesome device to display power usage of devices:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Its a DIY power meter that gives out a digital display! Looks quite straightforward to build too, especially if you are familiar with PICs 😀
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  *another bump*
  I've aimed for an Intel Atom spec computer for my EXRRIG. Not a powerful workhorse, but it might be an excellent candidate to run under solar power. The original AMD spec will be put forward to the future.
  
  I'm also about to start working on the static Solar tracker. Will update you all on my progress.
  
  With regards to the power meter in the previous post, some people have suggested neat ideas, such connecting it to a wireless network. Have the power meter at all power points in the house and you can log the power consumption of individual devices! Quite awesome.
  
  [EDIT]
  Updated the first post with the tips. Also, I found out that an Atom based system (exc monitor) only consumes around 35W 😛
• 

  just2rock

  greatgoing...if you think i can help out snything on designs issues or tech support let me know team
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Sure thing, just2rock!
• 

  gohm

  don't forget earth hour is 03/28 at 8:30pm! Turn your lights out for hr to raise awareness of global warming. Thanks to Ash for calling out this one!
  
  Join One Of The World's Largest Movements for Nature | Earth Hour 2022
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  I'm currently looking at a potential purchase of a Dell Mini 9. Could be perfect as a control unit or DAQ for any environmental initiatives here 😀
  
  I've also purchased two units of the ethernet-SPI controller. Progress is slow, but at least its a step forward!
• 

  raj87verma88

  Ash,
  My under construction company/society is also for the Environment, the same as your Earth Initiative and there are a lot of points which are common.
  I decided to call it New Bloom and am trying to get it registered as a Non Profit Organization. Why don't you do the same with "Earth Initiative".
  
  P.S. Though I don't agree with your point that promotes vegetarian diet.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Oh, thats great! Good luck with that then.
  
  Well, I'd want CEans to be wholly involved with this Earth Initiative thing 😀 No point of registering it separate from CE itself.
• 

  raj87verma88

  Who said CEans can not participate.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Yeah, but why make it a separate thing? 😀
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  *bump*
  
  I remember we had a discussion in the Earth Hour thread about dedicating a period of time per week to reduce usage of electricity:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  We can of course extend that to other resource consumption.. like water and petrol. If we can make it a habit to do it once a week, it can be extended to a longer period.. until it becomes normal in our lives 😀
  
  Keep on researching the amount of consumption you guys have, then see how much you save after taking up this CE Hour/Day thing. Showing the figures is enough evidence of our success!
• 

  shalini_goel14

  @Ash Do you think anyone might be doing so😛
  
  Good to see majority over here wants to save our planet "EARTH" but thing is not only about saying and doing individually -it cannot make a big change. I know most of us might be saving energy and water to as possible extent in our daily life(If not doing so -better try to do 😀 ) but the thing is how to make people around you to do so who are not ready to listen your single word about all this -especially when you are staying in a shared environment.
• 

  lal

  Lets keep our earth GREEN.
  
  Im very much interested in utilising the solar energy (really amazed by the fact that 1sq.m provides 1KW power! :shock😀... But as far as I know the initial cost is much high as most of the green projects.😔 It may be a factor that makes people less attractive towards these...
  
  I think we have to use our brains for a better Technology that is much cost effective and efficient. Im now working on it.😉
• 

  shalini_goel14

  lal

  Lets keep our earth GREEN.
  
  Im very much interested in utilising the solar energy (really amazed by the fact that 1sq.m provides 1KW power! :shock😀... But as far as I know the initial cost is much high as most of the green projects.😔 It may be a factor that makes people less attractive towards these...
  
  I think we have to use our brains for a better Technology that is much cost effective and efficient. Im now working on it.😉

  No man, solar energy seems to be the future though its unavoidable limitations never attract people towards it. Anyways what is the initial cost ? Explain more about your idea Please 😀
• 

  lal

  Anyways what is the initial cost ? Explain more about your idea Please

  Im working out for new ideas 😀 to effetively make use of solar power. We have to think how this enormous enirgy in sunlight can be extracted the most... Lets try to improve the existing techniques and find new better ones... Because we ourselves have to protect our planet!
  
