Cleanliness is vital for a healthy home, but generally we use too many chemical cleaning products and in too great a quantity, and are unaware of their consequences. There are time honored natural alternatives in the form of organic cleaning products that are just as effective, that do not have such a negative impact on our environment, and that will leave your home smelling delightfully fresh and fragrant.

So, what are these natural alternatives and why haven’t we heard of them earlier?

Natural, or Organic cleaning products are a safe, natural alternative to the harmful chemicals found in common home cleaning products. Every organic cleaning cupboard should have white vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, pure soap, table salt, washing soda, and essential oils to name just a few. These environmentally-friendly cleaning products are effective, inexpensive, healthy and ethical.

The widely advertised commercial products we use today contain large quantities of heavy duty chemicals and may not bring the harmony and sweetness to your life that the manufacturers would have you believe. Less than one quarter of the 70,000 chemicals used in cleaning products and toiletries have been thoroughly tested for safety, and substances classified as hazardous waste are found in many common cleaning products.

The largest number of occurrences of poisoning are due to non organic cleaning products – drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, bleach, soaps and detergents. Ammonia is a highly volatile chemical frequently found in inorganic cleaning products and can be very damaging to your eyes, respiratory tract and skin. Non organic laundry detergents contain phosphorus, enzymes, ammonia, naphthalene, phenol, sodium nitilotriacetate and countless other chemicals. Non organic cleaning products for toilet bowls may cause pulmonary edema, vomiting or coma if swallowed. Oven cleaner is one of the most toxic non organic cleaning products that people use.

Using organic cleaning products is the core of natural cleaning. Natural cleaning products are truly cleaner because they are nontoxic, natural, biodegradable, concentrated, and hypoallergenic, and are excellent cleaners. I love environmentally-friendly cleaning products because they are totally safe for the home, they will not harm the environment and have major health benefits. When you take the time to become better informed about the choices that are available to you, you’ll learn that organic cleaning products and recipes are easy to find, and will probably fit nicely into your budget. There are numerous excellent books and information available on ‘green cleaning’ and environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

I confess; I’m a recent convert to using organic cleaning products at home. The only reason I had not ‘converted’ sooner was that no one had informed me of the natural alternative. I have found the products work just as well in most situations, is less expensive, healthier, more environmentally friendly and it gives me a great feeling to know that I’m ‘doing the right thing’. My chemical free home is a delight to be in – it looks and feels great and smells wonderful too.

So, with all the information above, why aren’t more of us turning to the natural alternatives? Based on feedback, the answers I received are; 1) people are not educated or aware about the alternatives, 2) people don’t have the time or desire, and 3) many claim the natural solutions don’t work as well as chemicals. I have a personal opinion on all three answers, but the wonderful world we live in means people are very different on many levels. As a result, the reasons listed above are valid to many people.

The goal of this article is not to sell you anything; I just want you to be aware, then you can make your own informed decision. I do however, strongly urge and encourage you to try the natural alternatives, just once. What have you got to lose? I guarantee the benefits you get will far outweigh any inconveniences you feel you may encounter. You will feel and smell the benefits of switching to green cleaning products if not immediately, then certainly after a very short time.

So, clear out your old household cleaners and start anew with the natural alternatives and keep your home clean, safe and healthy. Green cleaning products are the way to go!!

If you are interested in learning more about Earth-friendly household products, consider joining EarthHuddle - a free online community focused on all areas of sustainable living, including natural home products, recycling, and green living.

For more details, plus videos, articles, a discussion forum and a whole lot more on green living, visit  

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, November 30, 2009

A fantastic article written by Christopher Brooker of the London Telegraph exposing the climate change fraud rocketed to the very top of a Google News search for “global warming,” only to disappear hours later.

“What is going on at Google? I only ask because last night when I typed “Global Warming” into Google News the top item was Christopher Booker’s superb analysis of the Climategate scandal,” writes James Delingpole.

“It’s still the most-read article of the Telegraph’s entire online operation – 430 comments and counting – yet mysteriously when you try the same search now it doesn’t even feature. Instead, the top-featured item is a blogger pushing Al Gore’s AGW agenda. Perhaps there’s nothing sinister in this. Perhaps some Google-savvy reader can enlighten me.”

Another blogger noted how other versions of the article appeared, but the original had been “disappeared,” despite the fact that other London Telegraph articles showed up as the top ranked result when entering their headline.

“That is using the search string: “Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation” – which is the full headline of the piece. It shows up where it has been quoted in full by other sites, but of the Booker column there is no sign,” writes Richard North.

In addition, searches for previous Christopher Brooker articles show up as top links – it’s only this particular article that has seemingly been targeted for censorship.

The same de-listing of the article is evident on other major search engine websites like Bing and Yahoo.

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Despite the fact that Google has been caught gaming its search results in the past, this is more likely an “inside job” as it were.

It appears as if one of the editors at the Telegraph has gone into the backend of the Telegraph content management system and checked an option that prevents search engines from indexing a particular article.

“My guess is that this isn’t a Google issue. The problem probably lies closer to home – there looks to be an enemy in the camp, who has probably been using this, or something like it,” writes North, referring to a code that is inserted into a web page in order to block it from being ’spidered’. This is sometimes done to prevent site ripping and other hacks, but it also has the effect of barring search engines from being able to list the page in their results.

