Sustainable development and much more » Personal

A new job, a new life and new challenges

Edouard — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:00:04 +0000

Dear visitors, readers and subscribers I would like to announce you that I am starting as of today a new life with a new job in a completely different kind of place. I have indeed left the bustling life of Paris for the calm of the countryside.

I have been hired by a Belgian company dealing into automation, Product Engineering Services (PES), to be their Communications Manager. There I will be in charge of sales, marketing as well as their website.

Naturally, this shouldn’t change the amount nor the quality of articles I will be publishing. So stay tuned for more great content !

Global weirding and warming at my doorstep

Edouard — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:19:22 +0000

I wanted to write about how I am witnessing the weirding and warming climate myself. So far, France has seen an incredibly dry spring with dramatic droughts to the point of endangering many cultures. Then, summer came, with rain, a lot of it.

It was one of the rainiest summers I had seen. You would think that it would be enough ? Nope, we had so far an unusually dry and warm fall [Fr]. Two weeks ago we had up to 20°C, 10°C above the norms.

So to sum up : drought in spring, rain in summer and warm fall, ie. completely messed up seasons. I wonder what our climate will look like in 2030 and beyond if it goes on like this…

A reflection on CFLs and leaving them on

Edouard — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:28:10 +0000

I would like to share with you some personal experience on energy efficiency and sobriety as I got back for a few days to visit my parents. I then noticed my dad has the bad habit of letting some CFLs on.

I told him that this really wasn’t good for their purse and our common planet. I also reminded him that leaving lights on in empty rooms is just pure waste since nobody benefits from them.

His answer was that since they consume very little energy and this is thus absolutely not a big deal. Is he right ? Or am I ?

Here is some background information :

Five years ago, I was finishing my Master’s thesis for Audencia, and thus my academical education. I was already at that time strongly interested in energy and sustainability issues and thus was writing on the French residential sector and how it could benefit from both efficiency and renewables (see some elements of this thesis there and there)

As I was living like most students with my parents, both of them took a wide interest in my findings and writings.

Further to all this, they switched massively to compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). They embrassed this technology in such a massive way that nowadays, very few of their lights are incandescent ones.

My work and my blog have made them fully aware of how saving energy can benefit them and all of us immensely. They thus have done many things on efficiency such as switching for a ultra efficient fridge, a large switch for the television and all its related appliances, installed double glazing windows with argon gas and so on.

—

Back to nowadays :

His argument for letting some CFLs on is that since they consume less than 20 Watts, this is absolutely not a big deal and that they sometimes take time to reach their maximum brightness…

Have you had similar experiences with your loved ones, relatives or colleagues ? Do you think this is really not a problem or on the contrary that I am rightfully making a fuss for a few watts ?

If yes, have you found ways to turn those unnecessary lights ? In any case, I really look forward to reading your opinions !

( Many many thanks to my dear dad for inspiring me this post. You’re the best dad I could have got in this solar system…^^)

Over 200 subscribers !

Edouard — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:35:22 +0000

Good news everyone ! What begun as a personal project to show my dedication to sustainability and energy issues is now gathering over two hundreds subscribers via RSS and Email !

It took me a little less than three years to gather 100 and a year and a half to gather a hundred more. We are clearly on an exponential curve and I am dreaming of achieving 300 within the next nine months.

I would like to thank you all for this resounding success ! If you like what you are reading, please don’t hesitate to comment and share with your friends and peers ! I count on YOU !

No related posts.

Why – good – public transportation matters

Edouard — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:55:38 +0000

I could say a lot of bad things about public transportation in Paris : they’re noisy, smelly, dirty, overcrowded in peak hours and not exactly cheap and most of all, not reliable at all. But they slashed my CO2 emissions by almost 10 kg per day.

So, according to the RATP, during the eight months of my mission I avoided emitting 1,400 kilograms of carbon dioxide. And taking the subway was way cheaper than owning, fueling, insuring and parking a car in Paris.

When I remember all the cars idling in traffic while I went or came back from work as I was reading the many books I read since January, I can’t but appreciate public transportation.

Despite it took me at least 75 minutes to go and come back from the job – and sometimes more than two hours – I think that was better to going by car.

So 1,400 kilograms of carbon dioxide seems a lot, but let’s also have a look at the amount of oil I avoided burning. Here are my calculations :

Paris – Cergy : 35 km one way, 70 km both ways ;
From Monday to Friday, 5 days : 350 km per weeks ;
Worked for 28 weeks : 9,800 kms (6,125 miles) ;
Toyota Yaris, consumes around 8 liters for 100 kms in cities ;
A total of 784 liters of gasoline, nearly 5 barrels of oil.

