For my earth day post about cars I’m choosing to blog about how some of the current trends in the automotive world aren’t as green as they may seem to be: hybrids and corn ethanol. I’m excited about the fact that our car-loving culture is trying (pretending?) to find ways to reduce its impact on the planet. However I have some serious doubts concerning whether hybrid vehicles and ethanol derived from corn will be the saviors they’re sometimes purported to be. In some cases they may not even be any better for the environment than the cars we drive right now …

Hybrids

A while back there was a bit of a stir when an article appeared in a college newspaper alleging that the Prius outdoes the Hummer in overall environmental damage. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything the article says, I do think that some folks who are trying to be environmentally friendly conveniently overlook the environmental implications of manufacturing hybrid cars. All current model hybrids use some type of nickel-metal hydride battery pack. Manufacturing such batteries requires a great deal of energy and resources. While the specific process outlined in the original article may be somewhat dubious, there is no denying that some amount of damage is done to the environment in the manufacture of these batteries, even if only from generating the energy used to produce them. Therefore, each hybrid car sold bears some amount of additional environmental burden that it must overcome before it can be considered better for the environment than a traditional car.

Hybrids are en vogue right now, with new models popping up every day. Everything from full-size SUVs (Chevy Tahoe Hybrid) to large luxury sedans (Lexus LS 600h) to “mainstream” family cars (Saturn Aura Green Line.) What’s more is that often these hybrids, despite all of their illusions of environmental grandeur, barely get better gas mileage than their gasoline-only counterparts. The Saturn Aura Green Line is a prime example of this, with the hybrid version achieving an EPA average only 2 miles per gallon better in both city and highway ratings.

I’m sure there may be ways, such as “plug-in hybrid” technology, to make hybrids more eco-friendly with regards to the big picture. However, most current hybrids seem to be little more than an attempt by the automakers to cash in on the latest marketing fad. Unfortunately, this is ultimately happening at the expense of the environment.

Corn Ethanol

This country has more corn than it knows what to do with, so why not try turning it into a fuel source? Flex-fuel cars capable of running on ethanol have been around for years, however it has only been within the past few that automakers have begun touting this capability on a large scale. At first blush it seems like a good solution. It gives corn growers an additional opportunity to sell their crops and it helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil, right?

What we consumers don’t often hear is the fact that refining corn-based ethanol only results in roughly 25% more energy than it takes to produce it. In addition, even though ethanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline it contains less energy per gallon, which means that vehicles running on E85 ethanol (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) only achieve about 75% of the fuel mileage they would on gasoline alone. That means your car that gets 28 MPG using gas would only get 21 on E85 and your SUV that gets 15 MPG on gas would drop to 11 MPG. Ouch.

The government currently subsidizes the production and sale of corn ethanol so that it can be priced attractively less than gasoline. But unless it is priced 25% less than gas it still ends up costing the consumer more. According to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report the energy-adjusted price of E85 is currently about 30 cents per gallon more than regular unleaded gasoline. And that still doesn’t reflect the actual cost of ethanol because of the government subsidies.

So if corn-based ethanol is such a lost cause, what other options might there be? Soy-based fuels, such as soy biodiesel, often have a better energy balance than corn ethanol, but involve some of the same risks with regards to over-farming and competing with food sources. One alternative that I think has some merit is cellulosic ethanol, which can be refined from just about anything that has ever been alive. This includes products that are often discarded like corn stalks and wood shavings from lumber yards. Many proponents of cellulosic ethanol are currently looking towards switchgrass, a perennial grass native to the North American plains, as a viable source for ethanol production. Current estimates put the energy yield from refining switchgrass at 540% (compared to corn ethanol’s 25%.) The first cellulosic ethanol refineries have yet to come online, but when they do ethanol may finally become a truly viable alternative to gasoline.

Personally I find myself most excited by efforts like the smart fortwo where auto manufacturers are being ecologically mindful at all steps of the production process and seeking to create very efficient “conventional” cars. Even though I have my doubts about whether I could personally justify getting a smart car, it would be great if more car companies would follow a similar model of environmental management and recycling in their own business practices.

So what are your thoughts on the current (not-so) green fads in the auto world? Think I’m being a bit too critical? Want to voice your hearty support? Hit up the comments and speak your mind! You can also check out Scientific American’s article on switchgrass ethanol and Popular Mechanic’s article on converting cellulose directly to gasoline for more reading on this subject.