The fact that this has been applied to just this one article suggests that some higher-up at the Telegraph from the warmist camp was concerned about how the article had gone viral and wanted to contain its spread.

The fact that this attempt at sabotage has become a story within itself will probably only mean Brooker’s article will be read by more people, so the whole ruse has backfired.

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/search-engines-censoring-climategate/

Adam Murdock, M.D.
Infowars
November 29, 2009

As a physician and as one that has conducted research and published in peer-reviewed journals, I am intimately connected to the scientific world and the scientific process. The scientific process requires a complete objectivity, a complete reliance on the data. It does not rely on what politicians think, or what the supposed majority of other scientists believe, or even upon what was thought to be proven in the past. It requires continual scrutiny and a stubborn willingness to be critical of everything proven and unproven. At times this stubborn willingness to continually analyze and reanalyze established beliefs places the scientific world in disarray as new beliefs replace old. What marks someone as a true scientist is a willingness to let go of previously held beliefs when the facts turn in another direction, even at expense of one’s established research, reputation, and tenure.

A scientific dictatorship occurs when this willingness to follow the data is disregarded and replaced with political correctness, consensus, economic motives, or personal hopes and aspirations. This dictatorship which attempts to suppress alternative viewpoints or theories is merely an attempt to make a scientist’s own selfish view preeminent at the expense of the scientific process and sometimes the truth. Inevitably, this dictatorship uses tactics like vilification, name calling, discrimination, and sometimes even threats of physical incarceration or violence in order to enforce the accepted dogma.

There are no greater examples of this than the ordeal of scientists that challenged the belief that the earth was flat and the center of the universe. The scientists that challenged the existing scientific aristocracy or dictatorship of the time were often incarcerated and even sometimes put to death. If true scientists like Copernicus and Galileo and their counterparts lived in a world filled with true followers of the scientific process they might have encountered some initial skepticism but would not have suffered like they did. True scientists would have evaluated the evidence that they presented and quickly have come to the same conclusion themselves. The fact that this didn’t happen was evidence of an over-arching scientific dogma or dictatorship at that time. Their theories threatened the position, theories, and power of the existing scientific elite of their day.

The same type of scientific dogma or dictatorship exists in the world today. There are many examples of modern scientists that have challenged the accepted scientific dogma. Oftentimes, they have had to surmount tremendous obstacles and go to great lengths to prove they were right.

It was only twenty years ago that two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall implicated a bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, as the causative agent in many intestinal ulcers. Prior to 1982, the predominant theory for the cause of ulcers was overproduction of stomach acid. The prevailing wisdom of the time was that if only stomach acid could be reduced then ulcers could be controlled. Of course, this would lead to lifelong treatments for acid suppression. When these two scientists proposed a simple bacterium as the cause, which could be eradicated with a simple antibiotic cocktail, they were more than met with initial skepticism – they were mocked and ridiculed. It was only because of tireless persistence on their part, which included ingesting the very causative organism in question and testing their hypothesis on themselves, that eventually the established dogma began to subside.

Along the same lines it is within the last twenty years the cyclo-oxygenase type 2 (COX-2) inhibitors like the infamous Vioxx were touted as the new anti-inflammatory medications for this generation. They would replace similar medications like Ibuprofen and Advil. When evidence surfaced that these medications may be causing increased incidences of heart attacks and deaths, they were forced off the market. Unfortunately, because the company and its’ scientists had great reputations, profits, and careers at stake it may have taken 3 years after the associations with heart attacks were discovered before the drug was removed from the market. It is not clear how many people have suffered the ultimate consequence for scientists letting ulterior motives cloud scientific purity.

This brings to me to the most important issue of our day – the debate over whether climate change is related to man-made green house gases or if it is related to natural processes such as sun-spot cycles. While it is not the purpose of this article to discuss the science around this discussion in detail, what can be illuminated is the presence of a dogmatic scientific bureaucratic dictatorship that has one particular view in mind at the expense of all others. This view contends that mankind is responsible for

global warming, the inevitable consequence of which will be a collapse of the earths vital ecosystems. In order to stop man and the collapse of the earth, the global scientific and political dictatorship would have the first world nations dramatically reduce their production of green-house gases. This will be accomplished by the cap-and-trade system, which would de-industrialize, depopulate, and subjugate the peoples of Europe and America and transfer their wealth to the third world and to the sponsors and ministers of the system.

As the EU President Herman Von Rompuy recently put it:

“2009 is also the first year of global governance, with the establishment of the G20 in the middle of the financial crisis. The climate conference in Copenhagen is another step towards the global management of our planet.”

It is clear from this statement that the climate agenda goes hand in hand with the plan for global governance. In fact, it may serve as the key stone to the foundation of just such a superstate. It is precisely because the globalists are using this issue as the means for attaining their long sought after dominion that the climate change debate is the most important issue of this generation.

What about the science that is being used as one of the stepping stones to global governance? Has global temperature really been increasing in lock-step with carbon-dioxide emissions?