Regarding money, a price of a liter of gasoline is around 1.5 €. 800 liters of gas would thus cost 1,200 €. So it would have cost me 150€ per month just to put gas in my tank. The insurance, the parking, the depreciation of the car would have cost even more…

Meanwhile, a five-zone pass enabled me to go to Cergy cost 110€ per month, half being paid by ESSEC…

You get the idea : if we want to seriously cut our addiction to oil and avert catastrophic climate change, we need good public transportations. A prior example of this was how the French trains and the SNCF enabled me to avoid a tonne of CO2 emissions in 2008.

Looking for new employment opportunities

Edouard — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:22:36 +0000

Hello all. As my current mission as a Marketing and Communications Assistant at ESSEC Business School will end in May I am again seeking employment in the sustainability and cleantech sectors.

Of course I am looking more broadly for a position where my strong international management acumen and languages competencies will be of use. Currently in Paris, France, I am ready to move internationally.

Edit : as of December 7th, I am no more looking for a job as I found a great new one in Belgium. Thanks for your attention

8 great tips to keep warm during winter

Edouard — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:00:30 +0000

We might be led to thinking that with global warming, we won’t be freezing anymore during winters. Counter-intuitively, this won’t be the case as I wrote in December as global warming may mean colder winters…

So we should better learn how to keep warm while still not touching the thermostat or insulating our houses and apartments. (a sound move for many reasons as I previously wrote).

The French website Ecolo-info wrote a compelling article on the very matter. Here is a short and translated version of my own.

Tiled floors are cold more often than not. Using carpets and rugs might be a good idea ;
Similarly using blankets while watching TV or reading a book is a great way to keep warm ;
Optimizing your office at home or your working space to need less artificial lights ;
Wearing an extra sweater keeps you warm, so stop heating your place enough so you can wear a tee shirt while it’s freezing outside ;
Closing shutters and curtains at night increase the insulation of your windows, so do it as soon as it’s dark out ;
Drinking hot beverages like tea, coffee, chocolate, soups and so on is also a good idea ;
Another great way to keep warm is also to cuddle to your loved one ;
Last but not least – I personally won’t go until there – using hot-water bottles can keep you warm as well…

And you, what are your tips ? Don’t hesitate to share yours !

Film review : The Borrower Arrietty

Edouard — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:36:24 +0000

I watched this weekend the latest film from the Studio Ghibli : Arrietty, also known as The Borrower Arrietty. As usual with productions from the Studio Ghibli there was great pictures and scenery, awesome music as well as an excellent story.

But what I particularly like with this film is the reason I loved the Studio Ghibli’s previous productions like My Neighbour Totoro, Mononoke Hime and of course Nausicaä is the environmental message.

Living in harmony with Nature and others, satisfying oneself with few things and many other key environmental messages are part of the film and for this I strongly recommend it to you all.

Here is the summary of the story, according to the Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB) :

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items “borrowed” from the house’s human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

Enjoy !

(dedicated to my friend A., with whom I watched the movie on the Champs Elysées Friday evening)

Taking a break (Merry Christmas)

Edouard — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:49:35 +0000

Dear visitors, readers and subscribers, as we are nearing the holiday season and the end of this year I am taking a short break at blogging. This is the occasion for me to wish you all a merry Christmas and holiday season.

Please be sure that I will come back in January 2nd, 2011 to celebrate the four years of existence of this blog – and the start of its fifth year – and provide you with a selection of the best articles of 2010.

So for this and for many more news and researches on climate change, sustainable development, cleantech and the energy sector, stay tuned.

SNCF, à nous de vous faire préférer le train ?

Edouard — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:51:38 +0000

The French National Railways want us to believe their service is so good you will ditch your car and take only trains. At first I thought so as the SNCF indeed enabled me to avoid a tonne of CO2 emissions in 2008.

But between their often prohibitive tariffs and their repetitive and long-lasting strikes I am tired. I am also fed up of waiting between two trains, sick of the time it takes to just to just get there…

I am not the only in thinking that the service proposed by the SNCF could improve dramatically and that a little competition would do wonders.
As a matter of facts, their service is so unreliable that their freight activity lost over a billion euros [Fr] in 2009 alone. Indeed, as a manager I wouldn’t trust the SNCF to transport my precious goods.

This situation is truly enraging as our roads and highways are literally packed with trucks. I am sure that among the thousands of containers going from one part of Europe to another – and thus crossing our country – an important fraction could go by train.

A more reliable rail service would literally slash oil consumption and greenhouse gases emissions. France has 21st century infrastructure and trains, it is high time the public company improves too…

A swimming pool heated by waste energy

Edouard — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:00:28 +0000

I really like swimming. So, twice to thrice a week I go swimming at the Lons-Le-Saunier Aqua’ReL center (pictured left). Opened in 2007 it was built with sustainable development in mind and comes with plenty green features.

Energy efficient, it is heated by the local waste-to-energy plant. Additionally, part of its electricity comes from 30 square meters of solar photovoltaic panels on the roof. Finally, rain water is collected to water plants during the dry season.

I am amazed at all these equipments and believe all new public buildings around the world should have such features.

