Category: Global Warming

What is aeroponics? Aeroponics is classified as a hydroponic method where roots of the plants are continuously or discontinuously placed in an environment soaked with fine drops such as a mist or aerosol of nutrient solution.Hydroponics is simply gardening without soil. Soilless growing medias such as perlite/peat-lite or perlite/vermiculite or other combined mixes, have little of the nutrients that the plant would normally leach from the soil. In this respect, nutrient for the plant has to be added in water-soluble form. Hydroponic fertilizer is added to the water containing the minerals that the plant needs to sustain growth.There are many advantages and disadvantages to gardening indoors using hydroponics. Lets start off with some of the advantages: Growing hydroponically allows for bigger, healthier plants that usually grow faster and produce more fruit.

What is hydroponics? Hydroponics is commonly referred to as the cultivation of plants in water. However, study shows that various media can support the growth of the plant, so the definition was broadened to the cultivation of plants without soil.Yes. Hydroponic plants, especially those that are grown outdoors, experience problems with insects. Most insects grow rapidly which can affect the growth of the plant. However, there are pesticides and sprays that will help prevent insects multiplying in your hydroponic garden.

What plants can be grown hydroponically? Theoretically, most plants can be grown hydroponically, but in practice, some are easier to grow than others. Among the easier ones are lettuce, basil, mint, tomatoes and peppers. Plants like watermelon, squash and strawberries are harder to grow.

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The political debates over climate change and pollution are getting nasty. I recently read a question in a blog asking if it is Al Gore stupid or Michael Moore stupid to believe in global warming. The arguments of the politicians have filtered down to the citizens. The attacks are getting up close and personal. With all the insults and name calling not much is getting accomplished.

I’d like to take this topic completely out of the political arena. These political arguments do nothing but cause anger and fear. I would also like to take out the words “global warming” since it puts so many people into a tailspin. The global environment and quality of life are what’s really at stake.

I am a Believer. I understand the natural cycle of climate change. I understand the changes started to increase at the start of the industrial revolution and the changes have been happening much faster in the last few decades with more industry and more cars on the road. In the past these sudden changes only happened as a result of natural disasters but I haven’t heard of Krakatoa erupting lately.

I’m pushing 60 years old and have lived in the Dallas area, off and on, most of my life. I remember when we would have two or three good snowfalls EVERY winter. I remember when people with breathing problems didn’t have to check the ground ozone level before going outside and I could walk outside without getting an “ozone” headache. I remember when being in a drought was a rare thing. I remember when, in most summers, it didn’t get really hot until late July and August. I remember when tap water tasted good and there were never days when it was brown and smelly. There are people who grew up in areas where the air and water are now cleaner. That’s because man-made fixes have cleaned up man-made messes. Although the city is now trying to remedy these problems, in the Dallas area it is quite the opposite.

People are turning to cleaner sources of energy. because of worldwide climate change and rising global temperatures. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can make the Earth a healthier place to live in. Today, there is increasing expansion in the production, distribution and use of this fuel.

Biodiesel is produced through transesterification, a chemical process where oils and fats in plants and animals are processed into the substances of the fuel. As early as 1853, scientists J. Patrick and E. Duffy had already conducted some kind of transesterification.

In 1900, Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, demonstrated a diesel engine that ran on peanut oil. However, the fuel cannot be considered biodiesel because it didn’t go through transesterification.

Interest in the use of vegetable oils for fuel remained through the 1920s and 1930s. France, China, the United Kingdom, and Japan experimented and tested these oils. However, their scientists encountered some problems because of the viscosity of the oils, which led to engine deposits.

G. Chavanne of Belgium produced the first biodiesel in 1931. Since then, various research and experimentation have been conducted to improve biodiesel. In the 1990s, European countries began installing biodiesel power plants. By 1998, 21 countries began producing commercial products. Today, manufacturers use several sources to manufacture biodiesel.

All around the world today, biodiesel use is expanding. In Australia, almost all metropolitan trains and buses in Adelaide run on 5% biodiesel mixed with petroleum. In Canada, the government has set a goal of 500 million liters of biodiesel by 2010. In Finland, an oil company plans to build a production plant with a capacity of 170,000 tons per year.

More and more these days, global warming appears to be an accepted problem in society. In some ways, this is true, but many still debate the existence and extent of the problem. Consider the following positions taken by prominent individuals and groups.

You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to. - Roger Ebert, on Al Gore’s movie about global warming.

There’s a better scientific consensus on this than on any issue I know — except maybe Newton’s second law of dynamics, said D. James Baker, administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The problem we are faced with is that the meteorological establishment and the global warming lobby research bodies which receive large funding are now apparently so corrupted by the largesse they receive that the scientists in them have sold their integrity. - Piers Corbyn

If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows. - Dave Barry

Global warming is indeed a scam, perpetrated by scientists with vested interests, but in need of crash courses in geology, logic and the philosophy of science. - Dr Martin Keeley

Global warming is not a conqueror to kneel before - but a challenge to rise to. A challenge we must rise to. - Joe Lieberman

Global warmers predict that global warming is coming, and our emissions are to blame. They do that to keep us worried about our role in the whole thing. If we aren’t worried and guilty, we might not pay their salaries. It’s that simple. - Kary Mullis, Winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Biodiesel: The Fuel of the Future

Biodiesel is considered the fuel of the future because it helps lessen global warming. Biodiesel is produced from domestic, renewable resources like vegetable oils and animal fats. It can be used alone or blended with petroleum.

Compression-ignition diesel engines can use this fuel with little or no modifications at all. Scientific evidence reveals that biodiesel reduces net carbon dioxide emissions by 78 percent compared to petroleum diesel. It is also cheaper in some countries than diesel.

Biodiesel manufacturing facilities make biodiesel through a process called transesterification. In the transesterification process, fats are purified and reacted with alcohol through catalysts such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. They are then transformed into glycerol and esters.

Biodiesel is what remains after the process. Manufacturers can use the fats of animals and a number of plant oils to make the fuel. It can be derived from the plant oils of palm, sunflower, peanut, soybean or canola. Even recycled cooking grease can be made into biodiesel, though it is not the same as raw vegetable oil.

Most cars that run on diesel engines can use biodiesel. Car manufacturers have lists of cars that can run on pure biodiesel. One amazing thing about the fuel is that it acts as a solvent or cleaner. It loosens deposits that could clog the engine. Because of this, it lubricates the engine and makes it run smoother. The result is that the engine actually lasts longer because the fuel leaves few or no deposits at all.

Biodiesel is a biodegradable and renewable fuel. It helps fight global warming because it has a closed carbon cycle. Biodiesel itself is made from carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. When the carbon dioxide from the fuel is released into the atmosphere, it is recycled by plants. The oils of the plants are then later processed again into fuel.