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1500 questions
4
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Are there petroleum products which do not have practical alternative sources?
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 for energy -- wind and solar PV (with battery backing) are…
LShaver
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How effective are shrink plastic insulation kits for residential windows?
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 spend the time and money (and generate the…
LShaver
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4
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1 answer
What is the relative carbon footprint of getting ones media from Netfix or bittorrent
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, 451,000 megawatt hours for the whole world is on low…
Rod
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How can I recycle when my apartment doesn't offer it?
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 all of the ones that I've found are large-scale…
TheTwoArmedMan
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Efficiently freezing an ice pack once per 48 hours
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 freeze anything else regularly.
Ideas:
I think…
capet
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Soil Restoration Issue - How to deal with thousands of small pine stumps?
Background:
Just acquired a 4-acre lot in Southern Virginia. It was recently cleared of a ton of small (roughly 6-foot-tall) pine saplings that look like they were mechanically planted. I am not entirely sure. There were as many as 10 saplings in…
Christopher
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4
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2 answers
How can smaller businesses go carbon neutral?
Lots of big companies are making grand pledges to go carbon-neutral (or even carbon-zero, removing historical emissions). It is feasible for a smaller company (that is, businesses that’d never be described as “enterprise”)? Is it worth it? Why do…
Esther Schindler
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4
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Is it safe to compost a pumpkin that has paint on it?
I have recently seen some pumpkins being curved for Halloween into jack-o'-lanterns and noticed it in some cases they are also being decorated with paint.
I understand that pumpkins should normally be composted, but are they still safe to compost if…
Nic
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Solar cooker design
I now live in a place with lots of sunlight (and lots of rain) and would like to use a solar cooker. I have seen a number of designs for solar cookers (Wikipedia has a list), but I am wondering about which design to adopt.
Priorities for me…
Earthliŋ
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Is there a single-use product that is more sustainable that its multi-use counterpart?
This may be more of an academic question and less of practical relevance but I hope to have some input from this site nevertheless.
In my opinion, multi-use products are always more sustainable than single-use products if viewed holistically (not…
Stockfisch
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4
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Shading percentage to cause hot spots
I'm designing a solar plant over the roof or a huge building for my company. Now the roof has a lot of obstacles, Shafts, pillars, AC equipment etc. I have a couple of questions that I could really use some answers for:
Does partial shading on the…
Mazen
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4
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2 answers
How to correctly get rid of human poop?
I want to live alone in a floor above where I'm currently living cause I don't stand my family, only inconvenience, there is nothing not even tiles, I don't mind the discomfort but, how can I get rid of my poop, can I burn it or what do I do with…
carlos acosta
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4
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3 answers
Is manual sorting of household waste more effective than mechanical separation?
In theory people can separate waste much better than a machine, since they have more knowledge about the waste itself.
In practice, with all my good will, I find that following the directions for separating is very difficult, since (just one…
FarO
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2 answers
Are there any insect-based waste-separation techniques?
I'm learning about how black soldier flies and insects in general are used to turn organic waste into more insects, which are then harvested for protein-heavy feed for poultry and fish.
A lot of places do waste separation at source but in the…
Peeyush Kushwaha
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4
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2 answers
Are soybeans mainly grown for animal feed or oil production?
In the great vegan vs. non-vegan environmental debate a big point of contention is the topic of animal feed. Vegans argue that a large percentage of agriculture should be attributed to cattle farming. For instance, 98% of soybean meal is used for…
user1721135
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