An official visit from Mr. Borloo at Ravoyard SA

Edouard — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:31:01 +0000

Yesterday the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning, Mr. Jean-Louis Borloo visited a company in Vaudrey, less than 20 kilometers from my hometown.

Ravoyard SA manufactures since its origins metallic structures. Dynamic, it recently diversified its activity to add photovoltaïc films to its existing products. As the market is currently in full boom, this strategy proved successful.

This was the occasion for me to meet with great pleasure the President of Ravoyard SA and to have the honour to shake hands with the Sustainable Development Minister.

Please find below three pictures I took during the visit.

To help you locate Vaudrey on the map, please see below :

Forum des Emplois Verts

Edouard — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:40:14 +0000

As I am still looking for a job in the cleantech sector I am attending today the Forum des Emplois Verts (French Green Jobs forum) in Paris where up to 2,000 jobs positions are proposed.

This is a fantastic opportunity since as I noted earlier the Boston Consulting Group believes the Grenelle de l’Environnement could create up to 600,000 jobs in France by 2020.

Among the companies present at this forum are Alstom, Areva, EDF, Peugeot Citroen (PSA) and GDF Suez, all major French companies.

My first night of astronomy observation

Edouard — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:52:29 +0000

I spent my first night of astronomy observation this weekend, as a part of the Nuit des Etoiles, which takes place every year in July in France. Organized by the French Astronomy Association, many evenings are organized.

One of the them was taking place not far from home, I had the pleasure to meet there fellow amateur astronomers and try out a wide array of telescopes, refractors and binoculars. This is a crucial step if I want to buy my own one day.

I have to admit that watching Jupiter, stars, galaxies and other stellar objects from these objects is a bit depressing compared to watching their photos.

Indeed, Jupiter looks like a small white ball with grayish stripes even with a 280 mm telescope or a good refractor. Even if the planet’s satellites are perfectly visible, the view pales in comparison to what you can seen on the right.

Another example of this is galaxies. For someone like me, accustomed to the APOD photos, watching M81 and M 82 – two galaxies close to each other – on a telescope is a bit disappointing vis à vis the beautiful picture below.

Several factors can explain this:

First and foremost, the human eye to what I understand doesn’t see well colors at night. So, this is why Jupiter looks grayish.

Second issue: telescopes and refractors are monocular, so you can’t grasp exactly all the magnificence of stellar objects with one single eye.

Thirdly, pictures are taken by cameras, tools that capture much better the light than the human eye. DSLRs can shoot for a long period of time one single object, such taking their time to capture all the details.

Last but not least, pictures are taken most of the time from very costly and very large telescopes. Some are even taken from Hubble, a huge telescope located directly in space. Hubble’s diameter is 2.4 meters, ie. 2400 mm, or eight time bigger than the biggest telescope I watched through this weekend.

Does this mean the end of my interest in astronomy ?

Not in the least. One thing only caught me afterwards as I was discussing: the huge difference between watching a picture and witnessing something with your own eyes. Indeed, there is something fantastic in watching Jupiter yourself…

I am still largely interested by astronomy and star gazing. One just needs to get over the idea that it is impossible to get the same feeling as by watching pictures in magazines.

There is the thrill of watching with one’s own eye the Pleiades or Jupiter. I had the opportunity to test a 250 mm Dobson, a 280mm telescope (wondering if it was a Maksutov-Cassegrain or a Schmidt-Cassegrain ), very nice 20*80 binoculars and so on.

There is also the great feeling and atmosphere of meeting people sharing the same passion for stellar objects and their observation.

I believe I will soon get back on the field to meet again my fellow astronomers. So stay tuned for more !

Now for hire, and why I need YOUR help

Edouard — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:46:10 +0000

Back to January 2007 I launched this blog to show to potential employers my large interest for the renewables and sustainability areas. Indeed, I already had written both my BA dissertation and Master’s degree thesis on these topics.

Since then, my readership has expanded significantly and I believe I can now ask you to help me. My mission for the family’s company being finished, I am looking for a job in the cleantech areas.

Polyglott, I am ready to relocate globally. So, don’t hesitate to pass the word to your friends and on your blogs, I look forward to reading your ideas and comments. Thanks in advance !

No related posts.

Further to the Lyon renewable energies fair

Edouard — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:33:22 +0000

I was on Thursday and Saturday at the renewable energies fair in Lyon. This was an excellent occasion to meet professionals in solar energies, wood energy and insulating materials.

I was very pleased to note that many companies are currently hiring in France or in Europe. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the sector that is hiring the most in our country.

Many thanks to each and every person I met there. I look forward to hearing and reading from you. I am currently sending the applications and resumes.

I avoided a tonne of CO2 emissions this year

Edouard — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:26:27 +0000

This year I avoided the emission of more than a tonne of carbon dioxide – more likely 1,500 kilograms – by simply taking the train on various occasions like business or leisure trips.