Climate change skeptics have recently challenged the assumption of climate change fanatics by pointing out that the global temperature doesn’t appear to have continued to rise over the past decade or more, despite a continued surge in carbon-dioxide emissions. In fact, the temperatures may have decreased slightly. Yet, this information has fallen on seemingly deaf ears in the climate community. Fortunately, the question was recently answered by the climatologist global warming alarmists themselves. In emails that were leaked from the bastion of climate activism, the climate research unit (CRU) of East Anglia University, are some really startling yet somehow expected revelations about the real data, propaganda, intimidation, and fraud perpetrated by the climate change scientific community.

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In fact, in response to a recent skeptical article entitled “Whatever happened to Global Warming” by Paul Hudson, a BBC weatherman, one of the lead authors of the IPCC report commented within the private leaked emails:

“The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.”

In commenting about Hudson’s piece, climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn State University added:

“extremely disappointing to see something like this appear on BBC. its particularly odd, since climate is usually Richard Black’s beat at BBC (and he does a great job). from what I can tell, this guy was formerly a weather person at the Met Office.

We may do something about this on RealClimate, but meanwhile it might be appropriate for the Met Office to have a say about this, I might ask Richard Black what’s up here?”

What is clear from the conservations in these emails is that not only is the science not settled but there was a systematic attempt by these scientists to keep any contrary viewpoints out of the media, published literature, and the political arena. Does this sound like people genuinely seeking after truth or just scientists trying to protect their own turf, reputations, and agenda – whatever the cost?

In another email, the director of the East Anglia climate center, Phil Jones, suggested that we:

“will keep them out somehow – even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!”

This email highlights a very important but little understood point outside of academic circles. Central to life of an academic researcher is their ability to publish peer-reviewed papers in to the literature. Often times, the amount of published material they produce correlates with their ability to become tenured and to continue to receive grants. What is particularly disturbing about these emails is they demonstrate a willingness to destroy other people’s lives by making it difficult for them to publish.

An example of this scientific shakedown by these supposed scientists occurs in email by Michael Mann that suggests destroying a journal that dared publish these alternative viewpoints. He writes:

“Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal.”

In another of the emails, Tim Wigley says that pressure should be applied to a particular journal, Climate Research, to fall in line with the established climate change order. He writes that the publisher needed to be more concerned with how publishing alternative viewpoints, or as he puts it “misinformation,” would be “perceived.” He added: “whether it is true or not is not what the publishers care about– it is how the journal is seen by the community that counts.”

This scientific witch hunt is vaguely reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition. It is not about the truth of their ideas, it is about the opposition. If it takes destroying their opponents’ careers in order to perpetuate their climate fraud, then they seem perfectly willing to do it. Another excerpt demonstrates this career-destroying intention of theirs. In a comment about James Saiers of the Geophysical Research Letters journal:

“If you think that Saiers is in the greenhouse skeptics camp, then, if we can find documentary evidence of this, we could go through official AGU channels to get him ousted”

In response to these vicious attacks, one of the subjects of some of the emails, Pat Michaels, a climate scientist at the Cato Institute, said in response that: “This is what everyone feared. Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult for anyone who does not view global warming as an end-of-the-world issue to publish papers. This isn’t questionable practice, this is unethical.”

To add insult to injury these very same scientists also write about their attempts to fraudulently distort their own data so they can continue the charade. In another email by Phil Jones the truth about the agenda comes out. It turns out they are more worried about the climate agenda going forward than what their data actually shows. If they have to distort the data then they will do what it takes. He writes:

“In any case, if the sulfate hypothesis is right, then your prediction of warming might end up being wrong. I think we have been too readily explaining the slow changes over past decade as a result of variability–that explanation is wearing thin. I would just suggest, as a backup to your prediction, that you also do some checking on the sulfate issue, just so you might have a quantified explanation in case the prediction is wrong. Otherwise, the Skeptics will be all over us–the world is really cooling, the models are no good, etc. And all this just as the US is about ready to get serious on the issue.”

In another email they write:

“I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.”

Here we sit on the verge of subjecting ourselves to the tyranny of global government in the name of protecting the planet. Now that the truth has been established and the hypocrisy and error revealed, let us press our congressman and senators before it is too late. In a matter of a couple weeks the most important conference of our lifetimes will convene in Copenhagen in order to decide our fate. I urge you with all the energies of my heart; let us pull down the global warming false idol worshippers and their climate dictatorship while we still have time.

Adam Murdock, M.D. is founder of The Freemen Institute, www.freemeninstitute.com.

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/a-call-to-action-stop-the-climate-scientific-global-dictatorship/

A hut in rural India – 84 Kos Brij Yatra, originally uploaded by Photography24×7.

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Prologue

Today there is an incessant talk about green housing. Green is the new hot topic, certainly not a fad because we are undoubtedly in for groundbreaking events when it comes to climate changes. Suddenly everything that we have become so used too is also the source of a dreaded hotter future. We use so much energy and resources to sustain the life we have made for ourselves that the earth is about to just say stop. Our homes is the most basic of needs, but we have today developed housing quite far from Indian tents and adobe houses, and as such they have an enormous impact on the landscape and nature. However just like cars we have grown accustomed to our large homes, heated in the winter and cooled in the summer.

