Global Warming

[Tamari]

Hey guys, I'm leaving DC because of my concerns about global warming. I had @ 100 machines which are now going to just idle. Maybe when the icecaps stop melting I will join you again. Free-DC rocks, but I want to do my part in causing less harm to future generation. Peace. :)

[PY 222]

But what if you could find a cure for some disease via F@H?

Won't that balance off your karma?

Anyway... you take care. We'll be here if and when you get back. :cheers:

[Bok]

We'll keep the :fridge: open for you Tamari :)

Perhaps you should look at the Climate Prediction project ?

Bok

[jasong]

While I don't technically believe in karma, I agree with PY 222. There are plenty of projects out there that accomplish something you might consider worthwhile.

Projects to consider(or reconsider)

Folding@Home
Find-a-Drug
Eon(sometimes requires mucho babysitting to max out cpu, not always)

Also, consider that even running at idle, computers use a minimum amount of energy to run. The power required to do DC "research" might ultimately pay the world back a thousand-fold if something worthwhile is discovered.

[Bright Knight]

Tamari makes a very good point:

1 kilowatt hour = 1 pound of CO2 with natural gas power plants. Coal power plants generate about twice the CO2.


100 computers (at 100 watts each) = 10 kilowatts.

10lbs * 24hrs = 240 lbs of CO2 per day

43.8 tons of CO2 per year (with natural gas)
87.6 tons of CO2 per year (with coal)

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Here is a table of annual per capita CO2 emissions:

Country Year CO2e Mt / Pop M = CO2e t/person
Australia 2001 553 / 20.09 = 27.53
Canada 2003 740.00 / 31.00 = 23.87
China 2004 3583.80 / 1306.30 = 2.74
European Union 1999 4030.00 / 375.30 = 10.74
India 2001 1228.54 / 1027.00 = 1.20
Japan 2002 1224.98 / 126.93 = 9.65
Netherlands 1999 174.10 / 19.80 = 8.79
Russia 1999 1880.00 / 145.60 = 12.91
United Kingdom 2003 656.00 / 59.60 = 11.01
USA 2003 6935.70 / 290.81 = 23.85

A hybrid car generates 4 tons of CO2 per 15K miles and an SUV generates about 12 tons of CO2 per 15K miles.

( http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/17634.shtml)

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There is a way to continue doing valuable research in a carbon neutral way. There is no way to stop producing carbon but there is a way to erase your carbon footprint.

It is possible to purchase Kyoto Protocol certified sequestered carbon credits.

http://www.carbonplanet.com/index.php


Tamari's farm could be carbon neutral for $54 per month.

1 ton CO2 credit = $14.93
43.8 tons of CO2 = $653.93 ($54 / month)
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Planting forrests will not solve the global warming probem. We would need to plant a forrest the size of Texas every 30 years to reduce US CO2 emmissions by 7%. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration "Forests" section )

[Digital Parasite]

Like others have said, if those machines are on 24/7 but just sitting idle, they are still using bit a lot of power and producing a lot of CO2. Machines typically don't generate *that* much more power when running under load.

Are those machines that are used in a work environment? If yes, then it would probably be better for them to just be on during work hours and turned off at night. That would save a lot more CO2, and while on during the day you might as well have some kind of useful DC running in the background.

[tim]

I guess I'm lucky where I have my farm, I've got 4 hydroelectic generating dams within 100 miles of my house, and some of the lowest electric rates in the nation. No CO2 emissions, just more dead fish than if there weren't dams. And a portion of the revenue from the dams runs fisheries to replenish.

Plus, this time of year for me it's winter, and my farm heats the basement. Whether the electricity heats the elements in the furnace or runs cpus, it's almost the same.

Now, all summer it's another story on the heat . . .

[ladypcer]

Sad thing is that whatever power you save by not running the pc's, someone else, somewhere, will just gobble up.

[Marky-UK]

Also remember that almost all of the power used by a PC ultimately comes out as heat. I can turn my central heating down when I leave my PCs on 24/7.

[Paratima]

If anyone would like to do some power calculations, I measured my main cruncher with a digital ammeter. The system is homebuilt:

Biostar MN7CD-Pro motherboard
Athlon XP3000+ CPU
512MB of PC3200 RAM
Western Digital 80GB, 7200RPM HDD
LiteOn CD/DVD drive
Antec 400 Watt PS
Windoze XP

All in all, I think it's probably a fairly typical power user's do-everything system.

At idle, it pulls 1.05 AC amps at 123 VAC.

Running FAD, it pulls 1.30 amps.

So the difference between idle and crunching is 0.25A times 123V = 30.75 watts into a capacitive load.

Probably the biggest savings I get is turning off the CRT monitor, which pulls 0.65A when active. Blanking the screen only cuts it down to 0.57A, not much of a saving. So I tend to be sure all my monitors are off when not in use.

One surprise was the inkjet printers. My Canon i960 uses only 0.12A when printing, and my big Epson 2200 uses only 0.14A. Not bad at all.

Aside: ladypcer, it doesn't work like that. A watt saved is still a watt saved. :thumbs:

[Georgina]

As was said earlier, there is only a 20% to 30% increase in electricity usage from idle to running 100% utilization. If you want to save that extra 20%, try some of these:

Replace 2 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
The new bulbs will last longer and use less energy which means less pollution from power plants. Your household would save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every household in the United States did it, we would save a trillion pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere!

Keep your water heater insulated.
Wrapping it in an insulating jacket will result in a 1,000 pounds per year reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees F and you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 550 pounds per year.

Weatherize your home.
Caulk, and weather-strip your doorways and windows. You can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1700 pounds per year.

Move your thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two degrees in the summer.
About half the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

G

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Georgina
Keep your water heater insulated.
Wrapping it in an insulating jacket will result in a 1,000 pounds per year reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees F and you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 550 pounds per year.
[/B]

This is highly illegal in my part of the country. The home inspector said they cause too many fires and honestly do not do anything for the newer hot water heaters because they are so well insulated to begin with.

Just pointing out what our inspector said... ;)