Fast trains in France - like the TGV on the left – are powered by electricity, which is 90% low carbon. Relatively reliable, it is a pleasure to use them and work while going at 360 km/h. (200mph)

Thus, using public transportation systems fights climate change. Decreasing CO2 emissions is easy, we will see it with my Towards Sustainability series.

Transportation is one of the main greenhouse gases emissions contributor of our economies.

We now have to choose to use low emissions transportation means. Marguerite, once again, provides us with interesting data on that matter. In her article The curse of air travel, she proposes us an interesting graph :

As you can see, trains with non fossil electricity (88 percent of the French electricity is low carbon) emit much less than cars or worse trains.

I hope you enjoyed this post as it enables you to see that each and everyone of use can make a difference in the fight against global warming.

Let’s play tag !

Edouard — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:45:53 +0000

Daryl Warner Laux at Verda Vivo tagged me. To the rule of the game, I have to publish the rules, tag seven people, and let you know seven things about me.

This is a first for me as I never indulged before in blogging games. But it is the occasion to give a little personal touch to this blog and to promote blogs I wouldn’t otherwise.

I hope you will enjoy this post and and find my selection interesting. I look forward to reading your comments.

The rules for ’social-networking’ tagging:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share seven things about yourself – some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog and/or Twitter.
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

–

Seven things about me:

Like Marguerite, I love swimming. When the city’s swimming pool opens up – only during summers – I swim a kilometer daily;
I have been a computer geek for the past five years. Understand by that that I spend way too much time in front of my computer;
I would like to get deeper into astronomy and photography. Two hobbies I would like to indulge more into, but don’t find the time…
I read way too much: with around 70 RSS feeds, five magazines, newspapers and tons of books. If this wasn’t enough, I also read mangas and comics.
Elrst comes from the initials of my full name: Edouard Louis René STenger. Louis and René are the first names of my grand fathers;
I am finishing a job at the end of the year and will be available for employment in January. If you are interested, please checkout my resume. I will consider all offers;
I have a great idea for a PhD thesis but have no clue if I will have a try at it or left it as a huge project.

–

Seven blogs I follow – and that you should too:

La Marguerite: How to present Marguerite Manteau Rao ? An industrial engineer she is also a marketer and above all a most talented blogger.
Blog | RSS Feed | Twitter
Verda Vivo: Daryl’s blog is simply a must read if you want to green up your life or great information on environment-related issues.
Blog | RSS Feed | Twitter
Dot Earth: Andrew Revkin’s blog (from the New York Times) provides great articles and good discussions.
Blog | RSS Feed
Franke James: A Canadian artist, photographer and writer, I am truly fond of her visual essays and her posts…
Blog | RSS Feed | Twitter

En Français dans le texte.

Since I don’t read seven personal blog in English (I read large ones with multiple authors, like TreeHugger, HuffingtonPost, CleanTechnica…), I propose you a selection of French writing blogs.

QatSite: My Belgian friend Qat is building an environmentally friendly house which will consume four times less energy than an average one.
Blog | RSS feed
The Blog Tool Box: Maxime Guernion’s advices on WordPress and blogging issues have been invaluable for this website.
Blog | RSS feed | Twitter
Timothep: A fellow member of GeekZone, Tim has provided me with many articles on fantastic books (notably the Mars Trilogy)
Blog | RSS Feed | Twitter

How I avoided 200 kgs of CO2 emissions in ten days

Edouard — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:37:24 +0000

Two weeks ago I took some vacations and visited my family near Nancy. Additionally, I went to the renewable energies fair in Paris. It was also the opportunity for me to have a most interesting meeting.

All this brought me to travel up to 1,600 kilometers (approx. 1,000 miles). By choosing the train instead of my Toyota Yaris, I avoided the emissions of up to 208 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

With this travel, I am reaching a total reduction of 800 kilograms of CO2 this year. I plan to reach a minimum of a thousand five hundred kilograms in 2008.

If you have been reading this blog since the beginning of the year, you may know that I already used this transportation meaning to decrease my carbon footprint in an important way.

I calculated that I had avoided this far 600 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions since the beginning of the year. Indeed, I accounted up to 300 kilograms in January and February alone.

This then, I must have taken the train to the amount of reducing my carbon dioxide emissions of 300 kilograms as I did various trips. All this thus makes 800 kilogrames less on my carbon footprint for this year so far.

I wrote these lines in the Train à grande vitesse between Nancy and Paris. In an hour and a half I travelled 352 kilometers, in perfect conditions. This makes an average speed of 235 kilometers per hour. (147 miles per hour)

This shows how personal climate change mitigation can be achieved if one gives him or herself the means to do it. Alternatives to energy intensive solutions exist and can be used.

Transportation is one of the main greenhouse gases emissions contributor of our economies.

As you can see, trains with non fossil electricity (88 percent of the French electricity is low carbon) emit much less than cars or worse trains.

I hope you enjoyed this post as it enables you to see that each and everyone of use can make a difference in the fight against global warming.