  The future is in our hands. Lets make it safe... 😀
• 

  shalini_goel14

  lal

  The future is in our hands. Lets make it safe... 😀

  ok man, how many time you would say future is in our hand. Saying is not everything-thing is about doing. 😀
  
  By the way - you know how a solarpanel is made?
• 

  lal

  Not really. Im now reading about solar panels and ways to utilise solar energy.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  @ shalini
  You are indeed correct, hence we have to do this one step at the time. Once a number of CEans can follow the initial steps, the momentum will follow. Then we can promote this initiative to others outside of CE! Maybe have some media or environmental GLCs or NGOs to get interested. We just need to get the ball rollin'
  
  @ Lal
  Yeah, solar initiatives are very expensive. I suggest you focus on solar heating (where most of the power lies) rather than P.V cells as they are yet to go down in cost. I wanted to do a project myself.. just enough to power a computer, but the quotations I've received from companies are really to expensive for me (eg.. $3000 for a full system).
  
  Though, one of our CEans here proposed a cheaper way to get the solar cells:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Much cheaper and still can provide decent amount of power.
  
  If you still wish to pursue PV, do initial data gathering first. Measure the total power consumption of your major devices at home, and see how much your cam reduce them. For the computer, you can get more energy saving components. Work on reducing power consumption at home in general.
  
  After putting effort in reducing your power consumption, only then should you see how much wattage of solar cells you really need. Keep in mind you may need to track the sun's position if it deviates too much.
  
  If you wish to try solar heating, see which home applications you think it can replace.. such as cooking, boiling water, etc.
  
  Another avenue to check out is the use of solar lights.. guiding the sunlight into the house (through reflective guides and optical fibers for example) , reducing the need to use indoor lighting during the day.
  
  Now thats only solar. You can do a lot of other things in relation to save electricity.. such as reducing the use of air conditioning by proper heating ventilations, etc.
• 

  shalini_goel14

  ash

  @ shalini
  You are indeed correct, hence we have to do this one step at the time. Once a number of CEans can follow the initial steps, the momentum will follow. Then we can promote this initiative to others outside of CE! Maybe have some media or environmental GLCs or NGOs to get interested. We just need to get the ball rollin'

  Well said but can you tell me how many CEans overe here do so? If they don't do how they can be made to do so?
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Well, I wouldnt exactly know how many do practice 😀 I can assume those that don't might need guidance or evidence to show how easy it is to do it. Lets gather more ideas here, along with the ones we have listed. I will keep on updating the first post.
• 

  shalini_goel14

  For electricity,
  
  1. Those who have laptops can try to make it work on its battery even if electricity is there. Better can make slots like 2-3 hour battery and 2-3 hours plugged-in use.
  
  2. Try to turnoff your computer or pc or tv when it is not in use. Sometimes I have seen people keep on talking over phone for long time and kept them running.
• 

  durga ch

  Apart from what Shalini mentioned which are rightly applicable, there is a need to do a power off . ie even if you siwtch off the TV, if observed the LED will still be glowing, by complete power off this little amount of electricity used can be saved.
• 

  Saandeep Sreerambatla

  We can switch off our monitor while going for a break 😀
  
  more power consuming utilities at home are Fan , Fridge and Cooler .
  Fan consumes lot of power due to inductance/resistance not sure but it consumes lot of power.
  
  All Electrical motors and generators have very less efficiency due to the power swings , can we people think of a way to increase the efficiency and reduce losses in Generators and Motors since we use motors in almost many appliances we use .
  
  Am i right?
• 

  lal

  Hey...Arent LEDs getting popular now?
  I read some where that they are better energy savers than CFLs.😀 But some say harmful radiations are emitted from bright white LEDs.Is there any truth in it?😕
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Thanks for the ideas guys!
  
  @ shalini
  Good tip on the laptop battery. That way, it wont be left overcharged and hence lessen its lifespan. Be sure to take out the battery if the laptop is connected to the plug for long periods of time!
  
  @ durga
  Sometimes a standby is better than a total switch off. It requires more power to switch it on from a dead start (due to charging up the capacitors).. and even the power saved from standby is not enough to offset this. So, if you are away from the TV for a while only, standy mode is a better option. (see tip on the first post).
  
  @ES
  You are right, electrical motors are around 60% or so efficient. Though, I think we should talk about increasing efficiencies of motors in another thread. That requires a more technical approach rather than something CEans can do immediately at their homes 😀
• 

  lal

  Some LED facts:
  
  -Last up to 50,000 hours when compared to 10,000 hours for fluorescents and 1,000 hours for incandescents
  
  -LEDs don't contain toxic mercury, which CFLs do😀
  
  -A 5.8 watts LED is equivalent to 25-watt incandescent bulb. But cost is way high!😔 (About $50 for LED and only less than $1 for incandescent)
  
  We can say LED is really green! But cost is really steep!😔 We want to think of it!
  But its the best to be used with Solar panels...
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Sorry for the late reply. This LED issue is worth investigating more. I would have thought that LEDs would be much more preferable to use with a P.V. system, but it turns out there have been some misinformation regarding them.
  
