WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2007; SOME DO AND DON’T TO HELP THE PLANET

Energy savings at home

People all over the world are taking measures to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted as a result of the way they live. Turning the heating thermostat down, and the air conditioning up, by 1.5deg saves around 1 tonne of CO2 (carbon dioxide) a year. An energy- efficiency refrigerator could save nearly half a tonne of CO2 a year, compared with an older model. Insulating windows, doors, and electrical outlets and adding more insulation to the attic and basement reduces energy consumption. Compact fluorescent, spiral light bulbs are 75 per cent more efficient than standard light bulbs.

Energy savings on the road Keeping tyres optimally inflated uses less fuel and cuts down emissions. Driving at 8 kmh below the speed limit over an 13km commute to work saves 350kg of CO2 a year.

Reducing Garbage

On average a person throws away 10 times his or her bodyweight in rubbish a year. One kilogram sent to landfill produces 2kg of methane.

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Source: The Atlas of Climate Change

Mapping the World's Greatest Challenge

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Climate control

Fox's Tales
by Graeme Fox
Graeme Fox is an RAC contractor based in Dundee. He is a director at AREA (Air Conditioning & Refrigeration European Contractors' Association) and a member of the Institute of Refrigeration.

23/03/2010 14:14:00
It's been a strange start to 2010. Heavy snowfalls grinding much of the south of England to a halt, while on the east coast of Scotland we've seen very little snow since the turn of the year. It has been a very cold winter.

From memory and from anecdotal evidence, it is quite normal to have a good, warm summer following a cold, hard winter.

It will be interesting to see, after so much bad news for the dedicated doomsday-warning brigade recently, if they immediately jump on this and proclaim it as evidence of chaotic climate change caused by man's recklessness.

Personally, I'm far from convinced of the extent of man's impact on global climate patterns.

I've been interested in the subject of planets and the universe for a long time and, having read so much on the subject over the last 30 or so years, the main thing that strikes you is the vastness of the universe around us - and consequently the relative size of Earth itself.

But even when you look at the Earth in isolation this same contrast in relative size is apparent. Viewed from space the Earth is an extremely beautiful planet but you don't see the myriad life forms that dwell on it because we are all so small.

I know that even the smallest creature can have a catastrophic effect on large life forms - after all, even viruses are life forms of a kind that can and have wiped out entire species in the past and continue to threaten us from time to time now.

But man does have an overblown opinion of his importance and influence, both existing and potential, on greater things. Many animals living in the wild have very similar family and network groups to western human society - and all without the infrastructure we seem to believe is necessary. In the distant past there is evidence aplenty of man's ability to live in harmonious communities long before there was any form of bureaucracy.

There is also a wealth of evidence proving that much of the planet has had a number of significant warmer and cooler periods than we are currently witnessing. Warm enough for certain crops to grow in the British Isles that wouldn't survive even now - at a time when we are told that we face imminent catastrophe - and long before the chemical emissions that man is guilty of discharging to atmosphere became an issue.

Environmentalists talk of global sea levels rising and cite Bangladesh as an example of the threat. But globally sea levels aren't rising - as surely they must if the cause were glacial melting! Isolated cases of minimal sea level rise are contrasted with the majority "no change", and the flooding in Bangladesh is apparently coming from rivers bursting their banks, not the sea! Other factors and influences are affecting these patterns, not just man's emissions.



The fact is that man has very little ability to control the weather, let alone climate patterns, despite his over inflated opinion of his worth.

So, before those with a vested interest in promoting their green jobs and positions start bleating this summer about how each sunny day we may be lucky enough to enjoy this year is evidence of catastrophic climate change, remember to give them a reality check on the insignificance of man in the great scheme of things.

Fridge recycler found guilty after site leaks

THE former director of fridge recycler Bromfield Industrial Services (BIS) has been found guilty of five out of six charges relating to breaching waste management licence conditions, after discarded units leaked refrigerant.

The prosecution against Robert Sant, sole director of the Shropshire-based firm, was brought by the Environment Agency which claimed refrigerant and oil leaked from fridges at the site causing potential pollution of the environment.

The EA said the firm failed to drain fridge cooling systems sufficiently, to correctly inspect and dispatch outgoing waste and prevent leaks.

Fridges were not destroyed in a contained environment and the treatment and disposal of controlled waste was deemed likely to cause pollution and harm to human health.

Sant, which had the firm's headquarters near Ludlow, pleaded not guilty to six charges of breaching the conditions of its waste management licence between April 2005 and November 2007. Sant's trial at Shrewsbury crown court began on March 1.

The company handled approximately 96,000 fridges a year. Bromfield Industrial Services is now in administration.

John Bateman, Environment Agency case officer speaking on March 25, said: “Today’s verdict shows how Mr Sant showed blatant disregard for the law and the environment. His calculated and deliberate actions have contributed to a massive amount of environmentally-damaging gases being emitted. Since being informed of the offences, Mr Sant continued to illegally treat and dispose of refrigerators without making any effort to comply with agency requirements".

Sentencing is scheduled to take place on May 7.

Supermarket Leader Refrigeration, Arena Refrigeration - The funniest videos clips are here

CO2 As Refrigerant: The Transcritical Cycle

By Jeff Staub, Bjarne Dindler Rasmussen, Max Robinson
January 20, 2004

In three previous articles, we have presented an overview of CO2 (R-744) as a refrigerant, its applications in industrial refrigeration, and a case study of a CO2 cascade system in a European supermarket. (See “CO2 in Refrigeration Applications,” Oct. 6, 2003; “CO2 in Industrial Refrigeration,” Nov. 3, 2003; and “CO2 is Keeping Supermarkets Cool,” Dec. 8, 2003.) The systems presented were all subcritical — that is, the refrigeration cycles were entirely below the critical point of CO2. Now, after a brief review of CO2 characteristics, comparing subcritical and transcritical cycles, we will present a functioning transcritical system with a hermetic CO2 compressor and discuss design considerations.

CO2 is a component of our atmosphere that is essential to life. It has no ozone depletion potential and insignificant global warming potential, so CO2 has no regulatory liability, as do HFCs. There is no need to account for the amount used, and it does not need to be reclaimed. (Characteristics of CO2, compared with those of R-134a and R-404A, are shown in Table 1.)

Other principal benefits of CO2 are that it is a natural substance, it is cheap, readily available, not poisonous in any common concentration, and nonflammable. At prices a bit over $1 per pound, it is truly an inexpensive refrigerant. The grade used must be dry, but it can presently be obtained in 99.9-percent purity from companies that supply welding gases, with a 20-pound tank selling for about $21.