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1500 questions
6
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1 answer
How to account for second life usage of lithium ion batteries in a life cycle analysis?
I am looking to conduct a life cycle analysis (LCA) to investigate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission contributions from lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. The first part of their lifecycle is relatively straightforward. GHGs from raw material…
Runeaway3
6
votes
1 answer
How do solar panels degrade after 25 years of warranty?
This question is focused on high quality solar panels (certified Tier 1) which are more and more mainstream. The 25 years warranty is becoming standard, and producers describe degradation in 25 years charts. What happens after 25 years? Is…
Miro
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6
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1 answer
What plastics are safe/useful to melt?
I have seen a number of videos that talk about melting down HDPE and/or LDPE for craft projects. Some say these types of plastic are safer to some extent. I would like to do some crafts as well that would use stock pieces, like the seat of a stool…
L. Trobee
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5
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1 answer
What needs to be done to reuse newspapers for insulation?
I seen a couple of shows that were pointing newspaper as a very good insulator, that attracted my interest so I was wondering if any of you have any input on this?
user503413
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What is the environmental impact of detergent pods?
Laundry detergent pods became popular around 2012. Rather than measuring out detergent, you throw a pod in your washer and it does the rest. The "capsule" is made from a type of plastic that is water soluble.
The same idea was also applied for…
LShaver
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5
votes
3 answers
Why is the usage factor for utility-scale storage declining in the U.S.?
This chart from the U.S. Energy Information Agency was published last week in the article "EIA expands data on capacity and usage of power plants, electricity storage systems":
The text of the article describes what is meant by "usage…
LShaver
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5
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1 answer
How effective is a Smoke Control Area at reducing particulates? (UK)
Smoke Control Areas are in place in 195 out of 434 local authorities. 53 of those cover the entire local authority.
Smoke Control Areas make it illegal to burn coal and other smokey fuels and regulate which appliances you are allowed to use to burn…
atreeon
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5
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2 answers
How would you calculate carbon emissions of software?
If I have a compute intensive piece of software that I optimize and I cut the compute time in half, how would I go about calculating the carbon emissions I have saved?
I guess I can take the compute time saved over a certain period, multiply with…
arex1337
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5
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2 answers
Why aren't all nuclear plants running at their full installed power to decrease emissions?
Looking at the electricity map I can see that many countries operating nuclear power plants are not running them at their full installed power, e.g.:
Sweden: 5.54 GW of 9.10 GW capacity
France: 38.00 GW of 63.1GW capacity
Meanwhile, countries like…
lakotamm
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5
votes
3 answers
Do electric cars create more particulate pollution than petrol cars?
I have seen some reports saying that electric cars, because they are heavier and put more strain on the tyres, will create more particulate pollution than a petrol car.
Is this true? and if so what are the differences?
atreeon
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5
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2 answers
Is an incrementalist approach to decarbonisation feasible?
There seem to be two broad approaches to the climate crisis.
One centres around technological progress, where efficiencies, a gradual switch to renewables, and CCS enable a broadly similar model of economic growth and consumption to continue while…
aucuparia
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5
votes
2 answers
How to use a band brake cable with my home built wind turbine?
I recently bought a band brake for a home built wind turbine and was thinking of mounting it on the shaft and getting a cable from the brake to the ground so I can stop the blades in case of maintenance.
The problem is that the turbine can rotate…
mnm 180
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5
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3 answers
Can cost be used as a useful measure of a product's sustainability?
What are the gotchas in comparing the prices of similar objects to determine sustainability?
Costs to some degree are measures of effort, of resources used, of labour spent. Of the lost opportunities of not having those resources used for other…
Sherwood Botsford
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5
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1 answer
What is the carbon footprint of pet food?
Are there any detailed studies of the carbon footprint of pet food production?
There are plenty of articles asserting that meat in cat and dog food is a major source of carbon emissions (e.g. from Forbes), but they appear to refer to meat produced…
M Juckes
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Is it ok to mix battery brands in a solar battery bank?
I plan on installing 12V 100 Ah LiFePO4 batteries, but since they are so expensive, I might buy from different vendors.
The batteries have the same chemistry, voltage, and amperage, but are from different brands. I'm looking into ExpertPower now…
Rick
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