Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Spreading the green word

I really liked this article so I wanted to share it (click on the title to read). Slowly but surely, green technology and its way of living is catching on. The family in this article has done just about everything to neutralize their carbon footprint and has spread their way of life to their public schools (the mother is principal of a junior high). They've thought up about every way a school can save money while limiting their carbon footprint (something you all should have done in your solar analysis!!). The parents are not scientists or politicians, just people who care wanting to make a difference in the lives around them.

Some highlights from their school:
  • 3 wind turbines powering 60 % of their electricity
  • biodiesel buses
  • green energy superintendent's house (district owned)
She's written grants for the following (and had success with most):
  • "composter
  • wind turbines
  • a science lab where kids learn how to make their own wind turbines...
  • solar panels that track the sun's movement
  • a new biomass boiler for the superintendent's home
  • processors to make biodiesel and seed oil...
  • program to use 20% biodiesel on buses and retrofit old buses with equipment to clean up their diesel emissions...
  • plug-in hybrid buses...
  • biomass boilers"
If only we had read this article before we submitted our reports!!

More importantly though, as fossil fuel prices skyrocket and carbon capturing eventually becomes regulated, green energy will become more economical to everybody, and we'll all have to change our ways, which means a cleaner world for everybody (I voted cautiously optimistic today).

No comments: