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A more general term for this system, with a detailed English wikipedia article, is container deposit. Such programs currently exist in 10 U.S. states (representing about 27% of the total population) which pay $0.05 to $0.15 per container, generally accepting glass, aluminum, and plastic beverage containers. The article also includes details of similar ...
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Scrap metals are not cleaned, they are melted. For steel; Zn, Sn, Pb, and others vaporize or oxidize. The most problematic is Zn as the oxide in the slag can deteriorate the refractory. Aluminum is similar except scrape with Cu and Si will be segregated as much as possible, used for certain alloys. Copper scrap, being more valuable is separated according to ...
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On the financing front: I don't know about the situation in the US, but some countries have schemes whereby grants or favourable loans are available for improving the energy efficiency of housing stock. For example, in the UK there is the "Green Deal". These schemes will vary in their usefulness versus the amount of bureaucracy involved, but are worth ...
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As for federal tax credits, I believe they only apply to 'principal residence' so you must both own and live in it. However the landlord may be able to write it off as a cost if she pays the bill, for some relief.
Check the energystar.gov site for details on what qualifies for tax credits: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index . ...
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According to this list on Wikipedia, #81 is paper and plastic composite.
When it comes to recycling, you have two options:
Go to the website of your county or city recycling agency to see if they will accept this material. If they don't, you could try neighboring counties/cities (areas with larger populations will tend to have broader recycling programs). ...
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Oh, that's really not a problem.
Recycling metal involves pre-processing. They are concerned with contaminants like paint and plating getting into the batch. What they use to remove paint and galvanization will certainly remove grease.
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I can provide an answer for the first part of the question: No new water diversions out of the Great Lakes region are allowed.
Great Lakes water agreement
The 2005 Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement prohibits diversion of water from the Great Lakes outside of the Great Lakes Basin:
The compact is an agreement ...
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tl;dr - Comparing Wyoming to, say, New York, the largest source of CO2 emissions in both states is the power sector. Wyoming uses mostly coal for power, which emits more CO2 per kWh generated than any other source, while NY uses a mix of mostly natural gas, with nuclear and hydro. Additionally, Wyoming exports power (increasing emissions counts) while NY ...
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Summary
No, the USA is nowhere near the top of the rankings for renewables as a proportion of supply, either on an all-energy supply (where it was 91st out of 141 countries in 2012) or an electricity-only basis (where it was 84th out of 141 countries in 2012). It's well below the global average in each case. Note that because of the sheer scale of its energy ...
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Most cities do not want you to put both the plastic bottle and its plastic cap together in the recycling bin. One reason for this is the two items are usually made of different types of plastic material, so they cannot be recycled together. Find out if there is any recycling of plastic caps only in your area. Unfortunately, even after decades of plastic ...
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I can’t find proof in any legal documentation, but I did find several documents online that say that 39 US states require a SPI code (or Resin Identification Code or RIC as it is also called) on plastic bottles and containers.
One document I found has the following table:
Looking at the name of the document I suspect that it was created in 2008, so things ...
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Try Terracycle, look on their website as they recycle hard to recycle items and have a mixture of paid for and free schemes.
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Leave the faucet open at a trickle. From Consumer Reports:
Let the cold water drip from a faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe—even at a trickle—helps prevent pipes from freezing.
Doing this at the two sinks is probably sufficient (no need to leave the shower or toilet running).
You can use something like this to divert the ...
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I'll assume for now the earlier answer on indoor heating systems that you linked remains correct, and address two other points.
Heat pump efficiency and temperature
Engineering toolbox provides a thorough explanation of heat pump performance, which includes this chart:
A few definitions:
COP stands for coefficient of performance, and is a measure of heat ...
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If every citizen in the world had an average carbon footprint of 16.1 Mg (1 Mg = 1 metric ton) per year, the global average temperature would likely rise more than 6.0º C by 2050.
However, there are some important caveats to this answer which I will detail below.
Per capita vs. Globalization
The question you stated might be slightly different from the ...
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Check the TRM for recent, state-specific data
Illinois (and probably other states) now requires energy efficiency programs to estimate the energy impact of water supply and discharge -- in Illinois, the value is 0.68 watt-hours per liter (footnote 122 of the Illinois Technical Reference manual). The TRM of the state you're interested in would probably ...
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Although it seems logical that a refrigerator would be more efficient since it doesn't have to keep things as cold, there are a few different factors affecting real-world performance.
Freezers are simpler to operate.
In a freezer there's only a top end on the temperature range. From refrigerator manufacturer LG you can see the range in the refrigerator is ...
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Nutshell answer: Residential use: nil.
Commercial use: Significant. Any reasonably large building has a larger problem getting rid of extra heat compared to heating. All those lights and photo-copiers add up.
Many commercial buildings and large facilities like University campuses will buy power when it's cheap at night and use it to chill water or brine. ...
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http://www.yeloha.com/ does this. Since I need 30 characters to post, let me add that I'm not 100% sure they serve customers in PA, yet.
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To convert from MTCE to MTCO2E, divide by 12/44
The difference between MTCE and MTCO2E is a function of the number of carbon atoms in each molecule of the greenhouse gases included in the inventory. There's a note on page five of the report that explains this (emphasis added):
In this report, emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and PFCs have been converted to their ...
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I'd like to find a way to have my array work when I need it most!
You'll need to invest in a home battery bank. These batteries are built to simulate grid-like conditions by providing a constant stream of power to your house (until exhausted of course).
The power produced by the inverters would fluctuate too much for most electronics to operate correctly - ...
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Since the water heater is not on an exterior wall, it is likely that the pipes you mention which do pass through the exterior wall would freeze before pipes inside the heater do. This would cause damage, of course, but might spare the heater.
Addressing the issue with pipes freezing, there's an interesting discussion over on HomeImprovement.SE: "What is ...
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Living in PA you should consider solar thermal and bio-mass for your energy needs.
Solar thermal panels such as the evacuated tube type systems and bio-mass boilers will offer you the best home energy efficiency because of your geography.
If it is electrical energy you are most concerned about and you have already resolved the sustainability of your heat ...
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You asked this question a while ago so not sure if you still need an answer, but I used to live in Silver Spring, MD, so the question caught my eye. If you're in Montgomery County or Prince George's, Pepco is likely your utility, and they provide a number of energy saving programs.
When I lived in Silver Spring, I signed up for Energy Wise Rewards and got a ...
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This brochure from greensciencepolicy.org provides the following guidance:
Foam-Free Furniture: Polyester-, down-, or wool filled furniture is unlikely to contain added flame retardants. Furniture without filling (e.g. wood, wicker) is also a good option.
Flame-Retardant-Free Furniture: More flame retardantfree options should become available to consumers ...
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