To minimize houses impact on energy consumption we insulate walls thicker and use solar collectors to heat water. Houses such as the newly built house by Carin Adalberth is perhaps the top of the line of what how energi efficient a house can become and even to produce more electricity than it consumes. However this amazing house is quite far from making it as a mainstream house. Firstly the wall thickness is at the limit to acceptance. This house illustrates how far we can go with modern technology and building methods, and pondering you see that new methods are needed if we are to achieve mainstream ecological energy efficient houses.

Heating our homes is however not the only issue when it comes to energy consumption. Worldwide electricity is converted for cooling at fantastic rates. Air conditioning is making it possible to live pleasantly just about anywhere, but the use of AC units is unsustainable in the long run.

Engineering a truly green house

For the first we need to have thinner insulation. A new villa can be built with 54 cm walls like Carins house, but older buildings , low-income homes and cities will not go that far. Vacuum panels holds the future for insulating walls that can be only 120 mm thick! Aerogels materials holds the prospect of fantastic insulation to glass windows, such as green houses. However much practical research needs to happen before we see it becoming as common as mineral wool. Aerogel is not yet suitable as window material.

The idea of a green wall occurred to me looking at the vegetation that covered many facades on buildings. As it turns out green walls isn’t something odd but have been built several times and have improved houses by making them need less cooling. With green walls and roofs the house becomes more aesthetically pleasing, cleans the air, keeps cities coolder and reduces cooling needs, sounds very good to me. Walls engineered with vacuum panels as insulation could have an outside layer that is engineered to be long-lasting and provide a surface for an organic outer layer that protects against the sun and outside elements. As organic walls regrow, walls don’t need to be repainted or renovated as it  breaks away pelted by rain and sun.

The biggest aspect to realize the green home that can not be ignored is economics, there must be a will and that willpower comes best from economic reasons. We need to make sustainable ecological houses that are easy to build. Module houses and prefabricated house parts is the future. Standards is good when it comes to almost everything. There is already much use of prefabricated elements in the construction industry which is good, but there is still much to desire especially in many parts of the world.

The vision

The future house is built being effective or not when it comes to energy consumption, that is already praxis. Homes no longer rely on techniques and methods of construction that hasn’t changed for the last 100 years. Houses that have a minimalistic need for heating and cooling. The energy saved from all the not needing heating or air conditioning is enough to make an impact on the dilemma with finding clean energy in a world without oil. Houses no longer stick out in the landscape but become part of it. Juxtaposed to nature the organic walls and roofs blend in as naturally as the trees and the flowers. Houses aren’t built and torn down with a new owner but age just like the nature around it, lasting well over 100 years or longer. The well-built prefabricated modules and sections offers no flaws and problems from rain during the construction. Houses that have solar panels and solar collectors is standard even for cheap houses in every country. Houses are designed on the computer just like before but rather than just having the roof being prefabricated, the entire house is, the other elements being modules. This enables builders to assembly energy effective ecological homes everywhere in the world without extensive knowledge that is required today in passive house construction. Carin wrote that building the house that she have is hard, and we need simplicity, for we need ecological housing on a large-scale for it to make a difference on the climate.

A green future hence is literally not just building a house that use little energy, but could also thanks to the synergy of using nature as part of the construction lead to a truly green house. A green house that is perhaps the best step we humans can take to make our housing ecological and take less from the environment, and still retain the comfort that we have grown accustomed too.

This is a house I used to live in.  That was a long time ago.  But it was a good time.  You know, one of those short but good times.  Well anyway.  That house isn’t there anymore.  Not exactly.  Actually, the developers claimed that the character of the original house would be retained in the redevelopment, but they were really full of shit.  If you were to cruise by the same lot today, you’d see a new heritage townhouse development.  My mother–a real estate agent–says that’s progress; I say that it’s just a bunch of oxymorons trying to make a buck. Heritage townhouse, as if.

So, why am I pissed about the tearing down of old houses, old rooming houses at that,  and even when they’re not ripped out of the dirt that’s been their foundation for more than 90 years, they’ve had such radical facelifts that they retain nothing of their, albeit it aged, charm?  Why indeed.  I’ve been wondering about this myself.  For some time, all I knew was that every time I pushed through my old hood, I’d get this twisted gut feeling like something was wrong, like I’d done something wrong, even when I knew for sure that I hadn’t.  But I didn’t want to avoid going through there; I had good times, good memories there; so I would just suck it up and push through anyway.

Then the other day I went to see my Nan, and the ladies at the home had given her a new hairdoo.  This one woman, Maude, she says to me, ‘Doesn’t she look pretty, Peter?’

And so I say back, ‘I don’t want her to look pretty, I want her to look like herself.’  After that I felt like such an asshole.  She did look pretty, for a million-year-old.  Okay I exaggerate.  But she’s my Nan, and I’m used to her looking a certain way, and that doesn’t involve a perm tinted aqua.  Jesus.  I want my girlfriend to have blue hair, not my grandmother.

Anyway, Maude gets all in a huff, ‘It took me hours to put in the rods and she doesnt’ like sitting still.  We thought she’d find it a treat.  Well, the other residents all think she looks real nice.’ Then she left in a storm of cotton and lavender aroma therapy spritz.  ‘It calms her nerves.’ she says and she walks out leaving me and Nan for our visit–finally.

