Sustainable Living Stack Exchange
Sustainable Living Stack Exchange

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What is the % of energy produced per year which is renewable energy (including hydropower, biomass, ...) in the U.S. and in the whole world?

I would like to know what is the % of energy produced per year which is renewable energy (including hydropower, biomass, wind, geothermal, solar) : in the United States in the entire world . And also: in the ranking of countries with the…
user50746
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Sustainability of wood pellet sources for biomass boiler

We're considering a biomass boiler for our guesthouse (1820 vintage with corresponding energy issues). The opportunity to reduce gas usage and the economics of the RHI scheme in the UK (a sort-of feed-in tariff for logs) would seem to make this a…
Cheeseminer
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What are the best methods to minimize the effect (on me) of possible pesticides in or on vegetables I buy?

What are the major methods to be followed to minimize the effect of pesticides or their residues that may be in or on vegetables I buy? Does it differ according to the vegetables? If so, I am specifically interested in vegetables like tomatoes,…
Son of Earth
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Does bokashi bran expire?

We've bought a house and found half a large tub of bokashi bran in the basement. This puzzled us a while as we'd never heard of the process, but a little Googling enlightened us. We've also got some bins, also left by the previous owners so we're…
Cheeseminer
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How does one judge the sustainability of using burnt motor oil for termite protection?

I am having a discussion on the permies forum here about a sustainable wood protector. I have been using burnt motor oil from several neighbors' small engines. This can contain heavy metals, but I laquer over it hoping that it won't then affect my…
Alex
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How much liquid is produced when composting?

Composting is a great way of turning common wastes into a usable product. The compost should be wet enough to allow the composting process to happen. But when composting wet wastes there is some excess of liquid which drains out. I wouldn't usually…
Peter Ivan
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Why is there much more liquid draining from compost?

I moved my whole composting site to another place of my garden. Before the place was on a mild slope, now it's much more level. The shading is similar, maybe a bit more shady now. The inputs didn't change radically. I mostly compost grass clippings…
Peter Ivan
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Is an electric vehicle more sustainable just because it runs on batteries?

So, is driving an EV (like the Tesla Model S) actually sustainable? Does it not matter how the actual power/energy was created? Does this matter?
unknownprotocol
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With increasing emphasis on biosecurity, how do I properly dispose of livestock remains?

Overview If you own livestock, even on the small-scale such as for family subsistence or a hobby-farm, the death of livestock is inevitable. In cases where you are raising animals for meat or hide, their death is even predictable. The most severe…
Clayton
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Synthetic Propane Manufacture

Methane (CH4) is available naturally. Propane (C3H8) is derived from Methane. Is there a process for synthesizing propane applicable to a micro-farm environment?
MercuryPlus
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Dragonflies vs. mosquitoes

There is a small pond next to my house and I observed that dragonflies spawn there. Probably so do mosquitoes, at least the location in general is plagued by mosquitoes. Standing water is a suitable breeding ground for mosquitoes, but the…
MKaama
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Boiler, timer, thermostat, radiators - how to set to minimum in summer?

I'll give the specifics of my set up, but I ask this in the hope of getting a more general answer too, because it's more helpful to more people. I live in the UK, and a typical central heating set up is: a boiler, with some settings - typically on,…
ian
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Resources for Teaching Children About Solar Panels

I'm sure some of you will have already taken classes on Solar. The reason I am posting this question is to help out two Farmers in Kauai, Hawaii. They are currently creating an extension program through their farm to help teach children and others…
DTDev
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Are there technologies that convert algae directly to heat?

There are a lot of buzz about algal biofuel. I'd like to use algae as a clean fuel for space heating. I wonder if there are technologies out there that convert algae directly to heat without having to extract oil first. I need something like an…
George Chen
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If made on-site, what is needed for a solar panel

In this answer Russel says solar panels are: a sandwich of glass + bonder + silicon PV cells + bonder + backsheet This got me wondering how much of those materials are needed to make the solar cells easy to transport and/or install. Assuming (for…
Darren Cook
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