THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021 PRACTICAL TIPS

 THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021 PRACTICAL TIPS

But, first, my Grammarly for last week

• Two years of writing (104 weeks)

• More productive than 96%

• More accurate than 90%

• More unique words than 97%

TONE:

• Confident - 24%

• Friendly - 24%

• Informal - 12%

• Optimistic - 9%

• Formal - 7%

*****

To my readers.  Most days I tend to write more philosophical posts.  In doing my research on National Dairy Month (Tuesday) and the decline in milk, something stirred in my brain.  So - TODAY - I am going to give you a personal practical tip, and then I am going to give a world-shaking environmental tip - that would solve many problems.

TIP 1 - ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Other than mortgages or rent payments, most households' biggest ongoing expenses are energy.  In winter, you need heat, and in summer you need air conditioning.

(Comment - this tip is mostly for homeowners, but with larger apartments ‘might’ work!!)

This summer on the hottest days of the year, take heavy-duty black garbage bags outside and fill them with the hottest air you can find.  Tie them securely.  (Second hint - if you have a big vehicle, store the full bags in your car where the temperature can reach 130 or more).  

Then take those bags filled with hot air to your attic and store them.

Round two, next winter, on the coldest days of the year, go to your attic and get a few bags of that hot air and bring them into your living spaces.  You can untie the bags a little to gradually let the heat out, or open them fully to bring the room temperature up quickly.  

Round three, then take those bags outside and fill them with frigid air (the colder the better).  Again, take these cold bags to the attic (not in the same place as the hot airbags), and store them.

Round four, next summer when it is sweltering, you grab a few bags of the cold air and release the cool air.  

Caveats:  Be careful to not tear the bags, and be careful to keep the bags separated.  Maybe you can mark off the side of your attic for the hot airbags and the north side of your attic for the cold airbags!!

Aside, yes, just trust me on this idea!!!!

*****

Now to solve the greenhouse gas situation, which may be leading to climate change.

COWS are the answer.

It seems like GREED crept into cattle production and instead of nice natural pastures, farmers planted ryegrass pastures.  The advantage is that ryegrass is cheap and grows quickly than traditional pastures of flowers and a variety of grasses. The disadvantage of ryegrass is that it causes the cows to burp and to (excuse me) pass gas - not just any gas, but methane gas that rises to the atmosphere and mixes with the CO2 (carbon dioxide) and traps more heat in the atmosphere.  

But, methane gas can be valuable.  Natural gas (which used to be used for home heating until the heating/cooling process described above) is largely methane!!!.  

But getting cows to burp and pass gas in a controlled fashion seems to be the problem.  The solution - collect that methane gas!!  With the proposed infrastructure legislative initiative, there could be funds for building domes over cattle pastures.  These domes would have methane collection units at the top (after all hot air rises) of the dome and that would be siphoned off and added to the natural gas pipelines.  

Researchers have noted:

“Ruminants, and particularly cattle, are habitually cast as climate villains, responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. According to a much-quoted United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) figure, livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of human greenhouse gas emissions. Eighty percent of these emissions come from ruminants, half being methane, and a quarter nitrous oxide.

WOW - if we could collect the burps and natural gas coming from cows, this would decrease the greenhouse gas emissions. 

There are a couple of alternative methods as well

For smaller herds, the cattle could be in individual methane cells.

Or, we can put more nutritious materials into our pastures than this ryegrass that seems to be one of the causes of the gas.  (But at a larger expense)

*****

So, there you are.  You can’t say you never get any practical ideas from my blog now!!!  Heating and cooling; and controlling the methane released by ruminants (aka cows).

I want you to remember this when the nominations for Nobel Prizes are made!!!  It is not everybody who is a friend of a Nobel Prize recipient!!!

*****

And, just to remind you, LOVE WINS.

Karen