Maybe this is my round about way of getting at what happened, but she did look nice, but it was just so fake, so put on, so wrong.  I felt sad, but I didn’t want to show it.  She was looking at me with her pooly eyes,  And that’s when I knew that it was an on day. ‘Peter,’ she says, ’such a good boy.’ she took my hand and I melted–she’s still my Nan, even with the tint and poodle curls.

So, I just wanted to post this house, kind of a memorial of my memory of the old gal that housed many years of good and bad times for a hell of a lot of people, and also to remind me that those things remain, even after the building isn’t even there.  It took my Nan to remind me of that.

Knauf Insulation has launched one of its popular continental products, Crown® Encapsulated Loft Roll, into the UK insulation market. Covering a 200mm thick layer of glass mineral wool in a soft, polyester fabric makes handling much easier with – great news for installers – installation becoming an almost ‘itch-free’ task! And, great news for designers looking for practical insulation solutions, it’s also very versatile: it can be used at ceiling joist level to insulate a cold roof or, with an easy-to-install suspension system under the rafters, a warm roof.

Crown® Encapsulated Loft Roll is made from a 200mm thick layer of glass mineral wool covered with a soft, easy-to-handle spunlaced polyester fabric. A kraft paper and polyethylene vapour control layer is bonded to one side and this is printed with markings to help installers measure and cut the roll accurately. Available in just one convenient size – 5.50m long by 1.20m wide – the product has a thermal conductivity of 0.040 W/mK and a thermal resistance of 5.0 m2K/W.

Designed for insulating roofs, Crown® Encapsulated Loft Roll can be used in a number of ways. To insulate a cold roof it can either be used between the ceiling joists or, as a second, top-up layer, across them. To create a warm roof, metal suspension-straps are screwed to the rafters, the roll cut to size, ‘impaled’ on the straps and then held in position with retaining clips. The straps are also designed to enable a plasterboard or timber lining to be installed should it be required; Knauf ‘C’ Channel clips to the end of the straps to form a framework for plasterboard or, alternatively, timber battens can be fitted to receive tongued-and-grooved boards.

Depending on the exact details of the construction, creating a warm roof in this way gives an elemental U-value of about 0.20 W/m2K – exactly as prescribed by ‘Part L’ of the Building Regulations / Part J of the Scottish Technical Standards for new build roofs (0.30 W/m2K for refurbished work).

“Encapsulating mineral wool is an obvious thing to do,” said Debra Green, Knauf Insulation’s Product Manager, at the product’s launch, “apart from being easier and much more pleasant to use, it also creates opportunities to design alternative insulation solutions.”

A comprehensive data sheet – Crown® Encapsulated Loft Roll – is available on the Knauf Insulation website and gives a wealth of information about the product and its installation. Advice is also available from the Knauf Insulation Technical Advisory Service on 01744 693885.

For more details about Knauf Insulation products, or to obtain copies of their literature, please visit www.knaufinsulation.co.uk or call 08700 668 660 quoting ID: KR08704.

Tirupur: To enhance productivity of horticulture/agriculture crops and ensure appropriate returns to growers, the Department of Horticulture plans to set up as many as five hi-tech poly greenhouses for the first time in ‘Tirupur block’ at an outlay of Rs 32.5 lakh this fiscal.

The structures will help the farmers to adopt ‘protected cultivation’ techniques for crop production. Assistant Director of Horticulture P. Santhanakrishnan told The Hindu that under the project, the farmers would be extended subsidies to set up poly greenhouses, each spread over 1,000 square metre.

“The subsidy assistance will be 50 per cent of the project cost in the case of small and marginal farmers subject to a maximum of Rs. 325 per sq.m. and 33 per cent of the project cost for the other farmers limited to a maximum of Rs. 215 per sq.m.” Mr. Santhanakrishnan said.

The establishment of poly greenhouses will enable the farmers to even opt for some hilly vegetables and a few rarely cultivated species of capsicum and flowers.

The hi-tech poly greenhouse, according to Mr Santhanakrishnan, will increase the yield as the dome-shaped structure with high quality multi-layer polythene covering will protect the plants from harmful ultra-violet rays and adverse weather.

Pest control

Besides, pest control measures will be easier and effective inside the greenhouses, he said.

The foggers fixed inside the poly greenhouses will help the farmers to maintain optimum temperature and humidity required for healthy growing of crops.

“The allotment of greenhouses will be on first-cum-first serve basis,” he added.

More details can be obtained from Mr. Santhanakrishnan at 0421-2214710.

From THE HINDU

Nobel laureate and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu proposes an aggressive research program to transform the existing and future energy systems of the world away from technologies that emit greenhouse gases. Berkeley Lab’s Helios Project concentrates on renewable fuels, such as bio fuels, and solar technologies, including a new generation of solar photovoltaic cells and the conversion of electricity into chemical storage to meet future demand. His talk was presented April 23, 2007.

The new Zaha Hadid-designed museum in Glasgow is using Knauf Insulation’s FactoryClad 32 flexible insulation to meet demanding U-values on a complex 18,000 square metre roof.

The Riverside Museum, which will open to the public in 2011, will create an iconic transport museum on the banks of the River Clyde. The building is designed as a winding tunnel-like structure with a complicated geometry roof that changes its profile over the length of the building to create a three-dimensional wave form.

The brief for design and build roofing specialist Varla (UK) Ltd was to find a flexible insulation that could meet the demanding U-value of 0.20 W/m²K that was continuous over the roof and walls.

