I’ve had severe medical problems before and been the beneficiary of scientific advances in medical treatment. (I had a non-cancerous growth on my inner ear in 1996, called an “accoustic neuroma”, which required 11 hour surgery, and artistically sequenced immediate and subsequent recovery. It didn’t save my hearing though in one ear. That’s just gone [...]
Archive for the ‘Space heating and lighting’ Category
My initiation into the engineered life
Posted in Energy policy, Ethics, General economic, Space heating and lighting on July 21, 2010 | 8 Comments »
My prediction for economic “improvement”
Posted in General economic, Space heating and lighting, Transportation on July 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It won’t come immediately, likely even soon. There is still a downward drag on home values due to a still large inventory of unsold homes and many homes in foreclosure. There is still a bubble in business to business economy, money chasing after activity and profits. (Thats where the highest compensation is and that is [...]
Thoughts on the Oil Spill
Posted in Energy policy, Regional Economy, Space heating and lighting, Sustainable Economics, Transportation on April 30, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The oil spill is big news. A gamut of “drill-baby-drill” advocates have oil on their faces. Its real. The standards for offshore shelf drilling will increase dramatically throughout the globe, and particularly in the US. To the extent that standards and costs then increase globally, including affects on drilling in on-shore but environmentally sensitive areas, the long-term supply [...]
Operating vs capital costs and sustainability
Posted in Energy policy, Space heating and lighting, Transportation on November 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Many individuals have commented to me that when the cost of oil increases significantly, there will be difficult economic traumas, and accompanying changes in the way that people live, hopefully to a less energy squandering lifestyle with less CO2 emissions. I would like to believe that, but I’ve observed that the relationship between operating costs [...]
Sustainable Society – How do we get there – Housing
Posted in Space heating and lighting on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been sick, or I would have posted earlier. Housing – Between mortgage, insurance, real estate taxes, repairs and heating, of any category of spending, my family spends the most on housing. Housing is a minimum necessity, and we don’t really have much latitude on how much money to spend. We’re close to the minimum [...]
Zero Net Energy Building
Posted in Electrical generation, Energy policy, Space heating and lighting on August 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m not an engineer. The purpose of this blog is not to propose or even comment in an informed way on the state of sustainable engineering. I do want to give a great deal of credit to the innovative engineers that have worked for multiple decades to convince other engineers, architects, planners of the relevance [...]
The Largest Sector of Energy Used – Space Heating
Posted in Energy policy, New England, Space heating and lighting on August 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I don’t know stats religiously, or regionally, but from my last review of DOE statistics, my recollection is that building energy use comprised close to 40% of all the fossil fuels consumed in the US, and slightly higher in the far north of the US and Canada as well. And, of that 40%, the vast [...]