300th post : some thoughts on writing

Edouard — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:00:04 +0000

Today, after less than a year and a half of writing, I am publishing my 300th post on this blog. This happens as my 200th article was published on January 2nd.

I would like to take the opportunity to share with you some thoughts I recently had on writing and the experience it represents.

This reflection will bring me to Art, Jeet Kun Do and to another subject which is more close to my favorite topic here : energy.

Writing is an art, the harder you work on it, the better your style is. This also explains why Literature is regarded as an Art.

When I begun this blog, I knew my style was too heavy. My sentences were too long and it was compromising comprehension.

Now, I think that it is much lighter, more efficient, at least it is the feedback I had from some of you.

This brings me to another comparison with martial arts. I always liked watching movies with Bruce Lee and his martial art, Jeet Kun Do.

One scene that comes to my mind is the fight against Chuck Norris in the Way of the Dragon.

Bruce Lee in this scene seems so light, so effortless compared to his opponent which gives the impression to be much more heavier, much more slower.

And there, we hit something that sounds familiar : efficiency. As one should decrease his/her energy consumption, one should improve his/her writing style…

I hope you appreciated these little thoughts. I have other articles similar to this one that will combine my interest in astronomy and sustainable development. So for this and for much more, stay tuned !

(The cake in the picture comes from the video game Portal… )

Toutes mes félicitations !

Edouard — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:02:47 +0000

All my warmest congratulations on my sister Caroline as she became today a Doctor in Pharmacy. This is a great event for our family and we are all very proud of her.

This is reinforced as the jury awarded her this PhD with the highest honors possible, very good. Her thesis defense was very interesting and very well presented.

I understood most of it, and this even if I am not of the trade thanks to her ability to explain technical data in an easy to understand way.

For nearly 20 minutes and without any notes she presented her researches in the greatest way possible, enabling her audience to be captivated by a subject that might not be the most thrilling one : toxic deaths.

The jury awarded her the degree with the highest honors as the subject was very original. It dealt with both medical and legal aspects, something very seldom seen in Pharmacy.

I am very proud to be her brother and wishes her a most successful career.

Bravo Caro !

No related posts.

Welcome to the new version of the blog !

Edouard — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:09:13 +0000

Hello and welcome to the brand new version of my blog which brings several improvements in both aesthetic and practical aspects.

The first change is the top of the blog that now features Earthrise. I wanted this picture to be part of this blog as it combines my passions for the protection of the environment and photography.

Other major change, the right part of the blog – or sidebar – is now smaller to give more space to the core of the blog, my articles.

The sidebar now features my favorite environmental blogs and websites. They are my main information sources to date and each and everyone of them are worth reading and subscribing to their feeds. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Meanwhile, I removed the newspapers part as I didn’t find it relevant.

Many many thanks to my friend ColdFire for doing the job I haven’t been able to do in months as it was too technical for me. The sheer genius did that in less than two hours. Congratulations !

Edit on June 4th : Also many thanks to Max from Blog Tool Box for working on the about me section. He included tabs that enable you to read a short presentation of me and of this blog in English and French. Additional versions in German and Spanish will come soon.

I hope you will like this version and am looking forward from reading your comments on this matter.

Turning a landfill into a beautiful garden

Edouard — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:04:31 +0000

Last weekend I visited a very nice garden in the Vosges, Les Jardins de Callunes [Fr]. It has the particularity to have been created where a landfill was previously.

It is impressive how Nature got back where previously stood waste of all kinds. Will we be able to turn all our landfills in such wonderful gardens?

This was also the opportunity for me to practice photography and I propose you a selection of the best pictures I took there.

All pictures were taken with my Canon Ixus 860 IS, a point and shoot camera that is perfect for me as one can choose many options and avoid using the automatic mode.

The pictures’ size is 1280*960 which will suit most computer screens. However, if you wish to have them in a larger size, ask me and I will send them to you.

Many thanks to Sherlock for giving me his opinion on my photos as well as tips to improve them. (Some of them are a little modified to improve the contrast and luminosity)

I hope you enjoyed this article. In any case, don’t hesitate to post a comment as I would gladly read your thoughts on the garden or my photos.

No related posts.

Why dividing by four our CO2 emissions can be done

Edouard — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:00:07 +0000

It is said in France that we have to cut by a factor four our emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 compared to 1990, and in a global scale by a factor two.

It might seem impossible. But the more I am thinking about it, the more I believe it actually can be done if both public and political will were here.

After more than a year of blogging, I outline a summary of all the eleven ideas I came across. Hope you will enjoy this article !

The situation at hand :

The global energy needs are due to double by 2050, as developing countries see their energy consumption explode (+15% per annum in China last year)

Meanwhile, developed nations of Europe and North America see their consumption increase as well, yet much more slowly.

Decreasing our energy consumption can be done, we will see it below. Additionally, alternatives with much lower emissions also exist.

The combination of both is an exciting new prospect as it will create million of jobs worldwide and a real new world order that can actually benefit whole Mankind.