Clare Huber of Varla says that she started the search for a suitable material by contacting many insulation suppliers and holding supplier seminars at Varla’s Chester offices.

“The purpose of these seminars was to outline the project as, being such a unique building, I felt it necessary to provide potential suppliers with as much information as possible. The suppliers were then sent away with all the project details and challenged to come back to me with what products they could provide to help us meet this demanding specification.”

She says that rigid foam boards were ruled out early on, as they could not be fitted to the building’s complex curves. There was also a limited cladding zone that could not be altered. Many types of insulation were considered, but glass wool roll provided the best thermal efficiency.

The key to Knauf Insulation winning the business was its ability to provide in depth technical support, including complex three-dimensional heat flow modelling calculations.  This allowed Knauf Insulation to produce a solution that met all of Varla’s insulation requirements by using a double layer of 100mm FactoryClad 32 roll.  This is a flexible, lightweight roll of resilient glass mineral wool with exceptionally high tear strength and a thermal conductivity of just 0.032 W/mK.

In addition, FactoryClad Roll is manufactured from glass mineral wool, which is ideal for limiting the spread of fire -since it holds a Euroclass classification A1, for non-combustibility and will not burn. Nor will it give off toxic smoke or suddenly ignite in a fire due to ‘flashover’.  For public buildings such as this, superior fire performance is crucial.

As Clare explains: “With this challenging build the only way we could get a truly accurate U-value was to create a three-dimensional model. Knauf Insulation was the only manufacturer that could offer us a three-dimensional calculation service”.

She says that once Varla had decided on Knauf Insulation, it leaned on them heavily for technical support.

“As this is such a difficult specification we became a very demanding customer, requesting different calculations for all our options. Each time we were met with a quick and efficient response – their technical performance was second to none.”

The best way to reduce the environmental impact of your home is by installing insulation, according to a curator at the Eco Home Exhibition.

The exhibition looks at the ways in which the ways people use their homes effect ecology and the state of the planet.

Alex Goddard, curator at the Eco Home Exhibition, said insulation is “by far the most effective way” of making a home more eco-friendly.

He added that many people will not be able to do lots of work on their home but those that are considering it should think about prioritising insulation and rainwater collection on the roof.

“[Also] insulation on the walls, ceilings and by double or triple glazing,” Mr Goddard continued.

“It has to be well fitted because if it is draughty around the edges then that’s no good,”.

As well as making homes more eco-friendly, insulation can help householders to save money on their energy bills.

According to government statistics, installing eco-friendly measures such as insulation and energy saving light bulbs can help householders to save as much as £300 on their energy bills every year.

Knauf Insulation – Impartial advice on Glass mineral insulation, Rock mineral wool, Polyfoam and Floor foam in residential insulation and non-residential insulation applications.

Many of the largest companies around the world are working towards a new Clean Economy

What must be agreed: 6 key tasks

WWF says there are 6 key tasks that have to be agreed upon at the Copenhagen meeting:

1.Rich countries, as a group, should set strong binding emissions reduction targets of 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. Most of those reductions should be undertaken domestically.
2.Funds and technology cooperation must be established to support the implementation of low-carbon economies in the developing world.
3.With the appropriate needs-based support, developing countries should commit to emissions 30% lower by 2020 than those they are currently projecting.
4.Actions by developing countries should include the halting of forest destruction and its concomitant emissions.
5.Rich nations need to leverage support to help the most vulnerable countries, communities and ecosystems, which are hardest hit by climate change, and finance their adaptation work.
6.All countries need to agree that global greenhouse gas emissions must be at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

For More Information

This is the draft of the Copenhagen Climate Change Treaty currently out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change working group dated September 15th.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Treaty Draft

To get an idea of the kinds of things being proposed, I provide it here with some excerpts below. Readers that wish to highlight some other excerpts should do so in comments.

Page 62:

33. Each Party’s national schedule shall include:
(a) A long-term national greenhouse gas emissions limitation or reduction pathway;
(b) A country-driven nationally appropriate mitigation strategy, differentiated in terms of the ambition, timing and scope of its mitigation commitments or actions, which could be, inter alia, project-based, sectoral or economy-wide.
(c) Each Party’s nationally appropriate mitigation strategy shall include:
(i) Except for the least developed countries and small island developing States,
quantified emissions limitation or reduction commitments for 2020, consistent
with its long-term national greenhouse gas emissions limitations or reduction
pathway, subject to regular review; and
(ii) Measurable, reportable and verifiable mitigation policies and measures to meet its quantified emissions limitation or reduction commitments for 2020, as appropriate, and to support its national greenhouse gas emissions limitations or reduction pathway, subject to regular review.
34. All countries prepare low emission development strategies. Note that further paragraphs would be required to describe in more detail their function and relationship to the national schedules described above and a potential facilitative/matching platform.
35. All Parties shall develop and regularly update and submit information relating to the implementation of their nationally appropriate mitigation strategies. Such information shall be reviewed and verified according to agreed rules and guidelines.
36. All Parties, except for the least developed countries and small island developing States, shall develop and regularly update and submit a national inventory of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol.
37. National inventories shall be:
(a) Undertaken in accordance with the latest agreed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories; and
(b) Submitted, reviewed and verified according to agreed frequencies, rules and guidelines.

