Want to save energy? Stop wasting water. Turns out one of the single biggest sources of energy use in your home doesn't even show up in the electricity section of your utility bill.
In California today, just delivering water accounts for 20 percent of the state's energy consumption. It takes power to gather water, purify water, and distribute water, especially in places like southern California where water is piped hundreds of miles to supply Los Angeles' sprawling demands. On the flip side, producing power requires a great deal of water. Nothing in this country, aside from agriculture, uses more water than power production. So if fresh water is required to make power, and it takes power to purify and distribute fresh water … well, you can see where this is going: A Mad-Max style future in which the only clothing left is the cast-offs from 80's hair bands and leather daddies.
Nationally, [this is] a challenge, but regionally it could be a calamity. Adaptation-guidebook (application/pdf Object) Local Action Moves the World — ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA. Big Spring, Texas To Recycle Urine In The Face Of Massive Drought. The thought of drinking your own urine might be disgusting to some people, but one Texas town thinks it might be the best option in the face of one of the state's worst droughts ever.
Big Spring, Texas, home to the Colorado River Municipal Water District, will be experimenting with reprocessing wastewater produced by the town's 27,000 residents, according to Discovery News. Sewage that is typically fed into a creek will be captured by a plant the district has just broken ground on. "We're taking treated effluent (wastewater), normally discharged into a creek, and blending it with (traditionally supplied potable) water," district manager John Grant told Discovery News. While the system will be recycling residents' urine along with other components of their waste, it's not nearly as direct as NASA's urine recycling system, according to Space.com. When asked about that process, Grant told Discovery News, "I don't think I could sell that one. " Response to Wall Street Journal op-ed on clean fuels in the military. Photo: U.S.
ArmyOn Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by retired Rear Adm. Robert James critical of the military’s efforts to switch to clean fuels. He cited Amory Lovins several times; Lovins responds below. — ed. I’ve worked on Naval and other defense energy issues for over three decades (not one) and served on both Defense Science Board task forces on DOD energy strategy, reporting in 2001 and 2008. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’ energy leadership and similar efforts across all Services and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense reflect the recommendations of those task forces and of similar studies by prominent retired military leaders (e.g. The Naval War College has posted Mabus’ remarks at his June 7-8, 2011 Current Strategy Conference, and addresses the previous day by Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
I agree with James that alternative, ideally autonomous, fuels (and impliedly their efficient use) are highly desirable for expeditionary use. ClimateWorks: Real-World Solutions: Home.