  The beam is likely to be a lot more directional than typical florescent bulbs due to its lens. Thus, the true lumens per watt value for LED is a lot less than others like CFL. While this is suitable for uses like torchlights, spot lights, or desk lamps, it won't be much use for general lighting. So, it actually requires more power for the LEDs to produce the apparent brightness of CFLs at present. We'll actually need to wait a bit longer before costs go down and its lm/w values are significantly higher before pursuing with LEDs.
  
  Anyway, I wanted to bring attention one of the CE Infocus articles here:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  It got immediately swept up with new posts, so I should at least save it here, haha. The fact that this form of power generation already implemented (as opposed to just theory) is quite impressive.
• 

  gohm

  how cool is that!
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Alright, with Microsoft's announcement of the #-Link-Snipped-# as well as Official Google Blog: Energized about our first Google PowerMeter partners, we can easily monitor our energy usage without doing it manually at home.
  
  It appears that Reliance Energy is listed as one of the partners for Google's PowerMeter. How many of you in India have that as your utility? Can you guys please test the PowerMeter gadget if possible? The sooner we can gather data, the better 😀
• 

  raj87verma88

  Reliance Energy is the power supplier in Mumbai.
• 

  shalini_goel14

  Those who use washing machines in their homes (even for those who don't but can afford) upgrade it to environment friendly washing machines just using 1 mug water.
  
  FYI,
  #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  shalini_goel14

  Those who use washing machines in their homes (even for those who don't but can afford) upgrade it to environment friendly washing machines just using 1 mug water.
  
  FYI,
  #-Link-Snipped-#

  Thats interesting!
  
  I wanted to know this, do side loading washing machines consume less water (or energy) compared to top loading ones? Can someone verify this by experience?
• 

  raj87verma88

  ash

  Thats interesting!
  
  I wanted to know this, do side loading washing machines consume less water (or energy) compared to top loading ones? Can someone verify this by experience?

  Side loading consumes more water.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Ah sorry, I meant front loading machines 😛
• 

  raj87verma88

  Position is relative.
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  I see.. but some recent search online suggests front loading machines use less water than top loading ones.
  
  In wikipedia, theres a small mention. But, there was no citation for it, so I was wondering if it valid or not 😛:
  Washing Machine Usage
  
  This site also has some testimonials from people saying front loaders save more water than top ones:
  Are front loading washing machines more efficient top loaders?
  
  The closest to an "expert" option would be the HowStuffWorks website:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Grr.. I need to see numbers and % of the claimed water and energy savings!
• 

  cranky

  ash

  I see.. but some recent search online suggests front loading machines use less water than top loading ones.
  
  In wikipedia, theres a small mention. But, there was no citation for it, so I was wondering if it valid or not 😛:
  Washing Machine Usage
  
  This site also has some testimonials from people saying front loaders save more water than top ones:
  Are front loading washing machines more efficient top loaders?
  
  The closest to an "expert" option would be the HowStuffWorks website:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Grr.. I need to see numbers and % of the claimed water and energy savings!

  i don't know about the water savings..but i know one thing..the amount of noise(and hence pollution)from front loading forced us to use top loading😛😁
• 

  kashish0711

  I wanna add one thing in the list
  we can use induction generators to save electricity
  we all have induction motors at home and they can be very easily and cheaply converted to generators. 😀
• 

  Aashish Joshi

  i found an application with which you can monitor your computer's electricity consumption. After you install it on your computer, you can monitor the amount of electricity you will save!! Including the amount of CO2 you save!! You can set the program to save a lot of electricity or a little.. You can even set the times when the computer usage is at its peak!!
  
  #-Link-Snipped-#
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  maddie, great find! Looks good.. I'll be giving this a shot.
  
  by the way guys, I put up a chart in my blog to display monthly electrical consumption (according to the bills). I recommend everyone else to try that too! Its a start at least, before moving on to real time monitoring 😀
  
  [EDIT]
  Interesting little software.. but I think it should have more features to cater with power users. For example, manually inputting types of components used and their power consumption (or at least download from a central database containing these info). Factoring CPU load utilization would be important too! This would provide a proper real time monitoring.
  
