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1500 questions
4
votes
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Can bales of cardboard be used as a building material?
Where I live, there's an open air market that produces a huge amount of excess cardboard everyday. The cardboard is pressed into bundles - making large bales of pressed cardboard.
Looking at it, I'm reminded of straw bales, and I'm wondering if…
Laizer
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Alternative to bananas in Europe
If you buy bananas in Europe, they usually come with a high CO2 level, since they are mostly produced overseas.
Is there a fruit produced in Europe which comes quite close to bananas in terms of energy supply, digestibility, and shelf life?
Right…
cerv21
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3
votes
2 answers
Will negative power pricing counteract the growth in solar PV capacity?
In California, the real-time electricity prices routinely go negative. Here's pricing for the four load aggregation points for California on April 1, 2020 (source):
This is due to the large amount of solar energy on the grid, which causes a…
LShaver
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Did any country, city, or village implement a coffee separate collection with success?
Coffee is a wide produced and consumed drinking all around the world.
After the use, exhausted coffee filters (wet coffee powder) are a very nutrient fertilizer.
This brought some people to collect the exhausted coffee powder and to use it as…
Tms91
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1 answer
How much additional CO2 emissions will result from recent changes to US vehicle regulations?
From the Guardian, March 31, 2020: Trump to roll back Obama-era clean car rules in huge blow to climate fight (emphasis added):
The Trump administration is rolling back the US government’s strongest attempt to combat the climate crisis, weakening…
LShaver
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3
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2 answers
What is the most efficient setting on my oil-filled radiator?
I have an oil-filled radiator with three heat intensities:
Low (900W)
Medium (1100W)
High (2000W)
Given the radiator has a thermostat, what is the most efficient heat setting to use?
My goal is to warm a conservatory on cooler morning, so it would…
Duncan Jones
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Are there any studies comparing the ecological footprint of an e-ink tablet with traditional pen and paper?
I am a graduate student in physics and I was considering getting a paper tablet like the reMarkable or the Sony DPT to replace the notebooks where I do calculations and take notes. But I was wondering if there are any studies comparing the…
S -
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Are there environmental benefits to a water softener?
The municipal water where I live is considered very hard, measuring about 325 parts per million dissolved mineral content. I currently have a water softener in my home, but it has been giving me some issues.
I don't know how old the system is (it…
LShaver
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3
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1 answer
Can I use 2.5kW solar panels to power 2kW rated grid tie solar inverter?
Can I use 2.5kW solar panels (10x 250 watts) to power 2kW rated grid tie solar inverter? Will anything blow up?
Panels: 10x 250W, 36V panels
Inverter: 2kW with max input voltage: 500V
any help is appreciated.
thank you
862873627723
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3
votes
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How much more efficient is boiling water with a lid?
I sometimes end up boiling water in a pot without putting a lid on top because I can't find the lid.
How much energy is wasted when bringing water to a boil without in a pot without a lid? Or differently stated, how much more efficient is heating…
Nic
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3
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2 answers
Photo voltaic windows Pro - Cons. Where to get them?
I intend to build a house in the near future and I want it done in a proper way. From my perspective "proper way" means also as much as self sustainable as possible. Hence I intend to generate/produce as much energy as possible. As I intend to use a…
user503413
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3
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1 answer
Should a projector be turned off if it won't be used for five to ten minutes?
The conference rooms in my office have projectors mounted on the ceilings, typical of many offices.
During the day, several meetings will be scheduled in the rooms, with perhaps five to ten minutes between meetings. When the projector is turned on…
LShaver
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3
votes
3 answers
Can I recycle greasy metal in the US?
In the United States, I know that paper and plastic are often not recyclable if they are greasy.
Can I recycle metal that has vegetable grease on it surface? I'm thinking of canisters that once contained nuts.
capet
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How many grams of CO2 are emitted to produce one paper napkin?
Does using paper napkins have a high carbon impact?
smoothware
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What is the time basis for offset programs?
I'm kicking around the idea of creating a local offset program. My question is: what is the time basis for offsets? Best seen with an example.
Say I build a solar PV system that costs $10,000 and produces enough electricity to offset a tonne of…
SciGuy
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