All Questions

Where I stay, theres a site (see intro here) nearby that used to be a coal gasification plant (produces coal gas for lightning etc.). The plant contaminated the soil with PAHs and heavy metals with ...

Is it possible to have a grid tied solar installation operate when power is out without a battery bank? All of the grid tied inverters I have found kick offline during power outages. This is a fine ...

Edited: I would like to spend money in the most effective ways (local tax considerations included) I understand that in order to be effective at tackling climate change there needs to be action at a ...

I recently asked a question regarding a sustainable way to generate white noise. I received a wonderfully helpful comment from Móż (thank you!) in which Móż recommended ensuring that the power source ...

I have been set this task, I hope you enjoy! I have to work out the exact amount of GHG emissions of a parcel, by air freight in kg every km. There doesn't seem to be any legitimate data on this, has ...

I would like to create a white noise generation box. I want it to be as sustainable as possible (within reason), as it will likely be used 24/7. My thinking so far is to use an old, unused smartphone,...

Following this question, I'm trying to figure out what is the best option for me. Looking at brand products, for example SunPower Maxeon 3 400/410 Wp and SunPower P3 Black 325 Wp, they offer a power ...

Before the invention and commercialization of refrigeration, many homes had an ice box, designed to store a large block of ice to keep perishables cold (from the National Museum of American History): ...

I spent 2 weeks traveling on my bicycle, and usually I was very hungry.. Since I ate a lot of food, I asked to myself if maybe a train (dividing cost between all passenger) was more green than me! I ...

There seems to be a lot of debate about whether, and how, plastic degrades in a landfill. There are many different types of plastic, from polypropylene to polystyrene. With this variety, it seems ...

Many countries are looking to phase out fossil fuels for domestic heat and hot water within this decade (see related question). Which alternative energy sources will primarily replace fossil fuels? ...

For context: Sweden is said to have the highest carbon price in the world at €110/ton (source). This price only applies to emissions not covered by the EU ETS (about half) which currently trades at an ...

This answer to another question points out that asphalt, a petroleum product, is used in large quantities. If we as a society want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, we will need to find an ...

I have heard testimonies of people with various health conditions in which the ingestion of certain botanical supplements improved their health. Then I see the plastic bottle the supplements came in, ...

In my understanding the supply side of the carbon credit market involves a wide range of different methods to sequester or otherwise prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere (renewable energy, fuel ...

I noticed that heat pumps for swimming pools are a lot cheaper than equivalent heat pumps for home use. What could be the reasons for this? To give an idea, a 16kW monoblock heat pump based on R32 (...

Last week, the city of Denver, U.S.A. announced a proposal to ban all new natural gas connections by 2030. From The Denverite: Changes to natural gas rules will come via revisions to Denver’s ...

If you buy an EV then the batteries last for X years. What happens after that? Are they recycled 100%? Are the companies like Tesla collecting those batteries to recycle? If they are not recycled then ...

Some daylighting solutions are available in the market that use collectors and large diameter optic fibre cables to transfer sunlight to interiors of residential or underground dwellings. Below are ...

Suppose I'm already heavily invested in microinverter type solar panels -- with the inverter on the panel on the roof. These comply with UL 1741 and will stop supplying power the moment they see grid ...

I've done some amount of upgrades to my house to reduce my overall carbon emissions, and reading online there are all kinds of suggestions for doing even more: Replace my natural gas water heater ...

Hydroponics using NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) is heavily dependent on inorganic nutrients. However, modern marketing jargons term the food produced as organic and business model as sustainable. ...

Does anyone know if the financial organisation Vanguard is engaged in sustainability topics, specifically sustainable finance, being a big financial player themselves?

Saudi prince, Mohammand bin Salman, announced a future city spread in 170km with no cars and no street. But any place to meet daily needs like schools, medicine and office will not take more than 5 ...

I have 3 stage water purifier installed at my home which first filters the water, performs reverse osmosis and then treats it with UV-C rays. The water that is released at stage 2 (RO) is usually ...