Some actions might enable us to reverse this phenomenon. Here are the eleven I thought of after more than a year of blogging on this matter :

The 11 solutions :

Massive campaigns of buildings insulation could enable us to save a lot of money and carbon dioxide emissions as it is estimated that insulated houses and buildings could decrease at least by a factor four their energy consumption.

This sector is responsible for 40 percent of the total energy consumption of Europe and around 25 % of its greenhouse gases emissions. It is high time for our governments to tackle this predominant issue. (more)

—-

In parallel to the insulation of housings, getting us rid of fossil fuel heating should be done. Oil prices won’t stop there in their increase and so will natural gas’ prices since they are indexed on oil prices.

Furthermore, peak oil inexorably nears. Oil prices increased by 20 % since the beginning of the year. As this is most likely to continue, heating our homes with fossil fuels will be more and more a luxury. On the other hand, thermal renewables make a lot of sense with good insulation.

—-

Banning purely and simply all incandescent light bulbs might enable coal intensive countries – ie. most of countries with Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, but also China, India or Australia – to cut drastically greenhouse gases emissions as fluo compact light bulbs consume five times less electricity.
Similarly, replacing – and recycling – all old appliances like refrigerators and freezers with A+ efficient ones might also make us save huge amounts of energy. (more)

—-

Putting less lights at night in the streets of our cities would also enable us to save a lot of energy and thus a lot of greenhouse gases emissions.
This would also save billions of Dollars and Euros to communities that are more in more in financial problems.
This would also protect fauna and flora and would enable the thousands of astronomers a better night sky quality. (more)

—-
There is also a lot to do in transport. From improving the mileage of cars and trucks to giving more space to bicycles in our cities to promoting the train over the plane when applicable, many things have to be done.
Hybrid vehicules are also a great alternative as we now have a myriad of ways to produce low carbon electricity.
Fortunately enough a revolution begins slowly to take place. (more)
Solar PV and other electrical renewables are great as they emit more than 30 times less than coal fired plants.
So these polluting solutions would become only back up of the solar panels and other wind turbines and not the only solution to bring electricity.
it is time to embrace the 21st century and stop implementing coal fired plants as countries like Germany and Italy still plan to do . (more)

Eating differently will also bring several improvements for the affluent countries as more and more people are obese.
The consumption of red meat leads to important emissions as bovines emit a lot of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
Eating less meat and more cereals, fruits and vegetables (as much as possible from local sources) would bring several other improvements for everybody.

Sorting out a lot more our waste would also enable us to cut drastically our carbon footprint. Composting and recycling what can be composted and recycled would lead to lower needs of fertilizers and raw materials. This is another win win win situation as each and everyone would benefit from extended recycling.
It is high time for us to address the problems that landfills are for our environment and our countries.

Not very popular, yet very efficient way to cut in large ways our greenhouse gases emissions, is nuclear power as it emits 50 times less than coal fired plants and 25 times less than natural gas ones over their lifetime.
With EPR technology and the likes, energy efficiency and security are increased while the amount of waste is significantly decreased. Of course other issues remain (waste disposal, security…) but there are no perfect solution. (more)

Fighting deforestation in tropical countries and planting trees is another great way to avert climate change as trees literally absorb carbon dioxide over their lifetime.
Trees prevent soil erosion and are also a great way to reduce the importance of floods. Afforesting will have to be done once deforestation have stopped as well.
As I learned by reading Collapse, the civilization of Easter Island disappeared because it had cut all its trees. Let us not suffer the same fate. (more)

Last but not least, a global change of behavioral models should occur. Explaining to people that the Earth is not infinite and that we have to take care of it should be fundamental. French people already hear they have to save energy as it is our future, but this should be pushed further much more. As I read last year in Le Plein s’il vous plait [Fr], we should go from ” always more and more ” to ” much less “. Let us embrace new values of quality over quantity…

Of course, all this won’t be easy and won’t be done overnight. Of course it will cost huge amounts of money… but inaction would cost us much more comparing to the soaring prices of fossil energies, the cost of climate change-related phenomena…

Once again, this shouldn’t be considered as a COST but as an INVESTMENT or as an OPPORTUNITY.

And you, dear reader, what do you believe it can be done ? Do you think I forgot some other ways that might enable us to put a term to the threat that is climate change ?

Going to London City !

Edouard — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:00:44 +0000

I have been willing for now some time to go back to London, and this for two reasons. First, to go back in a city I truly loved to visit as a teen (my last visit there was in 1998).

The second, to have a look at the possibilities of me working there. My education was truly international and I am all to willing to give my career a similar orientation and a boost.

But, be sure that I will keep you posted as I already scheduled some great articles for next week. So stay tuned and enjoy. See you soon !

No related posts.

Etude sur le photovoltaique

Edouard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:50:51 +0000

Je n’ai rien publié ici durant la dernière semaine de février car je travaillais sur un dossier sur le solaire photovoltaïque suite à une commande qui m’avait été faite.

