Free public transport, freeway tolls, renewable energy, landfill organic waste composting, population growth..

Question

what are the most innovative things that you can think of to reduce our warming emissions? Suggestions that are not already being broadly implemented please:)

Answer 1

Heavy tax shifts from income tax and general VAT to carbon tax. This should increase the cost to pollute and use up precious resources, and at the same time be revenue neutral for government.

This is by no means novel idea. It is part of Green Party policy.

However it will accomplish nothing unless we also reduce the amount of fossil fuels extracted or imported.

Curtailing population growth may be a brilliant strategy for a world that has a century to respond. If we have that century, we should get on with it.

Composting instead of landfill is a great idea, but  how about reducing the amount of material we gather together... leave the grass clippings on the lawn or pile them directly onto the soil of the garden rather than composting them in mighty piles that produce methane instead of CO2.

We have to invest in extracting our arctic methane deposits to be used in lieu of coal, bitumen,  oil, and even methane from inland sources that is at less risk of being released by arctic thawing. Release of methane is a much greater risk than the CO2 emitted by burning it.

Where we have landfill producing methane, devise means to capture it for use as fuel rather than allowing it to escape unburned into the atmosphere... same for farm manure pits.

Instead of trying to get a free lunch with free public transit, place the whole cost of fosil fuel use on those who use it, motorists, truckers, and yes, public transit. The objective is to avoid having public transit subject to budget constraints, as it is if we call it free. There are costs associated with public transit and those who need it should expect to pay for it. Put all of the deterrent on the fuels so that the costs flow through to those who use those fuels. This is to say, instead of splitting the recapture process multiple ways, keep it simple and make the message very direct.

Answer 2

Wind & Solar energy for household usage.

Direct sunlight for heating water, used for washing & heat.

Solar cells as roofing material, low-voltage lighting at night.

Capture rain-water & re-cycle grey water for sanitation.

Compost organic garden & kitchen waste.

Re-cycle paper, metal, plastics, etc.

Salvage landfill sites for energy, re-cycling, & composting.

Reduce commuting for employment & shopping.

Answer 3

Anything that will reduce air pollution. Reducing vehicle emissions, using methane from cow patties for fuel, finding ways to go organic in the farming industry so pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers don't have to be used, creating a balance in the logging industry. The ancients recognized 4 elements: water, air, fire and water. If you can keep those elements clean our warming emissions will be nil.

Answer 4

I'll have to give my ususal answer, to start with.  Solar power plants in the southwest can already produce competitively priced power to power the whole country.

  This is being implemented in California and Arizona, but I think fits your definitioin of not widely implemented.

Scientific America Solar Grand Plan

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-so...

I believe solar thermal plants are better, at the  present time,  than the concentrating PV power plants that this plan emphasizes.  The plan calls for using both, but solar thermal appears to be ready right now.  And it is really a simple concept, and rather low tech.

  "Solar thermal power plants such as Ausra's generate electricity by driving steam turbines with sunshine. Ausra's solar concentrators boil water with focused sunlight, and produce electricity at prices directly competitive with gas- and coal-fired

electric power."

"Solar is one the most land-efficient sources of clean power we have, using a fraction of the area needed by hydro or wind projects of comparable output. All of America's needs for electric power – the entire US grid, night and day – can be

generated with Ausra's current technology using a square parcel of land 92 miles on a side. For comparison, this is less than 1% of America's deserts, less land than currently in use in the U.S. for coal mines."

http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/

Go here to read about solar thermal projects already underway or proposed in California and Arizona.  Scroll down.  The articles about alt energy tax credits are worth reading, as they give more info on these solar projects as well.

"In recent months, PG&E has signed deals for more than a gigawatt of electricity — enough to light more than 750,000 homes — with solar power plant developers."  

"The solar thermal industry is in its infancy but utilities like PG&E (PCG), Southern California Edison (EIX) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE) have signed several contracts for solar

power plants and negotiations for gigawatts more of solar electricity are ongoing."

    from Green Wombat

Hoover Dam is 2 gigawatts

Medium size nuke plant 2 gigawatts

These are both more expensive to build.

San Francisco could be powered by 1 gigawatt



     A large push for solar combined with other renewables would do the trick.  Once the grid is clean, all electric vehicles would be completely practical.  

  They and hybrids could be phased in as the cleaner grid is phased in.

      

  I think it's too early to count out hydrogen fuel cells.   And not all fuel cells require pure hydrogen.    They can run on methane or natural gas for instance.  They are cleaner than burning the gas.  And they are cogeneration, the heat is captured and used.  These are available now for power plants.  A company called Fuel Cell Technology makes them.  

  Crazy as it sounds, some cities have found it more economically beneficial to make public transit free.  Ridership is much better, and all kinds of other costs are eliminated or reduced as a result.

Traffic congestion, accidents, etc.

  "Wild Rose Dairy in Webster Township, WI is home to an innovative renewable energy facility powered by cow manure and other organic waste. The farm is home to 900 dairy cows, and an on-site anaerobic digester creates methane-rich biogas from their waste, which is used to generate 750 kilowatts of electricity per hour—enough to power 600 local homes 24/7."

Fertilizer is a byproduct of this.  

The gas is slightly modified and sent into the natural gas pipelines.  

Methane from organic waste, including manure as well as from landfills and sewage treatment plants are all happening, and are good ideas.

Fuel cells would be a cleaner way of using it than burning it.

Making plastics from plants is, I think, a better idea than using biomass for ethanol.  It's been shown to be carbon negative from start to finish to disposal.  100% compostable plastics can be made now.  We use 10% of our oil to make plastics and just throw it away.  Most of it isn't even recyclable, never mind biodegradable.

Plastics can be made from non food crops.



(two of the companies in bioplastics)

http://www.metabolix.com/

http://www.cereplast.com/homepage.php

  Other large corporations are also exploring bioplastics, including BASF and Dupont.  Toyota is using them is cars.  

Rail is much more fuel efficient than trucks for long haul freight.

The number one change might be to become a little less materialistic.  Our consumerism economy is not sustainable.  

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

A short video about consumerism.