  It would certainly be an interesting CE project to develop that software 😀 If there was an open source version of Edison, that would be a great start.
• 

  Aashish Joshi

  ash

  maddie, great find! Looks good.. I'll be giving this a shot.
  
  by the way guys, I put up a chart in my blog to display monthly electrical consumption (according to the bills). I recommend everyone else to try that too! Its a start at least, before moving on to real time monitoring 😀
  
  [EDIT]
  Interesting little software.. but I think it should have more features to cater with power users. For example, manually inputting types of components used and their power consumption (or at least download from a central database containing these info). Factoring CPU load utilization would be important too! This would provide a proper real time monitoring.
  
  It would certainly be an interesting CE project to develop that software 😀 If there was an open source version of Edison, that would be a great start.

  
  
  I agree, it could have been a little more powerful. It should, at the very least, display the amount of electricity consumed by different components, or which component consumes the maximum amount of electricity!!
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Ya know, I do wonder why we had to register to run the program, as well as connect to the server.
  
  Is it trying to download information, or is it getting information from our computers?
  
  I wont be using this program anymore unless I can confirm what is going on 😛
• 

  Aashish Joshi

  I did find that a little strange, but then I read this (#-Link-Snipped-#) and thought it might not be that bad after all
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Why does Edison need to communicate with Verdiem servers?
  In order for Edison to enable you to save energy, it must communicate anonymous information to Verdiem about the computer on which it is installed, including the computer's age, make, model, and some of the components that it runs. This information allows Verdiem to communicate back to Edison what the energy savings potential could be. Edison uses this information to help ensure that you get accurate reports and savings projections.
  
  
  Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

  What does the "Edison is generating..." message mean?
  To provide you with the most accurate savings estimates possible, Edison periodically re-calculates your savings potential based on your power settings. This is typically a very quick process, but occasionally you may see this message as Edison connects to the Internet to gather the appropriate data. The estimated savings information will reappear shortly.
  
  
  Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

  Hm, so they claim to get data of the computer components, and base some estimates on that. However, I remain a skeptic because :
  
  1. None of these were explicitly stated when you download the software.
  2. There was no T&C agreement with regards to Verdiem (the company) to collect information from your computer.
• 

  lal

  I think we need to keep this thread alive...
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  You're right 😀 I've sorta lost tracking talking about that energy saving software.
  
  Anyhow, I might close this thread soon and start a new one (without the "proposed" tag). As with all initiatives, I would hope it would be a fun and interesting one in which CEans can participate in 😀 I've seen great ideas about saving the environment not only in this thread, but all over the forum.
• 

  lal

  without the "proposed" tag

  Thats good. Looking forward for that.
  
  Let new and great ideas sprout up from the collective effort of all great CEans.
  Let me tell you one thing that, these ideas should never remain in the text we post😡, but try to implement them. Not all! But those which are economical and good 😎
• 

  Ashraf HZ

  Just a quick update, I managed to procure an energy meter recently 😀 Measures the power consumption of devices. I'll try posting a list of commonly used devices and their power usage next time.
  
  Before we move on beyond the "proposed" stage, can I have your suggestions on what the initiative should entail? Other than adapting practical solutions (as lal pointed out), but perhaps some simple projects as well. Or, we could "tag" all environmentally saving projects in CE Labs as part of the Earth Initiative 😉
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  lal

  Lets keep our earth GREEN.
  
  (really amazed by the fact that 1sq.m provides 1KW power!)

  Not quite. That is the peak insolation at midday, summer and in the tropics.
  Mechanical energy and electrical energy are thermodynamically most available. Heat is the least available. The second law ensures that you will always get less than 100% when heat is converted to the higher forms. The best way is to use it as heat whenever possible.
  There was an article in the Fortune magazine in the late sixties, which showed that the total power collected by solar heaters in the lifetime of the hardware was less than the power consumed to produce the raw materials and manufacturing.
  
  We have to design cheaper collectors, water desalinators and agricultural produce driers for reducing electricity consumption, A unit saved is a unit produced.
  
  Bioramani
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  Update:
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: The Snail by Peter Alwin, India - YouTube
  Bioramani
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  The_Big_K

  Thirdly, I've already made up my mind that CE HQ will be powered completely by solar/wind power. But we'll have to wait for some time to see it in action

  Shift to a Solar tent?
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  Bioramani
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  Another update on water:
  
  Is This The Future Of Water? - Cheresources.com Community
  
  Bioramani
• 

  Ramani Aswath

  Re: Proposed CE Project: The Earth Initiative 4 of 10 ideas to help Green the Earth
  
  Got this in the mail. Seemed worth sgharing.
  The first four of ten ideas.
  
  Bioramani#-Link-Snipped-#