===

Page 122, Item 17 is quite troubling.

15. [Developed country Parties [shall][should] provide support to developing country Parties, particularly those specified in Articles 4.8 and 4.9 of the Convention, in order to allow developing country Parties to address issues related to social and environmental development, economic diversification, risk assessment, modelling and insurance to prevent the adverse effects of the spillover effects.] Alternative to paragraph 15:
[In the implementation of paragraphs 11 (c)11 and 11 (d)12 above (159.1 and 159.2 in FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/INF.1) , through the provision of financial resources, including for access, development and transfer of technology, at agreed full incremental costs in accordance with Article 4.3 of the Convention;
Recognizing that there are ways and means to reduce or avoid such impacts through careful and informed selection of policies and measures, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing tools, and to consider new ones, in order to assist developing country Parties in addressing these impacts.]
16. [Adverse economic and social consequences of response measures [shall][should] be addressed by proper economic, social and environmental actions, including promoting and supporting economic diversification and the development and dissemination of win-win technologies in the affected countries, paying particular attention to the needs and concerns of the poorest and most vulnerable developing country Parties.]
Alternative to paragraph 16:
[Adverse economic and social consequences of response measures shall be addressed by various means, including but not limited to promoting, supporting and enabling economic diversification, funding, insurance and the development, transfer and dissemination of win-win technologies in the affected countries, such as cleaner fossil fuel technologies, gas flaring reduction, and carbon capture and storage technologies.]
17. [[Developed [and developing] countries] [Developed and developing country Parties] [All Parties] [shall] [should]:]
(a) Compensate for damage to the LDCs’ economy and also compensate for lost opportunities, resources, lives, land and dignity, as many will become environmental refugees;
(b) Africa, in the context of environmental justice, should be equitably compensated for environmental, social and economic losses arising from the implementation of response measures.

The ideal of a healthier, cleaner tomorrow might be one step closer than you think. With houses like the GreenHouse in McLean, Virginia which is more energy efficient than 99.99% of the homes built since 2000, and the introduction of hybrid vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt, we are making big leaps towards a better tomorrow. But man, looking back, who would have imagined that the things that help our future would look so good! I mean look at that house… it looks amazing, inside and out. And look at that Volt! What a great combination. If this is what it takes for a better future then sign me up 10x over. 
 

The scientific study has said that the universe expands day by day. Literally it may mean the abiotic component but the actual fact is that it is shrinking. Actually speaking the population of man in this universe is increasing greatly. Man being the one to create problem in every aspect of the ecosystem always tries to find an alternative to compensate the loss. Greenhouse is one such beautiful finding made by man to grow plants effectively. Greenhouse, by the name it suggests that it is a house for growing the green. Many would be familiar of the phrase, “Grow green or else we ruin”. Greenhouse has given each and every human being a wonderful platform to cultivate plants.

Basic forms:

A greenhouse has two basic forms. One is attached greenhouse and other is a standalone greenhouse. In attached greenhouse the power supply is supplied from the house itself where as in case of a standalone greenhouse the power supply and all the other accessories has to be supplied separately. These types of standalone greenhouses can be made where there is sufficient space to have an individual green house. Greenhouse can be built using either plastics or by means of glass. The photo chromatic technique that can be employed in glass makes it preferable over plastics. The basic concept behind the photochromatization is nothing but SMA. SMA is the abbreviation of shape memory alloys. Shape memory alloys are also known as super alloys. These substances have the natural tendency to adjust to the situations that prevail and act accordingly.

Basic models:

The two basic models of greenhouse are cold frames and rack. Cold frames are set out in situations were there is less amount of space where as in case of racks ample space for setting of greenhouse is a must. The greenhouse cold frames constitute to the simplest and cheapest forms of greenhouse. By the name it suggests that it is suitable for growing of plants that requires cold climate. Cold frames are normally used for early sprouting of the seeds, growth of herbs and so on. It is so important for certain plants that the temperature within in the house doesn’t go beyond a particular temperature. So for cultivating those kinds of plants cold frames are very important. The glass panels adjust so as to allow only a small amount of sunlight to enter the greenhouse thereby preventing the damage of plants. Hence greenhouse cold frames are more preferred ones amongst the farmers.

It is very easy to destroy the object, but creating the product is a tough process. In olden days we should not go for any growing process for plants. Basically most of the plants develop of grow very slowly. The growing nature of all parts resembles some curve. That curve is called S curve. In the initial stage of plant it grows very slowly compare to its life. At the middle stage the growth of the plant is constant. It should not deviate from the annual growth size during the middle stage. The final stage is considered as the peak stage. The growth of the plant is very rapid compare to the time period.

Need of Greenhouse

During its initial stage, it grows in very lesser rate. So to increase the growth rate in the initial stage, we are using the greenhouse. Usually all plants grows in a chill condition that’s why it grows very gradually. This gradual development of plant is healthy but not benefited to the owner. So the owners like to develop their plant rapidly. It should be achieved with the help of change in temperature principle. The cold atmosphere should be changed with the help of any other hot devices. The hot devices apply some heat air in the atmosphere and remove the cold air in the atmosphere. The principle of small greenhouse is very simple because, the hot air pushes the cold air out. So the environment turns in to warm. The warm condition is better suited for the plant. The warm condition enhances the plant growth cell and induces the cell to grow fast.

Price of small greenhouse

The cost of the small greenhouse lies in the range of $100 to $200. The space occupied by the small green house is also very little. So it is very easy to keep the greenhouse in the home. These are some of the advantages of small greenhouse. Before installing the greenhouse in your home you must know some of the important details about the small greenhouse. The principle is working only in certain conditions like low wind speed in the environment and hard climate. If the wind speed or velocity is too high then there is no meaning of implanting the greenhouse in your home. A normal wind velocity required for the greenhouse is 13 miles per hour. If the wind speed exceeds this limit then the quality of the greenhouse is drastically reduced. Likewise greenhouse depends on many minute factors, some guidance is required before buying the greenhouse trainer kit.

First published in the GE Vibes – October 2009 issue 17

Everybody’s heard of the Kyoto Protocol… It was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, committing the 183 countries that ratified the environmental treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In short, the signatories agreed to reduce their collective green house gas emissions by 5.2% from the level in 1990 by 2012.

It has not been without criticism… On the one hand, many experts believe the Kyoto Protocol to be inadequate and thus incapable of delivering a reduction in emissions. On the other hand, critics argue that the costs attached to its implementation by far outweigh the benefits… On both accounts, it merely represents a drop in the ocean.

So far it has proved, at best, partially successful… Initially, emissions declined in the early 1990s, but soon they started rising again. Since 1994, emissions from developing countries (not committed to reduction targets) have been on the rise…

So, in December of this year stakeholders are getting together again in order to address these and other issues, as well as continue the work started in Kyoto. The aim – reducing greenhouse gases – remains the same; the challenge is to expand the scope of the reduction targets to include developing countries. It remains to be seen what can be achieved in Denmark. Europe for one is stepping up to the challenge with its own 20-20-20 campaign, with the EU Member States committing themselves to reducing their overall emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. As an incentive for others, the EU is willing to increase its commitment up to a 30% reduction, should an agreement be reached in Copenhagen.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference will be taking place from December 7 to December 18 2009 in Copenhagen, charged with the mission to hammer out a successor treaty to Kyoto. Instead of spending money on gadgets for the 15,000 attendants, the Danish government decided to invest in scholarships instead and allow students from around the world to apply for a chance to study climate change at a Danish university. To find out more, please visit “Study in Denmark” and the “COP15 website” (see links below)… Or better still: get involved on the Guardian website dedicated to the Climate Change Conference!

•    Study in Denmark – http://www.studyindenmark.dk/climate
•    COP15 Official Website – http://en.cop15.dk/
•    The Guardian Countdown to Copenhagen – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen

news source: www.knaufinsulation.co.uk

Insulation that gives you the feel good factor

Knauf Insulation’s new glass and rock mineral wool products made with ECOSE^® Technology don’t look or feel like any insulation you’ve ever experienced, that’s because the natural brown colour represents a level of sustainability and handling never before achieved. The brown colour and ’super soft’ feel comes from ECOSE^® Technology, a revolutionary sustainable binder which does not contain the oil based chemicals commonly used in other insulation.

We didn’t choose the colour, it just came naturally.

Combined with the brown colour and new ’super soft’ feel, is the same reliable thermal and acoustic performance you have come to expect from glasswool, which results in the next generation of energy saving insulation. Knauf Insulation products with ECOSE^® Technology are as good as traditional mineral wool insulation - only better… naturally!

With the trend towards environmentally responsible and ‘formaldehyde free’ specifications (e.g. London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Product Sourcing Guide), Knauf Insulation products with ECOSE^® Technology build on the already exceptional environmental credentials of glasswool. Made using sand and recycled glass bottles combined with ECOSE^® Technology, Knauf Insulation’s new glasswool does not contain artificial colours or added formaldehyde, resulting in environmental credentials above our already A+ rated products in the Green Guide, and also in full compliance with ‘formaldehyde free’ specifications.

We’re so confident that our new insulation is clearly better that we’ve decided to put it in transparent packaging so
you can see for yourself that is the natural choice for specifiers and installers

I am doing some renovation work at my house and especially on the electric grid.  From what I have read The Energy Detective is an easy-to-use, accurate electricity monitor that can supposedly can help me save 10% to 20% (or more) on my families energy bill.  From some photos and readings the device provides immediate feedback on your energy usage so you can determine where and when to reduce your electricity consumption to save money and the environment.

What I am interested is is how it integrates with its data-logging software, called Footprints and Google’s Power Meter….

So first install and second get my mad scientist friends over at the Heights Technocracy to build some cool apps….

I am very curious about the following.

The URL to access the live data: http://gatewayip/api/LiveData.xml (where “gatewayip” is the IP address or the device name)

To pull the History data:
/history/minutehistory.xml?MTU=0 (history for MTU 1. It is a zero-based index of MTU’s)

/history/hourlyhistory.xml?MTU=0 (history for MTU 1. It is a zero-based index of MTU’s)

/history/dailyhistory.xml?MTU=0 (history for MTU 1. It is a zero-based index of MTU’s)

/history/monthlyhistory.xml?MTU=0 (history for MTU 1. It is a zero-based index of MTU’s)