Comme c’est mon travail personnel je vous en propose l’intégralité. Il porte sur deux aspects : les principaux marchés et un comparatif entre l’éolien et le solaire PV.

Comme vous le verrez en lisant le dossier, la France diffère des principaux marchés ce qui compromet une trop forte expansion du solaire PV ici.

Pour vous donner envie de lire la version complète, je vous propose l’introduction :

Le solaire photovoltaique (ou PV) permet de transformer les rayonnements du soleil en électricité, ce qui en fait une source d’énergie non-polluante durant son fonctionnement. Produit pour la première fois en 1954, ce n’est que ces dix dernières années que l’on a assisté à sa mise en oeuvre de façon massive.

A mesure que le temps passe, le rendement des différents types de panneaux augmente et leur durée de vie suit une tendance similaire. D’un seul pourcent de rendement au tout début, on atteint actuellement entre 10 et 15 %.

Comme on le verra dans ce dossier, cette énergie renouvelable est promise à un avenir radieux, car des pays entiers – et pas des moindres – s’appuyent sur elle pour leur fournir à l’avenir de l’electricité en grande quantité et ce, dans le respect de l’environnement.
Ce dossier ne se veut pas exhaustif. Il ne porte que sur deux aspects déterminants :

La première partie : pourquoi et comment le solaire PV est-il utilisé de façon exponentielle en Allemagne, au Japon et aux Etats-Unis ? (Ces trois pays représentent à eux seuls près de 90 % de la puissance installée dans le monde.) La France peut-elle combler son retard et elle aussi connaître une croissance similaire dans ce domaine ?

La deuxième partie s’oriente quant à elle sur un comparatif entre l’énergie éolienne et le solaire PV. La première connait depuis quelques années un succès sans précédent en Europe et en France. Le solaire peut-il connaître une situation similaire dans les années à venir ?

Si vous deviez l’utiliser pour vos travaux personnels, merci de me citer et de m’envoyer un mail ou de me laisser un commentaire à cette page.

N’hésitez pas après lecture du dossier à laisser un commentaire, tout retour sera apprécié !

Télécharger le dossier
(26 pages, format pdf)

Pour finir cet article je tiens à remercier le commanditaire de ce dossier et tiens à lui signaler que j’attends avec impatience de ses nouvelles quant à une éventuelle future collaboration.

Premier post depuis mon EEE PC : EEExcellent !

Edouard — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:00:58 +0000

Ceci est mon premier post depuis mon EEE PC acheté la semaine dernière. Minuscule, il ne pèse que 900 grammes et est un ordinateur à part entière.

Totalement silencieux, il permet de se connecter sur Internet via le Wifi embarqué, d’écouter de la musique et regarder des vidéo.

Pour 300 €, je dispose donc d’une machine idéale pour blogguer, surfer et chatter partout. Vous l’aurez compris je suis conquis.

De plus, cet ordinateur dispose de sorties casque et micro et d’une webcam intégrée dont l’image est correcte (comprenez, je me reconnais sans problème) et Skype est déjà installé. L’outil parfait pour communiquer.

Le lecteur de carte SD ainsi que les trois ports USB permettent aisément de compenser le manque de lecteur optique (CD ou DVD).

Après avoir tapé l’équivalent de six pages A4, je peux dire que le clavier n’est pas un problème et même que c’est relativement aisé. je tape déjà sans regarder le clavier.

J’avais peur que les enceintes intégrées soient de piètre qualité, mais ce n’est pas le cas. En train d’écouter Atom Heart Mother des Pink Floyd, je ne trouve rien de particulier à dire.

Mon seul regret à l’heure actuelle est le fait que je n’ai pu faire marcher le logiciel de messagerie, mais je pense résoudre ce problème rapidement.

La qualité vidéo de l’écran sept pouces est suffisamment bonne pour permettre de regarder un film sans problème.

En effet, j’ai eu la chance de pouvoir regarder le Château dans le Ciel, superbe dessin animé de Miyazaki en DivX. La qualité de l’écran est bluffante, tout comme l’autonomie.

De plus de trois heures en mode texte, elle dépasse allègrement les deux heures en mode vidéo, ce qui vous laisse le temps de regarder la plupart des films sans problème.

Pour augmenter la durée de la batterie, il est préconisé de couper le Wifi et de baisser la luminosité de l’écran, ce qui se fait très facilement et ce qui n’est pas un problème pour le visionnage d’un film ou l’écriture ou le surf.

Vous l’aurez compris, l’EEE PC a un rapport qualité/prix excellent et je ne peux que vous le recommander si vous cherchez une petite machine pour surfer sur Internet depuis votre canapé ou regarder un film au lit.

Keeping on decreasing CO2 emissions by using the train

Edouard — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:56:08 +0000

As I noted in the previous post, I have been lately quite a lot in trains to go to Paris and Besançon for my job research and leisure.