All natural, organic, whole, free range, grain fed, locally grown, the list goes on and on. I often find myself wondering what is just marketing hype and what may actually impact the world we live in. I’m far from an expert on this, for sure, but I can offer what little wisdom and insight I’ve managed to glean. First let me disclose that I buy organic foods when I can, I’m a member of the local food co-op, I do a little gardening of my own, and I try to avoid red meat most of the time. I am not in any way a radical environmentalist, but one of the primary reasons I shop and eat the way I do is because I think it is important for those of us who are able to be mindful of our impact on the environment and act accordingly. Read on for why I think my decisions reflect such mindfulness …

I know some folks tend to think the whole organic movement is all about people being afraid of ingesting fertilizers, pesticides, and other not-so-pleasant byproducts of the modern industrialized farming movement. While I don’t deny that this is definitely part of the allure of organic problems, it is not my primary motivation. By and large organic farming is much more sustainable than most modern industrialized farming practices. Such modern farming practices rely heavily on fertilizers and other chemicals to grow more than the land can naturally bear. It is my hope that by supporting the organic movement that I am supporting farmers and a way of life that will help preserve the earth’s capacity to food for future generations.

I support the local co-op not only because I happen to be good friends with many co-members there, but because I believe in the ideals of being member-owned and operated and providing products that are natural, whole, organic, vegetarian, and environmentally friendly. I also appreciate the fact that I can buy things like flour, sugar, oil, rice, and sugar in bulk in order to cut down on excess packaging. There are also items like locally-produced butter, cheese, eggs, and milk that come from people who care about the environment and not just profit for profit’s sake.

As a small child growing up in Virginia I remember a few years when my family did some gardening. I’m not sure how old I was, but I know it was before I started high school. It wasn’t until last year that I ever did much gardening for myself, starting with a small 4′x8′ plot in the back yard. Last year we grew more yellow squash and tomatoes than we could possibly eat, in addition to some smaller crops of green beans, beets, green peppers, and salad greens. Locally-grown produce doesn’t get much closer than your own back yard! My wife and I both learned a lot about gardening last year and are looking forward to doubling the size of our garden plot as we begin the growing season in the next couple weeks. By growing a few things in our garden I know that we used less gas driving to the store, made better use of the land we live on, spent less money on food, and ate better too!

Many Americans’ diets center around large amounts of red meat. I recently read that raising a 1,200 pound beef steer requires almost 800,000 gallons of water, 35 gallons of petroleum, and 8,000 pounds of corn! I’ve also read that it takes about 15 pounds of grains to produce a pound of beef and only two per pound of poultry. This is hard for me to hear, because I like eating meat.

Recently I have come to realize that enjoying meat can still be done in an environmentally mindful way. One popular way to do this is to change the way we think about meat in relation to the rest of our meal. If we treat meat as more of a condiment, something we add to the meal to make it more flavorful and enjoyable rather than the main focus of our meal, then it becomes easier to reduce our consumption. So what does this all mean in terms of practical application? I most often use ground turkey in place of ground beef, if I’m hankering for a hunk of meat I’ll go for a small portion of lamb or pork before beef, and I intentionally try and eat vegetarian a few times a week to help balance things further. I used to really miss steak, and I still enjoy a nice hamburger every now and then, but I do so with a mindfulness of the impact of my food-related decisions.

I’m trying to include some links for additional reading at the end of all of my earth day posts, so be sure to check out New Community Project’s educational materials, Eco Eats at Ecologue, information about locally grown products at Local Harvest, and The Simple Dollar’s post on Planning a Kitchen Garden.

Do you try and eat in an eco-friendly way? Maybe you think this is all a bit ridiculous. Let’s hear about it in the comments.

What do things like word processing and surfing the ‘net have to do with saving the environment? More than you might realize. In this day and age of constant connection it is increasingly common for households to have multiple computers left running 24/7. In addition, the marketplace’s push for us to constantly upgrade our computing equipment means that there is a lot of “e-waste” with lead or other toxic chemicals that is not being disposed of properly. Here are some quick tips and links on how you can make your computing experience a little greener:

Power Down

I’ll start off with a tip that I admit I could do more often. Currently we have three computers in our house (a server, a workstation, and a laptop) that stay on all day and all night. My excuse for doing so is that they are all set to back themselves up to the server overnight. Some folks also leave their computers on at night to do things like update virus protection or run system updates. To help counter this practice a little bit my wife and I have instituted a practice of going “unplugged” on Monday nights, powering off our two main computers (and the television) around 6pm and leaving them off all night long. In the near future I plan to rework our backup server’s schedule and set up our computers to initiate a timed shutdown automatically (using GShutdown) after we have gone to bed. Windows users may want to look into Poweroff for the same sort of functionality.