I recently had my old, broken furnace replaced with a high-efficiency condensing furnace. One function of this furnace is that it extracts enough heat from the exhaust gases to condense them into ...

I'm wondering about kinetic energy storage for homes. Imagine a concrete plate resting on hundreds of firmly attached sturdy springs, and a couple of electric winches attached to the top. To store ...

I am wanting to hook up a solar system to my house but don't want to feed back into the grid (for a number of reasons, including legislative bureaucracy and having to change my electricity company). ...

Today the governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts announced that starting in 2035, gasoline-powered vehicles will no longer be sold in the state. From the announcement (emphasis added, and a "...

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, about 23 L (13%) out of every barrel of oil is turned into "other products": The other 150 L or so is turned into things which are burned ...

Copy paper can be purchased in different white tones. The shades of white are defined by the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) and take values from 55 (recycling-grey) to 171 (most white)....

Where I live, cold winters and humid summers rule out line drying for bulky items like blankets and towels for a few months out of the year. When I put them in my electric clothes dryer, which ...

Are there an online resources about brands or outlets? Are there certifications? Wikipedia refers to a 2014 Rank a Brand report about the sustainability of global electronics brands in general. I ...

I live in an older home with windows that build up frost in the winter, which indicates they aren't insulated very well. I am thinking of installing kits like these over the windows: However, before ...

I am new to permaculture but would like to get a better feeling for if and how mid- to large-scale commercial permaculture farms could feed the world. In particular, I am interested in quantitative ...

There's been a lot of discussion about the impacts of lithium mining vs oil extraction (here for example). I'd like to quantify this. How do the impacts of mining lithium for one electric vehicle (EV) ...

You know those hot sandwiches sold in grocery stores (northeast USA at least...) that are wrapped in a foil paper? Wouldn't it thermally make more sense to have the shiny foil facing in? To keep the ...

Is it more efficient for a supermarket to send a van round to deliver stuff (eg a weekly/monthly shop for groceries) to multiple addresses, or for those people to drive (locally) to go and get it? ...

If one is living in a polluted city and plants trees around their house, Will it reduce air pollution? What about reducing heat in the summer?

It has been in the news recently that the carbon footprint of Netflix and other streaming services is significant.1.6 Kg of carbon dioxide per ½ hour viewing is on the high side of the estimates, 451,...

I live in an apartment in an urban area. I would love to be able to recycle, but unfortunately, my building doesn't offer recycling as a service. I've searched for recycling facilities near me, and ...

When I search about recycling compostable packaging I always find articles about recycling packages to the backyard pit etc. My question is not about that. I just want to throw compostable packaging ...

I've been looking for a simple solar powered lighting system for a carport I just built. I bought these without realizing how small they are: 2 Pack Solar Lights Outdoor. Unfortunately they look ...

A poster near a recycling station mentions that one liter of cooking oil contaminates 1 million liters of water and suggesting cooking oil recycling. If I spill cooking oil in the dirt of the backyard,...

One of my kids has asked for a bean bag for their room. I'm hesitant, mainly because of the styrofoam/plastic filler beans which (I assume) are generally terrible for the environment when they ...

Question: What are some good electricity-efficient ways to cool an ice pack down to ~5 degrees C once every 48 hours? Background: I am in a warm climate and connected to the grid in a US city. I don't ...

I am looking to calibrate a new battery monitor for an off-grid battery bank that's ~5 years old, since the previous battery monitor stopped working recently. I'm not sure how to go about it given the ...

A friend of mine just recently started avoiding any ultra-processed food because of health concerns. However he already had some in his storage room and some have passed their expiration date.This ...

When wind and solar generate surplus energy, can it be used to break water into oxygen and hydrogen and to store the gases in liquid form for later use as an energy source? Was this ever tried in any ...

Glazing is expensive and causes thermal loss. With those two considerations in mind, what configuration of windows is the most efficient in terms of reducing the area used by windows and maximizing a ...