Using the train enabled me to avoid the emissions of nearly 240 kilograms of carbon dioxide as if I had been going by car. I have to admit that I am quite satisfied with myself.

Climate change mitigation is easy once one have understood how to achieve significant results. My use of the train is but one.

240 kilograms, that is indeed quite a lot and I am simply amazed of how much cars emits greenhouse gases and the fact that the Ademe estimates that transport is the main greenhouse gases emitter in France doesn’t surprise me at all.

Here are the calculations for you to know how I came to such a figure :

I drive (but don’t own) a Toyota Yaris that emits on average 130 grams of carbon dioxide. This is not much compared to gas guzzlers which can emit up to 260 grams per kilometer? but it is to me still way to much.

I wish the Citroen C Cactus was already available as it would produce only 78 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer thanks to its hybrid motorization.

Knowing that Paris is 400 kilometers from my place and Besançon 60 kilometers, I arrive to a staggering figure of 1840 kilometers.

By multiplying these figures, I have :

1840 * 130 = 239,200 grams
239 kilograms and 200 grams.

To be complete, I have to take into account the emissions of the train. As I stated there :

By having a look at www.manicore.com, Jean-Marc Jancovici’s website, trains emits 35 times less CO2 than small cars. So my 1840 kms by TGV emitted less than seven kilograms.

But, since I wasn’t alone in these trains, I don’t take into account this figure. Furthermore, this train would have been working without my riding it.

For those of you which use the imperial systems, that make 480 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions less.

This makes that I avoided more than 300 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions since the beginning of the year. This makes almost 50 kg per week.

A staggering figure that really enables me to understand climate change, its mitigation and most importantly how our daily actions are important, and this even if they seem at first benign.

I will keep on writing on how I mitigate climate change and will soon write articles to help you in doing so, so stay tuned and please don’t hesitate to write a comment as I would gladly read you.

Why this blog has been slowing down, and what’s next

Edouard — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:05:36 +0000

Last weeks were particularly poor in new articles and this can be partly explained by the fact that I have been traveling around for my job research and other reasons.

Indeed I went twice to Paris for job interviews and twice to Besançon where I spent a day each time. Having no means (yet!) to write articles in the train, I couldn’t publish anything.

In the second part of the article, I outline my plans for the coming weeks and months regarding this blog, and I hope you will appreciate them.

Among the other reasons that might explain the slowing activity of this blog, is my questioning on the relative lack of success of this blog.

I don’t remember which writer said once that at first you write for you, then for your friends, and ultimately for the public. I am at the second stage and believes that I will progressively have a broader audience in the next months…

I also wrote less articles as I spent some time tweaking the layout of this blog. The sidebar changed a bit in order to make it easier for you to subscribe to this blog’s feeds by RSS or to add me to your Technorati favorites.

Other noticeable changes include the disappearance of the RSS feeds of my favorite blogs on environmentalism as I had bugs lately with them. However, the names and links remain so you can still have a grasp at them.

Please also note that I changed my contact form page and that I am now more satisfied of it. I also took the liberty to update my various resumes that you can download. They now better reflect my activities and so on.

However, I have many plans for 2008 for this blog.

First of all, there will be more cultural articles and I will write more in French. I also have an idea of a series of articles that will give you hints to decrease your ecological footprint in many ways.

So, more than ever, stay tuned and don’t hesitate to leave your opinion and write a comment as I would gladly read you !

How I easily avoided 76 kg of CO2 emissions

Edouard — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:34:46 +0000

Albeit the fact I consider myself as an ecologist and took various actions to decrease my greenhouse gases emissions, I never really did any calculations of my impact.

But the New year’s day brought me an opportunity to have a look at my CO2 emissions as I went to Nancy by train and I avoided the emissions of 76 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

I write this to enable you to see how our daily actions are directly link to global warming and how WE can act on an individual level.
I drive a Toyota Yaris, which emits 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer. Since the distance between my home town and Nancy is of 300 kilometres I thus cut my emissions by :

130 grs * (300*2 km)
= 78 000 grs.
= 78 kilograms.

So, if I had been taking the Yaris I would have emitted 78 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

Fast trains in France, like the famous TGV, are powered by electricity.

Electricity in this grand country is produced by nearly 80 percent nuclear, 10 percent hydro and 10 percent fossil fuels. So 90 percent is virtually greenhouse gases free.

By having a look at www.manicore.com, Jean-Marc Jancovici’s website, trains emits 35 times less CO2 than small cars. So my 600 kms by TGV emitted only two kilograms.

So I avoided the emissions of 78 – 2 = 76 kilograms of carbon dioxide in only two days.

I find this calculation interesting as it shows a direct correlation between daily actions and greenhouse gases emissions and thus climate change.

As oil prices are going up and up, alternatives to oil hungry solutions like cars and planes will have to be developed. Trains are one.

I will probably write a further article on TGV and how they can compete with planes for transportation for middle distances, so stay tuned !