Also, powering off peripherals such as speakers, monitors, and printers when you’re not using them can help cut your power consumption as well. All modern operating systems will allow you to set up your monitor to automatically enter a low power “sleep mode” after a predetermined amount of time. Instead of setting your computer to display a screensaver when it goes idle, which means your monitor continues to use the same amount of energy, you can set it up to cut your monitor off after 5 minutes instead. After all, do you really need a screensaver to remind you that you’ve stopped using your computer? You may also want to check out the SmartStrip, which is a surge protector that will automatically cut the power to accessories when you power down your computer.

Reuse or Recycle Old Hardware

There is an increasing amount of e-waste being generated by our society. A great deal of this comes from old computers. Knowing that many computer parts like circuit boards and hard drives can contain hazardous chemicals, I have never thrown away any computer hardware (much to my wife’s chagrin.) In addition, I try not to replace hardware unless it physically fails. This recently happened when my server’s motherboard and power supply literally melted down, fusing to one another and shorting out in the process. Both parts were about 7 years old and had been running nearly 24/7 since they were purchased. Not too shabby. But instead of going out and buying all new hardware to rebuild my home server, I instead walked out to my garage and disassembled an old computer I had been using for web surfing and streaming music while I worked on cars. It only took a day or so of work to get my server back up and running, and with no additional cost.

One of the things that allows me to get by without using cutting-edge hardware is the fact that I run Ubuntu Linux on all of our computers. Like most versions of Linux, Ubuntu can run comfortably (and quickly) on older hardware. It has been my experience that most installations of Windows become bloated to the point where they slow to a crawl after a couple of years. Meanwhile, I recently replaced my garage computer with one that was saved from a local dumpster (how’s that for reusing!) and it runs Ubuntu quite easily, despite the fact that most of its hardware is at least 10 years old! Sure, I won’t be doing as much multi-tasking or complex number-crunching on that computer, but for surfing the web and listening to music it works just fine.

So what should we do with all of our old computers that have either died or we no longer need? My recommendation would be to find a local charity or other organization that will recycle (or reuse) your old computer for you. You may be able to find such places by calling up some locally owned computer shops in your area (who may also be willing to take your old hardware off your hands.) The church I currently attend has recently started a computer “hardware co-op” that does this. For a small processing fee they will take nearly any old computer parts and either properly dispose of them or rebuild them into functioning computers that can then be redistributed to those who may not be able to afford computers otherwise. It’s a great idea, and one that I hope catches on.

Greener Hardware

Finally, when you do find that it’s time to replace aging or failing hardware, you can do so with more environmentally friendly products. I recently replaced the power supply and motherboard in our workstation, and in doing so I was sure to look at products that were RoHS compliant, meaning that they contained less toxic chemicals, and when possible I tried to look for solutions that used less energy. One way of getting computers to use less energy is to start from the source of their energy, the power supply. The 80 PLUS program is an effort to certify and recognize high-efficiency power supplies that may use up to 33% less energy than similar, non-certified models. The model I ended up settling on is an Antec EarthWatts EA380, which at the time had a mail-in rebate that made it nearly the same price as other similarly-sized units.

Another consideration when upgrading hardware is the fact that LCD flat-panel monitors are much more power efficient than old-fashioned CRT monitors. LCDs are more efficient not only when they’re in use, but also when they are turned off in sleep mode. Depending on how much time your monitor spends “awake” or “asleep” you could use between 60% and 90% less energy by switching from a CRT to a flat panel of a similar size.

If you are looking to replace your entire computer system, a popular low-energy solution is to get a laptop. In general, laptops use much less power than desktops, plus you have the added convenience of being able to pick up your computer and take it wherever you like. Just don’t forget to properly recycle those batteries! You may think that getting a laptop would cost much more than getting a desktop, but that’s not necessarily the case, especially if you’re willing to look into the possibility of getting a slightly used model (reuse and recycle, remember?) I recently helped acquire a lightly used IBM Thinkpad laptop for my mother-in-law for less than $500. Though it may not be brand new, after loading it with a fresh install of Ubuntu it has been a great system for her to use on a regular basis.

I hope these ideas help to spark your interest in the growing “green computing” movement. If you’ve got any additional ideas of how to make our interactions with technology less environmentally intrusive I’d love for you to share them, so post them in the comments section below.

Update: Here are a couple links for further reading on this subject …

• Easy Ways to Go Green with Your Computer @ Lifehacker
• 8 Ways to Easily Reduce the Energy Consumption of Your Computer – and Save Big Money @ The Simple Dollar